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OK, so here are the 5 words I know in Polish:
Dobry (dobree) - good
Dzien dobry (gendobree) - good morning or hello
Dobranoc (dobranots) - good night
Milo mi (meewo mee) - it's nice to meet you
Prosze (prosheh) - please
Dziekuje (gehnkooyeh) - thank you

(ooh - actually 6 words!)
That's it! I find Polish to be extremely difficult and it's not at all like Spanish or Dutch where you can catch a lot of the words because they are so similar to English. But I've been getting by. It's amazing how you can just use a few words and get through your day.

After how crazy last Saturday was with getting to Poland, it was sure great to relax with Luiza and Bartek for a couple of days. I was really curious as to how they lived since I'd only ever seen them in Canada when they were visiting the last 3 summers. Bartek, who is 10 - almost 11 - was kind enough to lend me his room for my stay. Luiza and I had some great talks, Bartek and I played some cards (golf of course) and we walked their dog, Kazan (sort of like Buddy in Polish). We also did some shopping around Plock.
Her uncle was so sweet and drove us around to tour the city on Sunday afternoon. We saw the HUGE gas plant, checked out the approx. 1000 year-old Cathedral, drove across the river and back (same river that goes through Warsaw - the Wisla) and walked around the main square and downtown. On Monday Bartek had school but Luiza (who is an English and Phys Ed teacher) had taken the day off so we did a bit of shopping (shopping in Poland is quite cheap!) and went for pizza. Bartek wasn't too happy we'd gone for pizza without him! Luiza took me to the bus station around 5pm and I was headed off back to Warsaw. I grabbed a taxi to my hostel, Hostel Helvetia, and got settled in. Went for a real Polish supper (I can still taste the dill and garlic!) at a nearby restaurant and planned out the next day which was going to be a busy one since I only have the one day in Warsaw.

And my one day here was insanely busy! I managed to see just about everything I wanted to and all before 4 pm when it gets dark. "Warsaw Saw War" is a phrase that's really stuck with me. I went to Old Town, the old square that was restored after being almost completely destroyed in WWII. It was an absolutely gorgeous square and I took tonnes of photos. I walked around the area, exploring a bit. Saw the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (a monument from WWI that actually survived WWII) and the Ruin of the National Bank, one of the last pieces of evidence from the destruction of the war. Nearly 80% of the buildings in Warsaw were destroyed in WWII and the Pols have tried to erase most of the evidence of demolition. Then I spent the afternoon wandering around Lazienkowski Park. Saw the Federic Chopin monument and the Palace on the Water. The park was stunning - the pictures simply won't do it justice! I walked and walked and walked and.... when I couldn't walk anymore I tried to get a cab to take me back to my hostel but could NOT find one. So I walked and walked.... I finally managed to hail a cab but he was picking up a certain person. So I walked and walked... I allowed myself to have a small cry (I think also brought on by the fact that I hadn't eaten since breakfast, it was getting dark soon and my feet were so sore!) and finally, another cab came by and stopped for me. Thank you!

I was feeling extremely tired and just wanted some comfort food so decided to brave the KFC near my hostel. (I popped the appropriate amount of Pepto Bismol tablets first in preparation!) Then, since it was dark and starting to rain, I decided what better to do than go shopping and to a movie! Went to the huge central shopping mall and saw the movie 2012. So brutal - don't go see it! But it was nice to sit back and relax for awhile. Then I walked back to the hostel in the rain whistling "Singing in the Rain" and splashing in the puddles. (Fun fact: the first umbrella I ever bought in my life was in Barcelona in 2002. The second umbrella I ever bought was in Barcelona in 2009 - I figured I'd need it for Poland and Holland!)

I've resigned myself to having bad hair for this whole trip. It's very humid and my hair straightener won't work - even with the voltage converter so I'm limited to just my hairdryer - which starts to smoke after a few minutes so I've been borrowing the hostels' dryers. Still, it's a big frizz ball. If I lived in Europe full time I'd have to cut it all off.

I have to say, I'm really impressed with Warsaw. The buildings are gorgeous and there are monuments, statues and important buildings everywhere. It was also very clean and I felt safe, even while walking back to my hostel in the dark after the movie.

Now, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow I'm off to the motherland! I'm really excited to see my relatives again and looking forward to Willeke and Remco's wedding on Friday.

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You can see more pictures of Warsaw here: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=408747

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