Stuff That's Different #4 - Sylwester

In the U.S., "Silvester" is the name of a cat (and a few people).  :)

In Poland, "Sylwester", which is pronounced the same, is the word for New Year's Eve.

So have a Happy Sylwester everyone!  Don't over-indulge.  And be safe.

5 more pictures from Edinburgh (night time)

Since it gets so dark so early in Edinburgh in the winter (just like Poznań) and since I brought my Nikon D300 with me this time, I took a few opportunities to try some night photos from up and down the Royal Mile, which is the street my hotel is on.

I didn't bring a tripod with me, so all the shots were hand-held.  I knew this would result in high failure rate, but I got a few pictures that I think are OK after a bit of tweaking.  At least I have confidence that the lens I took and my camera give the option for some decent night shots if take more time, a tripod, and probably some neutral density and polarizing filters with me.

Anyway, here are the pictures.  Enjoy and feel free to provide comments if you like.  As always, click on the image to see it in the size I uploaded it.  Thanks

This was the most difficult image to take.  The hill and building were lit from below and required very long exposures.

One quick picture from Edinburgh (day time)

Because it was winter in Edinburgh, the sun goes down at about 3:30pm.  And on Saturday it was sprinkling for most of the afternoon, so I only took one picture during the day.  I'll post a few of the pictures I took at night in the next entry.

I was inspired to try this shot because there was a photo on the wall of my hotel room that is similar to this, although much better of course.  :)

I converted this to a Sepia tone because I liked the effect.  Also, the stone of the monument is a brown and sepia color in general, so it picked up the tones very well without washing out as much as it would with a grey-scale conversion.  Unfortunately, the (very) grey sky was overblown as I tried to take several quick shot up into the mist during a minor break in the sprinkles.  Still, out of the three pictures I tried, this one turned out pretty good I think.  Enjoy!

As always, you can click on the images to see them in the full size I upload them in.

My trip to Edinburgh for Christmas

I went to Edinburgh for Christmas this year to visit with my friend Justin Ross and his wife Shannon.  I hadn't seen Justin since he and Shannon moved to Edinburgh from Sacramento over a year ago, so this was a nice chance to catch up and spend the holidays with friends.

I arrived early Friday afternoon and met up with Justin later that day.  Shannon was tied up cooking.  Justin and I grabbed some coffee and chatted for a while, catching up.  Unfortunately for the dinner plans, I was pretty wiped out for some reason (HINT: A bit of foreshadowing here) and ended up skipping dinner to crash early at my hotel.

Saturday, all three of us met up at the German Market.  Besides wandering through the market, we also toured one of the art museum's that the Market is right next to (I think it was the National Gallery), and Justin and Shannon went on some rides.  We all then grabbed some coffee, went to Justin and Shannon's flat to chat for several hours, and then went out for very nice French dinner.  Feeling a bit tired still, we split up after that.  After resting up at my hotel for a bit, I decided that since the sprinkles of rain seemed to have stopped that I would go out and try some night photography.  After a bit of that I went back to the hotel and crashed, looking forward to a nice Christmas day with Justin and Shannon and our planned Thai food for dinner.

Unfortunately, Christmas day did not get off to a good start.  I woke a bit after 6am feeling VERY ill and nauseous.  This continued through the day getting worse and worse.  I cancelled all plans with Justin and Shannon and spent Christmas day holed up in my hotel room with a raging fever, constant severe nausea (that on occasions led to what you expect nausea to lead to), and the sorts of aches and pains you also expect in that type of situation.  It was a thoroughly miserable day in which I hardly ever got out of bed.  I tried to eat some food and quickly realized that was a VERY bad idea.  And I was really worried that I would still be so sick the next day that I would not be able to make my flight back to Poznań.

Luckily, despite a 3am wake-up call from my body that was similar to the 6am call the day before, by around 8am I was up, packed, and feeling like if things went just right, I could make it home.  I lucked out at the Edinburgh airport and was checked in and through security almost directly (honestly, I think it was the fastest time checking in and through security I've ever had).  After a couple hours of waiting I got to boarded onto my flight and took off.  A longer wait through passport control on returning to Poland and eventually I got back to my apartment, rapidly feeling worse.

I managed to eat some semi-solid food (yay yogurt) and keep it down, and promptly crashed for 14 hours of fitful sleep, still with a fever going.  After getting up today and feeling much better, I was shocked to find I had lost 11 pounds in 2 days.  So lots of water and mild food today, and hopefully I'll be better soon.  Now I just hope my New Years turns out much better than my Christmas day went.

Have a wonderful New Year's everyone!

** Check back in a day or so, and I'll start posting some of the pictures from Edinburgh after I have processed them.

Some more pictures from today's snow

Here are some more pictures from today's snow.  I would guess we got about 1.5 to 2 inches of snow over the whole day.  Unfortunately, it won't be sticking around.  It supposed to be cloudy by warmer tomorrow, and then rain for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.  And apparently Edinburgh is supposed to be the same, so I won't escape the rain there.  Anyway, here are some more pictures:

This is the view out my kitchen window just before I headed to work.

This is behind the cathedral that is on my way to work.  Snow still isn't too bad.

View from the 16th floor later in the day.  Snow is starting to get worse.

From the 16th floor at the height of the snow.  Visibility got pretty restricted.

A bit later in the day.  It's starting to get darker and most of the snow has fallen.

First snow

We finally got our first snow here in Poznań that is sticking to the ground.  I saw snow one other time a couple of weeks ago as it went by my desk on the 16th floor, but nothing stuck.  Now I get to see what walking to work and back will be like.  :)

Unfortunately, I don't think it will stay around long as it will supposedly be warming back up a bit tomorrow.

My pants were lying to me

So I encountered a minor conundrum recently as my weight loss since I arrived has forced me to buy some new pants.  When I left the US I was in a hybrid phase where I had lost enough weight that some of my 38" waist pants were becoming nearly too loose, but I could only fit in a few certain pairs of 36" pants.  And since virtually no one makes 37" pants, I didn't have much in between.  So I ended up shipping over a large amount of 36" pants from my slimmer days that I figured I would eventually start fitting into.

But as I lost more weight and even the 36" pants started feeling loose, I decided to go out and buy some new pants for work.  Figuring I would start with 90 cm (the same as 36") and see if how much I have to go down with whatever brand I found (I know there is always some variability) I was shocked to find that the 36" pants I eventually found fit just fine.  And that this was true across all 4 of the brands I tried.  And that even those brands I tried but didn't buy (apparently skinny leg pants aren't just an option here, they are nearly the default, and those aren't comfortable for me) fit around my waist fine.

So out of curiousity I pulled out some of the pants that didn't really fit any more that I had brought over.  This included pants marked as both 38" and 36".  And in general, I found that they were all nearly at an inch bigger around the waistline (measured from where the flap over the zipper would lay to the end, which skipped the part that overlays the zipper area).  Most were actually over an inch bigger, which one pair of supposedly 38" pants actually having a waistline slightly over 40".  And nearly all of my supposedly 36" pants were 37" or bigger, with most being between 37" and 37.5".

So I have to wonder, are your pants lying to you too?  And why is that seemingly every pair of pants I brought from the US was significantly larger than advertised while that doesn't seem to be the case with the European brands I have bought here?  Have American's gotten so fat that our clothes retailers deliberately sell us clothes with incorrect labels in order to make us feel better about ourselves (and buy more of their brand)?

A day (or week) in the new life

I figured I'd give you all an idea of what my new life here in Poland is like so far.  It will probably come across as fairly boring, but that's at least somewhat by design.

Because I still have to work with folks in the US (in addition to here in Europe and in India) my working hours are usually from sometime around Noon to between 7:30 and 9:00pm.  Some days more, some days less.  Now as anyone who knows me well can attest, this is NOT a bad thing.  I'm not a morning person by any stretch of the imagination, so the ability to sleep in every day until around 10am is WONDERFUL.  I think I'm consistently getting more sleep during the week now than I have gotten in at least a decade, if not longer.

When I get off work I may head to the mall across the street if I need anything from the grocery store, or if I feel like I need to walk around for a while, I will head home to drop off my laptop and stuff from work and then head over to one of the malls or somewhere to look around.  Given that it's winter and it gets dark around 3:30pm I'm usually not wandering around outside too much.

After that it's home to make dinner.  I'll usually check Discovery (3 channels in English) or BBC (also 3 channels in English) to see if there is anything on that I want to watch while making and eating dinner.  If not, I'll do some reading (either on my iPad or on the internet).  And depending on how energetic I still feel, I may put some time in with my Rosetta Stone software trying to learn Polish (I seem to retaining more of the words I pick up just wandering around town and seeing on signs, but I am making slow progress).  

Then it's off to bed between Midnight and 2am (usually right around 1am).

Saturday is my "wander around" / errand / shopping day.

Sunday is my laundry / clean the apartment / study Polish day (I try to make sure I do an hour or two every Sunday so that I am making some progress).

So why is it boring by design?  Partly because I wanted to make sure I put regular effort into learning the language.  I figured Winter would be a time when I was not that inclined to wander around outside and explore,  so if I spent it focusing on the language and learning the basics of what I needed to know about life in Poland, then when the Spring and Summer roll around I will hopefully be that much more prepared to get more out of travelling and wandering around town.

I haven't done a ton of socializing yet.  I've gone out to a few meals with co-workers, including earlier this week (thanks to Daria, Kasia, Karolina, Monika, Krzystoff, Waldemar, and Pawel for coming along).  And I know about a "language exchange" meeting that happens everything Thursday.  Unfortunately my schedule and distractions haven't let me make it to that one yet, but it's on the schedule for the new year.

So there it is.  An overview of my boring new life so far.  Hopefully once spring and summer roll around I will have more interesting posts for you all as I hope to a lot more travelling.  I'm off to Edinburgh this Friday for Christmas.  And possibly another trip (somewhere) after that for New Years.  I just saw a reason to try and go to Berlin around the end of January (if I can arrange it) and then it's off to Stockholm, Helsinki, Turku, and elsewhere come the spring.

Have a wonderful day.

A faint hope dashed......

When I left the U.S. to come to Poland I had the faintest of hopes that somehow the pollens, molds, and other things I'm allergic to would be just different enough that they would not trigger my allergies.  It was a faint hope, but alas it has been dashed.

Given that the only places I can remember my allergies not bothering me (in my entire life) have been in the middle of the sea while in the Navy, and in Oman and Dubai (where at the time there was virtually no living plant life to generate pollen and not enough moisture to support mold), I'm not really surprised.

Poznań has had a fair amount of rain this last week.  And one evening (Wednesday or Thursday) we even saw snow falling outside our window on the 16th floor at work.  None of it appeared to reach the ground, but it was the first snow fall anyone had seen.  But when the rain largely stopped yesterday and the sky started clearing, the sun came out, it warmed up a bit, and the mold spores lept into the air with joy so that they could be carried along to my sinuses via the wind.

Oh well, I can still hold out some faint hope for the Spring, can't I??  Have a great day everyone.

Christmas in Scotland

Since I didn't really want to try and go home for Christmas this year (very long flights and EXPENSIVE tickets), I'm heading to Edinburgh to spend it with Justin Ross and his wife Shannon. When they found out I wasn't flying home, they kindly invited me to spend Christmas with them.

I will only be there 3 nights due to the weird Ryannair flight schedule between Poznan and EDI, but maybe when I get back to Poznan I'll look at taking another trip somewhere else for a few days around New Years. 

But I did get a decent deal on the Radisson Blu, so I get to spoil myself for the few days I'm there (hopefully).

A bit of Polish history

I came across this YouTube video and thought it was pretty interesting to see the way the borders of the Polish state have changed from 960 AD to the current day.  From the start of the country, to it's expansion into a great empire, to it's entire disappearance for a while, and finally into it's reappearance.

Ignore the overly-done patriotic sounding music and just watch the map.  It's pretty interesting in my opinion.  And of course, if you get interested in looking into it a bit more, Wikipedia has a pretty good overview of Polish history from the 10,000 foot level.

Stuff That's Different #3 - The Cost of College

College education is free to Polish citizens all the way up through the Masters Degree level.  And the cost of a Ph.D is pretty low as I understand it (comparatively).  And the education seems to be of pretty high quality.  The medical school here in Poznań attracts students from around the world.  I've met students from the U.S., Taiwan, China, and India so far in just the 2 months or so I've been here.  Strangely enough, I seem to meet the majority of them at Subway when I'm getting lunch.  =)

Add in that seemingly most young Poles speak not only Polish, but English as well, and I suspect the US could learn a bit about running a successful education system here.  And those young people I've met who don't speak English often speak some other language (Russian or German mostly).

Stuff That's Different #2 - Pizza

There are some pizza places here in Poznań, but when I'm told by everyone I asked that the best pizza in town is Pizza Hut, it's a bit of a shock.  I'll admit I haven't tried any other places yet, but I've only had pizza once so far.  But coming from California where pizza is practically a religion, having anyone recommend Pizza Hut as the best option is like someone taking the Lords name in vain in front of the Pope.  It's just not something you expect to happen.

A Lesson in Weight Loss

Interesting fact of the day:

My weight in May 2009 = 243 lbs (my all time high as far as I know)


My weight on 14 Sep 2011 = 224 lbs (last full day in the US)

My weight today = 209 lbs

That's nearly as much weight lost in 2.5 months as I had lost in the 2 years prior.

Lesson learned:  If you want to lose weight quickly, sell your car and move to Europe.  =)

But given how little difference losing 15 pounds has made in how I look, I suspect I still probably need to lose about 20 more pounds.  But hey, I have about 21 more months to go.

Have a nice day everyone.

New Food #4 - Chleb

So it's hardly a new food, but bread (aka Chleb) seems to be a MAJOR part of the Polish diet.  It's inexpensive, it's good, and there are all sorts available that you can get, and it's fresh every day.  I find that I'm eating more bread here than I ever really did in the US.

My favorite are the little baguettes (about 6-8 inches long) of garlic bread that you can get.  They slice the baguettes diagonally a bunch of times and into each slice they put some olive oil, butter, and garlic.  If you can time it right and get them while they are hot, they are fantastic!

Another type I've found is called Bartowski or something like that.  That's a picture below.  It's sort of dense, and seems to have a bit of rye in the mix, and it makes really good french toast (although I can't seem to find any vanilla here for some reason).

There are also all sorts of rolls, wheat breads, and other types.  I've only tried about 5 or 6 different breads yet, so I figure I'll have lots of variety to try over the next couple of years.

New Food #3 - Mövenpick Ice Cream

Having stumbled across Mövenpick Yogurt (New Food #2) and having liked it so much, I was really interested when I stumbled across Mövenpick Ice Cream.  There are two types, a "regular" line that I would compare to Dryers or Bryers; and a super-premium line that is better than either of those two.

So far I've tried the coffee flavor of the regular line, and it was fantastic.  And I've tried the Strawberry and Tiramisu flavors of the super-premium line.  The Strawberry was more of a sorbet than an ice cream and was OK, but didn't blow me away.  The Tiramisu though was fantastic.  The Super-Premium line isn't cheap though.  After converting to dollars, it's about $10 for 810ml (which I would guess is a bit more than 2 pints).

Stuff That's Different #1 - Wedding Rings

So to fill some more space on the blog, I'm going to start posting short little "Stuff That's Different" posts that just highlight a single thing that is different here in Poland versus the US.

The first thing that's different is that wedding rings are worn on the right hand here.  As a single-guy, you can see how this might have been a bit confusing for me at first, and why I might think it's an important thing to know.  ;)

New Food #2 - Mövenpick Yogurt

So I was reminded when talking to my Mom on Thanksgiving that I had not done any new foods since the first one, and that it had been a bit since I updated the blog.  I've had a cold for the last week or so, so I'll use that as an excuse.  =)

So as anyone who knows me can attest, I like my yogurt.  Chobani yogurt is fantastic, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to get any here in Poland.  So I tried several of the local Polish brands but the yogurt style here tends to be more liquidy (is that a word?) and much less custardy (what about that one?), which isn't really the way I like it.

I lucked out though when I tried a brand called Mövenpick of Switzerland.  It's a custard-style yogurt (slightly thicker than Yo-plait) and is really really good.  There are a few flavors that are definitely different than what you see in the US, such as Strawberry-Rhubarb, Apple Pie, Plum, Caramel, Apple-Pear, and Strawberry-Guava.  I haven't tried all of the flavors yet, but the Raspberry, Caramel, and Blueberry are all fantastic.  The limited-edition Coffee flavor was not so hot.


Interestingly enough, the Mövenpick yogurt sold in Poland is made in Finland, not Switzerland.

Apparently, I'm a wimp......

So I am getting my first taste of the "mild" Polish winter this week, and I have come to conclusion that I am an absolute wimp when it comes to the cold.  While I see some people who are bundled up against the cold, I still see lots of Polish women who are still dressed in short skirts and open jackets while walking outside.  Meanwhile, I went out this weekend and bought another sweater and a pair of casual shoes that were all leather (all but one pair of my casual shoes were purchased for Sacramento, meaning as much mesh as possible to let the feet breathe) because my feet were getting cold as I walked around.  I'm also nearly the only guy I see wearing gloves yet.

So all in all, I definitely appear to be a wimp when it comes to the cold.  Maybe I'll adapt.  Maybe I'll have to go out and buy one of the really warm jackets by Wellensteyn (http://www.wellensteyn-usa.com/home.aspx) that I stumbled across in one of the local stores.

Have fun.

Father Frost is coming for a visit

I'm told Father Frost is coming for a visit.  No, not Santa Claus.  I'm talking about a bit of cold weather.  On a whim I decided to name some temperature ranges for my own amusement.  They are:

Kid Boreal

Kid Boreal is temperatures from 15 degrees C to just above 0 degrees C (59-32 degrees F)

Father Frost

Father Frost is temperatures from 0 degrees C to -15 degrees C (32-5 degrees F)

Old Man Winter

And Old Man Winter is any temperature below -15 degrees C (roughly 3 degrees F and less)


We are supposed to  have lows under 30 degrees F starting Thursday and all the way through Monday or Tuesday.  And our highs are supposed to be around 40 degrees F or less (~5 degrees C).

So wish me luck while I get my first "mild" taste of the Polish Winter.  One of my co-workers today was mentioning that just a couple of years ago it reached -30 degrees C here in Poznan (that's -22 Fahrenheit) during a cold stretch of Winter.  I just hope it doesn't quite that bad.

Have fun everyone!

My New Best Friend

Meet my new best friend.  Yes, it's an iron.  But what can I say, my washing machine is small and it seems that everything that comes out of it is DEEPLY wrinkled.  So in an attempt to not look like a complete rag bag, an iron has become an absolute necessity.    =)

And yes, that is a pillow case I'm ironing there.  There dryer function on my combo washer/dryer tends to leave things pretty damp, and since I only have 1 pair of sheets so far, I iron them not to get the wrinkles out, but to help dry them.

I may have to beg for some advice from the ladies among my co-workers because frankly I feel that I am missing some deeply held knowledge that the Europeans have long since worked out on how to keep your clothes looking good. =)

Unfortunately, I seem to have reached the current limit of my "single-guy skills" and the results of my ironing definitely could use some improvement.  I think I'm going to have to try and not dry a few things and just let them hang to dry.  But I have no idea how long that will take and what the results will be.  But hey, you only live once right? 

Have fun everyone.  Especially those of you in the US with your nice full size washer and dryers!

Graffiti Time #1

One thing I really don't like about Poznań is how much graffiti there is around town.  Unfortunately, nearly all of it is badly done, defaces otherwise decent property, and frequently quite irritating (such as the idiots who used a permanent pen marker to draw all over the screen and keys for a tram ticket machine, making it nearly impossible to see the screen).

So it was nice to come across some graffiti that actually showed at least a bit of artistic talent (or a lot in one case) AND that was placed along the river-side of a protective wall where it is only visible from the river and which doesn't deface an otherwise perfectly good building).

So here are the only decently done graffiti I have seen so far.  Enjoy!

I love this!  That is actually King Kong on top of the old Pozna Town Hall in the old Market Square.

I also like this Tarzan image where the painted branches meld into the actual tree.

This one isn't so great.  But it's still worlds better than usual unintelligible scribbles I see.

This one also isn't that great, but I like the giant snoz.  =)

Puppy Time!

While I was out for my walk along the Warta River on Saturday, I came across several people who were walking their dogs.  There was one lady who had these 2 small dogs that were bouncing along through the high grass and that were pretty funny to watch.  One dog with black markings was constantly on the move and it was hard to get some pictures of.  But she was nice enough to stop and let me grab a few pictures of her other dog (with brown markings). 

So for your enjoyment, I present a couple of polish puppies.

Pictures from the River Side

Here are a couple of pictures I took when I was walking along the Warta River on Saturday.  I hope you enjoy them!

This is the underside of the bridge near my house.  I like the symmetry.

Again, I liked the symmetry of this picture.

Poznań still has lots of buildings that are in desperate need of a fix up, such as this.

There is a factory near the river in town and this is one of the smoke/steam towers.

Off to the River

Here are a couple of pictures from my Saturday walk along the Warta river. 

This is from the park behind my apartment complex that leads down to the river.

And this one is part of the nicer path along the river.  A bit further along there is road, and on the other side the paved path stops.

Weather Worth Travelling Across the Ocean For

The weather today in Poznań was wonderful.  At least it was wonderful if you are me.  It was completely overcast, a uniformly grey sky, and yet a nice comfortable 55 degrees (Fahrenheit).  It was the type of weather that I would happily travel across the ocean for.  The type of weather that just makes me happy.  I realize that many others find days like this depressing, but tough luck, go live in California.  :)

With such great weather, and no shadows to be seen, I grabbed my camera and went for a walk for a couple of hours.  I decided to head in a different direction this time, and decided to walk along the Warta river (pronounced "Varta") which is actually very close to my apartment complex.

As the Warta flows through Poznań, it is contained in concrete banks and has wide flats to either side to act as flood areas.  So there really isn't much to see along the river, other than the occasional duck.  Also unfortunately, it seems that the Warta is a favorite hang-out for drinking kids, because there are broken bottles all over the shore and paths.  It also seems to be a favorite place for people to walk their dogs (aka "Pies", that's "pee-ez" not pies).

The picture above is one that I took while wandering along the river.  I'll post some more over the next few days.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Random Photo #1

I figured every once in a while I would throw up a random photo that I took, and that I happen to like. 


I finally managed to find an EU power connector for the battery charger for my camera, so in the waning light of the afternoon, on a VERY overcast day, I went out to take a few photos.  And it is getting cold here, so I didn't stay out too long.

Unfortunately, I didn't end up any pictures that liked that much.  But I was playing around with this image in Lightroom and liked the effect that one of the "creative" settings generated.  There is no vignetting (that darkness around the corners) in the actual photo and the original colors aren't nearly this bright.  But I like the effect that occurs when Lightroom "punches" up the colors.

Enjoy.

Views from the 16th floor

Just a quick post for tonight.  My internet connection finally got activated at home, so here is a new post.

Tuesday night I ended up working a bit later than usual, and around 9:30pm I found myself as the last person on my floor.  So I decided to turn out the lights and try taking a few photo's with my small portable camera.  So here's a couple of pictures of Poznań at night.

This is the view outside the window near my current desk.  We're moving desks this coming weekend, so it won't last long.

This is the view looking west.  That's the Stary Browar shopping center across the street.

This is the view to the East and that street you see winding down the middle is the way I walk home.

And this is a church that I walk by on my way home every day.  Hopefully I'll have some daylight photos soon.

No updates for a bit.....

Sorry there have been no updates.  I moved out of my hotel last Friday, and don't have internet at home (or much TV for that matter).  And I don't expect to get internet until this coming Friday (or so I'm told).

So, no, I haven't been kidnapped by the Russian Mob, eloped after falling madly in love with a young Polish lady, or anything nearly so dramatic.  I just don't have access to the internet other than at work and didn't want to abuse the privilege of personal internat access at work too much.  =) 

Expect more posts next week.  Thanks.

There Seems to be a lot of Art in this Small City

One of the joys of walking around Poznań so far has been stumbling unexpected on some cool bit of art.  Take the reliefs in the picture above.  They are entirely around the arched doorway of a museum that is otherwise completely grey old brick.  As you are walking down the street you may not even know it's a museum until you get the door and look at the little sign.

The exterior of the building is the same all the way around, plain grey stone.  Until you get around to the very back on a narrow street and happen to look up at just one section of the wall and see the mural below up on the third story:

Or there is the occasional bit of whimsical artwork like the painting of Charlie Chaplin below that for some reason is painted at the corner of a building near the Old Market Square.

Or there is the music.  Poznań is home to a pretty large music college, and you will occasionally come across musicians (current or former students?) performing in the street.  Or just what are obviously less talented musicians trying to busk for a bit of coin.  And as the birthplace of Chopin (and Hindenburgh I'm told) Poznań also has what I'm told is an outstanding symphony.

And seemingly nearly every weekend there is some sort of performance that goes on in the Old Market Square around Noon.  I stumbled across this performance where they were bringing out the winners of a local high school singing competition.  If I understood things correctly the young lady in the picture was 15 and finished 2nd-overall in a city-wide high-school singing competition.  And like a lot of music here in Poland, she got up and sang in English.  This was nice because at least I could understand the lyrics.

Hopefully once I get settled into my new apartment and my computer arrives, I'll dig out my camera gear and see if I can some better pictures of the some of artwork and interesting architecture around town.

A City Under Renovation

Poznań is proving to be an interesting city so far.  Since I haven't really travelled much elsewhere in Europe it's hard to say if this is common, but old Poznań at least is a city under renovation.  You see buildings completely under renovation like the picture above and you also see building where people still seem to be living in parts of them while the exterior is being re-done.  Must of the city seems to be built of brick with a plaster or stucco exterior so I'm sure a fair amount of upkeep may be needed given the winters and that much of the city was rebuilt after WWII (so I'm sure a lot of it is overdue for a serious overhaul).

The building in the picture above is only a few hundred feet from the old Market Square, which is among the older parts of the city (as I understand it) and where the old City Hall (now a museum) is located.  Along my walk to work from my hotel down a pedestrian street, they just recently finished tearing down the foundations of what looked like an old building and seem to be about to start building something new.  And directly behind the office tower I work in work is already underway on a brand new building.

I will be curious to come back in 5-10 years and see how much of the current Poznań is still around and how much might have been built over.  I hope they really keep as much of the old charm as possible.

Sometimes New Has It's Downsides

So as of today (Sunday) when I write this, I still haven't moved into my new apartment and probably won't for a few more days.  I noticed during our walkthrough on Friday that the bathroom sink was leaking a bit when the faucet was used into the drawer beneath the sink and the owner promised to get someone out to fix that.

However, being in desperate need of clean clothes I hauled a bunch of dirty clothes from my hotel to the new apartment on Saturday and decided at least I could get a few loads of laundry done.  I started up the first load, and thinking of the leaking faucet decided to stick around for a bit to make sure the washer didn't leak too.

The washing machine sounded a bit odd to me, but I have never dealt with any of these small combo units, so I didn't pay much attention.  And after going about 15 minutes with no leaks or signs of anything odd (other than the noise) I decided to go to the grocery store and start stocking my new kitchen.

When I got back 30 minutes later I found that unfortunately, I left WAY too soon.  As I opened the front door I saw a puddle of water extending from under the bathroom door almost all the way across the hall.  I dropped my groceries on the counter, opened the bathroom door and found the whole bathroom floor flooded in water.  I managed to pause the wash cycle, and the figure out to the drain the machine.  I was extremely lucky that the plummer or someone had left a heavy red towel in the drawer below the sink, and that one of the things I had just bought was a roll of paper towels.  Unfortunately, one of the things I had forgotten to do was add the owner's cell phone to my new blackberry's contacts list.

So I put up my groceries quickly (There wasn't much.  When you have to carry your groceries by hand and it's a 10-15 minute walk from the store to your apartment I find I am just making a lot of small trips) and spent the next hour or so mopping up water with that towel, wringing it out in the tub, repeat, repeat.  And then using paper towels to try and at least dry off all of the wood flooring as much as possible.

I then went to my hotel, dug up the owners phone number and tried to call him.  Unfortunately his phone was off so I sent him an email and today he was there with plumbers to make sure things got fixed.  Apparently when the washer was installed the guys doing that work forgot to take out the braces that help keep it stable during shipping and these caused the leak.

Supposedly everything is fixed now.  And just to be safe I asked him to check the dishwasher, shower, etc. and they are all supposed to be good as well.  Given that my co-worker Kasia was nice enough to take myself and another co-worker (Krys) who had also just moved to Poznan to Ikea this morning, I think I actually have enough stuff to live in the apartment now (it did not come with plates, glasses, pans, towels, sheets, blankets, etc).

 I'll go by tomorrow after work and if I manage to do some laundry successfully, I'll give notice at my hotel and finally get away from living in a hotel.  Sorry there are no pictures.  I was way too busy trying to clean up the mess and didn't think of taking any pictures.

And unrelated to this story at all, Big Thanks to Kasia again today for playing cheuffer with her husband's A6 wagon to myself and Krys and hauling us out to Ikea and all of the stuff we bought (which was a LOT).  It was MUCH appreciated.

A New Home Sweet Home

So the contract for the apartment I put a deposit on came through, and after a few modifications I signed the lease contract, handed over the first months rent, and took delivery of the keys.  As I said in my prior post the apartment had just been fully re-done so I get the benefit of everything being brand new.  I'm up on the 4th floor (which is the 5th floor if you're in America, they are start at level 0 here); and there is one more level above me.  So let me give you a brief (and not fantastically shot) tour:

Here's a look in the front door.  That's my bedroom through the door straight ahead, with a storage/coat closet there to the left of the door.

Standing just inside to the right of the doorway, this is looking at the hallway immediately in front of the door.  That black glass door is the door to the bathroom.  And you can still see the storage/coat closet there on the right.

Peeking in the bathroom door, you see one of the major attractions for me.  That is a combination washer and dryer, and they are pretty rare over here.  Most people in an apartment just have a washer and they hang the wet closes in their apartment (during winter) or outside (summer) to air dry.  When my agent found this place she mentioned to the owner that I was looking for a combo unit and he was nice enough to add one as part of the build-out.

Looking at the left side of the bathroom was one of the other main attractions of this place.  That is is a large-sized tub with shower head.  The fact that it has at least partial glass for the shower was nice for splash control as again, over here many tubs have a shower head or hand wand but have no curtain or glass to help keep the water in the shower area.

Now back into the hall and looking to the immediate right once you enter the door you see my combo living / dining / kitchen area.  Yes, that's my bag and giant sunglasses on the bookcase there.  As you can see the apartment is nicely furnished with a couch, coffee table, bookcase, storage cabinet (that white thing at the bottom right), a TV, and an extra chair (that orange thing at the bottom right).

Looking at the right side of the living room you see the storage unit and chair.  And the apartment even comes with a bit of artwork on the wall.  There are even lights behind that red panel so that if you want some dim lighting at night you can just turn those on.

And here is my "dining room" / nook.  The balcony is behind there.  And no, I have no idea why only 1 of the 4 chairs is red.  Either they were out of white ones or the architect or designer thought it would be an interesting touch.

Standing in the living room and looking the same direction you came in the front door, this is my kitchen.  The long white cupboard on the left is the refrigerator, and the smaller unit below is a freezer.  The white panel to the left of the over hides a dish washer too.  And I have both an induction cooktop and an over as you can see.  That bit of brown on the left is the door to a decent-sized pantry.

The oven is also a bit rare here unless you have a newer apartment.  One of the apartments I saw just had a cookplate and a microwave as the sole cooking appliances.  And a small under-counter dorm-size refrigerator is pretty common as well.  So again, I feel lucky that my agent found this place that was just being done up to more western tastes.

With the blinds up you can see I have a nice little balcony out there.  One thing you may not be able to see if that there are no window or door screens here.  If the window or door is open, everything outside can come right on inside.  Given that there is no AC over here, during the summer that will likely mean a fair number of mosquitos get in, or flies.

Back through the hallway into the bedroom and looking to the right you see the bed, mirror, and chest of drawer that come with the apartment.  And there is even a TV in the bedroom.  Unfortunately, for the cable package I ended up getting, I believe I will only have 8 channels available in English and I think 3 or 4 of those are news channels.

And finally, looking to the left from the bedroom door is the walk-in closet.  I'm told these are extremely rare other than in brand new buildings, so this was another great aspect of the apartment.  Even with as much of a clothes-horse as I am there is more than enough space.

So that's the new apartment.  Despite how big it looks in pictures, I think it's only around 560 square fee total. 

Unfortunately, things didn't off to a perfect start, and I'll cover in my next post.

A bit of a new look

I decided to try one of the new "dynamic" templates that Google recently added to Blogger.  Feel free to let me know if you prefer the old version or this one.

I'm also going to try and use the schedule feature of Blogspot to schedule some posts so that I don't just dump a bunch of content whenever I get the chance.  So expect another post after this one for tonight, and then I'll schedule some new things for one item a day, each day thereafter until I run of immediate ideas. 

Thanks for checking the blog out.

New Food of the Week #1

I decided I am going to try and taste at least one new food every week.  It might be something at a restaurant, something I picked up in a grocery store, or even something I made.  To kick things off I decided to go with something easy and grabbed a package of cookies.

I generally love coffee-flavored anything and these looked good on the package.  There is a coffee-flavored cookie inside with caramel on top, dipped in chocolate with nuts.  But I have to say I won't be buying any more of these.  The cookie inside is very hard, and that just threw me off what would otherwise by something I would probably enjoy.

Luckily, while wandering around today I stumbled across a small shop that specializes in foods from abroad for expats.  There was lots of stuff from Japan, India, Australia, and the UK, with a bit of stuff from other countries.  I figure between that store and what I can find in the grocery stores, there will be lots to sample.