Another One Bites the Dust

Another weekend under our belt. Is it because I'm older now or did the days also go by this fast?

We had a relatively quiet birthday celebration this year. We met up with some 3M folks in from St. Paul for a few drinks and had dinner at Craig's favorite Spanish restaurant. For once we had no problems finding tables on a Friday night. The citizens of Wrocław must have appreciated it was our birthday and stayed home. The weather has been down-right balmy lately so the weather could not be blamed for lack of townspeople on the square.

I bought Craig a book for his trip to Taiwan. It is called, "A Day of Shopping" and is all in Polish. I wanted to get him Bob the Builder but I didn't have enough money at the time. Without help from a dictionary (słowinski) it is doubtful he will get through it even with the long flight!! I will ask for a book report when he completes it!!

Saturday was the International Friends Christmas party. It was held downtown at the oldest restaurant in Europe. We noticed today it was established in 1273. There was a variety show and a traditional Polish dinner. It was nice to finally meet the "other halves" of the people I've met here. There was a full representation of US 3M employees that we hadn't met up with yet. It was certainly nice to talk "home" if even for a short time. There were about 150 or so adults and children (with a visit from Santa). There was a parade of nations so we were able to see traditional Japanese, Chinese, Indian, German and Polish attire. It was stunning! There was also a performance by a well-known Polish opera tenor. Let me tell you, he didn't need a microphone!!! Bear in mind the age of the building so you know the ceilings were low and the acoustics not made to support opera! It certainly was enjoyable.

Today we made our usual trek to the grocery store. It was packed!!!! We had to circle the lot twice before finding a parking spot! It seems carp was on sale!!! Believe it or not there was a line of about 40 people lined up to buy carp. Apparently, carp is a traditional holiday food (not in the Masmar house)!!! Typically we line up to buy deli meats but today we got through the store in relative ease because we didn't have to fight the throngs of carp shoppers!!!

The rest of today was spent packing up gifts for transport home and making pierogies! I'm excited to try them this evening. I'm going to roll out the dough right now and then head down for a sauna. Not a bad day overall.

Monday I plan on getting Oliver's pet passport stamped for our trip home - which means another trip to the vet. I think I have it all under control though!! I also have to fight with the bank about a service charge. Not sure how that will go, but it is 95 zlotys I could use this time of year! Haircut on Tuesday, International Friends Wednesday and two Polish lessons. What a life, huh???

Friday morning my flight for Warsaw leaves at 6:00 a.m. Craig's flight to Taiwan leaves around 8:30 a.m. so it looks like he may have some time in the Wrocław airport to get through "A Day at the Market". There may even be some kids who can translate for him!!!

Looking forward to seeing many of you soon!