Awesome Thing About Living in Europe # 5

Awesome Thing About Living in Europe #5:  The Polish Alphabet

Our name, Sullivan, in Polish spelling on the bottom of the taxi screen. 

Tom and I have started Polish lessons and are currently taking private lessons twice a week for 90 minutes a lesson.  We are making progress and it is a pretty tough language.  For a native English speaker the sounds and letter combinations in the Polish language are incredibly difficult to pronounce.  But, with each lesson it gets a little bit easier.  The Polish alphabet is equally confusing with multiple variations of a single letter...for example I think there are three variations of the letter "c".  And, based on the different sounds of their letters they have different spellings of words than we do.  We like checking out the Polsish spellings and find them pretty funny sometime.

A Weekend in Amsterdam & Antwerp...

We spent the weekend in Amsterdam, Netherlands and Antwerp, Belgium for a fun getaway.  Tom had some business meetings there on Tuesday so it was a perfect chance to head over for the weekend.  We had a wonderful weekend exploring and were blessed with wonderfully sunny weather!  We arrived Saturday evening and had a jam-packed weekend.  We enjoyed exploring the city and the canals, watching all of the bikers, visiting the Van Gogh Museum and the Anne Frank House, indulging in Indonesian and Thai food (Amsterdam is very well known for this cuisine), and cruising through the canals on a boat tour.  

On Monday we took the high speed train to Antwerp, Belgium for the day.  The train was great and took just under an hour to get there.  We wandered around the city exploring in the morning and Tom spent the afternoon in the Antwerp C.H. Robinson office.

All in all, it was a GREAT weekend! 

AMSTERDAM:

Tom loved the size of this car

 

House boat on the canal

ANTWERP:

Tom in the Antwerp Train Station

Main Square in Antwerp

Awesome Thing About Living in Europe # 4

Awesome Thing About Living in Europe # 4: 80's and 90's American Music

As a huge fan of 80's and 90's American music I am right at home here in :Poland.  I hear my favorite hits from Madonna, to The Jackson 5, to Paula Abdul and more.  Everywhere we go in Warsaw from the Mall, to the Taxis, to even the elevators most of the music is 80s or 90s American.  It's great and I can sing right along...in English!

Satisfying the Final Need State....

We have managed pretty well covering our basic needs over here; shelter- check, clothing - check, and finally......food.  Navigating our way through the grocery stores over here has definitely been interesting.  Most of the products are packaged in Polish, of course, so we oftentimes aren't sure if we are buying sour cream or cottage cheese.  In addition, the stores are organized a bit differently than they are in the states.  And, finally the availability of grocery products here is quite different than at home.

We have found the availability of different items pretty random.  In general it is rare to find the same quantity of processed, packaged, or pre-made food items in the grocery store.  This has led to us expanding our culinary skills.  For example, we LOVE hummus and eat it with veggies all the time.  After an exhaustive search for hummus, we were out of luck.  So, we got inventive and made our own from a recipe we found online.  Our homemade hummus is better than any store bought version and we can customize it to make it extra garlicky.  If you want the recipe, just let us know!  We are looking forward to continuing to cook more at home.

The latest "food" to hit Poland is Oreos.  They are being advertised everywhere around the city and we even saw them being sampled at a grocery store here over the weekend.  Tom asked his colleagues what they thought about them and more than one commented that they were too sweet and disgusting.  ; )  This reaction is not surprising considering most foods here have much less sugar than their U.S. counterpart....peanut butter, jelly, cookies, etc. are much less sweeter over here.

Meat, including chicken breasts and deli meat can only be purchase at the deli counter in some stores here.  So, it has been very interesting looking at the various meats and picking the right one.  Fortunately, we have figured out the Polish words for Chicken, Turkey and Ham.  And, we have a standard phrase "pou kilo" which means half a kilo...which equals just over one pound.  So, we point to what we want and tell the lady "pou kilo".   Pork is a huge staple here in Poland so it is quite  easy to find a variety of ham, bacon, pork chops, and pork tenderloin...which Tom loves. : ) Fish also seems to be more widely available over here.

Since a couple people have asked, yes, they do have large "traditional" U.S. type grocery stores over here.  But, if you prefer, you can go to the market for your produce, the butcher for your meat and the bakery for your bread.  It's nice to see the variety of options for food shopping and  both types of stores are used pretty much equally.

The best thing about grocery shopping in Poland is the online grocery delivery service (their version of Peapod).  Almost every grocery chain features this service and the greatest part is that their minimum order for free delivery is about $30 USD and they can deliver as soon as 3 hours after you place your order.  To top it all off, the driver does not accept a tip and might not even take it if you try.  Many thanks to my friend, Ildi, for showing me the basics on Polish grocery delivery!

Exterior Shots...

Since folks have asked, here are a couple of shots of the exterior of our apartment.  

Our Apartment building with Tom pointing out about where we live

The view of Warsaw from our Sun Porch on a cloudy day.

On a side note, we had a great all American/Cincinnati dinner tonight and enjoyed some Skyline Chili.  It was awesome to have a "taste of home" right here in Poland.  

Awesome Thing About Living in Europe # 3

Awesome Thing About Living in Europe #3:  Fresh Milk Vending Machines

While walking through the farmer's market Tom and I stumbled upon this vending machine.  It took us a minute to figure out that it was in fact, an actual fresh milk vending machine.  We stood and watched a couple of folks purchase their bottle (1/2 or 1 Liter Size) and then fill it up under the dispenser with fresh milk.  It seemed like a pretty cool concept to us.  My dad and Tom have a theory that there is an actual live cow inside the machine dispensing milk...guess we'll never know the truth.  ; )  In the interim, we can always get cold, fresh milk.

Now that We are Settled...

More reasons to come and visit us!

Warsaw, Poland: an up-and-coming European museum destination

by Meg Nesterov on Mar 16th 2011,   link to article on the web

As an EU member with a good exchange rate and low prices, Poland is becoming a popular tourist destination in Eastern Europe. Most of the love goes to Krakow, with its original architecture and "new Prague" charm, but capital city  Warsaw has plenty to offer as a European museum destination. While much of the old town was leveled in World War II, the restorations have been painstakingly done and the tumultuous history makes for a great basis for museum exhibitions. Like Berlin, Warsaw has embraced its past and given the visitor plenty to learn from and new investments mean state-of-the-art attractions and exhibitions.

Given all of the places to see, Warsaw could easily fill a week (or two) on a Europe trip. Here's a look at some of Warsaw's best museums.

Only-in-Warsaw

Warsaw (Up)Rising Museum - Warsaw's proudest museum is a hi-tech interactive experience detailing the events of the two-month rebellion of the Polish people against the German forces as well as what preceded and followed. It borders on being overly comprehensive, the hundreds of artifacts can overwhelm, as can the crowds who line up daily. Be sure to follow museum signs as you walk through, as the chronological exhibit doesn't necessarily follow the logical path.



Gestapo Headquarters and Pawiak Prison - Two of the city's most unassuming buildings were once the most feared. Not as flashy as the Rising Museum but equally effective, the former Gestapo HQ contains a few stark cells that once held prisoners to be interrogated and often tortured before being taken to the prison, along with very professionally-done interactive displays telling the experiences of the poor souls held there. Most of the prison in the former Jewish ghetto has been destroyed, but dozens of artifacts and exhibits explain the prisoners' conditions and attempt to describe the horrors that happened there.


Fryderyk Chopin Museum - Another hi-tech, multimedia extravaganza, this brand new space dedicated to Poland's most famous composer goes beyond the usual exhibition with a fully customizable experience. Sample sounds from a rare score, read letters to the important women in Chopin's life, and see a recreation of his Paris drawing room.

Palace of Culture and Science - Not so much a museum as a gift Warsaw can't hide away, the tallest building in Poland was a gift from Joseph Stalin and it's hard to go anywhere in the city without seeing the Soviet beast. Though the building is enormous, not much of it is open to the public. It's worth a trip to the terrace for panoramic city views (see above photo) or spend an afternoon making sense of the bizarrely curated Museum of Technology.

Want more history? There are also museums dedicated to the Polish People's Movement and Polish Independence, plus the many churches and monuments of the restored Old City and Krakowskie Przedmiescie street. Warsaw's Jewish culture is also well-documented at the new Jewish Museum and Wola district historical museum.

Well-done in Warsaw


                          Culture Center Contemporary Art at Ujazdowski Castle - A few blocks away from the Gestapo Headquarters, the building has a history as a royal residence, medical hospital, and now modern art museum. Some of the most innovative artists in Poland and Europe are showcased here: November saw a show focused on Internet-shaped culture such as a scrolling display of Twitter results for the phrase "Best day ever."


Warsaw Zoo - In addition to being a nicely-maintained habitat for animals, this zoo has a fascinating and heroic past. Diane Ackerman's bookThe Zookeeper's Wife tells the story of the zoo director who aided in war efforts and saved many Jewish Poles from the Nazis by hiding them in the animal cages.


Royal Castle and Wilanow Palace - Just outside the Old City, the Royal Castle was also rebuilt from scratch and houses a slew of antiques and artwork, as well as excellent temporary exhibitions such as Leonardo da Vinci's "Lady with an Ermine" and other treasures from other museums. If you visit in good weather, it's worth a day out of town to visit the grand Wilanow Palace and gardens, the Polish Versailles.

Not exhausted yet? Small museums also specialize in collections of cars, trains, military weaponry, horse-riding, caricatures, and Polish physicist Marie Curie. See the In Your Pocket Warsaw guide for more info