www.theblisspages.com - travel: Poland
www.theblisspages.com - travel: PolandSudden crisis! Would I go to Poland tomorrow? After a hectic few hours (sort out babysitters, travel, cancel dinner party, let people know I couldn't get to a meeting and a board games evening), all was set.
The journey was good, until I got to Warsaw, when it seemed to take longer than the flight to get through the rush-hour traffic to the office. A few hours of meetings, troubleshooting and discussions later, I went to my hotel, The Mercure. After a leisurely bath, I went down for dinner. The restaurant was closed so over the road to Restauracja 99 - now closed I believe. Live DJ, good décor and great food. I had wood-baked deer on a sweet-chestnut & spring onion tart topped with a chanterelle mushroom-cranberry sauce with a half-bottle of 1998 Torres Grand Coronas. Delicious! I had room for a Crème Brulee with a glass of Torres Moscatel Oro, a dessert wine with legs as long as the waitresses!
Into the office for another few hours, then I bought a map and some vodka to take home and back to the hotel. For lunch today I thought I'd eat Polish cuisine and had zrazy zawijane "Zoygloba" in the hotel brasserie. It was huge! It came in a large tureen with several rolled pieces of meat, presumably beef, in a rich sauce with a side dish of bulgur wheat cooked with bacon. It tasted great, but left me stuffed … and with only two hours before being taken out for dinner.
There was only one thing to do - down to the fitness centre! One shower, Jacuzzi, sauna and bath later, I was taken to Soma Restuaracja & Browar - also now closed I believe - where I had chicken satay followed by a vegetarian pasta with a Chilean Castillo del Diablo Chardonnay. I had another glass of the Moscatel Oro and this time looked at the description on the bottle. To quote, "The palate is voluptuous, concentrated but light, broad & delicately sensual. Ideal both served cold as an apéritif or as a dessert wine". If was great, but if only I could meet a voluptuous & delicately sensual woman! I arrived back at the hotel replete but exhausted.
My last day, and no work (other than working on a report of the visit), so after a leisurely start, I walked round the old town via Stasi Park. The weather improved, being dry and the sun even appeared for the first time during the visit. Mind you, I was lucky, as typical weather for this time of year would be around minus ten degrees Celsius. It's always interesting wandering round another country - here I noticed different wildlife, particularly birds, everyone wearing hats and I have to say that Polish women seem particularly stunning!
It was interesting wandering round the old city again, this being my first trip to Poland for a decade. I couldn't resist some souvenirs, particularly a Polish monopoly set, a chess set with wooden Polish figures and a decanter.
Overall, a very successful trip, both on the professional and personal level. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and would like to thank those in the office who helped make it successful. It was interesting to see how Poland has progressed over the last decade, with stunning architecture and what I perceived to be a much happier and optimistic atmosphere.
On the flight back on 'the world's favourite airline', I heard of the death of Princess Margaret. It is obviously sad for her family, and I grieve for them. I am glad though that her suffering has ended, and hope I go before my quality of life is so eroded. I do hope though, that her sister reflects on the fact that had Margaret been a commoner, she would probably have ended her life on a hospital trolley in an overworked casualty unit.
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: © Mike Bliss 2008