Vegetarian-free city

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We were woken up this morning by the two girls that seem to take forever to get up in the morning. It seems to be a reoccurring problem that we are amongst the last to go to bed and the first to get up. This means we are always dressing and undressing in the dark and trying to be as quiet as possible.

We decided that today we would do a bit of shopping and generally get to know the city. Our umbrella was stolen last night at the bar which was a shame. Better the brolly than the pda though. After looking at a few very Polish shops Such as H+M and C+A we headed towards old town. It was around this point in the day that we decided we were hungry and wanted a sandwich or something else simple. In the guidebook there were three vegetarian cafes recommended, but they were all closed or non existent. We managed to walk most of the royal way and all round old town before finding a café we liked. In Vilnius we struggled to find a good restaurant amongst the millions of cafes, and in Warsaw there are hundreds of restaurants and very few cafes. We did eventually find a café that sold us the least satisfying sandwiches ever. Oh well. The old town itself was rather impressive, but like the rest of this part of the world it has major works happening at the moment.

In the short time we have been in Warsaw we have been impressed by the ever present palace of cultural technology. Rob was reading the guide book and found that it was described as a great Stalinist eyesore. We both disagree however Rob was a lot more taken with it than I was. We walked all around the bottom of it which actually took us quite a while.

We stumbled across a shopping mall where I was delighted to find shops that weren't designer labels. Whilst I amused myself shopping Rob amused himself by taking numerous pictures of the center itself which was quite impressive. He has become a bit snap happy since we've been traveling, it is evident by how quickly my camera battery dies and by the sheer volume of photos we now posses.

Back at the hostel we changed for the evening and sorted some stuff on the Internet. We found a vegetarian restaurant listed and decided to go in search of it. I think this city is playing a mean game on vegetarians because non of the restaurants or cafes exist. In the end we went to a place called Sphinx which sold loads of steaks. It wasn't entirely terrible because we got a half decent bottle of wine for £5 and Rob did enjoy his steak.

I'm heading to bed now at one and leaving Rob uploading pictures onto the travelblog because we are very behind. I'll be getting ready in the dark again because the rest of the dorm are in bed. Night night. Stob.

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Photos

The Tomb of The Unknown Soldier
This is a fragment of the 18th century palace which was destroyed in ww2. It is guarded by soldiers.

The Palace of Culture and Science - the "Stalinist Eyesore"
We love this building. If not for the beauty of it but because we always know where the hostel is from any part of the city.

Comments

[kate]

wonderful warsaw
So Warsaw meets with your approval. I think we all might be tempted to try there but not Vilnius.You are acting as an unofficial tour guide to the rest of us! Looking forward tomore impressions. Love to all 3 of you. Mum xxxxxxxxx

[Ann Marie Coulton]

Love to all 3 of you!
Is your Mum making an unofficial announcement which might start rumours and much speculation???? I hope she is refering to Duckie as the third person! Otherwise we might all begin congratulating you ( AND calming down your father). Ann Marie

[Michael Treier]

wonderful warsaw
We all enjoyed reading your "adventures" so far. I hope Eero gave you a good impression of Estonia. Good luck for the three of you! PS: We just had Campbell Ritchie staying with us for a night.