Farewell to Poland, On to Prague

Wednesday, July 22,2015

This is it – our last fling in Poland!  We get up early so that we can start a load of sheets, hang them out to dry, start a second load, and head into the city’s Market Square.  So glad we ran all our errands last night!  We’ve got a tram tickets and just need to drive to the Bredanka and catch number 20.  We’ve got this!

Off at Dvorek Glovney, under the road, a brief stop at a small stand, and we’re the third in line for tickets to see the magnificent altar piece at the Church of St. Mary’s.  it was one of the pieces featured in the movie, “Monuments Men” and is worthy of all the hoopla associated with it.  I get a senior ticket!  And we each pay an extra 5 zloty for the privilege of taking photographs.

We are early enough that we can scoot across the square to the Cloth Hall for some of our last-minute shopping.  And we get to see the Trumpeter again!  This time we know where to look!

We've finally learned which stop comes next!

Poor guy just can't catch a break!

I know there are some guys out there reading this!

There he is, in all his glory!

Pretty high up in St. Mary's tower!

Waving to his fans before he moves to another of the
four windows from which he plays each hour.

We are back at the church in time for the visitors’ viewing and are surprised that we can get so close to the altar!  No one is hurrying us (well, except for other visitors!) and the only official presence is a guard who is checking to see that everyone who is taking photos has a sticker.  One lady doesn’t have one and mutters under her breath that “the Gestopo are still around”.  Twit!  Doesn’t she have a clue how difficult it is to maintain something like this!  Five zloty is just a little over a dollar.  Please.

What is it with pigeons and statues?

With the doors closed.  They are opened at noon.

By hand

Nearly there

Voila

Of course, the rest of the church is pretty spectacular, too!

Back to the shopping, then back toward home. First, though, we are in need od sustenance, and a moment to enjoy the square one oast time.  We find a place with umbrellas in the shade and have ham and cheese fluffy, fluffy omelets and lemonade. 

Never seen these before,  looks like trouble on the wheel!

It's so very hot;  everyone is drawn to any water!

This surprising shade is quite popular!

Not many, and very low-key!

We stop at a little bakery for some cookies because Monika and Stasia, her sister, are coming for tea around six.  They want to hear all about our adventures and have offered to take us to the train station!!

We get back in plenty of time to hang out the second set of sheets and wash and hang the towels and clean the floors.  We’re already packed and have washed our dishes.  Marilyn puts together a great salad, since we won’t have another chance to eat before our ten o’clock train, and we’re just cleaning up when the girls arrive.

I put on the water for tea and set out the cookies.  They’ve brought punchky, those lovely donut thingies that Marilyn’s busia used to make, so there is plenty to nosh on while we chatter on and on.  There’s a brief scare when we read the letter that came with our tickets.  It says to check for last minute schedule changes and it takes all of us to deal with the on-line Pol-Rail timetables.

Finally it’s time to say good-bye to the cat and the rats – and the dogs and horses and roosters that our neighbors!  We pile everything into Monika’s little car and we’re really glad that we aren’t taking a tram or a taxi because the girls stay with us every step of the way.  We feel bad because it’s a work night and they are staying up with us;  but it sure is grand to have the help!

Our train arrives and they run with us to make sure we get on the right “wagon” and find our sleeping compartment.  They are such a hoot!!  You should have seen them dancing outside our train window!!  And pantomiming that we need to lock our door before we go to sleep!

We have a cute little sleeper with an upper and lower berth, and a ladder for me to reach mine!  There is room to stash our luggage, a sink with real towels, two bottles of water and three sealed glasses of “water for hygiene” which probably needs you shouldn’t drink the tap water or use it to brush your teeth.  The steward collects our tickets and beverage orders for the morning.  He says he’ll wake us a little before six, with our coffee, and we’ll arrive about forty-five minutes after that in Praha (Prague).  We can enjoy the croissants by the sink with our coffee.

See my ladder, all neatly tucked away!

We’ve figured out the lights (several levels of brightess) and the water (you have to push the green button or nothing comes out of the tap) and, most importantly, the temperature control.  With the train stopped nothing happens and it’s really, really warm in here!  As soon as the train begins to move, though, the temperature begins to fall and it is cool and dark, with the shade down, in no time.  Sleepy-by before eleven and an alarm at 5:30.  We should be good.