The time I left Conway in Lithuania

Dallas, Chicago, Detroit, Atlanta, New York, San Francisco, Ireland, London, Warsaw, Amsterdam, and now Vilnius.  What do they all have in common?  These are all the places Conway and I have hung out in.  Not a bad list for 2 friends who have only known each other for a few years and have never lived in the same city.  I might even be forgetting some places.  It's actually pretty incredible when you think about it.  I only know a few people with the same spontaneity and willingness to book 1,000 trips per month like Jess. And since we both have that desire to travel during the limited time we are each living in Europe (she lives in London), we figured we better find somewhere else to go before either of us moves back to the US.  We contemplated some warm-ish places like Morocco or Madrid, or arctic places like Helsinki, but in the end we settled on the city that was one of the cheapest to fly to on Skyscanner that neither of us had been to.  I've wanted to go to Vilnius for a while now, so this was a great opportunity.  In case you don't know where Vilnius is, it's Lithuania, Poland's neighbor to the north.

In the center of Vilnius

Vilnius at night

The bus from the airport to the Old Town was easy (although they came infrequently), and I made my way to the hostel - Jimmy Jumps House.  The hostel was in a great location in the Old Town, was extremely friendly (the staff were the smiliest people I've met in a while, and all the guests were extremely social), it was very clean, and the price was right.  I definitely recommend it.  There were only 3 rooms in the hostel (a 12 person room, a 6 person room, and a 4 person room) and 2 single bathrooms.  There were no locks on the doors to the sleeping rooms (although lockers were available), and there was a big living room/kitchen, so it actually felt like we were staying in someone's big house.  It was a nice environment, and the girls who worked there made us delicious waffles for breakfast.  I knew I would love it when I saw the sign that asked everyone to take their shoes off before entering.  Ah yes, just like home.  The girls working there sometimes worked 24 or 36 hours STRAIGHT (alone), just sleeping for a few hours in a closet at night when all was quiet.  They called it a "room", but really it was a closet.  the fact that they loved working there spoke very highly of the place. Jess and I shared the 4 bed room with another guy, who to my delight, was Polish.

When he first told me he name was Tomek, my first reaction was "whoa! skąd jesteś?" (whoa! where are you from?) and he said in English "Poland, I studied near Krakow".  I excitedly exclaimed "Mieszkam w Warszawie!" (I live in Warsaw) and he responded with "so you don't speak Polish?".  Pshhhhhhhhh. That's the sound of my deflating enthusiasm for speaking Polish.  I'm going to pretend he actually meant it in a way to say "you speak Polish, don't you?" which makes me feel much better.  Well, to be honest, it only took a few more sentences for him to realize I do in fact speak a little Polish.  Like a Polish 1 year old.

I had asked a few friends (and random people I met) before the visit what we should eat in Lithuania.  They all responded with the same suggestion: Cepelinai (aka didzukuliai, duh), which are ginormous potato dumplings filled with meat, topped with cream, bacon and bacon grease (they call them "zeppelins" in English because they're shaped like blimps - and I assume if you eat too many of them, you also become the shape of a blimp).  They also suggested Saltibarsciai, which is cold beet soup with eggs, veggies, sour cream, and a side of hot potatoes.  The soup was pretty good, even though I don't like beets, but the side of potatoes was my favorite part.  It's just funny to get a side of potatoes with soup (and they're not french fries).  These dishes are similar to others around this part of Europe, but of course, everyone has their own spin.  For drinks, they suggested Svyturys beer.  I asked the waitress how to pronounce it, but even after 3 attempts, I couldn't figure out what she said, so I just call it "Saturdays". It kind of looks like the word "Saturdays", right?  Svyturys. Saturdays. Same same.  You already know that they don't have a lot of vowels in this part of the world, because times are tough, and like in Wheel of Fortune, vowels must cost $250.  The most popular vodka in Lithuania is actually called "Lithuanian Original Vodka".  Very original indeed.

Cepelinai - potato dumplings with meat filling

Saltibarsciai with a side of potatoes and Saturdays beer

I have to admit that the food doesn't look extremely appetizing, but it was delicious.  Even this "potato sausage" thing, which looks like something that came out of somewhere I can't say, tasted pretty good...as long as I closed my eyes while eating it.  It was hard for Conway not to make farting noises while I was taking bites, which of course made it very enjoyable.  Unfortunately I didn't have a chance to try "pig ears".  Apparently it's a very popular bar snack, and is exactly what it sounds like...pig ears.  Goes well with Saturdays beer and Lithuanian Original Vodka.

Potato sausage - please don't say what you think it looks like

The Old Town is a very nice mix of old and modern.  There are several cobble stone streets and old style buildings, but also some areas with a nice, new feel to it.  Perched above the city are the remains of a 600 year old castle, from which there are great views of the city.  Vilnius is also where the 2 million person human chain started in 1989, which stretched through Riga (Latvia) to Tallinn (Estonia) to show their united desire for independence from the USSR.

Old Castle tower

View of the city from the tower - old on one side of the river, new on the other

After wandering around a bit, we made our way to the Museum of Genocide Victims (aka the KGB museum).  Like many of the countries in this part of the world, Lithuania was victim to both Nazi and Soviet oppression.  This museum did a nice job of showing what life was like for those in the city even after WWII ended.  Anyone that was against the Communist regime was watched by the KGB, many disappeared, were arrested, or shipped to Siberian work prisons.  The museum is located in the old KGB headquarters, so we even saw the old holding cells and alleged torture rooms.  It was very scary to think this stuff happened to those who fought against Communism, but also sobering to think about where these countries would be now if these brave people around the region didn't stand up for themselves. On a maybe inappropriate side note, the museum smelled like someone was cooking sausages when we went in there, which was torture to me, because it smelled amazing.  I also took some pictures in there, which were not allowed. Talk about irony: taking unauthorized pictures in a museum about Soviets who spied on and tortured those who deceived them.  I expected to be caught on secret cameras and arrested as I left the museum

One of the torture rooms - they filled it with cold water, so you had to either stand in the water, or balance on the little platform in the middle

Extremely creepy display of a straight-jacket in another holding cell

This chalkboard says it all (the drawings, not the words)

This museum also made me start to wonder if we have a museum about the Japanese internment in the US. Does anyone know?  

It also reminded me of a movie I saw recently with Ed Harris and Colin Farell about people who escaped from one of these Siberian prison camps and walked "home", called "The Way Back". Check out the trailer if you haven't seen it.

When we left the museum, we were both very tired (and let's be honest, a bit hungover), and to our delight there was a big parade starting just outside.  And when I mean delight, I mean the opposite of delight.  The parade kept following us, out of museum, down the street, making loud and off-beat noises.  We tried to walk faster, but we were looking for food, and every time we stopped for a minute to check out a restaurant, we decided to keep going, and the parade would catch up to us again.  The drums were loud and they had vuvuzelas (they're even more annoying when they're not at a soccer game).  Once we finally escaped the parade, we stumbled onto a street of more annoying sounds - honking, bike horns, sirens, crying, bells, accordians, squeeky dog toys, and pretty much everything else you do not love listening to on a lazy weekend stroll.

The parade followed us down this street

On the last night, one of the workers from the hostel took 12 of us out on a pub crawl.  There were people from Australia, Spain, Czech Republic, Germany, Lithuania, US, and of course our Polish friend (who disappeared for 2 hours after drinking two 2-liters of beer, but then found his way to us).  Yea, they sell beer in 2-liter plastic bottles (like a big Sprite or Coke).  Mr. Poland killed two of them before we even left the hostel.  We went to a few different places and had a great time.  A lot of the bars are situated with tables and chairs everywhere, so everyone sits down (no standing, unless it's a club).  This, and the fact that every bar seemed to have a foosball table, was something different about bars in Vilnius.  As far as the group, there is just something fun about hanging out with a bunch of people you just met an hour earlier, like you've been friends for a long time.  We went to one of the bars both nights, and saw the same people there...one guy with a hoodie that Conway took pictures with both nights, and another girl who is Jessica Schwartz's Lithuanian Original Doppleganger (i.e. she looked exactly like her!).  Those pictures can only be seen in my Facebook album, to protect the innocent.

Crew from Jimmy Jumps

Unfortunately one of us had a little too much fun that night, and had to stay in Vilnius an extra night because he/she physically couldn't get on her plane.  We got to the airport, were about to go through security, and as he/she was crouched on the floor in the fetal position, he/she said to me "I can't do it.  Leave me.  Save yourself".  After comforting him/her, I didn't think there was anything else to do but to tell the airline people that my friend was going to need to change their flight and to ask if they could please keep an eye on him/her ("Which friend, you ask? oh, the one over there curled up into a ball under the bench").   To be fair, the ailment didn't seem 100% alcohol related, but I will make fun of him/her as if it was. And you can too (it's a she).

One funny cultural thing that has seems to be more and more prevalent lately is what people in this part of the world associate with Seattle, my home town.  Everyone has heard of it, but 5-10 years ago, people told me they heard of it because of the movie Sleepless in Seattle, the Sonics basketball team, or maybe the show Grey's Anatomy.  However, recently, it seems like more and more people don't know what those things are, and instead think of Nirvana.  Think about it for a minute, and it doesn't really make sense, since Nirvana was popular in the 90s, a longer time ago than those other Seattle "icons".  But somehow, Nirvana has stood the test of time, and is more popular now than these TV shows or movies about Seattle.  There was even a signed poster of Kurt Cobain in one of the bars we were in, and a guy in the hostel was playing "Smells Like Teen Spirit" on his guitar.  Unfortunately there were no signed Sonics posters (even though basketball is the biggest sport in Lithuania, and a Lithuanian guy even played for the Sonics - Sarunas Marciulionis - I feel sorry for the Sonics announcer when he had to say that name 50 times per night).

So the weekend in Vilnius was a success (at least for one of us), and thus my journeys to all 3 Baltic capitals is complete.  One thing we didn't get to do was visit Trakai, a small island/castle about 30 km from Vilnius.  I guess there's always next time.

The "Key" to St Patrick's Day 2012

On St. Patrick's Day 2012, luck just wasn't on my side.

The weather forecast called for a beautiful Saturday (relatively speaking - about 60 degrees F), so I decided it would be a good day for my first run of 2012 with my friends in the Warsaw International Triathlon Club.

I'll tell you more about WITC in the Summer, but for now, it's a group with which I run and swim (and will bike) regularly.  Some guys have been running all Winter, but it's been cold and I don't have any warm running clothes.  Besides, who likes to run for fun in the cold?  Surely not me.

But this day was going to be a great day for a run along the river, and a good time to shake off some rust and start getting in shape for basketball again.  I put on my best St. Patrick's Day running gear, and headed down to the meeting spot.

My green thai boxing shorts, Irish three-way shirt, and clover headband, with a missing clover

The meeting spot was a little over 2 km from my apartment, so I did a nice warm-up jog down there...trying to embrace all the smiles, thumbs ups, and enthusiastic looks I was getting for my outfit (and equally trying to ignore the strange, annoyed "what's wrong with you?" looks I was also getting from some people).  One of the clovers kept falling off the headband, so I just put it in my pocket for the rest of the run.  In my secure, zipped pocket...at least I thought it was secure.

A group of 9 of us ended up doing a nearly 12 km run along the Wisła river, looping around a couple of the bridges. The weather was perfect, and I passed the time listening to Grzegorz tell me about...hmmm...actually I can't remember.  I don't think I was listening.  Whatever it was, it helped pass the time, and I only had to say "uh huh" and "oh really?" once in a while to keep him going.

After the run, I was pretty tired, but pretty proud of my ability to finish 12 km pretty strongly on my first real run of the year (14, including the initial jog).

We all went to a restaurant/bar called Solec 44 to sit outside and have some juice/snacks, where I enjoyed some fresh OJ and water.  I kept admiring the food that Connie and Doug were eating, and although I was hungry, I knew I had food at home, so I waited.

I decided to jog home, since I wasn't too tired, bringing my total for the day to about 16 km.  Since I had been sitting for a while, I was cold, and my legs were a bit tight, but I managed.  When I got to my door, I unzipped my jacket pocket to get my key, looking forward to going inside and making pork chops for lunch. I pulled out my credit card, one green clover, a few zloty coins, my key....wait a minute.  No key.  I check again.  Still no key.  I check the other zipped pocket. No key.  I turn my pockets inside out.  No key.  I jump up and down, hoping to shake it loose.  No key.  I take off my jacket and feel it up and down.  No key.  Where's my key?  I checked for holes in the pockets, but there aren't any holes.  This can't be happening! Quickly, my mind races to all the places I had been since the last time I saw my key...approximately 16 km ago.  I thought maybe I saw (i.e. felt) it  at the restaurant??? But I wasn't sure, so I tried to call them to see if they could check.  They didn't answer.  So I did the only logical thing...I ran back there.

I thought it would be a good idea to run along the same route on which I came home, in order to scan the ground in case the key had fallen out somewhere along the way. At this point, my legs were starting to cramp up - I was hungry, tired, and I could feel the white film forming on the corners of my lips (So thirsty!).  So now I was jogging with a limp, wearing green thai boxing shorts, a headband with one clover missing, while nervously scanning the ground in front of me as I waddled along.  If this isn't the image of someone very "special", I don't know what is.  I completely avoided eye contact with everyone passing - partly because I was looking for treasures at the ground by their feet, but partly because I didn't want to see the looks on their faces.

I swallowed my pride as I approached the restaurant, limped up the stairs, and while trying to catch my breath, politely asked the people who were sitting at our old table if they had seen a key on the ground. They all felt so sorry for me (either for the fact I lost a key, or for the way I looked) that they all got down on the ground to help me look. No key.  I asked inside if they had found a key. No key.  I checked the toilet. Nope.  Damn.

So I called Dominika for help.  My landlord lives in Germany, and his friend in Warsaw that helps me a lot doesn't have a key.  I had lost hope of finding my key (I wasn't about to re-trace all 16 km), so Domi helped me find some locksmiths.  Of course none of them were open on Saturday at 4pm.  So I started to panic...what would I do? I already started worrying about spending the night on a park bench in this outfit, because if a locksmith wouldn't be open until the next day, I had no way of getting inside my house.  This was not good.

Finally, Domi found a 24 hour locksmith.  WHEW!  She was going to call them to find out the price, and then call me back to confirm and get my address. I hung up the phone, anticipating that she'd call back in a couple minutes to say it was about $100, which at this point would be well worth it.

That's when panic attack #2 set in.  Lately my phone battery has been "tired"...it drains pretty quickly when I use it, and usually around 4 or 5pm it will die unless I charge it sometime during the day (or if I don't use it at all). Since I had made so many calls and was using Google Maps to find a locksmith, my phone had also gotten a good work out so far.  So, right on schedule, just as I hung up with Domi, my phone died.

Are you kidding me?!  I thought things were supposed to be lucky on St Patrick's Day?!?

I didn't know what to do. I was upset that this delayed my getting back into my apartment, but I felt worse that Domi was probably trying to call me back to help me out, and I wasn't answering. It was the evening of St. Patrick's day, and I knew she had plans...so the last thing I wanted to do was to make her have to wait on me.  So I start running to...somewhere. But I didn't know where to go!  I don't know anyone's phone numbers and my friends in the area were either out of town or have moved away.  So literally, I was running in circles.  Up the hill?  No, back down the hill.  Down that street? No, the other way. I knew I needed to get somewhere fast to try to contact Domi, but I didn't know where!!

I finally decided to try to find some internet cafe, or to stop by some Wi-Fi hotspots to try to use someone's computer to email or Facebook message her.  Everywhere I looked either didn't have people in it (to borrow their computers), or they looked really scary.  So finally I came to the Bristol hotel (a fancy pants hotel right next door to the President's Palace).  I go in, limping, out of breath, still wearing my same winning outfit, and I can't even think of how to say anything in Polish to the guy...I just say, in English "I'm not staying here. Is there a computer so I can get on Facebook? I lost my key".  Out of context, those words make no sense.  He probably thought "Oh gosh, this guy's English is terrible...I better just smile and nod".  I could have thought of a better, more logical explanation, but I just couldn't.  Luckily, he was nice, somehow understood my desperate request, and pointed me to a computer in the business center.

Whew.

Domi was online and we were able to set up a meeting with the locksmith.  He was going to be at my place in 40 minutes.  So I updated my FB status to tell the world of my current misery (of course), and remembered that I was starving.  My lips were also so dry I probably looked like I was wearing lipstick made of chalk.  The 40 minutes gave me enough time to jog/crawl slowly back home, stopping for a kebab and water on the way.  Luckily I had a few coins on me.  I'm sure I looked like a homeless man as I devoured that kebab.

In the end, the locksmith ended up costing me 300 zl (about $100).  The guy was really nice, and we used sign language and broken Polish to communicate (my Polish was broken, not his). I learned that "lock" in Polish is "zamek", which is the same word for "castle".  Imagine my confusion when he asked me if I wanted a new zamek.  No, I don't need a new castle, I just want to go inside my apartment.

By the time I was finally in the apartment, 7 hours had passed since the time I left my house for the run in the morning.  I had run over 20 km, with sudden starts and stops and improper cool-downs.  As a result, I couldn't walk for the next 36 hours.  .

Anyway, I was very thankful for the 24 hour locksmith, for Domi's gracious assistance, and most of all, for Facebook chat.  Thank you Mark Zuckerberg.

Even though I "wasted" half of the day, and spent unnecessary money as a result of my own insubordinate key, I felt so relieved and satisfied.  I ate again, drank about 2 gallons of water, showered, and laid on the couch.  Taking a nap that evening never felt so good.

I just wish I knew how my key unzipped the pocket by itself, jumped out, and zipped it back up without me knowing.

Guys weekend (for two) in Bratislava

"Hey Ken, did you hear about the train crash between Krakow and Warsaw last week?"  He didn't hear about it, so I explained what happened...two trains between Warsaw and Krakow collided head-on just 6 days before our train trip to Bratislava, Slovakia.  Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up while we were actually ON the train, because literally within 30 seconds, our train slammed on its breaks and the horn sounded.  Ken laid down in his seat with a panicked look on his face bracing for impact. "Look what you did!!!" he yelled at me, as we are still slowing to a stop.  I could almost see in his eyes that he expected us to hit something.  The train screeched to a halt.  Then the announcement comes (in Czech, then in English): "Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain in your seats.  There has been an accident on the track and we will be delayed for 3 hours."  I totally jinxed it by bringing up the accident!!!  At least WE weren't IN the accident, but really, I should have knocked on wood.  

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We decided to go to Bratislava for the guy's weekend we didn't get when we went to Riga in January (aka the invasion of the girls).  What started out as a potential group of 5 or 6 guys turned out to be just me and Ken again.  Since we survived each other's company in Berlin, it wasn't going to be a problem in Bratislava. The real test will come when we go to a city whose name doesn't start with a B. The only disappointing part is that since everyone couldn't come, the dynamic of the trip changed.  Instead of a "guy's weekend", it was like couple's weekend or something.  At least that's what our friends in Poland joke about (they aren't very funny people).

Bratislava Castle and town, from across the Danube

The $100 round-trip train ride normally takes about 7 hours (with one transfer), but of course we were delayed because of the accident.  We never found out for sure what happened, but people on the train were saying that we hit a person on the track.  YIKES.  I hope that's not true, but they made us get off the train, and when we did, we saw cops all around taking pictures of something towards the front.  I didn't want to know what it was.  They sent us on another train to take us to the next town, where we caught our connection to Bratislava. Overall, it added 2 more hours to the trip.

Getting off the train to walk to where another train can pick us up

With the train delay, of course we wondered about a lot of random things - like the best ways to teach people how to swim (this came up because we are training for a triathlon with a swim coach), how cell phone technology knows when you cross into a new country and should start roaming (is there a big invisible bubble?), and our favorite Polish grammar tips (good thing we had our own compartment because I'm sure it was funny to hear us speak Polish to each other).

Everyone that I've asked says that Bratislava is super tiny, not crowded at all, and worth a visit.  And everything about that is true.  It's really off the beaten path, as far as European Capital cities go. Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia, formerly a part of Czechoslovakia.  After the Velvet Revolution in which Czechoslovakia peacefully became independent from the Soviet Union in 1989, Slovakia worked towards separating from Czechoslovakia, which became official in 1993. Since Prague gives fame to the Czech Republic, Slovakia is the lesser known of the two.

Bratislava's main square

Hockey is huge in Slovakia, like many countries in the region.  Considering their small population, the national team does pretty well.  They are normally ranked in the Top 10 in the world, and they finished 4th in the 2010 Olympics (no medal though, wah wah).  Personally, I don't even know what hockey is, so I have to converse with Slovaks over other topics, like "So do you guys hate Czech people?  Who has better beer?  Who has hotter women?"

Another interesting thing about this region is that the language is somewhat close to Polish (like all Slavic languages).  They say that Czech is pretty close to Polish (the closest in the family), but since Slovak is about 85% the same as Czech, Slovak is about 85% of "pretty close" to Polish.  From reading signs and hearing people speak, we could tell what a lot of words mean (so I guess it takes a trip to Slovakia to realize I am not so Polish-illiterate).  The Slovaks say that they can understand more Polish than Polish people can understand Slovak because of the Slovak understanding of Czech. You got all that?

Bratislava itself has a nice little Old Town.  It's small and only takes a few hours to walk around, but it's really nice.  There are many little cafes, bars and restaurants, and a nice walking path along the Danube River.  Since Ken is doing a half-marathon in a couple weeks, he made me do a "running tour" with him when we first arrived, going about 4 miles around the city and across the bridges to get a feel for it.  It was actually a nice way to get oriented, and the weather was great.  There are little statues all over the city, which adds some nice character.

Going for a run in my too-big Sonics t-shirt, across from the Castle

One of several little statues around the city

We stayed in a 2 bedroom apartment, just outside the city center (via Bratislava Apartments). Since we expected more people to come, we had a big space, but it was actually nice to have our own rooms.  In case you don't remember, Ken and I have shared a bunk bed and a king bed on our last 2 trips, to Berlin and Riga (hence the "couples" jokes)...so having more space was nice.  The place was a couple minutes walking to the Old Town, on a main shopping street, Obchodna.  The only real complaint is that the internet stopped working in the middle of the weekend, so we had to go on 3G roaming to do important things like update our Facebook statuses.

The apartment had the SAME picture of NYC that I have in my apartment!

After relaxing a bit, we met Ivan, Martin, and Rado, friends from the PwC office in Bratislava, who took us out to a nice restaurant called Bratislavska Restauracia, which was formerly a theater.  Martin and Rado are both married with two kids, so it was one of their 3 allowed nights out for the year.  I tried the official Slovak national dish, Bryndzové Halušky (no idea how to say that), which was some potato dumplings with a sheep cheese sauce and bits of bacon.  I wasn't worried about it until Ivan told me to order it only if I was "feeling brave".  It doesn't look like much, but it was really good...a bit like macaroni and cheese with pieces of bacon, so what's not to love (if you have a lactaid)?  We also had some Slovak beer and some shots of pear and apricot flavored stuff that was 52% alcohol.  It tasted like gasoline with a bit of fruit juice in it, if you can imagine that, although the pear one was much better.  Ken didn't drink his, so I finished it.  To make a long story short, I probably shouldn't have.

Bryndzové Halušky

On Saturday we slept in a bit (due to the results of the previous paragraph), wandered around the city and decided to rent bikes and ride them to Devin Castle, some ruins about 10 km outside of the city.  Then we looked at the calendar and realized that it's March, and you can't rent bikes in March.  Even though the weather was pretty good (maybe 50 and clear blue skies), I guess they don't expect it to be warm enough for bike rentals.  So, instead we took a bus.  While waiting for the bus we saw these guys on bikes with no seats, jumping their bikes from a stand still onto a ramp at least 3 feet high, then hopping on their back wheels on the ledge of the ramp.  I couldn't decide if I was more amazed by the jumping, the landing, or the fact that their bikes had no seats!  Ken and I must be getting old, because we were perfectly happy sitting on the bus bench for 30 minutes, doing nothing.

Guys doing crazy jumps on their seat-less bikes

Devin Castle was an old castle built in the 9th century, but destroyed in the early 1800s by Napoleon (he probably used Dynamite...get it?  Napoleon Dynamite?  Ok, nevermind).  There isn't much we could see inside because it was closed, but it was interesting to see the ruins, the trails all around the castle were nice to walk around, and it was fun to imagine what it was like to live in the old days when the castle was still intact, defending itself from intruders.  I imagined storming up the hill, dodging flying arrows, massive boulders, and boiling tar to climb the walls and claim the castle.  I think I've seen Lord of the Rings too many times.

The remains of Devin Castle

In another eerie coincidence, as I was thinking about this, I heard news that another castle in Slovakia, Krasna Horka, burned down. These psychic coincidences are freaking me out!

After more wandering back in the city, we ate at another Slovak restaurant that was recommended by a few different people, Mestiansky Pivovar.  I got to have some goulash finally!  And earlier in the day we also found a bagel place (Bagel and Coffee Story)...and I got a bagel sandwich for the first time in a year and a half!  It was so delicious, we had it again the next day.

For night life, the Old Town has tons of bars and restaurants.  The streets never seem crowded (day or night), but all of the bars were packed.  There seemed to be a few foreigners mixed into the crowd (probably guys on bachelor parties, or "stag dos" as the English say), but my guess is that they were mostly Slovak.  People were pretty friendly, spoke English, and even joked around with us.  One of the bartenders yelled at Ken for not saying "please" when he ordered a drink.  I think Ken might have avoided receiving a spit-jito by being more polite after that, but he was clearly annoyed. I thought it was funny.  The bars were more casual than the clubs in Warsaw, but nicer than the pubs.  They were a nice mix of bar/lounge/dancing, while keeping a casual feel....and there were a ton all within 5 minutes walking of each other within the Old Town.  We need more of these places in Warsaw (says a nearly 34 year old with greying sideburns).

Where is everybody?

In the end, guys weekend for two was a fun time.  Another country checked off the list.  We did some interesting things, met some nice people, and ate some good food.  We just didn't get much rest, but I guess that's not why I live here.  

Next up, Vilnius, Lithuania in 2 weeks with Conway!