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.