This has been quite a week! Last weekend, I went to the Tatra mountains with some friends for a relaxing mini-vacation. M & took the night train to Zakopane- it's surreal to be in the train station at 1am and sleeping all night the way there! Pretty good rest, though- very relaxing and rhythmic. Though, we almost missed the train- when we arrived, a sign on the departures thing said it was delayed 20 minutes, so we waited in the waiting area. Around 1, we heard something about a train and Zakopane, so we decided to go check it out... and got on the train about 2 minutes before it left! Apparently the train got on schedule sometime along the way and we didn't know that they'd taken off the "delay" notice.
A group of us shared a nice apartment in the heart of town for the weekend. Zakopane is a fun resort town in the mountains, pretty crowded year-round. In the spring and summer, people come to go hiking; in the winter, they ski and snowboard. I chose not to go on an epic hike up to the top of the mountain and instead, spent a very nice day wandering around the town, enjoying the people-watching, ice cream, good local cuisine and beautiful architecture. In preparation for heavy snows, all the buildings have high, peaked roofs, like chalets. Many have gorgeous designs carved into the wood. It's a very beautiful and restful area, and the hills and mountains are so green and pretty!
I left on Saturday afternoon, took an express train back to Warsaw. Got a good night's rest, then left for Vienna Sunday afternoon. I was going there for a business meeting for three days. We accomplished a lot, I think. It was nice to have more time in Vienna, though, especially in better weather. I mainly wandered around a lot, just exploring and admiring the buildings. On Monday, I went to a lovely concert of Mozart's music at the Staatsoper. Gorgeous opera house, nice acoustics. The musicians all wore kind of fun period costumes, adding a unique element to it. Afterward, I went to the Anna Sacher cafe in the hotel Sacher and ate a piece of the world-famous Sacher-Torte, a legendary dessert that's 175 years old. Everyone told me it was so sweet it'd make your teeth hurt, and they were a bit right- there is definitely a tangy sweetness to it. Though, I can't quite put my finger on what it is... a mystery!
On Tuesday night, I found an English cinema and watched Harry Potter 6. I did this because I really want to see it on the big screen and it's only dubbed over here, with no subtitles. So I counted that as a worthwhile thing to do. Had a *very* yummy steak dinner and salad afterward.
On Wednesday, I almost missed my flight back! I somehow mis-read the departure time on the itinerary as 17:45 instead of 17:25. Looking back, I think I had first seen the 16:45 boarding time and mixed that up in my brain. Needless to say, I somehow raced off of the CAT train, ran up the stairs, checked myself and my luggage in, made it through security and onto the bus that goes to the airplane in under 15 minutes. The luck of the Tiger must have been with me then!
Had a pretty uneventful flight back, caught a taxi home, dropped off my bags, then caught a bus out to the Old Town for a good-bye dinner with some friends. It was M's last night in Poland, and A is leaving at the end of the weekend. So we all ate tons of delicious Indian food and chatted. One of the girls had bought a bottle of wonderful raspberry liqueur made by monks, so we enjoyed that after dinner, then headed next door for a couple more drinks. More good conversation, plus a lot of Doors on the stereo- good times. It was a wonderful night, and I'll miss them, but I also wish them a good future as they head off to new endeavors.
On Thursday night, I joined a couple of friends at Ujazdowskie Castle for a really rad concert by a Polish singer named Katarzyna Nosowska. When we arrived, there was a huge crowd and we were told that tickets were all sold out. So we went to the nice restaurant behind the castle and chatted over some beer instead. The music was still going when we finished beer, so we asked if we could just hear the last couple of songs. We had a welcome surprise, though- the lady said the concert was only about 20 min. into the set and that we could get in for half price! So we ended up seeing most of it.
VERY cool music- reminded me of Dead Can Dance, punk, blues, country, hard rock, a lot of things all mixed together. The band was really great, and she has a strong but ethereal voice. And it was awesome to see this out in the open-air courtyard of a castle under a dark blue sky dotted with stars. Had a fabulous night and made a nifty musical discovery!
I guess that's about all for now. Hope everyone's having a good weekend!
Saturday, August 29, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Gah, Facebook is really driving me nuts now! I thought it was a problem with Firefox, but maybe not. It only happens on the little computer, not the big one, so I wonder if I have a bug of some sort? I ran AVG but it didn't find a virus or anything.
When I click on Profile or Friends, it takes *forever* to load, then just says Home on the tab and shows a blank, empty page. Any ideas on what's happening? *sigh* I really wish I understood computers more.
On a lighter note, today was pretty darned awesome. Got a lot done at work, read Pet Shop of Horrors at lunch (I *so* miss my manga collection now!), then went to a yummy Chinese restaurant for dinner (finally found a good one here!), had soft ice cream afterward, picked up some groceries and snacks for the trip this weekend, mailed a card to a friend, came home and took a little walk. Nice, balmy night, no rain or wind, and someone was playing Pink Floyd. Also found a pretty great used CD shop and picked up Asia and Lou Reed cds. Must go back there!
Thinking about travel plans for next summer- may try to combine trips to the US and UK so I can visit family, attend a friend's wedding and go to an anime con. Must investigate flight possibilities closer to the dates.
When I click on Profile or Friends, it takes *forever* to load, then just says Home on the tab and shows a blank, empty page. Any ideas on what's happening? *sigh* I really wish I understood computers more.
On a lighter note, today was pretty darned awesome. Got a lot done at work, read Pet Shop of Horrors at lunch (I *so* miss my manga collection now!), then went to a yummy Chinese restaurant for dinner (finally found a good one here!), had soft ice cream afterward, picked up some groceries and snacks for the trip this weekend, mailed a card to a friend, came home and took a little walk. Nice, balmy night, no rain or wind, and someone was playing Pink Floyd. Also found a pretty great used CD shop and picked up Asia and Lou Reed cds. Must go back there!
Thinking about travel plans for next summer- may try to combine trips to the US and UK so I can visit family, attend a friend's wedding and go to an anime con. Must investigate flight possibilities closer to the dates.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
8/13/09
Well, still haven't been able to update online- neither Warsaw or Munich airports had wireless, and I didn't feel like paying 7 GBP just to post something last night. But I had a fun three hours wandering about the Munich airport. Wonderful place! Lufthansa has what they call "Service Centers", little points throughout the airport where you can get free coffee, tea and newspapers. It's a long, spacious airport, full of gorgeous luxury shops. I spent quite a bit of time in the Fabriano stationery store, then found a good magazine on Prague- in German, but great pictures, and I can pick up a few of the words here and there. After going through the passport control, I had a yummy grilled cheese sandwich and fresh orange juice, then found a
couple books in the airport store- one of them was written by the author of The Kite Runner, so that should be good.
Had an uneventful flight from Munich to Birmingham, read a polish anime magazine. I'm constantly amazed by how much Polish seems natural these days. Listening to the announcers as the plane took off from Warsaw, I realized I understood more of the safety instructions from the Polish announcer than the German one. And reading an article about a series by Kazuya Minekura, I was able to pick up quite a bit. Maybe I *will* be able to read the newspaper by the end of all this!
Picked up some milk and fruit at BHX for a late night snack, then took a taxi to the hotel. Had a VERY restful night in a real bed with a down comforter. Ah, how living abroad makes you appreciate the little luxuries in life!
It's quite surreal to realize that today, in the space of 6 hours, I've spent time in three different countries; heard 7 different languages announced over loudspeakers, and have four types of currency with me. And that this is as do-able for me now as going to New York or Miami would have been six months ago. Life is pretty darned awesome right now!
Slept in on Thursday morning, then took a taxi to another hotel in Coventry. Drove past fields of cute little sheep, hay bales and signs that said I was entering Shakespeare's Country. Such a nice, sunny day! Spent the early afternoon in Costa Coffee, ate lunch and had coffee, read a crime novel for a while. Later that afternoon, my roommate S showed up- she was really nice and it was a pleasure to finally meet her. We checked in, then chatted for a bit before meeting up with some other people going to the con. We ended up being a group of about 10 altogether.
Eventually, we all decided that food sounded good, so we drove over to one of the nearby centers and ate at a place called Frankie & Benny's. Had a great dinner, lively conversation, good food. One of the waiters looked the spitting image of the main star of "The Namesake", *exactly* like him! After dinner, we picked up snacks and supplies from the grocery store, then came back to the hotel and had beer, chatted some more, watched a silly vampire movie on TV. Went to bed in the wee hours, but had a great day.
8/14/09
Woke up early-ish for breakfast, then half of the group decided to have a little nap before going to register for the con, and the other half went swimming. I opted for the nap. It's so pretty and restful here... almost don't want to go back!
Went out to the university in Coventry for the convention around 3, registered, had a snack in the Arts Center. Pretty campus! Lots of brick buildings and wisteria. Went to panels on Japanese Tea Ceremony and cosplay, tried to watch episodes of FMA but the computer file kept looping after about 30 seconds. Just sort of wandered around and enjoyed all the cosplay outfits- lots of good ones! Saw a very good Hughes, Lust, Jin, Gojyo, and fun Goth-Loli.
Wandered through the artists' alley and manga reading room, then joined people for dinner. Half of us went to the campus pub; the other half ended up in the Asian fusion restaurant. Had a nice red Thai curry and just enjoyed soaking up all the energy and watching the cosplayers. After dinner, we all headed back to the hotel for some beer and more chatting. It's fun to have a huge group to hang out with!
8/15/0
Steampunk Day! Today was a day full of fun cosplay. Most of our group had outfits for the steampunk genre, so they all dressed up and looked fabulous! We had a mad scientist, an anthropologist-gone-native, the captain of the ship and his pirate lady, among others. The hotel's bar was called Hemingway and had cool stairs and glass cabinets with little artifacts in them (letters, binoculars, old typewriters, a pith helmet, old writing sets, books, boots, etc.), so we took pictures on the stairs- good atmosphere for it! Everyone looked utterly fabulous- I was very impressed! Will see what I can do about being the ship's steampunk
librarian for next year ;)
There were a lot more cosplayers today, mainly because the Masquerade was happening later, a sort of cosplay showcase. Later in the day, two members of our group changed outfits and entered the Masquerade as Squall and Edea from Final Fantasy VIII. They looked *great*. I was highly impressed with the quality of costumes at this con- so much effort and attention to detail!
Spent some time in the dealer's room, though not a lot of money. Picked up a couple volumes of manga to take home and read- I miss my collection! Had some lunch, talked to a random guy from Oxford, then joined up with the group again to watch the cosplay event. After that, everyone was pretty hungry, so we drove out to a chips shop and picked up dinner. Wonderful fish and chips, full of salt and vinegar, all wrapped up in paper... tasty! We took them back to the hotel and ate them at the picnic tables outside. Lots of talk about Red Dwarf, and lots of singing- must familiarize myself more with British TV. Went inside, drank beer, played a fun game that involved writing a conversation by passing around papers and adding one's own lines to it. We ended up with some pretty random conversations! Happily went to sleep around 2. Good day!
8/16/09
Skipped breakfast this morning and opted to sleep a bit longer. We had a nice picnic later out on the grass, enjoyed the sunshine and fun costumes, then went to a panel on the history and construction of kanzashi (traditional Japanese hair ornaments worn by maiko) and watched some fun AMVs. The closing ceremonies and comedy skits started around 6. Lots of fun! There were some pretty good ones, especially the last one which was a spoof on Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil.
The hosts of the event were great- really funny banter, much more entertaining than panel hosts I've seen at cons in the US. One of the con's guest stars was an American voice actor called Matt Mercer- he was great! Looked a lot like Luke Wilson, had a fantastic sense of humor.
They also had a charity auction and raised a LOT of money for the British Heart Foundation, which was super cool.
Altogether, I had a fantastic weekend, really enjoyed myself. Yes, this con had fewer people than American ones, but that didn't detract from the fun at all- rather, it gave it cozier, friendlier feel. Everyone was so nice and polite, the entire weekend felt just wonderful and warm and welcoming. I'll definitely come back next year for it, and maybe a couple others!
8/17/09
Time to go home.... we all had an early breakfast, then speedily packed our bags and took off for respective destinations. I took the train to the airport, then just hung out for a while until my plane boarded. I had *such* a fun time, am really glad I went. Made a bunch of new friends and now have great places to visit in the UK if I want a little vacation! Friends and weekends of squeee really are the best! Now time to go home, make sure everything's cool, finish some homework, and go to sleep!
Ugggh.... the flight from Frankfurt to Warsaw was *less* than fun. There was a screaming infant sitting right in front of me, crying the whole time. Thank goodness I've got an iPod full of loud death metal!
Got home ok, aired the place out a bit, talked to my mom, crashed... and woke up again at 4am to THE loudest thunderstorm ever! Guess at least I know I'm back in Poland >_< The sky was flashing with lightning, and there were even lightning bolts this time. Huge rounds of thunder
erupted every few seconds, and it started raining really hard, too. I imagine that this is a bit what being in a combat zone sounds and looks like, minus the weapons. Quite eerie and percussive.
8/18/09
Today was pretty cool- busy at work, got a very sudden trip to Vienna- I leave on Sunday. So this means my weekend in Zakopane with friends will be a bit shorter, but Vienna's a good place to go. Looking forward to more "exquisite dreams"! And it'll be nice to see it in the summertime.
Had a Polish class after work, then sushi and a concert of organ music with M after that. Wonderful evening all around!
Life rocks. ^__^
Well, still haven't been able to update online- neither Warsaw or Munich airports had wireless, and I didn't feel like paying 7 GBP just to post something last night. But I had a fun three hours wandering about the Munich airport. Wonderful place! Lufthansa has what they call "Service Centers", little points throughout the airport where you can get free coffee, tea and newspapers. It's a long, spacious airport, full of gorgeous luxury shops. I spent quite a bit of time in the Fabriano stationery store, then found a good magazine on Prague- in German, but great pictures, and I can pick up a few of the words here and there. After going through the passport control, I had a yummy grilled cheese sandwich and fresh orange juice, then found a
couple books in the airport store- one of them was written by the author of The Kite Runner, so that should be good.
Had an uneventful flight from Munich to Birmingham, read a polish anime magazine. I'm constantly amazed by how much Polish seems natural these days. Listening to the announcers as the plane took off from Warsaw, I realized I understood more of the safety instructions from the Polish announcer than the German one. And reading an article about a series by Kazuya Minekura, I was able to pick up quite a bit. Maybe I *will* be able to read the newspaper by the end of all this!
Picked up some milk and fruit at BHX for a late night snack, then took a taxi to the hotel. Had a VERY restful night in a real bed with a down comforter. Ah, how living abroad makes you appreciate the little luxuries in life!
It's quite surreal to realize that today, in the space of 6 hours, I've spent time in three different countries; heard 7 different languages announced over loudspeakers, and have four types of currency with me. And that this is as do-able for me now as going to New York or Miami would have been six months ago. Life is pretty darned awesome right now!
Slept in on Thursday morning, then took a taxi to another hotel in Coventry. Drove past fields of cute little sheep, hay bales and signs that said I was entering Shakespeare's Country. Such a nice, sunny day! Spent the early afternoon in Costa Coffee, ate lunch and had coffee, read a crime novel for a while. Later that afternoon, my roommate S showed up- she was really nice and it was a pleasure to finally meet her. We checked in, then chatted for a bit before meeting up with some other people going to the con. We ended up being a group of about 10 altogether.
Eventually, we all decided that food sounded good, so we drove over to one of the nearby centers and ate at a place called Frankie & Benny's. Had a great dinner, lively conversation, good food. One of the waiters looked the spitting image of the main star of "The Namesake", *exactly* like him! After dinner, we picked up snacks and supplies from the grocery store, then came back to the hotel and had beer, chatted some more, watched a silly vampire movie on TV. Went to bed in the wee hours, but had a great day.
8/14/09
Woke up early-ish for breakfast, then half of the group decided to have a little nap before going to register for the con, and the other half went swimming. I opted for the nap. It's so pretty and restful here... almost don't want to go back!
Went out to the university in Coventry for the convention around 3, registered, had a snack in the Arts Center. Pretty campus! Lots of brick buildings and wisteria. Went to panels on Japanese Tea Ceremony and cosplay, tried to watch episodes of FMA but the computer file kept looping after about 30 seconds. Just sort of wandered around and enjoyed all the cosplay outfits- lots of good ones! Saw a very good Hughes, Lust, Jin, Gojyo, and fun Goth-Loli.
Wandered through the artists' alley and manga reading room, then joined people for dinner. Half of us went to the campus pub; the other half ended up in the Asian fusion restaurant. Had a nice red Thai curry and just enjoyed soaking up all the energy and watching the cosplayers. After dinner, we all headed back to the hotel for some beer and more chatting. It's fun to have a huge group to hang out with!
8/15/0
Steampunk Day! Today was a day full of fun cosplay. Most of our group had outfits for the steampunk genre, so they all dressed up and looked fabulous! We had a mad scientist, an anthropologist-gone-native, the captain of the ship and his pirate lady, among others. The hotel's bar was called Hemingway and had cool stairs and glass cabinets with little artifacts in them (letters, binoculars, old typewriters, a pith helmet, old writing sets, books, boots, etc.), so we took pictures on the stairs- good atmosphere for it! Everyone looked utterly fabulous- I was very impressed! Will see what I can do about being the ship's steampunk
librarian for next year ;)
There were a lot more cosplayers today, mainly because the Masquerade was happening later, a sort of cosplay showcase. Later in the day, two members of our group changed outfits and entered the Masquerade as Squall and Edea from Final Fantasy VIII. They looked *great*. I was highly impressed with the quality of costumes at this con- so much effort and attention to detail!
Spent some time in the dealer's room, though not a lot of money. Picked up a couple volumes of manga to take home and read- I miss my collection! Had some lunch, talked to a random guy from Oxford, then joined up with the group again to watch the cosplay event. After that, everyone was pretty hungry, so we drove out to a chips shop and picked up dinner. Wonderful fish and chips, full of salt and vinegar, all wrapped up in paper... tasty! We took them back to the hotel and ate them at the picnic tables outside. Lots of talk about Red Dwarf, and lots of singing- must familiarize myself more with British TV. Went inside, drank beer, played a fun game that involved writing a conversation by passing around papers and adding one's own lines to it. We ended up with some pretty random conversations! Happily went to sleep around 2. Good day!
8/16/09
Skipped breakfast this morning and opted to sleep a bit longer. We had a nice picnic later out on the grass, enjoyed the sunshine and fun costumes, then went to a panel on the history and construction of kanzashi (traditional Japanese hair ornaments worn by maiko) and watched some fun AMVs. The closing ceremonies and comedy skits started around 6. Lots of fun! There were some pretty good ones, especially the last one which was a spoof on Final Fantasy VII and Resident Evil.
The hosts of the event were great- really funny banter, much more entertaining than panel hosts I've seen at cons in the US. One of the con's guest stars was an American voice actor called Matt Mercer- he was great! Looked a lot like Luke Wilson, had a fantastic sense of humor.
They also had a charity auction and raised a LOT of money for the British Heart Foundation, which was super cool.
Altogether, I had a fantastic weekend, really enjoyed myself. Yes, this con had fewer people than American ones, but that didn't detract from the fun at all- rather, it gave it cozier, friendlier feel. Everyone was so nice and polite, the entire weekend felt just wonderful and warm and welcoming. I'll definitely come back next year for it, and maybe a couple others!
8/17/09
Time to go home.... we all had an early breakfast, then speedily packed our bags and took off for respective destinations. I took the train to the airport, then just hung out for a while until my plane boarded. I had *such* a fun time, am really glad I went. Made a bunch of new friends and now have great places to visit in the UK if I want a little vacation! Friends and weekends of squeee really are the best! Now time to go home, make sure everything's cool, finish some homework, and go to sleep!
Ugggh.... the flight from Frankfurt to Warsaw was *less* than fun. There was a screaming infant sitting right in front of me, crying the whole time. Thank goodness I've got an iPod full of loud death metal!
Got home ok, aired the place out a bit, talked to my mom, crashed... and woke up again at 4am to THE loudest thunderstorm ever! Guess at least I know I'm back in Poland >_< The sky was flashing with lightning, and there were even lightning bolts this time. Huge rounds of thunder
erupted every few seconds, and it started raining really hard, too. I imagine that this is a bit what being in a combat zone sounds and looks like, minus the weapons. Quite eerie and percussive.
8/18/09
Today was pretty cool- busy at work, got a very sudden trip to Vienna- I leave on Sunday. So this means my weekend in Zakopane with friends will be a bit shorter, but Vienna's a good place to go. Looking forward to more "exquisite dreams"! And it'll be nice to see it in the summertime.
Had a Polish class after work, then sushi and a concert of organ music with M after that. Wonderful evening all around!
Life rocks. ^__^
Wow, been quite a while since I updated. I think it's been mostly a combination of being busy and wanting to stay away from typing for a bit- wrists have been crampy lately. But it's been a fun couple of weeks.
Friday a couple weeks ago (7/31), I went to a farewell party off Nowy Świat for a friend who's leaving at the end of this month. Nice place- lots of different beers to try, good conversation, had a great time. Met some new people, talked a lot about Japan and California, then went home and crashed.
That Saturday night(8/1), met the Australian boy for beer and conversation. We ended up at a really cool bar in the Palace of Science and Culture. It was kind of dark, but in a cool `30s sort of way, a bit Deco inside. We sat outside, enjoyed the moon, drank good wine and beer, just relaxed. He had hours of wild tales about Australia, so it was a very entertaining night for me. What a fantastic country!
Had a day off on Monday the 3rd- explored a few new Metro stations, checked out the bookstore by Ratusz Arsenał that I'd spotted a while back. They didn't have quite what I was looking for in a Japanese textbook, but the owner showed me a great site where I could order one. Came home, talked to a friend and my mom for a bit, went to bed.
There was a lot to do at work that week, a good thing. Keeps me out of trouble ;) The next weekend was pretty cool, though. Re-colored my hair and got it trimmed on Friday, then met the Australian and some friends for one last beer- he was taking off to go home the next day. Great night- 09-08-07, full moon, new hair, nice friends, lots of beer. We stayed out drinking until the wee hours of the morning, just talking and talking. He really wants me to come visit him in Australia. I very well may, after Japan. Gotta save time and money for that first. It was nice to see him one last time- I'll miss him!
Spent Saturday sleeping in and recovering, not doing much of anything. Watched "High Fidelity", did a little cleaning.
Sunday the 9th of August was just perfect. Great weather, slept in, wandered around out in the sun, had ice cream and coffee at two new places, got groceries (including Norwegian salmon), chatted with M & S a bit, read a good book by one of my favorite Irish authors, watched "Sliding Doors". It's nice when your life feels a little more settled.
Tried a new Thai food restaurant on Monday night near my house- absolutely delicious! Finished the good book, packed my suitcase, did laundry and more cleaning. Had a wonderful dinner on Tuesday night with some friends. They invited me and M over to their lovely house and we ate homemade curry, drank wine, played with their adorable dog and just talked forever. It was a really fun night- I hope we can do it again soon!
Today (8/12), I worked half a day, then went home, ate some lunch, watched the Kasanoda episode of Ouran and caught a taxi to the airport. Found some coffee and wrote more of an update in the airport. And now I have to go- they're boarding my flight. I'm off to England for a few days for AyaRevolution!
Friday a couple weeks ago (7/31), I went to a farewell party off Nowy Świat for a friend who's leaving at the end of this month. Nice place- lots of different beers to try, good conversation, had a great time. Met some new people, talked a lot about Japan and California, then went home and crashed.
That Saturday night(8/1), met the Australian boy for beer and conversation. We ended up at a really cool bar in the Palace of Science and Culture. It was kind of dark, but in a cool `30s sort of way, a bit Deco inside. We sat outside, enjoyed the moon, drank good wine and beer, just relaxed. He had hours of wild tales about Australia, so it was a very entertaining night for me. What a fantastic country!
Had a day off on Monday the 3rd- explored a few new Metro stations, checked out the bookstore by Ratusz Arsenał that I'd spotted a while back. They didn't have quite what I was looking for in a Japanese textbook, but the owner showed me a great site where I could order one. Came home, talked to a friend and my mom for a bit, went to bed.
There was a lot to do at work that week, a good thing. Keeps me out of trouble ;) The next weekend was pretty cool, though. Re-colored my hair and got it trimmed on Friday, then met the Australian and some friends for one last beer- he was taking off to go home the next day. Great night- 09-08-07, full moon, new hair, nice friends, lots of beer. We stayed out drinking until the wee hours of the morning, just talking and talking. He really wants me to come visit him in Australia. I very well may, after Japan. Gotta save time and money for that first. It was nice to see him one last time- I'll miss him!
Spent Saturday sleeping in and recovering, not doing much of anything. Watched "High Fidelity", did a little cleaning.
Sunday the 9th of August was just perfect. Great weather, slept in, wandered around out in the sun, had ice cream and coffee at two new places, got groceries (including Norwegian salmon), chatted with M & S a bit, read a good book by one of my favorite Irish authors, watched "Sliding Doors". It's nice when your life feels a little more settled.
Tried a new Thai food restaurant on Monday night near my house- absolutely delicious! Finished the good book, packed my suitcase, did laundry and more cleaning. Had a wonderful dinner on Tuesday night with some friends. They invited me and M over to their lovely house and we ate homemade curry, drank wine, played with their adorable dog and just talked forever. It was a really fun night- I hope we can do it again soon!
Today (8/12), I worked half a day, then went home, ate some lunch, watched the Kasanoda episode of Ouran and caught a taxi to the airport. Found some coffee and wrote more of an update in the airport. And now I have to go- they're boarding my flight. I'm off to England for a few days for AyaRevolution!
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Saturday was fantastic. Slept in a bit (after talking to a couple friends online for a while Friday night), then headed over to a friend's house for late breakfast. She could really run a successful bistro or something one day! I arrived and found wonderful food all artfully arranged on a large, gorgeous worn-wood table. Italian prosciutto, delicious cheeses, tomatoes and cucumbers with a bit of black pepper and fresh basil, soft brown artisan bread, salad with toasted pumpkin seeds. We also had orange juice, berry smoothies, raspberries and blueberries, pancakes with honey and gooseberry jam, and champagne! It felt very upscale and relaxed at the same time.
We had a nice day- just ate, chatted, ate some more, looked up things on the internet, talked about books and films and travels and everything. Perfect way to start the day, and *boy* was I full after all that delicious food!
I left around 3:30 to run home for a bit, then met an interesting Australian bloke later in the afternoon. We had a *long* night of constant chatting and catching up, and lots of good beer and snacks. I love people who can tell me wild tales of the Australian outback for hours on end!
Today, I've just slept in so far (needed it!), eaten some breakfast, am catching up a bit. Might do cleaning, laundry, see a movie... lazy Sunday for once.
We had a nice day- just ate, chatted, ate some more, looked up things on the internet, talked about books and films and travels and everything. Perfect way to start the day, and *boy* was I full after all that delicious food!
I left around 3:30 to run home for a bit, then met an interesting Australian bloke later in the afternoon. We had a *long* night of constant chatting and catching up, and lots of good beer and snacks. I love people who can tell me wild tales of the Australian outback for hours on end!
Today, I've just slept in so far (needed it!), eaten some breakfast, am catching up a bit. Might do cleaning, laundry, see a movie... lazy Sunday for once.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Had another nice day.... this makes two in a row! Let's see how long the luck lasts....
Got a lot done at work, making more progress on these files. The cafe I regularly frequent for lunch closed today, so I had a nice last lunch there with some friends. Did some dishes after I came home, chatted w/S a while, then prepared things to mail and went out. Spent a couple hours in Traffic.... and discovered their HUGE basement full of CDs and videos! Must go back there. Had a nice, relaxing dinner in a new Italian restaurant. The entire conversation with the waitress was in Polish.. only realized that after I left. Listened to a large group of computer and gamer geeks talking at the next table over. One of them went on for a while about how he was developing some game for the Wii. Made me a little nostalgic for home. ^_^
Took a bunch of stuff to the post office, and again, had a very successful transaction all in Polish. I love the post office late at night, when no one's around and the staff are a lot less irritable. The two women I talked to this evening were very nice and helpful, actually!
Managed to update my bus pass, then took the metro home. Felt genuinely happy to be here. I like Warsaw, and my neighborhood, and the post office, and little things, and all the parks and dogs and funny cars and the fact that the pharmacies are open 7 days a week for decent hours.
Life is good.
Miłego weekendu!
Got a lot done at work, making more progress on these files. The cafe I regularly frequent for lunch closed today, so I had a nice last lunch there with some friends. Did some dishes after I came home, chatted w/S a while, then prepared things to mail and went out. Spent a couple hours in Traffic.... and discovered their HUGE basement full of CDs and videos! Must go back there. Had a nice, relaxing dinner in a new Italian restaurant. The entire conversation with the waitress was in Polish.. only realized that after I left. Listened to a large group of computer and gamer geeks talking at the next table over. One of them went on for a while about how he was developing some game for the Wii. Made me a little nostalgic for home. ^_^
Took a bunch of stuff to the post office, and again, had a very successful transaction all in Polish. I love the post office late at night, when no one's around and the staff are a lot less irritable. The two women I talked to this evening were very nice and helpful, actually!
Managed to update my bus pass, then took the metro home. Felt genuinely happy to be here. I like Warsaw, and my neighborhood, and the post office, and little things, and all the parks and dogs and funny cars and the fact that the pharmacies are open 7 days a week for decent hours.
Life is good.
Miłego weekendu!
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Had a really nice day today. Got a good night's rest. Had a nice lunch with a short walk in the sun afterward. A friend who had gone to Provence brought me a small bottle of concentrated lavender oil- soooo yummy! Another friend gave me a stack of new books to read and a bouquet of flowers that she'd received. But since she's going out of town in the next day for about a week, she didn't want them to just wither away in her apartment, so I got them- sunflowers, chrysanthemums and Queen Anne's lace. Met with a colleague for about an hour, got lots of good feedback on file organization- I may be able to get a couple units organized by early next week! Polish class went well and it's my mom's birthday, so I had a nice, short chat w/her. Found out that the NHL is playing a few games in Europe this October, might try to go to one. Went out to dinner at a tapas restaurant with several friends, had a good time just relaxing and chatting. And made it home about 15 minutes before another huge storm started. Talked to S about life in general and a book project and school... and now it's time for bed.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
The weekend was nice. I randomly took a train to Białystok, a small-ish city in the northeast, by the Belarussian border. Nice town- most everything was in the center, so it was easy to get around. I had a good breakfast both mornings in the hotel. There was a film event going on, so the hotel was full of artsy types and guys that looked like they could be roadies for Lynyrd Skynyrd. Saturday morning, I wandered around and looked at the shops and at a large WWII monument. Then I wandered down one of the main roads and found myself in front of the university library (of course!) Bought some cherries at a stand near there, crossed the road, walked down a shady path with more war statues, past the Odeon Jazz club, and arrived at a little park. These parks are great for walking, and peaceful places to read.
Wandered through the Branicki Palace for a while. Amazing gardens, complete with a forest area, pruned decorative gardens, a small river, and grassy banks. The house itself was a pretty Baroque mansion with a nice interior- mostly sage green with white accents, not as much gold as I've seen in other Baroque houses. It was nice to just walk around through the gardens for a bit.
After that, I walked out the front gates and through another park, where the film group was setting up for some event later that night. I tried to sit on a bench and enjoy the cherries, but there were huge ants and other bugs all over the place, so I gave up.
Walked back to the center of town, stopping in a bookstore, and found a bench in the town square to eat and read for a bit. Watched kids play in the large fountain there for a while, then walked up the main street to the town hall, which is now an art museum. Enjoyed looking at the paintings, then took a bus out to another part of town to explore a bit more. It's kind of industrial on the outskirts, but there are some HUGE Orthodox churches! Must visit them next time.
Stopped at the train station to check return times for the next day and managed to successfully give someone directions to the palace.
Dropped things off at the hotel, wandered around a bit more in search of dinner, finally ended up at an ODD restaurant called Hokus Pokus. Turquoise walls with mirrors and chrome on them and fur-covered seats.... yeah. But the apple crepe was good.
Had some espresso after that, then went to sleep.
Sunday after breakfast, I went back to the town hall to hear a free piano concert. The young pianist was excellent and played a nice selection of Romantic and Mondern pieces. After the concert, I had some iced espresso and a chocolate milkshake at a cute cafe. The waiter asked where I was from, and we chatted a bit about where we'd lived and traveled. He seemed surprised that I'd just *visit* Białystok without having family or work here. He gave me two books about the city to look at, and time just flew by. Several hours later.... I finished the books, thanked him for bringing them out, collected my luggage from the hotel, then caught a 4pm train back to Warsaw.
It was a nice weekend and a cute town- definitely worth another visit sometime.
Wandered through the Branicki Palace for a while. Amazing gardens, complete with a forest area, pruned decorative gardens, a small river, and grassy banks. The house itself was a pretty Baroque mansion with a nice interior- mostly sage green with white accents, not as much gold as I've seen in other Baroque houses. It was nice to just walk around through the gardens for a bit.
After that, I walked out the front gates and through another park, where the film group was setting up for some event later that night. I tried to sit on a bench and enjoy the cherries, but there were huge ants and other bugs all over the place, so I gave up.
Walked back to the center of town, stopping in a bookstore, and found a bench in the town square to eat and read for a bit. Watched kids play in the large fountain there for a while, then walked up the main street to the town hall, which is now an art museum. Enjoyed looking at the paintings, then took a bus out to another part of town to explore a bit more. It's kind of industrial on the outskirts, but there are some HUGE Orthodox churches! Must visit them next time.
Stopped at the train station to check return times for the next day and managed to successfully give someone directions to the palace.
Dropped things off at the hotel, wandered around a bit more in search of dinner, finally ended up at an ODD restaurant called Hokus Pokus. Turquoise walls with mirrors and chrome on them and fur-covered seats.... yeah. But the apple crepe was good.
Had some espresso after that, then went to sleep.
Sunday after breakfast, I went back to the town hall to hear a free piano concert. The young pianist was excellent and played a nice selection of Romantic and Mondern pieces. After the concert, I had some iced espresso and a chocolate milkshake at a cute cafe. The waiter asked where I was from, and we chatted a bit about where we'd lived and traveled. He seemed surprised that I'd just *visit* Białystok without having family or work here. He gave me two books about the city to look at, and time just flew by. Several hours later.... I finished the books, thanked him for bringing them out, collected my luggage from the hotel, then caught a 4pm train back to Warsaw.
It was a nice weekend and a cute town- definitely worth another visit sometime.
So for some reason this morning, my alarm clock decided to have an Amelie moment and set itself a couple hours ahead. It said 8:55 when I left the house, but when I got to work, everything was dark and the lights were all off. Wondering why, I glanced at the clock there.... which said 7:10. *sigh*. So it's been a long, sleepy day and I'm desperately in need of a nap. Was going to go out tonight, but I think I'm going to stay home instead. I have laundry and cleaning to do, Polish homework, and I'm just too tired to be social right now.
Friday, July 17, 2009
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!
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!
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