International Women's Day

Today, March 8th is International Women's Day.  A holiday widely celebrated around Poland and all of Europe.  It is customary to give flowers to your girlfriend, wife, even female co-workers on this day.  Tom was super cute and surprised me with tulips in the middle of the day.  Don't worry, he also got flowers for all of the women in his office too.

Here is some additional background on Women's Day from Wikipedia:

International Women's Day (IWD), originally called International Working Women’s Day is marked on March 8 every year.  It is a major day of global celebration of women. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and social achievements.  Started as a Socialist political event, the holiday blended in the culture of many countries, primarily Eastern Europe, Russia and the former Soviet bloc.  In many regions, the day lost its political flavour, and became an occasion for men to express their love for women in a way somewhat similar to a mixture of Mother's Day and St. Valentine's Day.  In other regions, however, the original political and human rights theme designated by the United Nations runs strong, and political and social awareness of the struggles of women worldwide are brought out and examined in a hopeful manner.

Weekend Fun!

We had a great weekend in Warsaw.  We spent Friday night meeting new friends at an expat event.  Saturday we met with the landlord of our new apartment and solidified the contract...YEAH!  We have the movers coming on Friday.  Sunday we attended an art show of local Polish artists and took Charlie on a long walk through the Old Town area of Warsaw.

The Presidential Palace in Old Town

The Streets of Old Town

Charlie did not like the horses

Old Town Main Square

The new Soccer Stadium being built for the 2012 Euro Cup

The exterior walls of Old Town

Awesome-ness

My friend Julia turned me on to Neil Pasricha and his blog, 1000awesomethings.com.  Neil has been through a number of hardships in life (as we all have here and there) and has dedicated his life to being happy by remembering life's simple "awesome" pleasures in this world.  He has a belief that a great life can be achieved through the 3 A's of Awesomeness:  Attitude, Awareness and Authenticity.  If you've never heard of him before I encourage you to check out his TED video:

3 A's of Awesomeness TED Talk Video

After talking with my friend Katy last week she was commenting on all of the "awesome" little things that Tom and I are experiencing living in Europe.  So, we decided that the blog should feature a weekly "Awesome Thing About Living in Europe" post.  Our goal is to post something at least once a week to share the small, simple pleasures that Tom and I love over here.  And, during those times when we might be missing home a bit more we can go back and reflect on this list.  So, we hope you'll enjoy our "bits of awesome" inspired by Neil Pasricha.

So without further ado.....

Awesome Thing About Living in Europe #1:  Strong and Delicious Coffee

This one was Tom's pick since he is a big coffee drinker.  Tom loves that no matter where he gets a cup of coffee...in a cafe, at his office, at the hotel....it is always one that is super dark and strong.  The Europeans brew it strong, and for that, Tom is grateful!