Oki Doki!

We got a very late start today. Probably due mostly to making up the inordinate amount of sleep we've deprived ourselves of in the last week.

We left around 1pm, heading north towards the old town. On the way we passed the presidential palace and the Warsaw university entrance gate. Judson says when I took a camera out at the Presidential Palace a guard started talking into his headset about me, but I'm not so sure.

We got to the old town, and saw the Royal Palace. It seems this was the residence of Polish kings of old, and perhaps it did ascend to the level that the Hermitage (winter palace) in St. Petersburg plays when it comes to old Polish government, but we'll probably figure that out for sure tomorrow, when we go to Wilanow. 

 The old town was beautiful, and the statue of the mermaid in the old town square was, albeit not as much as the Copenhagen Little Mermaid, beautiful.

We crossed the bridge by old town and the adjacent part as well, ending up at the Warsaw zoo. Inside we found (despite the winter cold) all kinds of birds, as well as Gibbons, Chimpanzees, and Gorillas. Also we saw some relatives of the llama and al paca, an elephant and an ugly rhino.

We left the zoo as the sun was headed down and wandered across the park to the Prague district, which we figured we couldn't miss, considering how we were almost on our way to Prague yesterday. 

Judson was starving, and had been for some hours, but around 3:45 I gave in and we stopped at a cafeteria for the days first meal, at a place called 'Babalu 2007 Open Fusion Restaurant'. The waitress spoke virtually no English, but we figured it out, much like that cafeteria in Riga. It was delicious. 30 PLN ($8.50) for all you can eat, including salad, peirogie, and so much more. An incredible meal all around. We ate to our hearts contents. Judson ate a little more than that. It was wonderful.

On the walk back over the bridge in the dark, we relished how exciting it is to be in such a metropolitan city in a place like Poland. I know that's a little jaded to say, but when I think of Poland I think of German and Soviet repression, not thriving capitalism and openness. It feels safe here, too. So safe.

We passed the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in a park on the way back. Two Polish soldiers were standing perpetual guard. It was pretty moving.

We got back a little after 5 and relaxed. At 7 Judson and I went half a flight of stairs up for happy hour, where we got 2 half liter beers for 7 PLN ($2). Here we met Alex (37, from just north of Dover but south of London) and Stuart (25, from Dover). We drank for a while with them, and with some of the amazing hostel workers Kaisa (pronounced Ke$ha), Justyna and Marta. Between cigarette breaks (with myself refraining from such bad habits of course) we got to know each other quite well. A word to the wise: do not repeat what an englishman tells you to say in Polish to the Polish girl. You will probably be incredibly insulting.

Judson went to bed about 12:30, but I was up with Alex and Justyna who hung out with me, until 3:30am, with Justyna teaching me Polish the whole way. I don't remember any of it.

Asleep by 4.