July 14, 2010

We are on the road as I write this blog - starting out at 8:30 am for what should be an eight hour drive from Berlin, over the border into Poland. The first thing you notice is that the land is extremely flat, covered with farmland and crops - I presume, it’s a grain, probably wheat, as well as corn. The weather continues to be in the high 90’s, but the bus is air conditioned, and between sleeping, writing in our journals, and a few lectures from our leaders, we continue to eat junk food and look at the countryside. At the first rest stop in Poland, we stood in line to exchange money – primarily because it cost 1 zloty to use the toilet!! Lunch was interesting as we stopped at a roadside bistro that had packaged sandwiches and we tried to “read” the packages by looking at the side of the sandwich - my tuna sandwich consisted of white bread, dark tuna, chunks of cheese, and cream cheese. It was actually quite good. Several people enjoyed a hot dog which was a long baguette with mustard squirted in the middle and the hot dog sticking out.
We have now gotten off the main autobahn and are on a two lane road through small towns. Most of the buildings seem to be made of cement with tiled red roofs. Just as in Germany, there are bike lanes on the side of the road. On this first day ,the housing definitely seems poorer than what we saw in Germany.
As we came closer to Warsaw, the condition of the houses, apartments, and office buildings improved. We arrived at the Bristol Hotel, an absolutely beautiful hotel right near the palace. We are in the lap of luxury!! Members assembled soon after arriving for a toast to Poland and a dinner in the dining room. We were introduced to two directors of the local museums and they spoke about their programs. After a cosmopolitan in the lounge, we tired to our rooms to be prepared for tomorrow! Dobranoc (Good night)