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.
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