Novotel Warsaw

... but reasonable nonetheless. One zlote is about 36 cents Canadian and a good coffee is about 10 zlote including tax. Depending on the food, there is either 22% or 7% tax which is already included in menu prices. Tips are up to 10% and volountary. The pierogis and service were great and we topped off the evening with a cappucino and tiramisu at the Italian restaurant below our apartment... They were authentic! That's all for now, I'm feeling sleepy again...

... I watched “The Singing Revolution” about Estonia’s independence struggle from the USSR. I mean, we’ve all seen clips of bombs going off, soldiers shooting through barricades and such, you know. What drives it home for me is the footage of armies and tanks moving through towns and down streets that I can recognize. I knew that Tallinn had been occupied, but watching a segment of a regiment marching just outside the Old Town walls was a uniquely focusing ...

... seen them all i reckon. A few kangaroos there though. Last night we went out for a nice meal in the central part of Berlin, was really nice weather (around 25) and just sat and shared stories for a few hours. Lennie then rings us and tells us the movie crew are shooting at "potsdamaplatz" or something, so once again he drove us here, gave us free drinks from the crew drinks. One of the crew members even asked me in german if we were extras, because Lennie ...

... the Jewish community in Warsaw. Unfortunately, I can no longer much of what he said. There was a shop connected to the synagogue, and we went in and bought a few items. The shop-keeper was very friendly. Paul Eric sat down, and some American orthodox Jews entered the shop. The conversation was in English, and I understood that the shop-keeper was going to show them around the city. They asked Paul Eric if he was Jewish. I replied, "No, but we love Israel". They seemed happy with that. After ...

... a B-day party going on. We end up walking in as they are singing sto-lat (traditional Polish B-day song). Soon after the DJ starts spinning some music and all is well. I go to the bar and order a pint. Wouldn't you know it. Magda from last night is here as well. We chat for a bit off and on. The night progress's and so does the beer intake. After a ...

... the people are going into this building. Hmm. I decide to be a lemming and follow everyone. Ahhhh.. it is a "short cut" to get to Stare miasto. Instead of taking the steps up to get to stare miasto, you can take an escalator. This is a new addition for me or I just never noticed it. I go outside and what do I see; mass amounts of construction. Wow. Normally the square is bustling with tourists and locals all meeting up at the Zigmund column. Not so much now. I ...

... oh just gorgous! I remember the exhibits just taking my breath away. The interior design I'd say was very influenced by French styles because it remined me of French Rococco design like you see at Verseille (but they did have French rulers in Poland during it's history, remember Poland never really had a "Polish" ruler for most of its history) and it definately all screamed 17th 18th century in regards to decor. If you come to Warsaw ...

... very young of an odd skin disease, and so all I know of him is from photos and from the stories my mom and grandmother tell me of him. Because of this, we had no idea who he really was, what exactly happened to him, and what it meant when my mom and I said that we had some "Polish" decent. Even though I knew I could not do a proper geneological search on him due to my lack of facts and an authentic last name, I figured the next best thing was to go to Poland and see for ...