The journey begins

We're at the Polonia Palace Hotel in downtown Warsaw for the next three nights.  The "A" marks the hotel's location on the map.

This evening the travelers went to a restaurant in Warsaw's Old Town, for an excellent Polish meal. The mushroom soup rivals that at Old Wives' Tales.  We walked around a bit before and after the meal.

Gathering in the hotel lobby, and Matthew Brumley of Earthbound Expeditions telling us what's going to happen.

Gabriel Fawcett, our guide.

One of our group will be recording video throughout the trip.

We passed this guy on the street.  He's a shoe shine man; his brilliant neon yellow safety vest says "Bootblack" in English, and I suppose "Pucybut" means bootblack in Polish.  Lots of people, from airport workers to police officers to utility repair people wear such vests.  I really can't see why a shoe shine man would have to do so, though.  Different customs.

We had two long tables, lots of courses, lots of wine, and some Polish vodka.

Some of the handsome buildings near the restaurant.

Tomorrow starts with a walking tour that visits a number of places related to Chopin, and we're due to have a meal in a restaurant that Chopin frequented before we leave Warsaw.

The group, most of whom have had a 9-hour time change today, turned in early.

AllClassical's audio stream comes in just fine on the hotel's internet connection.