Friday, January 06, 2006
Of all the weird things in Poland, I would have to say that the weirdest wasn't the fact that the train station was literally crawling with police officers and other dudes in combat gear.
It wasn't the pizza that they sold without tomato sauce, but offered a squirt of ketchup on top if you wanted one.
It wasn't the fact that at the Russian market every third person we passed offered us bootleg DVD's and CD's, nor the fact that at the same market we discovered a Yad from 1898, as well as a scent box and a ringholder from the same year, nor the fact that these items were sitting on the same rug under the same tent with original Nazi era war helmets and cigar holders (an aside, Scotty purchased all three items and removed them from their surroundings).
It wasn't the fact that the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw somehow survived, totally intact, the Nazi destruction that wrecked the entire rest of the city.
It wasn't the fact that it didn't stop snowing from when we arrived until when we left.
I don't think it was the fact that when we went to the Warsaw Tortilla Factory (pronounced with all the L's in tortilla) we had to sign a release so that we could have a drink.
It wasn't the fact that when we purchased a bottle of vodka and two bottles of champagne for New Year's Eve the woman behind the counter rang us up at one register for the vodka and then moved 2 feet to her left and rang up the champagne and food on another register.
And it wasn't because the New Year's Eve celebration had 2 DJ''s who couldn't have been more than 16 who were in front of a computer and, like you or me, just clicked on whatever song they wanted to play.
It wasn't the fact that Warsaw has created a new color in the crayola box: communist grey, or the fact that those buildings in that color have all adopted the rebellious attitude of having colorful balconies, like blue and even yellow.
I think that the weirdest thing about Warsaw was the lonely palm tree that was smack dab in the middle of the city, in the middle of a round-a-bout, in the middle of the biggest road around, and absolutely covered in snow. A palm tree. In Warsaw.
It was a fun few days that felt like a few weeks, that I don't think we will ever do again. I have a feeling that the next time Scott and Joanna come to Europe in the winter, unles there is a beach involved, we will not be joining them. Of course if they make it to Helsinki, then we will obviously be here, but otherwise, not a chance.
So speaking of Helsinki, we're here now and our place is almost ready. It's funny, about 2 weeks ago I was telling K that I thought the place was about 85% complete, but 2 weeks of non-stop (excluding the holidays in Raisio and Warsaw - can you believe we were in Warsaw for New Year's? - when we were not working) later, we are just now at 85% complete. Well, maybe even 90%.
Of course four days in Poland meant that we would be sick for 6 days in Helsinki. Which has meant that we have been basically under house work arrest these past few days. But the place really is coming together. I will take some pics of the place and of our neighborhood quite soon. It really is hard to believe where we live now and where we were living one month ago.
So sorry it's been a while since I've been at this, but hb back and the HKL (I think that's like NYC for Helsinki, except that the K and the L don't really seem like they should be in that order, but it sounds better that the HLK) should provide some new stories, which I will try to keep up with. Karoliina just told me that it's the HKI and not the HKL and now it makes sense.
It wasn't the pizza that they sold without tomato sauce, but offered a squirt of ketchup on top if you wanted one.
It wasn't the fact that at the Russian market every third person we passed offered us bootleg DVD's and CD's, nor the fact that at the same market we discovered a Yad from 1898, as well as a scent box and a ringholder from the same year, nor the fact that these items were sitting on the same rug under the same tent with original Nazi era war helmets and cigar holders (an aside, Scotty purchased all three items and removed them from their surroundings).
It wasn't the fact that the Jewish cemetery in Warsaw somehow survived, totally intact, the Nazi destruction that wrecked the entire rest of the city.
It wasn't the fact that it didn't stop snowing from when we arrived until when we left.
I don't think it was the fact that when we went to the Warsaw Tortilla Factory (pronounced with all the L's in tortilla) we had to sign a release so that we could have a drink.
It wasn't the fact that when we purchased a bottle of vodka and two bottles of champagne for New Year's Eve the woman behind the counter rang us up at one register for the vodka and then moved 2 feet to her left and rang up the champagne and food on another register.
And it wasn't because the New Year's Eve celebration had 2 DJ''s who couldn't have been more than 16 who were in front of a computer and, like you or me, just clicked on whatever song they wanted to play.
It wasn't the fact that Warsaw has created a new color in the crayola box: communist grey, or the fact that those buildings in that color have all adopted the rebellious attitude of having colorful balconies, like blue and even yellow.
I think that the weirdest thing about Warsaw was the lonely palm tree that was smack dab in the middle of the city, in the middle of a round-a-bout, in the middle of the biggest road around, and absolutely covered in snow. A palm tree. In Warsaw.
It was a fun few days that felt like a few weeks, that I don't think we will ever do again. I have a feeling that the next time Scott and Joanna come to Europe in the winter, unles there is a beach involved, we will not be joining them. Of course if they make it to Helsinki, then we will obviously be here, but otherwise, not a chance.
So speaking of Helsinki, we're here now and our place is almost ready. It's funny, about 2 weeks ago I was telling K that I thought the place was about 85% complete, but 2 weeks of non-stop (excluding the holidays in Raisio and Warsaw - can you believe we were in Warsaw for New Year's? - when we were not working) later, we are just now at 85% complete. Well, maybe even 90%.
Of course four days in Poland meant that we would be sick for 6 days in Helsinki. Which has meant that we have been basically under house work arrest these past few days. But the place really is coming together. I will take some pics of the place and of our neighborhood quite soon. It really is hard to believe where we live now and where we were living one month ago.
So sorry it's been a while since I've been at this, but hb back and the HKL (I think that's like NYC for Helsinki, except that the K and the L don't really seem like they should be in that order, but it sounds better that the HLK) should provide some new stories, which I will try to keep up with. Karoliina just told me that it's the HKI and not the HKL and now it makes sense.
// posted by Howard @ 9:32 PM 
