Arriving in Warsaw (1 of 4)
Traveling is not all glitz and glamour. Some days you just catch an L. And today was one of those days. I started my trip on Thursday afternoon. I had planned a fun adventurous weekend getaway to Poland. But first, I had to get there. After dropping my wife’s car off about 1:00pm at her job, I walked over to Five Points train station. I waited for the southbound MARTA train to take me to the airport but it never came. After waiting about 45 minutes, they finally announced that there was a medical emergency two stops north of Five Points, so all southbound train travel was affected. They decided to send the next two southbound trains down the northbound platform. I jumped on the first arriving one and headed to the airport.
Security, of course, was a breeze. Despite it being quite packed, I took advantage of my CLEAR and TSA Pre to clear security. It took me all of five minutes to get to the TSA Pre officer and another five for my bag to come out of the screener. Despite being an hour late, I made my way to the Delta SkyClub Lounge for a quick meal and relaxation. I actually had four plates while in the lounge. Plate 1 consisted of BBQ, Mac and cheese, corn bread, and string beans. Plate 2 had ham, hummus, and cheese. Plate 3 had a ham sandwich and potato salad. These were paired with Italian Wedding soup and Loaded potato soup. I had a coke and a sprite to wash it all down. Later, I tacked on a baked potato with butter, bacon, and cheese. I felt full and ready to tackle this 8-hour trip to Europe, except the weather didn’t seem to be cooperating.
About an hour before my plane was scheduled to depart, the sky darkened, the winds picked up, and the sirens went off. ATL was under a tornado warning. Not a watch – a warning. Delta closed the lounge patio and made us all wait inside for the all-clear. I thought I had seen a funnel cloud. Indeed, NWS confirmed a tornado touched down in Griffin, GA (which is not that far from the airport). Despite this, my flight still showed as an on-time departure. Upon advice of the front desk, I decided to wait in the lounge and not go to the gate, even though it was supposed to be boarding time. About 10 minutes after boarding started, the ground stoppage was released and I was told to head to my gate.
Boarding went fine. I was riding in Air France’s fancy A-350. But, alas, I would not be turning left upon entering the plane. I would turn right and go to my seat with the “common folk.” 33A was my seat. I had chosen a window seat because I wanted to catch some sleep on the way there. But alas, this was not to be. I had maybe 3 inches of knee space before the dude in front of me reclined his seat ALL the way back. The kid behind me continually kicked my chair (and her parents next to her did nothing about it). The couple sitting next to me was lovely, but they were a bit portly. I was squished like a sardine. My backpack was stowed under my chair, leaving even less leg room. This was going to be a painful experience. I just hoped that it would be worth it.
We got in to Paris CDG Terminal 2E Friday morning about 20 minutes late after leaving about 20 minutes late. This was just the start of my day of troubles. I had just a 2-hour layover before catching a flight to Warsaw. My knees were killing me after being “pretzelized” for the past 9 hours. In my haste to relieve my joints, I exited my seat row without looking back. I exited the plane but forgot one of my favorite hats at my seat. I lost my Prime Meridien hat (which means I now have an excuse to go back to London and buy a new one). The forecast called for highs in the 40s, low in the 30s all week. So, it was going to be a challenging weekend. Sometimes, it just “bees” that way.
After clearing immigration, I walked to the lounge in Terminal 2F (where the Warsaw flight was departing from). Scanned my boarding pass but the light lit yellow and not green. The gate wouldn’t let me in. Oh, this was a business class lounge and I … was in economy today. So, no luck there. Luckily, I only had about 40 minutes to wait before boarding for the Warsaw flight commenced.
Two hours later, I touched down in Poland. My Warsaw flight was uneventful. It was finally time to get this show on the road. I had planned to take the train into the city where my hotel was located. BUT, I could not read the directions on the sign. Some of the signs are ambiguous and the Polish language made it almost impossible to follow. This language strings together too many consonants, like Z,J,K,W,Z,Vs. Because of this, it’s hard for English speakers to pronounce. Even if you asked for directions, they’d say “go down here until you see the sign zxjzwzvcszsaiza.” Now, how exactly do you pronounce that? And how exactly is that spelled? Nevertheless, I managed to find the S2 Train and took my 25-minute ride to the city center. Luckily, I was able to use the GPS on Maps to guide me to my hotel because reading the street signs was a no-go.
After settling in my room for a bit, I decided to head out to get my tourist pass. I walked to the Palace of Science and Culture to purchase this pass, but no one in the sprawling building complex seem to know who sells it. I could’ve purchased a separate ticket to ride to the 30th floor and see some spectacular views of the city, but it was really cloudy out. So I passed on this too (even though it was on my to Do List). Eventually, after about five failed attempts, walking around this massive Stalinist structure, I found the Visitor’s information Office that sold the pass. BUT, many of the places I wanted to visit were not covered on the pass and some places were closed for the season. Plus, the pass didn’t cover the Hop On Hop Off bus. It seems to cover mid-tier attractions right now and so, is not worth it in my opinion. After all that, I didn’t buy it.
But I did have a 3-day transportation pass. So, I wanted to make the most of my day by going to stroll around Old Town and take some photos. I was told to catch Bus 160 to get to Old Town. The bus never came. It was already 3:00pm and the sun was setting (yes, the sun set at 3:50pm) so I decided to head back to the room.
On my way back to the hotel, I stopped by this local spot called Radio Café. I had a perogi with beef and chicken soup for dinner. Belly full, I headed back to the room. It’s now 6pm, pitch black, my feet, legs, and back still hurt from the flights and walking, and I don’t really have my bearings yet. Plus, I’m still jet lagged. Since nothing else was going right, I just decided to take that L and start over the next day. Hopefully, on Saturday, I’ll be fully rested and hit the ground running.
