Europe - 2011 - # 5

WARSAW TO BERLIN:

WARSAW:  Although lacking in spectacular buildings Warsaw is quite lovely.  The really amazing thing is that almost the entire city has been rebuilt since WWII.  The most impressive is at the city centre where they rebuilt much of the old town as an exact replica of what was there before the war, using old photos and paintings as their guide.

We spent four days in Poland and were perogied out by the last night.  Fortunately, Len, an Australian mate from the bus tour took Betty and me and another guy out to dinner on our last night in Warsaw.  We went to a little French restaurant where we relished in frogs' legs, escargot, entrecote and all that other good French stuff.

LUNCH IN POZNAN:  Yesterday was a very long day (11 hours) on the bus as we drove from Warsaw to Berlin.  The road (which is the main route from Berlin to Moscow) is mostly under construction and there are 1000's of trucks clogging the highway in both directions.

At lunchtime we stopped at the Polish city of Poznan where we were dropped in the central city square and told we had 1 hour and 20 minutes to find lunch.  We were advised that the restaurants tended to be slow, so only to order soup or salad.

Betty and I quickly crossed the main square and headed down a side street.  I noticed a sign for "La Scala Ristorante" and as I had a pocket full of Zloties to spend before we left Poland I was not concerned by the prices.  We entered the very upscale restaurant and were escorted up a winding stairwell to a private balcony with a view of the narrow street. 

The waiter asked what we wanted something to drink and when we both asked for a glass of red wine he suggested a 1/2 bottle.  He then suggested chianti and when I agreed he brought a 1/2 bottle of very fine wine.  He then proceeded to extract the cork, place the cork on a silver plate for my inspection, taste the wine with much ceremony and then told us that we must wait 10 minutes for the wine to breathe before we could drink it.

We told him we had limited time and after 20 minutes or so our food arrived.  I was enjoying my clams baked in herbed mozzeralla when I noticed out the window a young woman who appeared to be wearing nothing more than an open jacket and panties.  She was accompanied by a young man with a large camera.  She then stepped into a slight alcove off the street opened her jacket, exposing her voluptuous body and took a pose against the wall.  I fear my clams were all but forgotten as I watched the rest of the photo shoot.

With seconds to spare we got out of the restaurant with only enough Zloties left for one last pee stop, and by running across the main square we got to the bus as it was preparing to leave.

BERLIN:  This morning we did a tour of some highlights ending at the Check Point Charlie Museum.  We now have a free afternoon for exploring before an evening ofGerman food, music, and beer, etc.