april 18th, part 4

i was just praying we wouldn't have to climb stairs. mentally, i was counting each step it took until we finally reach inside. i know this walk for them was a piece of cake for them and they walk around the city often.

once inside, i then noticed they too were not running the air conditioner. i'm so used to the refreshing cold air that greets your sweaty body and quickly lowers your body temperature and makes you cold. i think this was the first of some warmer days for the poland. they had a very long winter, so maybe they will start running the ac more often.

the palace of culture is still the tallest building in warsaw.

we went to the ticket booth and no one was around to help. no one really seems to be in a hurry around here. i spotted chairs against the wall and desperately collapsed in one giving my feet a little piece of heaven. eventually tickets were bought and we slowly worked our way to the elevators.
again, they paid my way. i'm sure they had better things to do with their day, but instead they kindly showed me around their city including the best view from the highest point.

i mention elevators because there seemed to be many along the hall, but i see we are only facing one in particular. the door opens to reveal a very tiny compartment only allowing a few people to fit. even more surprising, there is a lady sitting on a stool near the buttons operating the elevator. it seemed a bit silly to me to have someone in there taking up so much space, but nothing was as surprising as what happened next!

as i began to walk in, a flood of people pushed their way onto the same elevator. my brain could not compute what was going on. people were smashing themselves up next to me in order to take the same ride up. this felt very wrong and i was worried about weight and fire safety, but the locals didn't bat an eye. i commented on the long ride up how americans are not this close. i got a few chuckles, but it was hard to laugh while your face is immersed in your neighbor's hair.

we finally make it up to the 30th floor where there are several viewing areas. it was nice and windy so this helped me recover from the heated claustrophobic elevator ride that just took place.

 



the views were really beautiful up here.

i also began to notice that people write on everything. the walls are covered with grafiti of all types. people must feel the need to make their mark and voice their opinions for others to see. i know it is a major problem here, but i find myself actually thinking it's beautiful and artistic in someways. however, i wouldn't want it on my walls or in my neighborhood back home.

 at this lookout point, gosha showed me that the buildings with the red roofs were where we had walked from earlier in the day. that was old town...holy moly! no wonder my feet hurt. that's way too far for this american!

i realized later that during my tour we covered a several areas of warsaw which included the old and new towns, the royal route, and the city centre.

when we were done viewing the city, we had to go back down the same way we came up. i held my breath and sucked in as much as possible while we all crammed our bodies into the tiny elevator pressed against complete strangers with the same mission of reaching ground level. and we did!
this is just the way of life for them and they are used to it.

 

it was then time for us to meet the other guys for lunch so we parted ways, gosha staying in town, and michal and i hopping back on the subway.

there were very little people on the subway this trip, so i pulled the guys out to take a look around.

once we got to the area near the restaurant, we had to waste time waiting on everyone else. of course, the only thing that was suggested was...to take a walk!

we walked around and looked at a clock tower and a beautiful yellow palace. my whole day was filled with beautiful architecture! it was fun camera day for me! we finally sat for a while and talked until the others showed up.

i started to recognize that sick numbing feeling in my feet. it was the same feeling i experienced a year ago running austin's capital 10k. except during the race i was wearing really expensive running shoes on a smooth paved street and today i was wearing cute boots on rugged terrain.

we ate outside and they ordered two large water bottles for the table. one bottle had still water and the other had sparkling. sometimes they will ask for water with or without gas, but i am too embarrassed to ask for it in those terms. my immaturity level is very high.

i was so thirsty from the all-day-walking-affair that i could have drank the entire bottle in one huge gulp! i watched like a desert-thirsty animal as everyone poured a small amount in their glasses without one cube of ice. there was a cup of ice at the table and i reached out wishing i could put the entire thing in my mouth, but i didn't. i poured some ice and water into my glass and then drank as slow as possible to polite, but i couldn't manage to hide my thirst very well. towards the end of the meal i just started drinking the melting ice.

at lunch chad and i tried peirogi's for the first time. chad's were filled with pork and mine were filled with cabbage and mushroom. they were both pretty good. they look like a dumpling you might eat with your hands back in the states, but they eat everything with a fork...even their pizza.

we joked about the seinfield episode where george eats his candy bar with a knife and fork and we asked them if they do that as well, but they don't.

after lunch, the warsaw office manager suggested that we walk around while he speaks with the restaurant about some late june christmas party that he is planning. i quickly told chad that i could not walk one more step and was happy to sit in the park and read a book while they walk the path i had just taken an hour before. right then i became a hero to my tingling, slightly numb achy feet! i had to save a little something for the commute home later.