The Jewish Ghetto (is there any other kind of ghetto?) This morning, with a bit of a hangover, I went to visit the old Jewish Quarter of Warsaw. The entire area has been paved over with row apartment buildings. There is a trail of small monuments to mark the area, it's very clear that not many people want to remember the more than half a million Jews who were sent to concentration camps from this tiny area.

Apparently there is a Jewish museum opening in the area in 2006, and if I ever make it back, I'm intrigued to see what it ends up being.

Also visited the Warsaw Uprising memorial - which was absolutely breathtaking.

I'm leaving Genny's in a few minutes to go to the airport to Milan. Spending one night there, then back to the states on Thursday - just in time for the NCAA tourney. GO CUSE  ¶ 2:03 PM 0 comments

  Slumber Party So last night we went out to a club near Genny's dorm. Genny and Ian left early as they were tired and I stayed and bought drinks for a bunch of strangers because the drinks were so cheap.

I went back to my room around 2, and at 3:30 the door flies open and Genny and Ian come in. Genny's roommate had stayed later at the club, got hammered and came home throwing up. In the bedroom.

So I made the rules very clear. They were to be quiet and observe a line down the middle of the other bed in my room. If that line were crossed, Ian was going to have to come sleep in my bed. A very scary threat to him. Meanwhile, the kids and I talked for a few, with me telling them to shut up and go to bed every ten minutes.

I didn't sleep much, but it was fun  ¶ 10:54 AM 0 comments

  Back to College I'm living in a dorm now, and it is quite an experience. Kids smoking in the hall at all hours, knocking on doors, and blasting their music. Quite an experience!

Yesterday, Ian and I went around town to the Old Town and Novy Swiat (Polish 5th Avenue) shopping and looking around. Then we stopped at a bar for a few and had a couple beers. Poor kid got drunk off of 2 beers. Last night we took all of Genny's classmates to this Italian restaurant in the Old Town, then stopped at a casino on the way back to the dorms.

Today we got up around 10 and went back to the Old Town to finally act like tourists. We went to the Warsaw History museum and walked around. There were a couple of high school tour groups there and the girls couldn't stop giggling when Ian and I walked through. I want to believe that it was because we were so cute, but it's probably because we looked like goofy Americans.

LAter we met Genny and her friend Jess for some coffee at a bar near the Centrum.

Just got done napping, now we're going to go out for dinner then go clubbing tonight.  ¶ 6:38 PM 0 comments

  Good news - 3 hours without snow Had a busy day yesterday.

Genny and I left for the Old Town around Noon. We walked around for a little while and had lunch at an Italian restaurant. After lunch we continued walking around the small area that is the old town. This part of town (as much of Warsaw) had been leveled during the Warsaw Uprising. After the war, the entire area had been rebuilt from photos that people had. In order to rebuild the area, college age kids had been required to work for a year or two before leaving for school or going to work. Pretty remarkable.

We also lucked out in that there were like 3 hours of sun and it didn't start snowing until after 3 yesterday. you know you're in a cold city when you see people cleaning snow off of roofs in the middle of a snow storm. After the Old Town, we took a trolley to the main street and had some coffee, then we walked about 2 miles towards her house. Not the nicest walk ever, but I really love walking through a foreign city and taking it all in, rather than sticking to the proscribed routes for tourists.

After dinner, we picked up Genny's boyfriend, Ian, at the airport. We then went out for a little while at the bar downstairs in the dorms (you read that right). I didn't get to sleep until after midnight, which was an accomplishment.

Today, I'm going to lunch with Genny and Ian then, when Genny goes to class, I an and I are going to look around at some of the bazaars and stores.  ¶ 10:28 AM 0 comments