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Jonnys Eastern Delights!
We arrived in Warsaw late on Wednesday night, and I immediately had a nice feel about the place. Just a couple of small things like meeting a local girl who had just come back from working as a cleaner in Manchester, and then a friendly lady who helped us with directions, meant that things just got of to a good start. We went out for a gorgeous last meal together, and then
after seeing the girls off on Thursday morning, I had a welcome chill out day - slightly unsociable, keeping myself to myself, but it was what I needed. So, after doing literally nothing other than have a bit of a wander and let the world go by, I went to bed nice and relaxed. I then made Friday my sightseeing day, going to the history museum, the royal palace and various other sights along the Riyal Way and inthe Old Town. Nothing was overly spectacular, but when you consider that over 85% of Warsaws buildings were completely destroyed during WWII, the Old Town in particular was quite impressive. I was all up for a big Friday night out, but frankly the hostel was dead and I didn't feel like venturing miles out alone so I called it quits early - probably no bad thing since I was feeling under the weather.
Saturday morning I took advantage of a freebie day at the National Museum - which had the biggest painting I have eer seen, and then watched Scouse sneak a draw before setting off for the bus station. Proving how much you are at the mercy of other people whilst travelling, the directions I got were useless and I ended up with a 2km walk from where I got off the bus - good job I set off in plenty of time!
On the bus, it suddenly dawned on me that the most direct route to Vilnius would go through Belarus, for which I would need a transit visa. It just hadn't crossed my mind, and I spent the next couple of hours considering how best to go about bribing the border officials - but thankfully it didn't come to that!
Expecting to arrive in Vilnius at around 6am, I was more than a little surprised when just after 3am everybody started piling out and the drivier looked at me as if to say "What the hell are you doing still on the bus?". So I set of for a nice late night/early morning walk through the old town, stopping to chat to a local on the way, and after going the long way round in typical Jonny fashion, finally reached the hostel about 5am!
In Poland, I leave behind a country that I really like. Cheap, beautiful women, and a strong sense of being proud in the country that the people fought so hard to have, have all made it a really interesting week.
Jonny
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