Advertisement
Published: August 28th 2019
The alarm was set for early today.
By 5am we had showered, coffeed, zipped up and weighed cases, and we slipped out of Luxembourg by the cover of darkness aboard the airport bus to Aeroport de Charleroi Bruxelles Sud. In other words, the airport on the outskirts of Brussels that the budget airlines use. We are on Ryan Air.
We took off 20 minutes late, but the big plus for me was that I had a row of seats to myself; in Ryan Air speak, this is an upgrade to business class. My ears are experiencing that pressure pain that , for me at least, is usually reserved for landing at Tullamarine in Melbourne, and no where else. And never during a flight. That crackling of my eardrums will settle down soon or it will be a long flight.
The food trolley arrives but it’s not free, and nor should it be for what you pay. The seats are more basic than dearer airlines but are comfortable and the flight is only an hour and 25 minutes. Barely time to drink my complimentary business class champagne, whenever that arrives. Inflight entertainment is varied and cheap; I suggest you
Inflight Entertainment On Ryanair
I tired of this program. I am qualified to help people leave a floating aircraft now though.bring your book or iPad.
My ears have calmed down and the flight is nice. Occasionally an announcement comes across in a variety of languages and mine, English, is usually last. Much of it is about add on sales, or pushing some duty free crap that is bound to enhance my life. I’m easily pleased and the sample spray of the Savauge aftershave at the airport duty free did it for me. I’m refreshed.
I mentioned to Natalia this morning that what I’ve noticed missing from this type of travel is people. New people, that I’ve never met, who live differently to me; strangers.
She just laughed and said she couldn’t believe I don’t meet people. I’ll talk to anyone and , contrary to popular belief, I think I listen more than I talk, averaged out; sometimes I don’t shut up.
Sometimes I only listen; perched on the edge of a conversation, I am sometimes silent, invisible. Waiters, accommodation staff, and toilet attendants don’t count; you only exchange courtesies. They are fine people but are too busy to talk. I’d love to chat to them. Although the toilet attendants would probably be the most interesting to
Hey, I Was Upgraded !
This was a stroke of luck. I’m now enjoying Ryanair Business Class talk to.
My last trip walking across Spain was all about meeting people. I was alone and unless I wanted to remain alone for 900 kilometres, I had to meet people. I met three people on my second night who were friends and great support to me for my entire walk. We lost contact at times and then, at the strangest times, like when I was on a bridge in Samos , on a remote unplanned diversion, out of a cafe comes Darcy, an American walking with her husband and her best friend Janet, with the biggest hug and smile; the joy that gave me returns as I think of that. Dave and Darcy were upbeat types, while Janet was more reserved. All were great fun, walked in pain, laughed when it was the only way out of a miserable situation, and always stayed true to each other, and to me, and to Lisa. Lisa was a young German girl who joined us and we were together until Santiago.
I only tell this long story to show how important people are on your trips, and throughout life. My mates from the States always appeared when I needed a
Lunch At Komorski’s.
Mrs K excelled again. I’m staying away for a few days. After 10 days in France, my suit fitting is a little touch and go. This sort of temptation could tip the scales against me bit of company and we shared a lot of laughs and who wouldn’t learn a bit more about life from a fire chief, an ED nurse, and a hairdresser and co organiser of a huge horse expo. If I ever get to the States , Arizona is top of the list. As the song goes, I could be a cowboy, even for just one day.
I’m sure, once we arrive in Poland, the people situation will explode.
Many family are attending Tim and Natalia’s wedding and I haven’t seen the Polish crew since Easter last year. It’ll be fun.
When we arrived at Wroclaw, we had 2 cars vying for our business. Natalia’s mum , and sister and brother in law, were both there to drive us in. A communication breakdown , I think, but we needed both cars for our luggage anyway. Sue and I were given the Mini GT Le Mans experience. It was quick, exciting and , as we whizzed past a car that slowed down for an amber light, we discussed whether amber meant, caution, it’s about to turn red for stop, or, hurry up, your running out of time because it’s about
A Room With. A View.
Our accommodation while in Poland to turn red. We decided red minis just go like that; it’s engineered into the car. We arrived safely at the Komorski household and after the greetings were had, we sat down to a very traditional, very delicious, Polish lunch. One thing the short history of European settlement in Australia has not created, is a cultural food style. We have very diverse wonderful options for eating, but which part of it is not an import or a variation on somewhere else’s food. Polish food is Polish, and while there are some similarities with surrounding countries, it is proudly unique to Poland.
After lunch , Tim, Alicia, Sue and I, went to the garden allotment leased by the Komorski’s in a larger garden near their apartment.
Obviously living in an apartment has one main drawback, you don’t have a green area to call your own and design your own patch of heaven. The allotment solves this dilemma, and the Komorski’s have a large garden, with a well and a small rendered, brick shed to store stuff, or boil the kettle. We hung out on the lawn area, enjoying the cool breeze under the shade of their trees. We picked
That’s us; Last building on the right.
No air conditioning, poor WiFi, but who care? some tomatoes, and relaxed in the hammock ( Sue ) and the chairs stored in the shed. It’s a five minute walk from home, and this little cluster of garden allotments was lush and varied, and reflected the individual tastes and needs of the different owners.
After calling back to the apartment for a cool drink, Tim dropped us at Solny Square, a charming plaza located just off the main town square. The classic tall buildings with their decorative gables are faithful reproductions of pre WWII Wroclaw and the view from our window is breathtaking. The square is buzzing with tourists and the changing troupe of buskers are noisy but keep the crowds engaged as they sing, perform magic, or as with the busking fire stick performer, attempt to incinerate a few game volunteers, to the encouragement of an eager crowd. The toxic fumes of the fire water that he spits metres above his head like a dragons breath have made it to our room above the square; much more and our smoke detector may go off.
Just kidding, I haven’t seen a fire detector anywhere in Europe. They’re probably considered pointless.
The wifi in our apartment
is atrocious so I might slip down for a coffee somewhere to latch onto a bit of internet.
Tomorrow is unplanned but we’ll catch up with family members and check out a few sights.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.078s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 14; qc: 29; dbt: 0.0438s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
