Spring has Sprung!

Spring has spring in Warsaw and we could not be happier!  The sun is shining, the weather has been in the mid-60's and the parks are beautiful as everything begins to bloom.  We feel quite terrible for our friends back in Chicago that are experiencing snow right now.  : (  But, we spent the weekend thoroughly enjoying the weather.  

Saturday we went on a walking tour organized through a womens expat group that I have joined.  They hold monthly walking tours that highlight different areas of the city.  Our tour covered the perimeter of the former Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw.  Of course, the entire area was destroyed during WWII so nothing looks the same, but it was still fascinating to hear about the 400,000 Jewish Poles who lived in this ghetto until their extermination at Treblinka. Quite a sobering walk to say the least....

After the walking tour we needed something more upbeat so we headed out to the Warsaw Eagles football game.  Yes, you read that right....football...the true American kind, not soccer disguised by another name.  There is a european club American Football league that is becoming pretty popular over here.  We saw the Warsaw Eagles defeat the Bialystock (city in Northern Poland) Lowlanders 54-0.  The game reminded Tom and me of a high school football game.....complete with marching band and dance team.  We had to laugh when we saw that the concession stand was serving "American Hamburgers" (how they read on the menu).  We had a fun time at the game and Tom really enjoyed getting back into the football spirit.  The Warsaw Eagles season just started, so I am sure we will head to another game or two before it ends.  And, the best part, tickets were only 10pln a piece, the equivalent of about $3.

The Marching Band playing at halftime

Sunday we went to Church for Palm Sunday.  We have been attending mass at the only English speaking church here in Warsaw.  It's quite a nice community of expats and its nice taking time out of our week to reflect on and practice gratitude for our experiences here.  The palms for Palm Sunday that most folks are used to in the U.S. don't exist here.  But, I guess palm trees aren't that abundant in Poland either.  The palms in Poland are colorful reeds/pussy willow branches bundled together featuring small flowers (real or ones made from crepe paper). And, we were fortunate that our friend Vicky told us in advance that in Poland its B.Y.O.P. (bring your own palm).  Luckily, the week leading up to Palm Sunday palms could be purchased from street vendors on pretty much every major street....so we were in good shape.

Typical Polish Palms for Easter Sunday

After church we headed to Moktowskie Park with our friends who live across the street.  They have a goldendoodle puppy named Mia.  Mia and Charlie have become fast friends.  Mokotowskie Park is a huge park on the south side of the city.  It was great to spend the afternoon there enjoying the weather, people watching and letting Charlie play with Mia and all of the other dogs there.  It was a great afternoon!

Mokotowskie Park in Warsaw

In other news, Polish class must be making some sort of impact.  I was able to order a taxi this weekend 100% in Polish.  And even understood the dispatchers questions and was able to answer him in Polish.  It feels good to be making progress, even if it is small.