THE URAINIAN CONNECTION

MONDAY 26th SEPTEMBER

  Peter was up early as he had to go for a blood test.  I get up after he returned just before 9.00am, and I then took Truffles for a walk in the park.  It was another truly gorgeous day weatherwise, and all was well with the world.

Even Truffles agrees!
  After returning home I left the dog behind and ventured out to the photographic shop and got new passport and ID card photos taken, at least here they know exactly how you need to pose for them.  Upon my return I was informed that Peter had arranged to meet his Ukrainian friend Ostap Stachiv at Blikle's in Nowy Swiat for lunch. He had driven up from Lwow, along with a Polish lady (whose name neither of us caught) from the States, whom Peter had put in contact with the lawyer Forystek regarding a claim for property she is making in Poland. All three of us (including Truffs) caught a cab and arrived at the rendezvous first.  I had cream of pea soup, a plate of assorted cheeses and meats with bread and butter culminating with a walnut torte and coffee, oh and I forgot, two large Tyskie! 

Our Polish lady wanted to visit her father's grave in Warsaw which was in the general direction of Peter's house, so he wangled us a lift home on the pretext that it was easier to give directions from his house than from the town centre.  On the way we learnt that the lady had lost her 22 year-old son in a car accident, and that Forystek had told her that her case would take 3 -5 years to resolve, which seemed to her inordinately long.  I cheered her up by telling her that our cases were ongoing for 7 years and still not resolved, next year being the earliest possible that something might come of them.  She asked Peter if he could keep the pressure up on the lawyer - a somewhat optimistic request.  The pair popped  into the house to look at the pictures of Swirz in Peter's possession, as they had both visited the place.  However time was pressing as the cemetry closes at sundown and it was approaching 5.00pm by this time.

BLUE SKIES SHINNING ON ME

SUNDAY 25th SEPTEMBER

  An absolutely fabulous day weather-wise.  Not a cloud to be seen all day and the temperature in the 20s.  So much so we decided to have lunch in the garden, and indeed sat out there for some time, a part of it with Agnieszka who called round for a while.
  When the sun was partially obscured by the trees, we entertained ourselves by throwning the rubber axe for Truffles, who happily bounded after it.  We sampled some of the Kasztelan upasteurised beer Peter had found in one of the nearby shops.  It had a shelf life of up to the end of the year, but there was no danger of it remaining undrunk until then!

  Our meeting at the Warsaw Uprising Museum has been changed to 3.30pm, so I rang the Cybulski's to let them know.  It shouldn't really affect my appointment at Rytm which is set for 2.00pm and isn't far away from the museum.
  In the afternoon we took another stroll to Plac Wilsona and adjourned to Blikle's for a beer, sitting outside with the weather being so good.  Peter cooked a couple of tasty omlettes for supper and we subsequently watched another episode from the Blues, this one featuring Marshall Chess and the Chicago scene.

85 YEARS OF WOODROW WILSON

SATURDAY 24th SEPTEMBER

  It was apparently the 85th anniversary of the creation of "Plac Wilsona" or Wilson Place in Zoliborz, so named after President Woodrow Wilson who was president of the USA up until 1924.  Peter and I along with Truffles strolled down to see what was happening.  We walked around the various stalls on the pavement and observed the world from the external seating at Blikle's whilst indulging in a coffee and doughnuts.  There was a lorry driving around with a load of dolly birds, and a chap named to Thomas Wilson who spoke Polish with an American accent and encouraged people to come and take part in the festivities and ended each round of speeches with "I love you all".

 Peter then got a call from Agnieszka and went off to meet her in town whilst Truffs and I caught the Metro back to Marymont.  I did a bit of work on Charly stuff, and spoke to Robert on Skype.  Peter returned about 1.45pm just before Mr Bydon was due round.  He is a historian who has produced an exhibition of photographic plates about my father (he brought round A3 photocopies) for the Army, and is also engaged in working on my my mother's memoirs for the Museum that is going to publish them next year.  He hopes they will be out by next summer.  He eventually departed and Peter got ready for the neighbours he had invited round for a drink.  It was in fact the notary whom we had visited in town yesterday, a Mr Marmaj - a name that sounds so much like Marmite that I christened him Mr Bovril.
  Peter had phoned him up and asked if he and his wife would like to come round for a glass of wine at 6.30pm, to which he replied, "why only a glass?"  Peter had no answer to this, and the wily lawyer further outmanouevered him by saying, "Well, we'll come round at 6.00pm then".  Peter got some Polish sausage meat in, and cut up a few tomatoes as well as getting a cherry pie in from Blikle's.  Mr Marmaj has a very dry sense of humour and a not unattractive younger wife.  She came round with a delicious home baked cake, and he brought road a bottle of Croatian herb flavoured drink.  The talk reovlved around the forthcoming elections, Croatia - where the Marmajs have purchased a plot of land for a holiday home, and world travel - they had been to South America, and numerous countries in Europe.  Peter had said, "Let's try and get rid off them by 8.00pm".  No such chance, three empty bottles of wine later - Mrs Marmaj only had one glass as she was on antibiotics, they eventually left about 10.30pm.  However it was nothing if not an entertaining evening, and her cake certainly went down a treat!

A PRIEST, A NOTARY & AN IRISH PUB

FRIDAY 23rd SEPTEMBER

  A bit of a duller and cooler day today.  Went for a long walk with Truffles after breakfast, and Agnieszka came round with of a bottle of Pigwowka (a flavoured nalewka) for me as a thank you for buying the sushi yesterday.  Very kind of her, but really totally unnecessary. She and Peter then went off for a while.  I worked on some stuff for Charly for a few hours. We then went off to get some xerox copies of the photo of Miko in Polish Army uniform with a view to taking them down to the Notary's Office in town.  We set off on the expedition with Truffles, and hadn't reached the photocopy shop when Peter's phone rang.  It was the parish priest from Babice (the parish near Krasiczyn) who was up in Warsaw for a few hours and wondered if he could meet with Peter.  My erstwhile cousin explained that he was on the way to the notary, but hoped to be done in about an hour, and made a rendezvous with the cleric at Blikle in Nowy Swiat.  After getting the copies done we walked down to Zoliburz station and caught the Metro to Centrum and thence walked down to the notary near Nowy Swiat.  This notary happens to also be Peter's neighbour, so is well acquainted with him.  We were ushered into a room where we waited for the notary to appear.  He eventually materialised and Peter explained what was wanted, giving a copy of the statement that was required to accompany the photo. A lady assistant then took over. We signed copies of the photo and then we entered a phase where the wording of the statement was analysed in detail.  A time consuming process as the lady kept disappearing for some time with a re-typed copy, only to raise a new query regarding the wording.  When this was resolved she would disappear again.  Peter phone the priest to discover that he was already in situ at Blikle's.  When the assistant returned Peter asked if he could leave the statements with them to resolve the wording whilst we disappeared to meet the priest.  The ploy worked.
  At Blikle's Peter ordered wild Scottish salmon filets and pierogi with the request that they serve the dishes quickly.  I had a large Tyskie beer along with mine, and after finishing our meal we parted company with the priest and returned to the notary's office arriving just at the right time.  The statements signed, and the bill paid we set off for the lawyer's office.  I suggested to Peter he head there on his own, whilst I slowly walked to the station with Truffles, for at his brisk pace we would probably both arrive there at the same time.  Truffles disgraced herself enroute, peeing in the ntrance to a shop, with an irrate shop keeper berating me as I tried to beat a hasty retreat!  My estimate was not far out for I did not have to wait long to spy Peter striding purposefully towards us.
  Upon our return home, I reminded Peter of the Chinese roast duck syndrome.  He had indeed suggested previously that we would have to go to his favourite Chinese restaurant to yet again sample their duck.  He agreed that today was a good day to put this idea into practise, and we set off by cab to the vicinity of the Royal Castle where the establishment was to be found.  The owner greeted Peter like a long lost brother, and after consultation with the waiter we decided to go for a whole duck and two large beers.  It was almost something of a struggle to finish it all, but we just managed it.  After a short rest we set off in search of an establishment that sold beer.  As it so happened the Irish Pub came into our purview, and was also featuring live music.  We ordered two large beers, which turned out to be very large served in 1 litre mugs.  I was most impressed to see a waitress carry three such mugs in one hand - I had difficulty in lifting just one!  The music was loud of the blues/rock variety - sadly Peter had come out without a harmonica and so was unable to offer his undoubted talents in this field.  We were seated right in front of the musicians and between us and the bar, the floor periodically became a dance floor.  A particularly energetic couple came crashing down on our table sending an initial wave of beer all over my trousers and then sending the mug flying off the table.  I'm glad to say bthe reactions were still there and I managed to catch it in mid flight without any further loss of beer!  Another couple, this time both girls - one in trousers and another in a fairly short mini skirt - performed a fairly wild dance in front of us, but by this time we had astutely withdrawn our glasses from the table.  Just as well as the table was hit several times!
  We eventually took a cab home, and I had a coffee as a nightcap.

FORTYSEK

  After breakfast, usual walk with Truffles, and we then set off on bus around lunchtime that went all round the houses to Arkadia to meet Agnieska at the Sushi Bar. There we indulged in the three dishes (I chose chicken and veg tempura), with Peter and Agnieszka indulging additionally in green tea, a beverage that I however declined.  For once I paid for the meal. From there Peter and I moved on to M & S and purchased four more bottles of their extremely cheap white wine, this time sampling two bottles of Pino Grigot which also proved to be more than patable.  After buying, some parmezan and yoghurt for tonight's dinner we set off to Fortysek & Partners, the lawyers handling our claims for recompensation. 

   We met with Mr Fortysek, who said he hoped to have a favourable decision by the end of the year in my case, and that could mean a pay out by the summer or certainly by the end of the year.  The payouts occur every three months. Brilliant if it comes to fruitition, but no point in counting chickens too soon.  Peter's case appears to have foundered at present on the problem of proving his father's Polish nationality, there being no actual document that states this, other then his registration in Italy where he is down as a Polish citizen.  However as he travelled on what was probably a forged Home Army passport, his date of birth is wrong (it is his brother's), and therefore not recognised as a valid document relating to Peter's grandfather by the authorities.  However Peter has a photo of Miko (his grandfather - see on the left) in Polish uniform from around 1919 - the time of the Polish-Russian war, when he was a volunteer in the Army.  However no records have been preserved of this service, which would automatically have proved his nationality.  However Forystek thought it would help to submit a copy of this photo as evidence together with a notarial statement by both Peter and I that we know this photo to be one of Peter's grandfather. A trip to the notary (commisioner of oaths) is indicated tomorrow.
  We walked to Santokrzyska Metro station and caught the tube back to Marymont.  Peter then set about cooking dinner for three - he had invited Elzbieta (Elizabeth) the lady who had made all his curtains, and who had relatively recently lost her husband.  Their business had gone belly up and she was now working for another interior decor company.  She arrived at the appointed hour of 7.30pm with two bags of truffles (white and plain chocolate - not of course to be confused with Truffles the dog who is sandy coloured).  A very pleasant and not unattractive lady, she made good company for the evening. We sat around supping our white wine discussing the forthcoming elections.  She shared Peter's distrust, nay loathing of PiS and expressed concern that a lot of the young generation were being hoodwinked by Jaroslaw Kaczorowski.
We adjourned for dinner to the kitchen, where Peter had prepared potato pancakes (purchased in Arkadia - mot homemade as he was the first to admit), followed by spaghetti and chicken in a very tasty sauce in turn followed by raspberries and ice cream.  During the meal we had a lengthy answer from Peter to a question regarding the European economic crisis, and what the implications of Greece going bust would be - a good light hearted dinner conversational piece!  More light hearted conversation ensued when Elzbieta confided in us that her daughter-in-law had recently admitted to being an alcoholic, and went on to tell us that her elder sister was one as well.  Their late mother was apparently a difficult person and Elzbieta was lucky enough to get married at the age of 19 - her sister never got married and stayed at home.  Lest I make the evening sound a bit serious, let me say that it was good fun despite the occasional lapse into serious matters. We adjourned to the sitting room to sample the truffles and more wine.  Both Peter and I were slightly queasy when our companion started telling us about her days as a dental student, and the cutting up of cadarvers and disecting human bodies, all in far too great a detail!  I escorted our guest to Marymont station in company with Truffles who enjoyed the stroll about 11.30pm, and then went to bed and watched an episode of Last Of the Summer Wine.

NARTOLIN

WEDNESDAY 21st SEPTEMBER

  Breakfast, walking the dog whilst Peter went off with Agnieszka to an appointment.  He returned just before I set off on my journey to nthe other end of the Metro line, one station from the end of the line, Natolin.  There I went to the Cybulskis appartment where I was invited for lunch.  I had missed their 50th Wedding anniversary celebrations - I was in Brazil at the time - and was told all about the event.  Another couple of friends were invited to lunch who apparently knew my aunt Jadzia very well in Krakow.
  We started off with flavoured vodka and bits of French cheese, and then it was soup, main course (with red wine) and then raspberries and ice cream followed by coffee and apple pie (charlotka) and a version of Baileys. I was pretty bloated by the end of it all!  Andrew gave me the mobile phone number of Bronek's wife as well as that of her Press Officer, so there should be no problem getting a copy of my father's book to Bronek.  He apparently flew off to the States today.  The election is in full swing and the Prime Minister Donald Tusk is touring the country in the Tuskmobile, taking a leaf out of President Obama's book.
  I returned home about 6.00pm where I learnt that Strzalkowski had phoned Peter - he had been away at a Sanatorium - and would be joining us at the Warsaw Uprising Museum next Tuesday.  After supper Peter and I adjourned to watch another episode of the Blues, this one about pianists, made by Clint Eastwood.

WARSAW UPRISING MUSEUM

TUESDAY 20th SEPTEMBER

  It was an early breakfast as we had a cab ordered for 8.30am to take us to the Warsaw Uprising Museum.  We got there just on time for 9.00am and went up to the Director - Mr Oldakowski - office on the third floor.  There we were joined by an attractive young lady who was from the conservation dept and the Director's deputy.  My father's wartime armband was currently being cleaned and conservation liquids were being applied.  However I was shown photos of the projected display and the letters of authentication signed by my father. 
  The Director raised the problems that the museum had with the Sikorski Institute in London.  They have somewhere around 20 tons of unique film material (on deposit in refridgerated bunkers at the Imperial War Museum), which are gradually deteriorating until the reach the point where they are totally useless.  The Warsaw Museum offered to ship half of these over to Poland, transfer the films to a digital format and then ship the films back to London, all at their own cost.  The Sikorski Museum doesn't apparently have the funds for these transfers.  Whilst initial agreement was reached on the transfer to Poland, the deal was vetoed by a supervisory board who claimed the the Sikorski Institute would get the transfers done.  This seems very unlikely as I do not believe they have the funds.  So instead these irreplaceable films - which in theory are the property of the Polish Government - are being left to rot away. Peter and I both promised to do what we could to exert influence on the Institute to ship the films to Poland.  Sadly Mr Dembinski whom I've known since I was a small boy and who was the Director of the Institute and a member of the 9th Uhlan Regiment (my father's pre-war regiment), has passed away.  Anyway I shall have to see what I can do.
  I was presented with a weighty tome, a book of previously unseen and unpublished photos of Warsaw under German occupation.  The official announcement about the acquisition will be made next Tuesday and I was asked if I wanted to invited anybody to it.  The Press and some Home Army soldiers will be invited,  I named Jerzy Wolanski and the Cybulskis.
  We caught a tram to Arkadia where we met Agnieszka and after a coffee and cake at Blikle, we went went to Marks & Sparks where we purchased some curry sauces and a white wine that was reduced by 20% to £2.10.  We drank it that night, and it was so good we're thinking of going back and buying every bottle on the shelves!

AUNT ANNA

MONDAY 19th SEPTEMBER

  Breakfast, Truffles for a walk and then cab ordered for 11.30am to take me to Bemowo to visit 91 year old Aunt Anna (Jerzy's sister).  Coffee and cakes awaited me when I arrived.  I knew it was flat 15, but no idea which floor it was on, so went up floor by floor until I found it on the 3rd.  Showed photos of my trip from Machu Pichu as well as the grandchildren.  Anna remembered Adam's arrival, one of the last off the plane, he eventually appeared reading a book and pushing his suitcase with his foot.  Some interestin conversations all round,  Ordered a cab back to Peter's after about an hour and a half.
  Received my PESEL details from the lawyers, they had apparently applied for one some time ago.  So at Peter's suggestion I strolled down to the Council Offices and went to the passport section and asked what was now required for a passport.  I said I undersood that a PESEL number was now a requisite, and I had obtained one of those, but what else was required?  She told me I would need a "Dowod Osobisty" ie an identity card, and asked me for my PESEL number.  I gave it to her and she keyed it in.  She looked at the screen and then turned towards me and stared in silence,  I stared back.  Eventually she said, "Should I be saluting you?"  I told her that was absolutely not necessary.  She told me I would have to go to the Srodmiescie offices to get an ID card, but I should go over to the ID section to check what was required.  She added that for Poles living abroad they had to get their passports renewed in the countries of their residence, but for someone like myself they might do it on the spot here in Warsaw.  Any such hopes were dashed when the man at the ID counter told me I would need to produce my marriage certificate, with a Polish translation in order to get an ID card.  I returned to the house and reported back on my trip to Peter.  He suggested that I should get photos taken here in Warsaw both for the ID card and my new passport as they knew the exact requirements here for these photos.
  I managed to get through to Ms Dorota Swiderek re the royalties, who said she would look into the matter and get back to me.  I also managed to get through to Belona, where the lady I spoke to asked me to ring back on Friday.
  Peter and I spent the evening listening to some blues music whilst I demolished a large portion of the "Ozechowka", home flavoured nut vodka that Jadzia had brought me round along with the book on General Rozwadowski.

A BEER IN THE PARK

SUNDAY 18th SEPTEMBER

  Another lovely day weatherwise; spent time outside reading - finished LeCarre's Our Kind Of Traitor, listened to some of my CD purchases, did some stuff on the computer, and in the late afternoon accompanied Peter and Truffles on a walk down to the park by the Vistula (about 25 mins each way), and had a beer in the conveniently situated watering hole in the middle of the park.
  In the evening we watched a Polish black comedy about a girl who falls in love with a guy in 1952, who turns out toonly want her to spy on her boss for the party.  After having his way with her on the kitchen table, she pours poison in his vodka and kills him.  She contemplates suicide, but her mother who returns in the nick of time to prevent it.  She gets her daughter to help dispose of the body in an acid bath in the loft until only the bones are left.  The grandmother who is constantly on the verge of death, advises them to wait until she is dead and then place the bones in her coffin!
  1953 and the death of Stalin is announced, secret rejoicing all over the land.  The daughter disposes of the bones in a violin case in a large sandpit.  Flash forward to the 90's and the daughter as an old lady is at the airport and greets her son (the spitting image of the murdered boyfriend of the '50s) and his boyfriend as they arrive from the States.  The son tells his boyfriend that his father was a hero of the Resistance.  His mother excuses herself for a moment on the way home and goes to light a candle at the feet of a massive concrete statue (the concrete made from the sandpit.......yes, you,ve guessed it!).

SUNNY SATURDAY

SATURDAY 18th SEPTEMBER

  Today turned out to be a glorious sunny day with not a cloud in view and temperatures in the mid 20's.  A brief walk with the dog was followed by mashed bananas with Activa Rasberry drink mixed in and the statutory coffee.  Peter was up early as he had to go over to Miodowa Street to his sister Jenny's flat to let in the Ukrainian cleaning lady once the eisting tenants had left in order to tidy up before the new one's arrived.  I got up just as he arrived back from this mission.  Alex is Jenny's caretaker in locum, but due to his absence in South America, Peter has stepped in as a temporary replacement.  Jadzia Dembinska came round in the morning bearing a copy of a reprint of a pre-war book written about General Tadeusz Rozwadowski, one of her ancestors and also my father's godfather and uncle (he married Maria Komorowska, my father's aunt).  Jadzia had promised me a copy of the book when round for dinner, and true to her word came round with it today.  A lively interlude ensued as things are never quiet when Jadzia is around!
  About 11.30am Peter got a call from the new tenants that they had arrived, and ordered a cab for Miodowa to go and welcome them and hand over the keys.  I accompanied him to Miodowa and we then parted company, and I walked down to the edge of the Old Town and the Castle by Zygmunt's column.

  Standing in front of the castle and looking over to my right towards the Vistula River I could see the new football stadium built for the 2012 European Cup Finals, but failed to locate the new fountains that Peter had told me about.

  I wandered down towards the Presdential Palace and was glad to see that the wooden cross and its attendant guardians who were there a year ago had disappeared. 

There were tents all along the pavement selling various things, although one seemed to be dispensing free bits of herring on a piece of bread.  I took a closer look and indeed that was the case.  I availed myself of the offer, and was also offered a chocolate biscuit.  I meandered on to the Pilsudski Square, and strolled down Mazowiecka Street which brought me to the Jazz Club Peter had asked me to check out.  However all I came away with was that they opened at 7.00pm.
  I eventually came to the Traffic Store and had a good look through the CD's and found a Hedgehoppers Anonymous CD - first time I've ever seen one. I also found "We Got A Party" on Rounder, a compilation of Ron recordings, as well as a Dave & Ansell Collins set.  I stopped off for a bite to eat and then carried on to Empik where I found a triple Johnny Cash set for £2 - couldn't miss out on that and a B.J. Thomas set for £2.50 in their sale.  Satisfied with my purchases I caught a train home from Centrum station.  I beat Peter home by about a quarter of an hour.
  We  had smoked catfish along with herrings, cheese, tomatoes and cucumber for dinner and then supped the Warka and Zubr beer I had purchased on the way home whilst watching What Women Want - a Mel Gibson film on DVD that was pretty amusing.  I had a late bath and soaked my aching ankles in a good hot bath, adjourning to bed around 12.30am.

NO CONTACT

FRIDAY 16th SEPTEMBER

  Usual start to the day; with Truffles to the park for the morning stroll, found I had lost the bag to collect her excrement in, found it on the way home, by then too late she'd pooped thrice! 

This was followed by porridge and coffee and I then decided to contact Ms Dorota Swiderek at Rytm Publishing with regards to any outstanding royalties.  However no answer on her phone all morning.  Phoned the switchboard, they likewise couldn't get through to her, and suggested phoning in the afternoon.
  Went with Peter to Arkadia by tram, he went off on his assignation and I went strolling amongst the shops before joining him and the young lady (most ladies look young to me nowadays), and indulged in coffee and a cake.  Caught the tram back home, and tried Rytm again.  This time the phone number was engaged - it remained so all afternoon. This in turn thwarted me in getting the phone number of Bellona, where sadly I've forgotten the name of the woman dealing with royalties.  I had hoped to get this information from Ms Swiderek.  Oh well, try again on Monday.
  Dinner was accompanied by beer purchased at Carrefour which was barley or wheat based and was slightly opaque in colour.  It slipped down a treat, and continued to do so afterwards.  We watched a debate between various parties (PiS did not participate, they consider it below them to take part in such matters, I guess that tells you all you need to know about their leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski).  The rest of the evening slid quietly by, as did the remaining bottles of beer.

JERZY'S BIRTHDAY

THURSDAY 15th SEPTEMBER

  Up at 9.00am, Peter had coffee and porridge ready for me.  I took Truffles out in the park for her morning constitutional and duly took a platic bag to scoop up the poo, but was foiled by the fact that she decided to go four times!  I had already disposed of the bag and its contents by the time she decided to go for it again, and again and again!

  I purchased a three day old codger's ticket for the trams and Metro for the princely sum of £2.40. We went along by tram to Arkadia where I had a trawl through the electronics/CD/DVD store, whilst Peter went off to his rendezvous.  I then went to the English bookshop that duly had a copy of the "Secret Army", and I purchased a copy as a present for Jerzy.  I subsequently joined Peter and Agnieszka at Blikle for a coffee and a cake.  It being Jerzy Wolanski's birthday today (he is 84), Peter decided to invite him and Jadzia Dembinska along to dinner tonight.  A birthday cake was duly purchased at Blikle and then we went to Carrefour to complete our shopping for dinner.
  After returning home, Peter managed to get the password for his WiFi from Netia - his provider - and I was able to catch up with my e-mails, the blog as well as doing some stuff for Charly.  I had made arrangements to meet Jerzy in town at the Centrum station and accomp[any him by tram to the local Mormon Office. He has been getting parish records doing his family research from them.  However they recently changed their method of operation and you can now only order the microfilms on the web and pay by credit card.  As Jerzy has neither a computer nor a credit card, this proved to be a bit of a stumbling block as far as he was concerned.  However a friend of Peter's set it all up for him and was going to order the requisite film, but it proved to be impossible to do.  Peter likewise had a go and couldn't crack the system.  The idea was that I would accompany Jerzy to the Mormons' Office, where the local staff naturally only speak English, and that of the American variety with an accent that defeats Jerzy's grasp of the language, and voice the complaint that their website is a load of crap and ask them why it fails to deliver.  However, I thought I would have a go myself, and armed with Jerzy's user name, password, required film number, I had a go on my notebook.  Same as my two predecessors the system refused to accept Jerzy's details.  Unfazed by this I decided to create an account in my own name, and following the instructions managed to order the requisite film right up to the point of payment.  I then phoned the Mormons' Office and asked if the person ordering the film had to be the same as the person paying.  "No", anyone could pay.  Did the person ordering have to be the same as the person who came to view the film at their offices?  "No".  Bingo - I was in business. I told the lady I was speaking to that I was acting on behalf of my uncle.  She asked for his name, and when I told her she relied that he was a delightful man, and she was sorry about the changed methods of ordering up data, but that was the way of the world.  I phoned Jerzy and cancelled our meeting at Centrum, and told him to come to Peter's half an hour early at 6.30pm.
  I also managed to watch a Midsomer Murder on my Arcos before Peter asked if I would like to accompany him down to the Post Office with Truffles.  It as nice and sunny and still reasonably warm.  We trundled on down towards Zoliborz with Peter wanting to take in a clock to the watchmaker enroute.  We arrived at the shop at 5.05pm, but unfortunately the sign stated that they closed at 5.00pm and it did not lie. However the Post Office was still open and there was no queue!  We had a look around a nearby market to see if there were any "rydze" (a very tasty wild mushroom) but none of the stalls had any.  We caught the Metro back one stop to Marymont and walked back the 200 or so metres back home.
  Jerzy arrived on the dot bringing with him a bone shaped chew for Truffles with which she was delighted.  I took Jerzy up to my room, along with a large whisky for Jerzy and completed the transaction. I duly received an e-mail informing me that all was kosher and I would be notified when the film arrived at the local offices.  Jerzy was delighted.

  Meantime Jadzia had arrived and brought along a bottle of her "nalewki" - home flavoured vodka, which we soon sampled.  Bortsch for starters was followed by curried chicken breasts, as well as some riotous conversation, which gradually turned more serious as Jadzia decried PiS (the opposition party) and its leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski.  She thought he posed a great danger to Poland and was appalled at the way he had polarised Poles.  A comparison with Hitler, in terms of grabbing absolute power, was dismissed by Peter who stated categorically that Kaczynski wasn't in the same league as Hitler.  The wine flowed and Peter went off to get the birthday cake returning with it errupting with a flaring firework and two candles.

   A fine night was had by all, and Jadzia gave Jerzy a lift home, despite his protestations!

WARSAW

WEDNESDAY 14th SEPTEMBER

  I woke up at 3.30am this morning half an hour prior to the alarm and radio alarm going off and lay there with one eye on the clock until 03.55am and then turned off all the alarms and got up.  I went downstairs and took the five packets of onion barjees out of the freezer, and wrapped them in Sainsbury's bags and placed them in my suitcase along with my toiletries and locked the case.  A coffee and my last piece of bread with crab paste did for breakfast.  I loaded by luggage in the car and moved the car out on the road.  Mark said he would be up at 04.30am, but cometh the hour there was no sign of him, so I went in and woke him up.  We left at 04.35am and were at the airport by 04.55am.  Mark managed to drop me off at Terminal 1 arrivals instead of departures but no problem a lift soon got me up to departures. Check in was quick and I was soon through security.  Most of the shops were closed although Smith's was open so I purchased the Times.  The walk to Gate 33 was something of a marathon, but I eventually got there!  I had my spray for my angina in my pocket, but didn't have to use it.  At the entrance to the plane there were copies of the Daily Mail, so I picked one up.

  Boarding was about 15 minutes later than designated and I waas fortunate enough to have got an aisle seat  in row 4.  Coffee and a roll were served for breakfast, and I spend some time dozing. We arrived at Chopin airport on schedule and I was one of the first off the plane.  Again there was an enormously long walk to the Baggage Arrivals, where my case was one of the first to arrive.  I caught a cab which cost me £12.00 to Peter's house. His neice Juliet had gone out with her boyfriend Hugo shopping.  They returned about 5.00pm and along with Truffles we all walked down to Blikle's at Wilson Square for dinner.  Wild mushrooms on a potato pancake washed down by Tyskie beer followed by a nut torte was my choice from the menu. Juliet has just got a place at Oxford to read law but was turned town by Warwick University!  She is the third of Vicky's daughters to get into Oxford.  A cab took us back to the house where the youngsters picked up their luggage and were driven on to the station to catch the overnight train to Prague.  Peter and I had a whisky nightcap and a relatively early night.  Juliet sent Peter a text to say that they were safely aboard the Prague bound train.