November 1 is a holiday in Poland (All Saint's Day) and since it was a Tuesday this year, most people took Halloween off as well to make a 4-day weekend. It's great to have the day after Halloween off, since normally there are big parties on Halloween. However, I've discovered here that Halloween is not that big of a party, not many people dress up, and most people leave the city to be with their families. So I wasn't all that concerned if I missed Halloween and went out of town. Plus it seems like a waste to not travel when you have a 4 day weekend and limited time in Europe. I was about to click "buy" for a ticket to Rome for 3 nights, but just as I did, the price went up by quite a bit, as if it was a sign to stay in Warsaw and do some other things I haven't done yet. Thus the creation of my Halloween weekend bucket list.
Halloween weekend bucket list item #1: Try a new restaurant
A while ago I walked past this restaurant called Browar de Brasil. It's a brewery, and it's Brazilian (if you couldn't figure it out). And when it comes to Brazilian restaurants, you know that there will be lots of meat. Of the all-you-can-eat variety, aka Churrascaria. And of course I got that. The meat was pretty good, fairly cheap ($20 including sides), and the service was extremely friendly (they were Brazilian, not Polish). In fact, when I arrived I tried to speak Polish and the guy didn't understand me...and when he spoke back I didn't understand him. Turns out it's because he is Brazilian and his Polish is worse than mine! The restaurant itself was a very fun environment too (maybe because the waitresses were dressed in cheerleader outfits). I even tried the chicken hearts, which the waiter called "Brazilian Viagra". He said "If you pop 4 of these, after a few minutes the table will lift off the ground". No joke. I only had 1.5.
Meat and cheerleaders
HW bucket list item #2: Take a day trip out of Warsaw
There are many places in Poland that I want to visit, but haven't been to, and hopefully I will start knocking these off soon. For this trip, a friend suggested Torun. Everyone says Torun is a great place to visit (and live), and it's even very high on the list of top Eastern European cities, not just in Poland. Some of the big draws are the medieval city center, the 13th century castle ruins of the Teutonic Knights (Poland and the Teutonics fought over the city in the 15th century), the fact that it's still mostly original (it wasn't damaged during WWII), and that it's where Copernicus was born back in 1473. Over time, Torun has been passed back and forth between Teutonics, Poland, Russia, Prussia, and Germany (and probably others).
Old Teutonic 13th century castle ruins
Toruń Old Town
So I decided to go to Torun for the day. I was accompanied by a friend, who wishes to be unnamed, due to the following story. I won't get into too much details about the train situation, but she (who is Polish) might be worse than me at buying train tickets. First, she was confused as to which station we were to leave from so we had to change our plans before we even left. After we got to the right station, we ended up waiting on the wrong platform (good thing the train was late and we realized it before it arrived). Then we got on the wrong wagon, had to get off to switch wagons, then finally we got to our seat. Except someone was in our seat. So my unnamed friend spoke to the person saying "that's our seat". And the guy said "yes, this was your seat...2 days ago"....because we had tickets for the 27th...and it was the 29th! Whoops. "Someone" (not me) bought the ticket for the wrong day. So we ended up sitting in the wagon corridor, which wasn't so bad. She felt really bad, but honestly it was no big deal at all. At least we were on the train. When the ticket taker came by, I think she greased him so we didn't have to buy 2nd tickets, but wouldn't tell me exactly what happened. Maybe someday I will teach her how to order train tickets in Polish, since I am so good at it.
Me in the corridor
Neighbor enjoying a pickle in the corridor
My unnamed guide
HW bucket list item #3: Buy a bottle of sriracha
Done. Times two. The second one is garlic flavored. Imagine taking sriracha and mixing in garlic. Yes, it's awesome.
Regular and garlic sriracha
HW bucket list item #4: Bowl in Halloween costume
A group of 9 of us met at a bowling alley, half of us in costumes. It was a fun night of bowling, even though everyone was exhausted from the night before. In any case, it's hard to bowl in a sumo outfit. I don't even think I broke 100.
Not so good...
Sumo and Smurfette
Little devil and a cat, although you can't really tell she is a cat here
HW bucket list item #5: See a part of the city I haven't seen before
This one was a combination of sightseeing and cultural experience. Every November 1 (All Saint's Day), the entire Polish population visits the cemeteries around Poland to pay tribute to the dead (ancestors, famous people, random people with pretty tombstones, etc). Dominika organized a group to go at night to Powąski cemetary, which was pretty impressive. There were thousands of people in the cemetery, walking around the entire cemetery, like it was some sort of museum. There were candles and flowers everywhere, and it really impressed me how important this day is to them. This is part of the reason that Halloween isn't highly celebrated...because most people are in mourning during this time, spending time with their families. Thinking back to the US, I have probably been to cemeteries less than 5 times to "visit" graves, and one of those times was to find Bruce Lee.
Candles all around the cemetery
It can be a bit spooky
HW bucket list item #6: Book my next trip
I will be spending my Christmas eating pizza and spaghetti in...Rome!
Nice Costume. Can't believe how busy you are. gotta bring some of that garlic siracha back to the states. haha
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