Feb 8 - Warsaw, Poland - Day 2

Saturday dawned a beautiful day in Warsaw. We once again we had breakfast and were off exploring by 9am.

Our first goal was to get to the Uprising Museum...after a few wrong turns (about 2 miles worth) we finally got there! But on the way, dad covertly posed with Flat T and Pope John Paul II - we couldn't miss that. At the museum, Flat T is in front of the Ghetto Wall (inside). It was pretty surreal to see 9 Rybicki's on the list of those that died during the Uprising! I am glad that we found our way there - I think it was Dad's favorite, historical part of the trip.

After that comes another interesting little trek. Dad had found out that there was a St. Adelbert's Church in Warsaw (that isn't actually what the name looks like in Polish) so, since it was my mom's aunt's church, he wanted to go there and see if he could find a mass card for Aunt Helen. Well...we found the road...and we walked and walked and walked...OMG! We were definitely not in Kansas anymore - or, maybe we were in Kansas by the time we got there! But, the church was locked up tight - so we just have a picture for Aunt Helen...it will have to do, because we weren't walking alllllllll the way back there! :)

Our one sad miss while there was that we went to the Jewish Cemetary on Saturday...not taking into account that Saturday is the Jewish Day of worship and the cemetary was closed. :( We were able to peak through the heavy wood door - and it looked amazing - but that was all we got to see.

I am leaving out a lot of parts - but it was a fabulous trip that I'm glad we made! We ended our Saturday at Patrick's Irish Pub again - it's right next door to the hotel - and then called it quits. If we walked any LESS than 12 miles over the two days, I would be shocked!

I hope you all enjoyed the pics - I've got plenty more where that came from!

Good-night and God-bless,

back in Berlin

Feb 7 - The Motherland, Day 1 (Fri)

Dad and I had an evening train to Warsaw on Thursday night - getting to the hotel around 11:30PM. The Polonia Palace was fabulous!! What it may have lacked in internet services (we could read online as much as we liked, just couldn't upload anything) it made up for in location, comfort (hot showers!!!) and all out service! We had a night cap at the bar downstairs Bojangles...how funny to walk into a bar in Warsaw, Poland and have every picture on the walls be of the Rat Pack!

We got up bright and early on Friday and after a great breakfast, started off across the city with our maps! We walked up to Old Town - which is actually rebuilt to look like what it was, because Warsaw was basically destroyed in WWII. It is a beautiful area with quaint old shops and cafes. We explored there for quite a while, and then headed south to an area of Palaces, the botanical garden and a large park. Oddly enough - we saw a peacock, which is very odd in the middle of snow and cold! Flat Tony posed with a lion outside one of the small buildings on the grounds...never fear, he didn't miss the trip!

We walked and we walked and we walked. My legs ached so badly by the end of the day - that Patricks Irish Pub is the only place dad and I could have possibly ended up! Now, these aren't ALL dad's, but he wanted the picture, so we're going to go ahead and give him credit. :) After our stop off, we went back to the hotel and cleaned up to go to the Polish buffet in the hotel. Just our luck...typically the buffet is 150 PLN per person ($49.00)...well Friday night is was 105 PLN ($34.27) each AND we got a free bottle of wine. The food was great, the wine was great - and the server and F&B manager were completely fabulous! We couldn't have asked for a better experience!

Day 2 coming soon!!

Good-night and God-bless,

from Berlin

Feb 2 - Weekend One with Dad

Dad safely made it to Berlin on Friday and all is well!

Friday afternoon we started out practicing with the trains and walked side to side down Unter den Linden from the Brandenburg Gate to the Berliner Dom. We walked, and we walked, and we walked. We did stop for him to get his picture taken with Marilyn - what man wouldn't want that?! Germany doesn't skimp on salting the sidewalks from the snow...but it was still pretty slippery out there. Once we finished up our Friday sight-seeing, then we came back and ate at the Greek restaurant downstairs. I don't know the name of the licoricey shot...but Dad was a good sport and drank him "ooomp-pah juice".

Saturday was another full day of walking. First Dad played an organ on the side of the road, and then Flat Tony and I took him on another train ride to help him figure out how to get to where his tours start (all three start at the same place, by the Zoo). Then we went to Olympic Park and the East Side Gallery - East Side Gallery was new for me. This picture is of Dad and Buddy bear across the street for the Gallery. We easily walked 6 miles yesterday - and then treated ourselves to some yummy Indian food.

Friday and Saturday were beautiful, but today we woke up to gray and sleety rain. And since we are both sore from all the walking...we did the basics only today. Without any assistance Dad got us back to his tour start point and then we ran by Tempelhof Airport. We walked out to the large field - but it was too darn cold and nasty to stay out there longer -- hopefully he will get back there later this week for better pictures.

Now we are pooped and on to the NCIS mini marathon! We hope this finds you all well. I (personally) am bummed that I'm missing the Super Bowl tonight and the commercials - I won't be waking up to go to a bar to watch the game at 12:30am. :) But since I can't be there to cheer - I want to say Go Broncos!!

Good-night and God-bless,

from Berlin