Monday, August 4, 2014
Hello Poland! It was a long drive, but still managed to make it to Warsaw in time to get into the executive lounge and gobble up a free meal and down a few drinks before closing time. We did not get a room upgrade and had to do some fast talking to gain access to the lounge. Hilton Honors Gold cards are not as special as they once were.
The days drive was nothing special, just a lot of countryside and small townships to pass though. However it really does feel like we are back in Europe. We also got a little rain to prove it.
Sterlin was too tall to fit into the Hotel Carpark, so we cut a little deal with Bell. We could park the car outside the hotel for 3 days, avoid the horrendous hotel charges (USD $45 per day) and just give them a whopping tip. Worked for us.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
Rain was forecasted for the day, but kindly stayed away. We went on a long walk into the city including a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage listed Old Town. Warsaw is a real mix of old and new. There is construction going on everywhere with high rises springing out of the ground. And makes the Old Town feels tiny in comparison. And unfortunately there are massive multi-lanes highways buzzing in, around and through it all. We very much liked Warsaw, but it is different and more grown up than Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. For example, Starbucks can be found in Warsaw. And yes, we found one. It was a good day and when we finally made it back to the hotel we were quite exhausted. Just enough energy to gobble up dinner and down a few drinks in the lounge.
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Another day, another city walking tour. This day we headed away from the Old Town to see the “other side of the tracks” and the area near the train station. Turns out, the other side of the tracks is full with Shopping Centers. We spent 3 or 4 hours wandering around before Stephen decided to head back to the hotel and Caroline went in search of some last minute summer sale bargains. We were both successful.
Surprise surprise, dinner was in. The lounge had free food and drinks. Over drinks we planned the remaining 10 days of our trip until Eeklo. Gdansk was dropped in favour of Krakow and Berlin was added. Hard to belief we will be in Eeklo in 10 days.
