Warsaw.
Today was just above freezing and a light rain fell much of the day. But we ventured out anyway and did a little exploring -- of the buses, the subway system, and the mall.
The 141 bus goes along Chelmska street in the direction of the children's school. We got off a few stops before the school right next to a huge section of garden allotments. These were set off by a fence and each allotment had its own fence, some with sheds and others with cottages that made me wonder if anyone actually lives there. We walked to the subway station and took the metro up to a huge new indoor mall near the Gdansk metro stop -- and right there, too, there were new luxury apartment buildings going up, and another set of garden allotments.
When Lewis Mumford talked about the "layered history" of the city, he might very well have had Warsaw in mind. The mix of 18th century French-influenced mansions, country cottages, Soviet monumental blocks, and luxury highrises is really something.
Steve has noticed the self-deprecatory comments of some of the people we've met. Piotr at the university Office of Foreign Students and Visitors, said "Warsaw isn't the most beautiful city in Europe." But so far I am loving it.
Among other things, the people we have interacted with have been incredibly sweet. We had our banker in stitches with our usual routine (she noticed, as all bankers do, that our birthdays are only 2 days apart, so I made my usual joke: "I always wanted to marry an older man," etc.). We exchanged money and the money-counting machine jammed, and only 45 minutes later did Steve notice we'd been shortchanged by 2000 zloty. We went back and made ourselves understood, and the cashier counted her drawer and was genuinely apologetic, truly very sorry that she had made an error. And finally today, as we were looking for the fabulous Magiel Cafe (quite near our house, but a bit hidden, so we missed it at first), the wine shop guy who spoke very little English came out to point us the way, and the waiter was adorable, explaining every vegetable and sauce and preparation on their lovely "slow food" menu.
Note that this restaurant was once a laundry -- hence the Mangle Cafe. I'll be back.
So far so good.
Today was just above freezing and a light rain fell much of the day. But we ventured out anyway and did a little exploring -- of the buses, the subway system, and the mall.
The 141 bus goes along Chelmska street in the direction of the children's school. We got off a few stops before the school right next to a huge section of garden allotments. These were set off by a fence and each allotment had its own fence, some with sheds and others with cottages that made me wonder if anyone actually lives there. We walked to the subway station and took the metro up to a huge new indoor mall near the Gdansk metro stop -- and right there, too, there were new luxury apartment buildings going up, and another set of garden allotments.
When Lewis Mumford talked about the "layered history" of the city, he might very well have had Warsaw in mind. The mix of 18th century French-influenced mansions, country cottages, Soviet monumental blocks, and luxury highrises is really something.
Steve has noticed the self-deprecatory comments of some of the people we've met. Piotr at the university Office of Foreign Students and Visitors, said "Warsaw isn't the most beautiful city in Europe." But so far I am loving it.
Among other things, the people we have interacted with have been incredibly sweet. We had our banker in stitches with our usual routine (she noticed, as all bankers do, that our birthdays are only 2 days apart, so I made my usual joke: "I always wanted to marry an older man," etc.). We exchanged money and the money-counting machine jammed, and only 45 minutes later did Steve notice we'd been shortchanged by 2000 zloty. We went back and made ourselves understood, and the cashier counted her drawer and was genuinely apologetic, truly very sorry that she had made an error. And finally today, as we were looking for the fabulous Magiel Cafe (quite near our house, but a bit hidden, so we missed it at first), the wine shop guy who spoke very little English came out to point us the way, and the waiter was adorable, explaining every vegetable and sauce and preparation on their lovely "slow food" menu.
Note that this restaurant was once a laundry -- hence the Mangle Cafe. I'll be back.
So far so good.
Comments
Post a Comment