Been a pretty good week. Went out on Sunday with a bunch of friends to see the Dropkick Murphys. Great show, and long! Two bands opened- a Polish band called The Black Tapes (really good, actually) and an all-girl band from L.A. called Civet. They were having audio problems so it was hard to hear the lyrics. I had a great time, though, and met a few new people, always a good thing.

Went out on Tuesday night for sushi and wine w/ M. Such a relaxing time, just sitting on Nowy Swiat for hours, chatting, people-watching...

There have been lots of thunderstorms this week. One of them kept me up all night with constantly flashing lightning- felt like I was in a techno club for three hours. Not fun.

Also... I *hate* mosquitoes. They've been after me all week. Ugggh. Must find good insect repellent.

I felt like not being in Warsaw this weekend, so after work, I threw stuff into a bag and went to the train station. Looked at the departures, thought about it, and randomly decided to go to a town called Białystok. It's in the northeast, right on the border of Poland and Belarus. Gorgeous scenery on the train ride there, lots of open fields with HUGE houses. They're all several stories tall and they look absolutely sprawling. Shared a quiet compartment with 6 other people who didn't smoke and who all read books or listened to music. Pretty uneventful.

Arrived around 10pm, managed to find the center of town, and looked around for lodgings. I found a nifty-looking center run by the Orthodox Church that wasn't too expensive, but its doors closed at 8pm. Oh, well- next time. After a bit of looking around, I settled on the normal but convenient Best Western. Not my usual eccentric little hotel, but close to everything with free breakfast and internet, and they'll hold onto my luggage after checkout on Sunday so I can explore some more. I figured it was worth it.

Now to relax a bit, have a snack, and get a good night's rest!