No matter where you live, if you are moving to another state or country, you always feel pressed for time to do (and in my case buy) all those things we put off to the last minute. And I do have regrets. While I have seen most European capitals thoroughly, I can't say I did the same in Warsaw. Everyday life (and small children who don't give a hoot about castles and museums) prevented me from fully exploring Warsaw. And now that both kids are in school, I have all this packing to do.
Donating and throwing out stuff has another pleasant side effect: losing weight. Not necessarily personally, although I have lost about 6 pounds in 2 1/2 weeks simply doing all of this. I mean losing packout weight which increases our overall weight limit leaving room for more stuff. We had planned to buy lots of stuff native to Poland before leaving in June.
So what to do when you need stuff and the Polish zloty is back to 2006 rates against the dollar? Gather a group of friends with money to burn (or not) and hit the hole in the wall ghetto warehouses that hold such lovely items, like Jablonski (who were moving to the Krosno factory - another lovely place in the middle of nowhere near Warsaw 5 days later - heads up shoppers), Boleslawiec pottery (courtesy of ANKO), amber jewelry, roses and decorative trees, Russian nesting dolls all while enjoying great company and Coffee Heaven coffee (even with Starbucks, I will miss thee Coffee Heaven).
Want to know a secret? Traveling to Poland at this time of year, if you can deal with the cold, is a great. Old Town is pretty much dead with the exception of their mini Christmas market set up in the square. If you go during the week, there is not a soul there. Slightly Cracked and I drove right up to ul Dluga right next to the Barbakan, met out friends shortly after and spent the morning shopping. I made it back to my the minute the ticket (parking meter ticket) ran out. Not that I care about getting a ticket at this point!
I really think that my friends and I help Poland increase it's GDP over the past week and had a great time doing so.
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1 comment:
MMM, I want to go back to Coffee Heaven. Would you believe that I had never been there before? I didn't realize it until later, because it's not like I get out much:).
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