Looking back from Cafe Philo in Monflanquin

View from Cafe Philo

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 It's the last day of May. I left home May 7. It does not seem that long ago.  When we finally got to the Chopin Airport in Warsaw May 17, the agent told us we could not get on the plane to Toulouse because we did not have the correct Covid Test. We needed a PCR test rather than the rapid Covid Test we had taken in New York City.   I stared at the agent. I stared at Bill. To the agent, I presented my vaccination card. No, France does not care about your vaccinations.  I stared at Bill and the agent again.  It occurred to me to ask for the manager of Air France.  She arrived with the same story. If we boarded the plane without the PCR Test,  Air France would be fined. Well, we can't have that,  I thought.  Clearly, we would now miss our flight and be obliged to find a Covid testing facility in Warsaw. I pictured me and Bill, already overtired, hauling our suitcases all over Warsaw in search of a health center. Luckily and amazingly, we found a Covid testing center across from the departure gates in a Marriot Courtyard Hotel.   We filled out confusing Polish forms, got jabbed, and looked forward to getting the results online in 24 hours. In the meantime, we needed a place to spend the night. I rebooked our flight by phone as there is no Air France desk at the Chopin Airport.  The person who handed me the confusing Polish health center forms showed me how to call Air France with my American cell phone.  Rebooking turned out to be super easy and free of charge.  Now, where to stay? We asked about rates at the Marriot Courtyard and immediately reserved a room for the night.  Once installed in our room, we felt comfortable and safe and grudgingly accepted we would not be flying to France until the following day. We ordered room service which I never do, but now deemed a necessity as Covid restrictions in Poland, prevented us from dining in restaurants.  We spent the day reading, watching Netflix, and looking for our test results online.  Fortunately, we got them around dinner time and printed them at the hotel's business center. We dined wearing blankets on the hotel's terrace.  That afternoon, I insisted on walking around the deserted airport for exercise. At the one open coffee spot, I engaged in conversation with the barista. I don't know how but the subject of Jews in Poland came up. According to the barista, Poland does not acknowledge Jews. They are culturally invisible.  They don't exist. She told us she herself is Jewish.  I decided if I were further detained at the airport, I would come back to interview her. 

More about Cafe Philo in my next post......

Eating Our Way Through Warsaw

• Enjoying a snack on a lovely pedestrian street in Warsaw.
• All of Poland rejoices as outdoor dining resumes luckily the day we arrive.

Bill enjoys Polish breakfast

 

So happy to drink coffee

 Still unsure of what lies ahead at the Polish border, we play tourist and visit the Warsaw Museum of Culture and Science near our hotel. A cool creepy exhibit about world wide spiders fascinates us. We amuse ourselves by finding each spider in its cage though many elude us.

Warming beetroot soup

As we make our way to Old Town,  we get caught in an unexpected downpour. What to do? Eat lunch and wait it out. My choice of warm beetroot  soup in a mug accompanied by cheese and potato pierogi hit the spot.  

I am on a mission to find some amber for which Poland is known for my sister.  In each shop, we enter we are ignored by shop keepers on their phones. It seems to me that they got out of the habit of having many  or any customers due to Covid restrictions. Fortunately, Poland will slowly transition  to a new normal with tourists and shoppers.

That evening Bill craves Mexican food which suits his vegetarian or as I call it "cheese-atarian"  diet.  Amazingly, we find FRIDA within walking distance of our hotel.  I order a Polish bloody Mary and am happy to find both vegetarian and vegan options. I am neither but am in the habit of approaching meals with a non meat mind set as we now have both a vegan and a vegetarian in the family.

Mexican food at Frida's

A Polish Bloody Mary

Something for everyone

What would Frida Kahlo think?

We thoroughly enjoy Frida's, and on this is our last night in Warsaw, we pause to consider our good fortune to be able to travel.  Onward to France!

So many Fridas

 

Starting Out JFK to Warsaw

 

I left Portland May 7 on the red eye to New York City to visit the kids before heading out to Poland then France. Uncharacteristically,  I ordered a smoky bloody Mary at Deschutes Brewery in the terminal. I must be cocktail deprived. It tasted earthy, smoky, and  qualified for the best Bloody Mary ever. I felt liberated, freed from an unknown pandemic restraint. Savoring each lusty sip, I thought about the upcoming plan to enter France once again through the side door with my EU Polish passport. Was I any calmer than last year ? More confident perhaps, because the plan worked once before. But so much uncertainty  about regulations and restrictions in both Poland and France filled me with dread. Did I bring the right documents?  Would Bill with his unwelcomed American passport be allowed in?

Our first  series of hurdles took place in JFK at Lot Airline's check in to Warsaw, Poland.We needed the PCR test not the Rapid Covid test we provided. Fortunately, our vaccination cards helped, and the agent relented. Next our luggage turned out to weigh too much for carry on Lot Airlines. To avoid paying two checked baggage fees, Bill managed to stuff 3 kilos from his suitcase into mine. All that exertion must  have elevated his body temperature because the Covid testing thermometer turned red. The agent looked at me, and said he can't travel. She tried several more times. Finally, he got the green light.  Unlike the silver lining of traveling in September 2020 where we enjoyed rows to ourselves, this flight was ridiculously full. Moreover, the number of people improperly wearing a mask infuriated me. Honestly, I feel quite violent about it.  Hide those noses, people.  Also, wear compression stockings, ladies. Those swollen ankles look so unnecessarily painful.