4 days down, 4 to go

Dzien dobry. Good morning everyone :)

Thank you for the replies and enthusiasm, it is fun to share this experience with you all. I have more pictures from last night and this morning at work online. I also corrected some misspellings of names, I'm still getting it all figured out.

Tom and I grabbed dinner together last night before heading out with the crew from work for the pub crawl. We couldn't make up our minds as to what to try so we just dove into a place when we were both too hungry to care. It turned out to be a very high class restaurant with waiters in vests and silver platters and covered dishes and such. Tom and I were a little under dressed but no one threw us out. I had an excellent roast duck with veggies and noodles and a glass of wine. Eating out here is different in a few ways. Always plan to have at least 2 hours to eat out, and if you have to beg them for a check if you want to leave before then. The philosophy here is that they want you to linger and to only come if you call them, no automatic refills on coffee. All items are sold individually and in a few different portion sizes so you can put together whatever meal you want, which makes it very hard to decide. And over half the menu is usually devoted to the drinks list. I get a strange look every time I order a glass of water, and forget it if you want ice.

They have 2 main competing beers here and you are either an Okocim drinker or a Zywiec drinker and the debate rages on as to which is the king of beers in Poland. To me they both taste like pilsners and my taste leans towards darks and stouts so I'm not too impressed. The vodka is very good here. Their taste in imported American wine is Juilo Gallo and Carlo Rossi! I'm afraid to order a mixed cocktail here and I think I will stick to beer, wine, and liquor served neat.

They actually have in old town a Polish version of the Hooters chain, but here it is called Roosters, using the same 2 large and suggestive Os as the eyes of their mascot. I have not gone in there yet but Maciek assured me that the original concept has not been lost in translation. I will just have to see for myself.

I had a blast last night with the guys, and they showed me a few of their favorite night spots. Monday night was relatively quiet, but with over 100,000 university students in one city and only 400 bars it is still hard to find seating and sometimes standing room in most of them. I tried to get a shot of each of the clubs we stopped in but after awhile I stopped keeping track or trying to remember their names. You can see a few of the street signs updated on the photo album.

I was beat this morning but managed to stumble downstairs and get my breakfast and jump on the tram to work in time. I'm so glad I took the time to get a new pair of glasses before the trip.

I've got to get back to work now, so take care and I will write again soon.