But here I am, and here we go.
SAS flights through CPH to WAW uneventful. We paid for meals that were... OK. It's something to do on a long flight. What I like about SAS is the 2-4-2 configuration, so Mary and I got the 2-seats and imo it was like premium economy. I'm just under 6-feet tall and had ample legroom. Yay.
Observations: The infrastructure was amazing. The interstate highways had no potholes nor even rough patches, as were most of the country roads (cue "Country Roads). Barely any trash whatsoever along the sides of the road. From my observations it was nearly immaculate. Cars would take turns merging into traffic like clockwork. Pedestrians have the right of way at most crosswalks and that was respected by drivers, who also slowed down near puddles of water so as not to splash pedestrians. What? I was impressed. Sidewalks everywhere even between small towns. You go, Poland.
I won't bore you with "this museum was wonderful" and just skip to some personal notes.
Mary and I shared meals, which typically was fried, breaded pork, potatoes, and some type of vegetables. I'm pretty sure it raised my cholesterol 50 points and added some plaque to my arteries, shortening my lifespan, but man it was good. I don't know how people can eat a typical meal by themselves. It's a lot, at least to me.
At our hotel in Old Town Warsaw during breakfast, the cutest little dog ever ran in from the open door to the kitchen, got his treat, and then flashed out of there. Made my morning.
I made the mistake of falling asleep on buses and trains, especially the 2.5 hour train to Krakow. Result? I woke up at 0300 three times. Dummy. So, instead of lying there bemoaning my fate, I went outside for a walk, returned at 0400, and slept fine until 0700. It really ended up being a rather special experience along the not so quiet streets. Lots of stag and hen goings on.
In Krakow during one of these walks, I was approached by a muscular young man who asked if I would like to see some strippers "take their shirts off." I said, "Sure!" Kidding. Actually, I put my hand on his shoulder and said, "I've been very happily married for 41 years, so please excuse me." He laughed a bit and I moved on. Whenever I heard some noise or commotion I walked toward it, but it was exactly what you'd expect--young people partying, etc. I did get the "Who is the old dude?" look.
On at least three occasions I was asked, essentially, what the hell is going on with American politics and violence. I said I was a man without a country in the current political environment, which got me thinking about Lincoln and the "better angels of our nature" that is sadly absent today. I did mention that the country was roughly split 50-50 with each side quite certain the other side was stupid and evil. A recipe for disaster in the event of a spark to set things off.
We took a private tour with a highly regarded guide whose name will go unmentioned. I'm a gentleman. It was a tour of Kazmierz Dolny from Warsaw. The guide took three timeouts to talk to his wife, once for an extended period of time. Then he went to a store that did not interest us at all to buy his wife a gift, taking pictures and texting her, etc. It was a comically bad tour from again, a supposedly prestigious tour guide. On multiple occasions he rather violently swung the van around for no reason I could discern, and then complained about being tired from so many back-to-back tours.
More later after work. I know you can't wait.