Just a few thoughts on Poland while my mind is still foggy and somewhat remembers what happened while I was there. The flight over was fairly uneventful. All up it was 35 hours from the time I said goodbye to Kelli and the kids in Adelaide until I got to the hotel in Warsaw. The flights were pretty good. I had a window seat on the 13 hour flight from Singapore to Paris which wasn’t very good. Luckily I didn’t have to use the bathroom during the night as it would have required some acrobatic moves to get over the two people next to me. The 777 aircraft I thought was supposed to have decent leg room, but even for a small guy like me it was pretty cramped. That and my headrest didn’t support the weight of my nogger so I only managed 2 hours or so of sleep. The airport in Singapore was extremely nice. It was pretty much like an indoor shopping center and had free internet access everywhere. The first thought coming off the plane was ‘humid’ and the second thought walking through the terminal was ‘curry’ – with an afterthought that in that country I might even be thought of as tall! The flight from Singapore to Paris took us over India, Afghanistan, Iran and the Chechnya region before we hit Europe. It was interesting to look out and see pockets of light here and there highlighting the villages and wondering just what kind of lives the people down there were leading. Sometimes we don’t know if anything is better than what we have unless we know about it and experience it for ourselves. In any case, I made it to Paris and that airport was a dump with nowhere to relax. It was a strange airport with the buses taking you from terminal to terminal and you’re driving right in front of the noses of all the aircraft parked on the tarmac. With nowhere really to sit and relax, luckily my itinerary had a business class seat for the next flight so I had privileges to go in the lounge and relax on the leather seats. It sure felt good, but I still couldn’t sleep.

Warsaw itself was very interesting. My general impressions were of a place immersed in the winter of Communism and yet showing the first signs of budding at the first signs of spring. It really took me back to my mission although that was 10 years ago and this scene showed a lot greater improvement in the outward appearance of the city, and generally the people. Pretty much everywhere you could find the multi-story cement blocks of apartment complexes which weren’t very much to look at. I had a hotel room on the 35^th floor of one of the highest buildings of the city which gave a unique vantage point. Most of the time the weather was cloudy and overcast, but on the last day it was blue and sunny. Outside of the city the landscape, trees and plants were pretty much the same as up in Kaliningrad and in St Petersburg. In the city the streets were generally clean and the people were friendly. The language was very much a Russian-sounding language so although I couldn’t understand the sentences and context of what was being said, I could pick out words here and there that were similar to Russian. With the oppression of Communism though, most people aren’t too inclined to speak any Russian. I was told most of the older generation knows it, but the switch as been made to everyone learning English instead of the language to the east.

You can’t help but feel sorry for the people. Everything they were told turned out to be a lie and everything they relied on for life and sustenance was basically taken out from underneath. As a result, they were left in a society and system which they didn’t comprehend. We toured several different research institutions and universities and for the most part the level and depth of research was fairly far behind western standards. That’s somewhat surprising when you consider that Russia itself has really good technology in terms of air and space. But, we were told they generally kept the European countries in the dark and didn’t involve them too much in those activities. Now that they are working with the European Space Agency and NASA, they are getting more of an opportunity to let scientists and engineers make a significant contribution. It shows in some of the ideas they have floating around … although they still are lacking in resources to make it happen. That made our entourage a pretty popular attraction as we went from place to place. We obviously didn’t have any authority to start collective programs with them or hand over $$ for contracts (which pretty much turned most people off when they found out we were generally just a group of captains with relatively little we could offer to help them out …). That said, they were very cordial and inviting with everything they presented. Most of them spoke pretty good English so it wasn’t difficult to carry on a conversation or just talk about whatever. Hopefully things will continue to turn around for them and in the future they will make even further contributions …

The other side of the visit was soaking in the culture. That involved a lot of food, and for the rest of the group a lot of beer. After the first dinner I wondered how come my bill was higher than the others even though I didn’t drink any alcohol. I figured it out on the second night that the group went through 10L of beer and it cost them a total of 90 PLN (zhlotne – the polish currency) … while we ordered 2L of water and it cost 54 PLN – that’s a ratio of 3:1 for water to beer! I was flabbergasted … but I guess where there is a higher demand there will be higher prices J Even though I didn’t drink it was entertaining to watch the rest of them go through mug after mug. The first two places we ate they first brought out these little pedestals that stood 6” off the table. Then they brought out a 4” diameter tube that was 3’ high full of beer (5L). The pedestal had a little tap on it and well, the rest is history. They went through 3 the first night and 2 the second between ~10 people … and then add some vodka shots on top of that and it made for a lively crowd. I guess I wanted to fit in as much as possible so I found an order for ‘sauerkraut juice’. Now that packed a punch of sourness like you’ve never tasted before. Imagine the power of 10 lemons and those sour candies in one sip of drink and there you go. 6 of us gave it a go and there was still 7/8ths of the glass left --- which we left on the table … The food was part German and part Russian. I had perogi the first night which is a Russian pel’meni with meat or potatoes in the middle wrapped in a light bread wrap. We also had chicken cutlets and a huge shish-ka-bob that was really good. One interesting thing was the appetizer – normally places bring out bread as a filler to begin with – well, at one place they brought out a plate of sauerkraut and mongo pickles. They were actually pretty good, the pickles that is. I’d had enough of sauerkraut with the juice from a few nights back so I left that to the others. So, yes, the food was a definite hit.

The last night we ate at a cool little outdoor place with a live band and fire pit, Then we hit a karaoke bar (luckily the first of our groups didn’t do so hot so the DJ didn’t want to let any of the rest of us get up … ) and then hit a disco where I relived some of my high school glory days J It was 1 am before we got back to the hotel and I was beat. The next morning we met with the US Ambassador to Poland and had a good little chat, after which we visited a museum about the polish uprising. Towards the end of WWII the Poles were sent a proposal from the Soviets to start an uprising, with everyone combining against the Nazi occupants at the same time. The Soviets parked on the opposite side of the river from the city and promised their help. Well, when the Poles rose up, the Soviets just stood there and watched. Stalin had in mind to get rid of any idealists who may want to rise up against on occupant knowing sure well that he would like to occupy Warsaw after the war. After a couple of months ~200,000 Poles were dead and a couple of months later Stalin had control of the city … pretty sad … especially considering they were occupied for another 45 years.

On a lighter note, some of the cool things to buy are amber jewelry and pottery. They were a big hit with Kelli at home. Speaking of which, the flight home was relatively uneventful. There was a minor hiccup with my not having a visa in Singapore. Since I was on military orders you’re not supposed to need a visa, but they are by the book and required an ok from Canberra which took about an hour of standing in line and waiting to get. All in all it wasn’t a big deal and returning home and hearing the Aussie accent was a very welcome sound to the ears. I even had a ginger beer on the airplane and enjoyed it! As always the people in Australia were very nice and it was good to be ‘home’. My mementos from the trip – a Polish soccer scarf and a bottle of Polish water J