We loved Warsaw but I am going to go out of order here in an effort to be a little caught up and have details fresh in mind. I left you Thursday evening in Krakow and now it is Tuesday in Warsaw. We had transferred there on Friday and had tours on Saturday. Sunday and Monday Elva were on our own and had our usual adventures but I am saving that for later.
Good Tuesday morning...Since it was $25 extra a night to have the hotel breakfast while we are on our own, we set out to go to Old Town to the place that Tracie and Ross had delicious apple pancakes. Although we slept a little late and messed around the hotel making sure everything was in order for our flight out, and because we wanted breakfast to count for two meals we left the hotel at 10. the walk is only a few minutes but no place opened until 11:00! No pancakes for us. We finally went into a Costa Coffee. Elva had American white coffee and quiche and I had a big pot of Earl Grey and an almond croissant. It was perfect. We had to have something if only to get in out of the blustery, very cold temperatures. (Weird, because the night before was balmy!)
When we got back to the room Elva checked e-mail and read and I wrote for a while. Then we gathered our gear which isn't expanding luckily despite already traveling for four weeks! We had arranged for and prepaid a taxi. As we were leaving the hotel there were police cars, it seems there is always something going on around us, and several diplomatic black limos. Well dressed people were in the lobby so they shunted us out the door pretty quickly!
The 20 minute cab ride to the airport took about 40 minutes so we were glad we had allowed extra time. We checked in at the kiosk to get boarding passes. You just slide in the picture portion of your passport and get the papers. They always then have you go to the desk to complete check in because they have to verify the passport. We were near the head of the line since the desk had just opened. I was able to check both my bags for free. At first he wanted me to pay to check just one but then after calling the back office I got two for free.That is great for me!
Security was pretty quick although the couple in front of me couldn't stop makin' out. Then they had to open their bags when it was their turn to take out the liquids and laptop, and he forgot the belt. Good news, you only had to take off your shoes if you were wearing high heels. One lady was and then she wanted to wear the disposable booties they provided but couldn't get them on. All in all, it could have been worse.
We stopped in the duty free shop to spend the last of our zloty. I got a small Snickers with Hazelnuts and a Coke Zero. Elva was all out by buying to large Snickers. We easily found our gate and then heard the announcement that our flight would be 20 minutes late. A half hour later it arrived!
Elva and I took advantage of pre-boarding, which n my way of thinking it is a funny term. But I like to do it so if I need help to put something overhead I can get it and also my stowed piece will be near my seat and never, ever behind me! The flight was uneventful. We were served a sandwich which I saved for dinner as I had just eaten my candy bar. In the flight magazine we found a trip we would like to take together. Anyone surprised?
After safely rolling up to our gate we exited and went straight to baggage wheere I saw my bags slide by on one of those belts that snakes all through the space before rerouting back to the beginning. I scooted ahead and grabbed all three bags and we were out of there only 20 minutes later than we were supposed to have landed.
Elva had pre-paid a taxi to take us the 27 km to the hotel. We went to the designated meeting place and not only no taxi but not even a way for one to be there. It was a bus loading zone. We kind of waited but I convinced Elva we should go back in and see where a taxi might be. The lady at the information desk couldn't call the contact number and directed us to the taxi stand. We were sort of standing around looking hopefully at everyone who approached. When a young man asked did wwe want a taxi I said we had ordered and pre-paid for one. He thought it was ridiculous that they would not have waited if we were only 20 minutes late. He used his phone to call them. They said they weren't supposed to pickus up until 9:15 instead of 6:40! Our new knight in shining armor read the confirmation to them and they said they had a driver at the airport and he would pick us up at Gate 7 in 10 minutes. When Marc, we asked his name later, told me that he also said that isn't where the taxi should be. I told him that it didn't look like they could be there even if they wanted to be. So he and I went and looked leaving Elva on bag guard duty. Marc confirmed that there was no way to meet a taxi there.
Marc called them again because more than 1-0minutes had passed and said to tell the driver to meet us inside at 2F which was where we had been waiting. All the other drivers had formed a phalanx of IPad name signs right in front of us. They said five minutes. Between phone call Marc was actually there trying to get business for himself but most people had pre-booked. On the next call I asked him to tell them to just cancel it as it was going to be another 15 minutes. The driver at the airport had left! I was now not too excited to get in a cab with a driver and a company that didn't even know you couldn't pick people up at Gate 7. It was as though they had never been at the airport before.
A couple of times I told Marc that we would just go with him but he was concerned that Elva would not be able to get a refund. Elva and I are confident that if they could find us in what was now an hour, and didn't know where to pick us up, and wanted us to wait another hour and a half, AmEx will have no trouble defending her on that.
Just then Marc got a client for his cab. A man and his children. He asked did we want to go with them or wait. We went! Marc even discounted it at first because it would be other passengers in his comfortable van with us. We dropped 17 year old Salome, her 15 year old, very quiet brother, and Dad he is staunchly anti-Trump and made no bones about it while walking to the car. He did look Middle eastern to me but I didn't recognize the surname as having ever heard it before.
That being neither here nor there, it was a very enjoyable drive in very crazy rush hour traffic. The Eiffel Tower was already doing its hourly sparkling dance. Marc skillfully wove through the streets which have no lane markings. We were on the ring Road with the City of Lights to our left. We exited into a neighborhood where Salome's dad seemed proud to show his villa. It was down a small allee and on the first floor of a large apartment block. He had to go in and get his checkbook and come back to pay the cab. While he was inside the brightly lighted home where his wife had been at the door to kiss him and the children, Marc stuck his head in the open door and apologized and said he would give us a discount and it would be only 30 euros. He had started at 50 but when he had the second fare he made ours 40. We said that wasn't necessary and that he had already helped us so much. We were just happy to be safely on our way.
We actually had been quite happy to have the family with us. The really very pretty Salome was quite chatty. Dad said she loved to practice her English. She will be going to University next school lyear and hopes to go to NYU Film School. She wants to be a director! That is an unusal ambition to hear from a teenager, I think. She thinks she will have to start in France since there is a lot of paperwork to do besides being accepted. Her second choice is UCLA. I told her UGA has a good film school and might be easier to get into. She was absolutely delightful. We exchanged email addresses, so I tested it while still in the car. I heard back from her today! She hopes to see us again and welcome our grand daughters to Paris sometime soon!
So now that the family was home and we were back into to neighborhood traffic Marc made his was across town to the Le Meridien Etoile. He brought the bags inside to the bellman and then tried to give Elva money back on the fare. He said he only asked 30 and Elva had added a 20 euro tip because she thought he asked 40 and was tipping 10. In the end he gave her ten back and had a ten euro tip. It was well worth it to be safely to our hotel.
Now, about the hotel. You remember that this is Elva's first trip with Viking. She has commented many times about how nice and first class the hotels are. We all have loved how conveniently they are located to the best parts of town to make walking enjoyable and have plenty to see and do. Well, this is the hotel that serves to make us appreciate that even more! It is a Marriott/Starwood brand urban hotel in a very high priced city. We are paying more than $200 for our one night because we wanted to be in the same hotel as Viking will have us and we don't want to repack and move.
The room is tiny. Twin beds pushed together with a tiny nightstand on one side and a small desk with and over sized for the room desk chair on the other. A little almost toy like round table and modern style childlike chair. we have three suitcases and that takes up the entire floor space if we lie them down! The toilet is in a water-closet but no basin. A tub/shower and a sink are in a separate bathroom. But there is hair in the tub and the room carpet feels creepy. There is a fridge that used to be a mini bar but isn't now so we can use the whole thing. There is no coffee/tea service but there is a machine in the hall. for 2euro50 you get a tiny plastic cup like you would use to serve red KoolAid to kids. We know this because one of the choices is free hot water, so I am glad I have tea bags with me gathered from along the way. Also some coffee granules for Elva. The cup is so hot you can't hold it except by the very tip top. It literally is only about four fingers tall and liquid only fills it half way!
Next to that machine is one that has 5 euro cokes and 10 euro beers or wine! Then there is an ice machine with cardboard ice buckets similar only smaller than what casinos give you to catch your winnings. If you can't imagine that then think of a large deli soup container. As you get your free ice it bounces out of the bucket and flies against the wall and lands on the floor. I got several buckets we we could melt it to get water since there is none in the room except what you buy for 5 euros!
So we tucked ourselves in bed early and are trying to forget all the annoyances we had today. Until now the trip has been great and we are determined to keep the sunny side of life in mind. Although it would have been easier for me if I could have taken a bath. The plug didn't stay down! Oh well tonight, as it is now Wednesday as I write this, I will just shower!
Good night and thanks for listening!
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