Internet Maps.

Joan, translating the junk mail.

Stary Rynek. Less tourists with the cooler weather.

I checked zumi.pl today before our trip to the doctors to get a map of how to get there. Zumi.pl is the Polish version of Mapquest and "about" as accurate. We took the bus at 11AM down Bukowska street to the Baltyk stop where you get off, then take the underground tunnel to the other side of a busy street to get to the tram we needed to get to Płac Wolności. From there we were suppose to go down Paderewskiego street to Stary Rynek and the clinic was suppose to be just north. We got to the designated location at 11:55 only to NOT find the clinic. I went into a little store and ask where it was and at that point I was told it was about a 20 minute walk, south of Stary Rynek. Internet maps are not always dependable. I called to the clinic, cancelled the appt. and made another one for 3:20, some 3 hours later. So we had a little time to kill and decided to walk to the clinic to be sure we had the right location. It only took 10 minutes to get there and the good thing about the walk is it gave me a better idea of how close Płac Wolności was to Stary Rynek, Stary Browar and the clinic. All within 10 minutes of the Płac.

At 3:00 we arrived at the clinic and thought we would have to fill out the usual health history info you go through in the States when you go to a new doctor. There wasn't anything to fill out. At 3:25 we were let into the doctors office, only to find out she spoke about 10 words of English and we were in trouble. Did you ever try to explain a medical condition to a doctor who doesn't speak your language? I finally got my point across that I needed refills for my prescriptions but it still didn't help and she called another doctor who spoke about 25 words of english. 10 minutes later they called a third doctor who did speak English and he advised that we come back on Thursday to see a new doctor who is fluent in both Polish and English. We agreed and will go back Thursday at 5:20PM for our appt.

When we signed up with Medicover, we thought all doctors would speak both languages because it is a private plan for Polish citizens but also for foreigners. We were wrong.

So we spent most of the day as I said and got home about 5PM. Ten minutes later cousin Pola arrived to retrieve her cell phone she left the day before and we talked for about two hours before she left.

Tomorrow we call the American Consulate and probably return to Paderewskiego street to talk with the representative.