Happy New Year Polish Style!

This is how vodka is served in Poland. The bottle is on ice and the juice served separately. True Poles take a shot of vodka and sip on the juice. Craig was the only one of us that was man enough to follow tradition. I chose to drink my vodka mixed with the juice. That made for a much safer, and longer, evening for me!!! Speaking of which...we arrived back at our apartment at 4:00 a.m.!!!!! New Year's day was spent with me sleeping until 1:00, followed by nothing but TV and a casual bio-walk for Oliver late afternoon. My body is no longer capable of staying up until all hours of the morning. Coupled with the fact I danced in three-inch heels my feet and legs were a bit on the sore side. My New Year's Eve observations follow:

1) If you plan on attending an indoor event it truly is a formal, dress-up affair. My black, lace dress with black satin gloves will be seen again at future functions. I have to justify the cost somehow. It also provides a personal goal to maintain that dress size. No room for excess!

2) Individual bottles of champagne were provided to all patrons before midnight. The bottles were cracked open at midnight on the dance floor.

3) I was totally surprised there were no party hats, noise makers or confetti! My friend, Basia, told me she would have been horrified if I would have brought some back with me. We Americans must be viewed as being very immature....

4) I escorted a Polish man from the woman's bathroom. Either he was confused or he was after something. I showed him out the door AND the door to the men's room. Always the helpful soul aren't I???

5) Tens of thousands of people attended an outdoor concert on the Rynek. The stage and lighting was incredible. I've been searching the internet for pictures so you can see it. Five days later and they are still taking it all down. I'm not sure I had the intestinal fortitude to stand in a huge crowd, in the cold, listening to Polish bands but it sure looked fun! They had food and beverage stands so no one went hungry or thirsty!

6) I do have proof not every Polish person can handle their vodka. Against the wishes of those sitting at my table I took a picture of a sleeping young person at a table next to us at the club. I believe he did not make it to midnight. Perhaps he should have stuck to more sipping of juice and less slamming shots. For privacy purposes I will not post his picture - but trust me - we stayed awake and alert the whole evening unlike folks more than half our age!!!

Since being back we have successfully overcome jet lag and are experiencing some arctic-type weather. Being from Minnesota I should be more hardy; however, I have become spoiled by the warmer climate so have hunkered down in the apartment more than I should. I am not proud, but am much warmer.

Speaking of apartments...We now have three tenants on our floor. I'm not sure I will ever become accustomed to smelling what everyone else is having for dinner every night. One guy must only know how to cook one meal because it is the same, heavy smell every night. The other guy hasn't been around long enough for me to figure out his palate but yesterday it was a bit smelly. I'm sure they all love smelling the garlic we tend to include in every meal. I hear it is heart-healthy though!

I was once again mortified when I went to the market to pick up some ground pork (remember pork is the meat of choice in Poland) only to find not only no pork (other than some of the body parts and by-products I really prefer to avoid) but only one package of chicken and not one sausage or bratwurst! For a store that is open 24/7 to have ABSOLUTELY NO MEAT at 6:00 p.m. is horrendous. I managed to throw together a pretty decent meal using the last package of chicken and some vegetables. I will fore go my rant about the vegetable selection - or lack thereof - for my personal sanity.

I am in the process of playing travel agent and am looking at travel options for a girls only trip to France and Switzerland with a stop in Venice. We thought our husbands might like to join us for an extended weekend in Italy. I'm not really adept at travel planning but love the sound of the cities so will do my best to overcome this shortcoming. More to follow as plans develop.

Not much else new to report but wanted to try and fulfil my commitment to more regular blogging. Stay warm wherever you are....