Vilnius, Lithuania

What a week!
I left Warsaw last monday, with my new buddy Danny, an American student in Germany. We were travellin' from Warsaw, via Bialystok, all the way to Vilnius, Lithuania - a trip of about 450 km.
We are staying here for the weekend. Sunday evening we are going to Germany, where he studies.

Goodbye Aissa, goodbye Warsaw ...

goodbye Jan, Michal, Ewa, Ula, Krokus, ... and all the others.
Thanks for your hospitality. I never forget this magnificent 6 weeks in Warsaw.
So long, it's been good to know you, but I have to travel on.
Hope you keep followin' me via this blog. Stay tuned!

My last day in Warsaw

This was my last day here in Warsaw. Aissa made an incredible cake for me, with raisins and wallnuts. We had a kind of farewell party at her flat.

It was a delligthfull evening ... but I must admit I'm feelin' kind of blue to leave this terrific hostess.
Ah, but we still have some time to chat before I leave tomorrow.

Goin' out on Friday night

Tonight I enjoyed Warsaw nightlife...

I went out with Aissa (see me sittin' on her knees and shoulders?) who introduced me to some fine and pleasant pubs.

This is my last weekend in this hospitable city.
I am lookin' forward to travel on, but sure gonna miss all the friends I made here.

Take you riding in my car

Click clack, open up the door, girls;
Click clack, open up the door, boys;
Turn my key, step on my starter,
Take you riding in my car.

Engine it goes boom, boom;
Engine it goes boom, boom;
Front seat, backseat, boys and girls,
Take you riding in my car.

With Michal (still in Warsaw)

This is Michal, who has a heavy metal band and a 5-year-old son in the kindergarten I visited yesterday. Thanks for your hospitality Michal. Respect!

Kindergarten

Went to kindergarten today ... what a good time I had! Such an overwhelming experience! What an enthousiasm among these wonderful kids. What a capital for this great country... this must the future of Europe! Gives me energy.

Warsaw Underground

Travellin' with Aissa and Jan in the Underground of Warsaw. Ah... I love to hang around in the underground (reminds me of Brussels).

Poland's future...

This weekend I've met the future of Poland !
I face it's future with confidence: it will be wonderfull !!!

Praga, Warsaw

Today we went to Praga - it's an old part of Warsaw. The Polish name for the capital of the Czech Republic is the same. Praga is on the right side of the Wisla river, the centre and Old Town on the left. It has this old city feel, parts are quite run-down but recently it has become quite fashionable with artists, media etc. There are culture centres, concert halls, theatres, little bars and clubs…
The monument is obviously connected with the war,built in memory of Soviet soldiers, but Warsaw people refer to it as "4 sleeping".
This young men with me in front of the monument is Jan. He is half English, half Czech. He's working in Warsaw as a teacher and is able to give me an outsider's view of this lovely country. Thanks you for that, Jan.

Easter Monday, Warsaw

For winter's rains and ruins are over,
And all the season of snows and sins;
The days dividing lover and lover,
The light that loses, the night that wins;
And time remembered is grief forgotten,
And frosts are slain and flowers begotten,
And in green underwood and cover
Blossom by blossom the spring begins.
Algernon Charles Swinburne (1837–1909)

The Mermaid of Warsaw

Today, Easter Day, I went out walking in the Old Town, called Stare Miasto in Polish. Here I am standing at the Old Town Market Square with my Polish friends in front of the statue of 'The Mermaid', apparently a sister of the Danish one :) and emblem of the city of Warsaw.

The Old Town is probably the most attractive area of Warsaw. It stretches between Wybrzeze Gdanskie Street, Grodzka, Mostowa and Powale Street. All major attractions are in the vicinity of Rynek Starego Miasta - Market Square.

Warsaw Old Town was established in the XIII th. century. The heart of the area is the Old Town Market Square with its unique traditional Polish restaurants, cafes and shops.

The Old Town was completely destroyed in World War II but, like Nürnberg, some of it has been rebuilt to look like the original. Without Aissa to tell me these things, I would never have guessed that the market square in Old Town Warsaw is a complete reconstruction.

Warsaw, the capital of the Polish kebab

Yesterday, for the very first time in my life, I tasted the Polish kebab... mmmhhhh.

In Poland the kebab bars are spread mostly in majors cities, but still considered one of the most, if not the most popular fast foods for the young people. A very Polish specialty is a fresh cabbage salad with cucumbers, tomatoes and other vegetables, added to the meat in a sandwich. A basic version costs 6zl (€1.5) and includes pita or thick bread, meat with onion, mentioned salad and choice of sauces. It can be super sized and/or served with extra cheese. Sandwiches are available with hot, medium or mild sauces made of house special ingredients. Kebab shops serve also complete meals, vegetarian dishes and airan. Undoubtedly Warsaw is the capital of Polish kebab, with shops run by Turkish emigrants, and serving Arab specialties and hookah pipes apart from the sandwiches. As they run 24/7 - they are often visited by partying youth and policemen...

Flowers on the hillside

Flowers on the hillside blooming crazy
Crickets talking back and forth in rhyme
Blue river running slow and lazy
I could stay here forever ...

Walking on the ramparts around the old town in Warsaw

Today I went out walking in the old town of Warsaw. Here you see me on the ramparts with the fortress behind me. It was lovely day ...

one week before Easter....

... longing for sweet chocolate (I am from Belgium!) Easter eggs !