Onward and northward

Warsaw, Poland

Yes, in response to hundreds of inquiries our laptop is still in a coma so my posting have to be short.

Took a ten hour bus ride to Warsaw and ended up renting a room in a guys apartment. Kinda of creepy but at least it was clean.

Walked to older section of Warsaw and saw all the sights including the Presidents Palace where they signed the Warsaw Pact. There were a few public displays of photos of what the city looked like by 1945. Over 90% of the buildings were destroyed in all the fighting. The medival section was completely gutted but yet somehow the citizens rebuilt it all. You would swear the old section had been there for 600 years.

There are lots of square and ugly apartment blocks left over from the communist days but the newer sky scrapers sort of cancel them out. The land outside of Warsaw is flat as a board and doesn't make for interesting viewing from the bus. Food and beer are cheap for Europe and the resturant selection (for those who can avoid such things) is pretty good in the downtown.

Went to a movie in a really upscale mall and saw lots of big box stores on the outskirts of the city.

It may, at times, look a little drab but they are coming right along. With the possible exception of the Palace of Sports. It was a gift from Stalin and is a huge skyscrapper with lots of socialist statues and dynamic posing. Has to be the ugliest thing I have seen in a long time.

And, for those of you who are wondering, the perogies are tremendous. On the other hand, after drinking lots of Czech beer (the best in the world) the local stuff tastes like Labatts.