Thursday, August 30, 2007

Back to the bank!!

A fine Dinner!! Notice the fine placemats, papernapkins for now.
A well-fed man :-)

Yesterday was frustrating. Today I tried again to make the transfer and got further along in the process, up to the point where it said I had to call the U.S. for approval. As you all know, there are landlines(regular phones)and cell phones. We have cell phones here for most now. When you call a toll-free number in America from here on a cell phone you still pay the phone use of about 40 cents a minute. If you're put on hold, it doesn't take a long time for your cell to run out of time. So I had to go back to the bank and use their phone, which I did. I'm getting good at buying bus and tram tickets at the local store so I didn't mind going and the weather is great.

I found out by talking with the clerk that bus and tram tickets are the same. You buy a ticket by time, for the amount it will normally take to get from point a to point b. You can use that ticket on either vehicle. Tickets are sold in 10, 30 and 60 minute increments and when you get on the vehicle you stick your ticket in a machine that punches the time you started.

I got to the bank 30 minutes early for my appointment at 3PM so I sat down on a bench in Plac Wolności to watch the people go by. On a bench next to mine sat an old women with so many wrinkles on her face I wondered what kind of stories she could tell me of Poland when my grandparents lived there. I didn't ask her because my language skills aren't good enough yet, next year they will be much better.

At 3PM I went to see Piotr, our banker, and he helped me confirm the transfer. I won't really feel safe about it until I check our account online tomorrow and see it in writing. Just too many problems with this transfer so far so I'm a little gun shy.

I took a different tram home, a different route, to learn a little more about the city. It stopped where I wanted it to so that was nice :-)

I got home just as Joan was preparing kolacja (dinner) for later. Hmmm, boy, schabowy, kapusta, sałatka and ziemnaki. GREAT!!!!!! (pork roast, cabbage, salad and potatoes)



So another adventurous day. Have no specific plans for tomorrow, if I don't have to go back to the bank again :-) Maybe we'll take a tram and go to see a museum or art gallery or just go for a long walk among the many old, old buildings.

It's nice to be retired!!!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Joan and David,
I love reading about your adventure in Poland and I try and visit your blog every few days. I wish it was 65 degrees here in England!
All the best

Anonymous said...

Hi...
Nice dinner---Joan, you are doing great!! Nice picture of the "well
fed man". Don't let anyone tell you any different---the placemats look great!!! I use those kind some time too. The schabowy --my favorite roast-- and I remember when I was in Poland --ziemnaki...three times a day.
Hope your banking went well. I am so enjoying your adventures on your blog---I can't wait for the next episode. I love your neighborhood and pics of the old
homes.
How are you finding the quality of the meats--better than the U.S.? Is meat plentiful?--when I was there, it was not...along with many other things.
Patiently waiting for the next episode!!
Hugs, Marilyn

Joan and David Piekarczyk said...

Yes, the meat is better, and plentiful. This is not the Poland you visited, I think. I don't remember how long ago you said you were here but the days of not having items to buy is over. Of course, having the money to buy those items is a different story. The wage rise hasn't kept up with the price rise so it's still dificult for a lot of people, especially outside of major cities.

Joan and David Piekarczyk said...

Anonymous,
Now that's a very different first name :-)
Anyway, we have a young cousin living in London now. Not sure exactly where. She was here for our cousins wedding but we didn't have a chance to connect.