Warsaw 1985 #3of3

In Warsaw, as in other cities, when we ask a question or need someone to help us with a map, they are as helpful as can be. Everyone in Warsaw seems to like America and the Americans. We must drive slower than we would like, and the constant up and down, jiggling here and bouncing there, is tiresome, but we must be on the alert for pot-holes at all times.

At one street market we bought two bananas for about $1.85 each. We were told someone probably smuggled them into Warsaw, as they never see bananas otherwise.

In the center of the city, there is a 34 story building, a gift from Stalin. We were told the top of this building is the best place to look over Warsaw, because you can’t see this building from there. That’s more a pronouncement of their opinion of the giver, than the gift. It’s a cultural center full of sports facilities, a night club, and other such things. We drove around the building, but never found a place to park, within blocks.

We decided to stay in Warsaw for another day, so drove back to the campground and got to the office just as the radio played the Kraków bugle call, as is always done at 12:00 noon on Saturday. Somehow it does give a rather inspirational feeling.

The campground is in a huge park of some kind. On the one side there was a stadium where we see people running around the track. In the next door campsite we saw a young boy wearing an official Indiana University sweatshirt. This young man and his grandparents, Henryk and Irene, were from Gdansk, Poland. We became friends, and since then have visited in each other’s home, our home in California, their home in Gdansk, Poland. (More on this story elsewhere.)

Late that afternoon a large bus filled with college age kids from several West European countries, arrived in the campground. They were just returning from 10 days in the Soviet Union, and were they ever glad to get out of that country. As a comparison, they say Poland looks like heaven.

One young man asked me why even the new roads in Poland weren’t very smooth. I said, “If they build a bad road they must stand in line to buy a loaf of bread, but on the other hand, if they build a good road they must stand in line to buy a loaf of bread.” Then it dawned on the young man, motivation! It almost seemed he hadn’t heard that word before.