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.