Day 9--Most R and R

Takaniny=fabric

Disappointment visualized

Slept in so late I almost missed breakfast, that would have been a shame.  After breakfast, out walking to the fabric shop.  Total disappointment...saleslady had heard that they have textiles made in Poland, but they never have any of them.  Also, she did not know what quilting was, and I had to explain it to her.  The selection of cotton was very limited, and was imported from Italy at zł 90 (that's złoty) per metre works out to about $30/m.  Wow, and I thought $12/yd was pushing it.  Wonder how Polish quilters manage, although our guide Dagmar has a friend that quilts and she gets her material on the internet.  Sorry, no fat quarters for anyone from Poland.

A major intersection

Under the street

Walking anywhere is interesting here.  To cross streets like this you do underground passages.  These are clearly marked, in Polish, so the first time through is experimental, as you may come up on the wrong side (I speak from experience.).  The passages are lined with small shops that sell most anything, but mostly it seems, shoes, stockings, and food.  To cross a regular street, a staring contest with drivers usually works.

Behind the scenes

I like crows.

 If you only walk main streets, or even smaller streets you miss what's behind them.  The apartments all seem to be built around interior squares, which makes sense, as you will then get sun on both sides of the apartment.  These are quite charming, and I only discovered them by chance.

Kebab Dubai, under the street

After going back to the hotel and packing, for we are leaving early early in the morning,  I went out to get some lunch.  There are as many kebab places here as there are McDonalds in the states, so I headed for a kebab shop.  Turns out a kebab is what we would call a gyro, but in a much thinner bread.  Ended up with what I would call a panini burrito with lamb gyro and lots of vegetables and a sour cream sauce.  Very tasty, and somewhat! messy.  I can't believe I ate the whole thing.  Place was called Kebab Dubai, but was run by a Syrian who spoke great English.  Go figure.

Kebab, Warsaw style

Typical apartments, with the highest tagging I've ever seen

As if I cannot get enough walking, I then walked east of the hotel just to see something new.  Some nice leafy streets, with thousands of apartments.  Interesting in that the sidewalks and many of the streets are made of pavers that are set in sand and pounded down.  It makes repair of anything underground easy, as all you have to do is pull up pavers, not jackhammer concrete.  Sidewalks are smooth, except where they are made to look like old cobblestones, then they are, well, like cobblestones.

Pavers set in sand

Back to the hotel to finish packing and an early night, up at 0330 and home at 1220, same day, many hours later.