{"id":603,"date":"2009-07-13T23:25:58","date_gmt":"2009-07-14T04:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/?p=603"},"modified":"2023-12-20T16:25:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T21:25:20","slug":"poland-part-6-a-taste-of-total-freedom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/2009\/07\/13\/poland-part-6-a-taste-of-total-freedom\/","title":{"rendered":"Poland \u2013 Part 6: A Taste of Total Freedom"},"content":{"rendered":"

June 19th – 10:00AM<\/h2>\n

This day started out amazingly.\u00a0 First, Tamara handed us our second 200z installment of cash.\u00a0 Second, she told us that besides seeing the festival show that evening, the rest of how we wanted to spend our day was up to each of us.<\/p>\n

Total freedom in Wroclaw.\u00a0 Excellent.<\/p>\n

[simage=247,288]
\n[simage=248,288]<\/p>\n

So, while chewing on some bread with jam, and playing with the Wrotswog the Hostel Dog, I mentally went over my to-do list:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Get an international phone card, and call home<\/li>\n
  2. Get some postcards to send home<\/li>\n
  3. Find some souvenirs<\/li>\n
  4. Do laundry!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, I slammed down my toast, got cleaned up, walked out into the warm and humid Wroclaw air, and hit the streets with a few others.<\/p>\n

    As usual, our feet eventually led us to the market square.\u00a0 On one street, with large stone spheres as dividers, some booths were set up where people were hocking their wares.<\/p>\n

    [simage=251,288]
    \n[simage=250,288]<\/p>\n

    There were lots of little knick-knacks, but I actually didn’t see much that I hadn’t seen at other similar markets in Toronto.\u00a0 I was looking for gifts that were unique to the area, and it took me a while to eventually find them.<\/p>\n

    Here’s a shot of us checking out some wares:<\/p>\n

    [simage=252,288]<\/p>\n

    One highlight was a booth where a German man was selling hand-made wooden puzzles.\u00a0 He was a good salesman (though I’m pretty sure he was hitting on Linn the whole time), so I bought one of his puzzles.\u00a0 If you’re interested, and you read German, here is his website.<\/a><\/p>\n

    Here we are trying to solve some of his puzzles:<\/p>\n

    [simage=253,288]<\/p>\n

    Very perplexing.<\/p>\n

    After a bit more shopping about, we decided to get some lunch.<\/p>\n

    1:10PM<\/h2>\n

    I was about to get my first plate of pierogi since landing in Poland, and I was starving.\u00a0 After glacing at the menu,\u00a0 I ordered “pierogi ruskie” (basic potato, cheese, and onion pierogi), and a Sprite.\u00a0 Linn was upset because the waiter told us that they were out of the meat pierogies, and didn’t have any without cheese (Linn is lactose intolerant).\u00a0 So, she ordered fries instead.<\/p>\n

    [simage=255,288]
    \n[simage=258,288]
    \n[simage=260,288]<\/p>\n

    Her fries showed up.\u00a0 Our pierogies didn’t.<\/p>\n

    Something like 30 minutes passed.\u00a0 Eventually, the waiter came back and told us that they were fresh out of pierogies. \u00a0 Devestated, and famished for real Polish pierogi, I finished the rest of my Sprite, and we decided to try someplace else.<\/p>\n

    Ironically, Linn was the only one who ended up getting a meal there.<\/p>\n

    2:00PM<\/h2>\n

    We found another restaurant that looked good, and sat down.\u00a0 Unfortunately, there were no pierogies on the menu (was there a pierogi shortage?\u00a0 In Poland?\u00a0 Impossible!), so I ordered “penne spinaci”.\u00a0 It was relaxing, sitting out there in the market square under the tent.\u00a0 A couple of musicians with guitars and accordions played for us.\u00a0 We got into a conversation with a local.\u00a0 It was heavenly.\u00a0 And it felt good to know that there was no rush to do anything – we could play the day however we liked.<\/p>\n

    And that’s pretty much how the afternoon went – we’d go to some restaurant, sit down, eat and drink for an hour, and then wander around until we got hungry and found another restaurant.\u00a0 It was awesome.<\/p>\n

    It was also during that trip that Ryan and Jiv found what we would eventually name “Wizard Hat” – a bar near the Wroclaw University that sold 5z pints of beer.\u00a0 This would eventually become one of the main watering holes for our group while we were in Wroclaw.<\/p>\n

    Here’s why it’s called Wizard Hat:<\/p>\n

    [simage=377,288]<\/p>\n

    See it?<\/p>\n

    [simage=263,288]<\/p>\n

    After chewing on some of the gummy candies that Tara had bought at some booth in the market, I decided to head back to the hostel on my own to see if I could find a way to call home.<\/p>\n

    Outside of our hostel was a convenience store, and somebody in our group had told me earlier that I could get a phone card from there.\u00a0 So, I walked inside, and (after a lot of gesturing) was able to purchase a 20z “card” (really, just a receipt with a code on it).<\/p>\n

    So, I walked back up into the hostel, borrowed the hostel phone, and after some trial, error, and help from Tamara (the instructions were all in Polish!), I managed to phone home.<\/p>\n

    And nobody was there.\u00a0 Nobody was at my girlfriend Em’s place either.\u00a0 So, I put it on my “to do” list to try calling again that night after the show.<\/p>\n

    Putting back the phone, I walked into the common room, where the BBC was reporting on events in Iran.\u00a0 Riots on the streets, total news blackout (except for social media)…our group watched the news in Iran carefully, especially Tara, who had planned on visiting there after Poland.\u00a0 It wasn’t looking good.<\/p>\n

    6:13PM<\/h2>\n

    A few hours passed.\u00a0 There’s a gap in my journal, so I don’t really know what I did.\u00a0 All I know, is that at 6:13PM, I was in a theater about to see TEBEK-JARAN (“The Stabbing of the Horse”) by the Gambuh Desa Batuan Ensemble; a Balinese troupe.<\/p>\n

    So how was The Stabbing of the Horse?<\/p>\n

    Hypnotic.\u00a0 I found a YouTube clip posted by someone who was recording the show.\u00a0 Check it out:<\/p>\n

    <\/object><\/p>\n

    It’s really quite fantastic what she’s doing with her body – very precise, very controlled.\u00a0 It was impressive.\u00a0 The whole company moved like this.\u00a0 It was really other-worldly…I felt like some kind of scientist watching an alien ritual.\u00a0 Quite incredible.<\/p>\n

    But, at the time, I have to admit my eyes got pretty heavy after about 20 minutes of that music and movement.\u00a0 I didn’t understand the language at all, and had no idea what was going on even though they’d handed out a piece of paper explaining the story.\u00a0 Plus, it was super warm in the theatre.\u00a0 I won’t lie, I had to struggle to stay conscious.<\/p>\n

    And then they brought out the horse!\u00a0 Which was awesome – it was clearly just some actor in a horse costume – but it was freaking hilarious.\u00a0 The horse came out, played with the audience for a bit, and that perked me right back up.<\/p>\n

    And then they killed it.<\/em> They stabbed the horse, my favourite character, just as it was getting good.\u00a0 But I shouldn’t have been surprised – the title of the show was The Stabbing of the Horse.\u00a0 What did I expect?<\/p>\n

    Hrmph.\u00a0 Maybe if I knew more about the culture, I would have gotten more out of the performance.\u00a0 Oh well,\u00a0 I gave it my best shot.<\/p>\n

    After the show, Tamara gave us the option to see a performance of Macbeth.\u00a0 Personally, I was completely drained from the last show, and decided to head back to the hostel.<\/p>\n

    Back at the hostel, I successfully called both my parents and my girlfriend Em.\u00a0 It was good to hear their voices, and totally crazy to think that it was only 3PM back home.\u00a0 It was like time travel.\u00a0 My mind boggled.<\/p>\n

    Eventually, we met up with the people who saw Macbeth – and apparently, it was incredible.\u00a0 I’d write more about it, except that I didn’t see it.\u00a0 But according to them,\u00a0 it was awesome.<\/p>\n

    After we met up with them, a few of us stopped by a Greek restaurant for some gyros.\u00a0 We discussed the shows a bit, and I heard more impressions about Macbeth.\u00a0 After our discussion, we left, and started heading back to the hostel.<\/p>\n

    We were just walking through the middle of the market square, when all of a sudden, it hit me:\u00a0 I didn’t have my camera on me.\u00a0 I’d forgotten it at the gyro restaurant!\u00a0 I peeled out, and flew back to the restaurant.<\/p>\n

    The restaurant was empty – it looked like they were about to close.\u00a0 And my camera was nowhere to be seen.\u00a0 Finally, the European thieves and pick-pockets that I’d been warned about had struck.<\/p>\n

    And then the manager came out and gave me my camera back.\u00a0 I felt like quite a shmuck.<\/p>\n

    11:52PM<\/h2>\n

    After thanking the manager, I left the restaurant, and ran smack dab into another group of my fellow travelers who had taken a different route back from Macbeth.\u00a0 They were hungry, and I was up for hanging out, so we stopped at another restaurant.\u00a0 This one was a fancy Italian place.<\/p>\n

    Have you been keeping track?\u00a0 Let’s count how many times I sat down to eat that day:<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Breakfast at the hostel<\/li>\n
    2. Failed pierogi mission<\/li>\n
    3. Penne spinaci, with accordian music<\/li>\n
    4. Wizard Hat<\/li>\n
    5. Gyros at the Greek restaurant<\/li>\n
    6. Fancy Italian restaurant<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Holy smokes!<\/p>\n

      So there we were:\u00a0 Jiv, Ryan, Una, Linn, and Sonia, sitting at this fancy Italian restaurant, being loud and obnoxious, as per usual.\u00a0 It took us about 20 minutes to finally realize that we were sitting in a restaurant geared towards romance, and that many of the couples around us weren’t appreciating how much noise we were making.<\/p>\n

      So we paid our bill and left.<\/p>\n

      And we went home.\u00a0 And slept.\u00a0 I hadn’t bought any postcards, and I still had laundry to do.<\/p>\n

      Oh well.\u00a0 Plenty of time for that.<\/p>\n

      Click here to go to Part 7:\u00a0 An Official Tour of Wroclaw<\/a><\/p>\n

      Click here to go back to Part 5:\u00a0 Exploring Wroclaw<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      June 19th – 10:00AM This day started out amazingly.\u00a0 First, Tamara handed us our second 200z installment of cash.\u00a0 Second, she told us that besides seeing the festival show that evening, the rest of how we wanted to spend our day was up to each of us. Total freedom in Wroclaw.\u00a0 Excellent. [simage=247,288] [simage=248,288] So, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[110,6,273,9,4],"tags":[337,336,325,324,339,322,335,328,286,332,338,326,330,1216,329,340,327,333,334,331,277,323],"class_list":["post-603","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-musings","category-personal","category-poland","category-theater","category-ucdp","tag-bali","tag-balinese","tag-calling-card","tag-dog","tag-eating","tag-freedom","tag-gambuh-desa-batuan-ensemble","tag-german","tag-hostel","tag-iran","tag-macbeth","tag-market","tag-pierogi","tag-poland","tag-puzzles","tag-restaurants","tag-shopping","tag-tebek-jaran","tag-the-stabbing-of-the-horse","tag-wizard-hat","tag-wroclaw","tag-wrotzwog"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/prmTy-9J","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=603"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3235,"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/603\/revisions\/3235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=603"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=603"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mikeconley.ca\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=603"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}