Krakow II
I put Mike and Brad to bed around 2:00 am. But I still was not tired. So I decided to go to Klub 7, which is a very short walk from the Atrium Hotel. It was snowing. As I walked from street lamp to street lamp, the snow glimmered and fell. It was almost magical.

Piotr was at the bar and was in costume as "Rita." He introduced me to Marcim and Darek. We talked and drank beer. Then another beer. Then another. Then another.


"Rita"


Darek, "Rita" and Marcim

I was getting kind of drunk and I realized that it was probably late, so I left.

I exited the bar and realized something was wrong. It was snowing. But it was also daylight! I looked at my cell phone. It was 6:30 am! Jesus. I was supposed to meet Brad and Mike in just one and a half hours.


Daylight!

Needless to say, I didn't make my breakfast appointment with Mike and Brad. The phone rang at 8:00ish, but I ignored it. Screw them, I thought. They are taking a private tour. They can do it on their own. They don't need me. So I slept onward. Bastard.

I woke up at 11:30. I packed up all of my stuff, paid for the room and went to the train station. Even with 5 hours of drunken sleep, I was still hanging. Time for more doghair.

Since the train didn't leave until 2:00 pm, I locked up my baggage and went to a rather nice restaurant. I got a Polish soup and some Indian style "empanadas." The couple of beers made me feel better.

I found my way back to the train station and jumped on the train. I marginally made it. Within 1 minute, the train was pulling away from the platform. Very close call. Or was it really good, accurate planning?


The train was to leave at 2:00...

I sat in a compartment with the Polish people: a couple and a tired woman. The man was reading Da Vinci code. I asked him if he liked it. For the next three hours, he, his wife and I talked. We talked about travels and showed each other pictures (from our laptops.) We talked about Poland, lots of stuff. They were kind people. Interesting conversationalists. I think it was the first train ride that I did not drink some form of alcohol.

At 5:00 pm, the train dropped me off at Warszawa Centralna, my favorite train station ever.


Platform


The neo-communist facade


Stalin

The taxi took me to the Sheraton, where I made myself a bath and relaxed. It's a very good business hotel. Very comfortable.
- posted by Matt @ 12:02 AM