Poland is not Norway

Not surprisingly, I enjoyed my trip to Warsaw. As the title of this post implies, it was quite a different experience from last summer's travels around Norway. I'll have pictures and a detailed account later, but here are a couple of quick points in no particular order.

First, they don't speak much English in Poland. I didn't have much luck speaking with people there. (I tried German a couple of times, but that didn't get me very far. I suspect that the reason for that goes back about 65 or 70 years.)

Second, as I said a couple of times in earlier posts, I could not believe how inexpensive everything was. For $80 a night, I stayed at the Westin. The quality was at about the same level as the Sheraton in New York City, which cost $270 per night. If you're looking for a cheap vacation, I strongly suggest Warsaw.

Knowing that I didn't need nearly as much money as I had needed in Norway, I started the trip by withdrawing the equivalent of $200 (580 Polish zloty). That money was to cover museums, tours, meals, public transportation, and anything else other than the hotel and the cab ride from the airport, which were prepaid. (I took a cab from the airport when I landed because I got in late at night and didn't want to try to figure out Warsaw's public transportation system in the middle of the night. I did take the bus back to the airport, though. More about that later.)

I couldn't spend the money. Try as I might, I could not figure out how to spend 580 zloty. I didn't hold back; if I wanted to visit a museum, I visited the museum. If I wanted to take a tour, I took the tour. It didn't help that I sometimes grabbed things on the run because I didn't always want to stop to eat. Breakfast and lunch on Friday, which consisted of a muffin, a sandwich, and a Coke, cost me $6.50 altogether. I started tipping outrageously, but even that didn't do the trick. By dinner on Friday, I knew I was in trouble. I ate at a nice restaurant. I accepted everything they offered. A side of grilled vegetables? Another Sprite? Dessert? Yes, yes, and yes. The grand total, including tip, was about $45.

By Sunday morning when I left, I still had way too much money. I usually don't eat a big breakfast, but that morning, I had room service bring me the best breakfast money could buy. At the airport, I bought a couple of souvenirs for the kids along with a giant Toblerone bar (because good chocolate is so hard to find here in Switzerland). That finally did it. I brought home a couple of Polish bills and coins to give the kids. Whew!

Third, it can sometimes be helpful to have a flight cancelled. How so? To get a cheaper flight, I had booked my itinerary through Amsterdam with KLM rather than directly to Warsaw with Swiss or Lot, the Polish airline. When I got to the airport in Zurich, my flight to Amsterdam was going to be delayed for a couple of hours. Because I would have missed my connecting flight to Warsaw, KLM put me on the next Lot flight direct to Warsaw, which is what I wanted in the first place. Not bad.

Chillingly, though, while I was on my way back through Amsterdam, I just happened to notice that one of the flights to Minneapolis, the flight that I'll be taking in a few days, was delayed by at least five hours. Ugh. I hope I can avoid a replay of the fun experience that Stace and the kids had on their way to Utah.