Traveling adventures -- and the kindness of the Polish people

On Saturday morning, July 12 we all left the Hotel Wanta in Zakopane, heading north. We left two of the volunteers at the Krakow domestic airport and the others at the Krakow International Airport. I stayed on the bus with the students and teachers who were heading back to Siedlce.

We stopped for a rest break at a gas station about one hour north of Krakow. Much to my surprise both the boys and girls lined up for the restroom at the same door. When I got close to the door I could see the international symbol for both men and women on the door. The restroom had two cubicles with a door that shut and two sinks. People just casually took their turn. This was surely a new experience for me -- not to mention that the gas station restroom was very, very clean.

About two hours later we stopped at a McDonald's in Radom. One of the young men approached me and said it was his job to help me. Now I can easily order what I want in a Polish McDonald's, but help me he did.

As we were boarding the bus, two girls came with big boxes of McDonald's pies. I was prepared to say no, thank you, until it became clear that no student was going to get one until pani made a choice. Hey! It was good. Now I'm curious to know if the pies are this good in the United States.

We were about 10 K from Siedlce when we rain into a severe thunderstorm. We had to wait just a bit for the highway to be cleared of fallen tree branches. I was very relaxed, because Dorota had the foresight to make my hotel reservation good until 8 PM rather than 6 PM.

It was still raining lightly when we got to the hotel. To reach it one turns off a busy highway onto a narrow side street, and then right into the hotel parking lot. Much to my amazement the bus driver backed the bus into the hotel parking lot so that I could leave the bus right by the steps into the hotel. When I said "Dziekuje bardzo i do widenzia" he took my hand and kissed it. This is a way that men honor women in Poland. And people wonder why I keep coming back. He did me a great favor and then kisses my hand!

My stay in Siedlce was just fine. On Sunday between rain showers I walked along the nearby lake and enjoyed an excellent fish supper.

On Monday I took the train to Warsaw primarily to use an Internet Cafe. It was either walk five minutes and ride the train for an hour plus or walk 40 minutes to the Internet cafe in Siedlce. Somehow it seemed easier to ride the train -- and I'm glad I did for it was a cold, rainy day. I had a very nice pasta lunch in Warsaw and then headed back to Siedlce.

Yesterday, Tuesday, I repeated the trip to Warsaw, this time with my luggage. At the Warsaw East station I boarded a train to Torun. Boarding a train with luggage is always a challenge, but this one unlike any other. The level of the train was about 15 inches below the platform. It was interested, to say the least, to jump a gap of about 4 inches and then down that far with a suitcase.

The train was quite crowded as we made our way through the Warsaw stations. A man boarded the train with his daughter and asked if he could my suitcase up on a rack so that we all more room. Proze! Now the task would be to get it down for it was higher than I could comfortably reach. As we made our way north, he said something to me in Polish. I replied that I could only speak English. Then in very good English the daughter asked where I was going. I replied, "Torun," and she said, "Torun, next stop." As we approached Torun the man got my suitcase down from the rack. Then as I prepared to move towards the door, he told me no. When we got to Torun he picked up my suitcase and walked it out to the platform for me.

Now I'm experiencing Torun. It's beautiful, and certainly a good place for a rest. Everything closes at 6 PM except for restaurants, and hardly anything opens before 10 AM in the morning.