30 April 1980

Nourishing body and mind in Warsaw

Last day of classes. It's not been a hard semester, let me say it once more. But it has been and will probably remain the most instructive semester of our university time. What we have learned living in Poland, meeting our colleagues and just experiencing life here could not possibly be taught.

Parents and Warsaw block of flats
Out for lunch with parents, then some shopping. One of the few items of high manufacturing quality and reasonable prices in the official, non-black market, you can find in Poland is crystal. I love crystal and in the Stare Miasto we can find a few shops that sell beautiful vases for 1,300 to 1,800 zloty, less than fifty US dollars. We buy a few to take back to Rome.

The evening sees us going to the Wielki Teatr (Big Theater) for a ballet performance. For two centuries this has been the most prestigious opera and ballet theater in the country. Mahler, Prokofiev, Bizet. It was not really possible to find tickets in the open market. And I did not really look into the black market. Bogdan however, our head teacher, who has been taking such good care of us over the last couple of months, somehow found them and very kindly provided them to us! The ballet is OK, not great really, but the music is fine and we have very good seats.

After the performance we invite Bogdan and his wife to the Victoria hotel for a dinner at the Canaletto restaurant. It is always a sublime experience to come and dine here. Food, service, ambiance... everyting is perfect. Again quite cheap (for us!) including Italian wine. Two bottles of Grignolino d'Asti and lots of meat for everyone and all for less than 75 dollars.

29 April 1980

Dinner, party and flags

Busy all day with classes, in the morning at SGPiS and in the afternoon at the foreign policy center. We are not done before 7:15pm.

The three of us then go the apartment and meet my parents and Ewa and Marian, whom we invite to the Budapest restaurant for dinner. Hearty Hungarian fare. So cheap... 3300Zloty for 7 people, including 2 bottles of excellent Spanish wine. Marian and Ewa are more critical than usual (which is to say something) of the system, and it seems clear that they are planning to leave Poland, where they see no future.

After dinner, parents go to sleep, Ann and I go and meet some Russians for a party, and we stay up and have fun until 1:00am. Interesting, even surprising cultural experience, it is the first time we associate with Russians for a whole night as I can remember. (It would also be one of the last.)

One Russian lady, Marina, is totally, absolutely in love with Lenin. She talks all night about Lenin as if he were Father Christmas. She sings a song to us that was Lenin's favorite. She is almost in tears ad she does...

It is always hard to say, with Soviet students, how much they really believe what they say and how much they have to say it, perhaps because their party custodian angel is looking over their shoulders. Yet, what a stark difference between them and the Poles. In over two months here, we have yet to meet a real Polish Communist, let alone a singer of Lenin songs!

After the party, Ann and I raid the city for Polish flags. I like to collect flags from the countries I visit, and most of the time I buy them. But they mean so much more if you can steal them from somewhere important. These days Warsaw is covered with flags in preparation for the May 1st celebrations. So it's easy to just pick them off government buildings, party headquarters, schools, banks, dorms, you name it. We just take four big ones. Anyway it will be good publicity for Poland when we hang them in our dorm rooms back home, so we don't feel so guilty.

28 April 1980

Studying and cooking

Usual classes at school, then to parents' apartment to study. They went to Krakow for a couple of days so I can take advantage of the extra space and privacy. Can't really say I am studying hard. The program is nowhere nearly as challenging as Georgetown's courses in Washington. But again, that's not why we are here.

After studying I am joined by Ann who had spent the afternoon doing her own homework. We have an unusual dinner, with a fairly large table and tableware in a real apartment.

I cook some Italian sauce (with local produce, it's not quite the same thing but not too bad). Especially the tomatoes leave a bit to be desired. They are not Italian. Probably Bulgarian, or from some other brotherly socialist country with more sunshine than Poland. Luck has it that Italian food, at least in its basic concepts, is fairly easy to learn and cook even with foreign ingredients. Somewhere I found a bottle of cheap wine to make it a real dinner.

I must say it's good to be able to spend time here for a change, but I prefer Borzena's excessive meals, both for the quality of the food and the human experience that comes with her loving family. Tonight she went out with Andrew.

27 April 1980

Wilanow, missed Chopin and more food

Parents at Wilanow
In the morning we all go to Wilanow, a beautiful park with a magnificant XVII century royal palace. We are lucky as it is a beautiful day.  Long walks and visit to the palace, heritage of the time when Poland was a powerful kingdom.

Lunch at Borzena's, with some funny exchanges between my parents and hers since they have no common language and no one can translate from Italian to Polish. So the conversation develops via English. Much is probably lost in translation but who cares about the substance, it is a very warm welcome that we all appreciate very much.

Chopin was born here
Trip to Zelanowa Wola, the birthplace of Chopin, the most famous Polish composer. Unfortunately his home museum s closed, despite the fact that Borzena called them in advance to make sure they would be open to visitors. Too bad. We'll try to come back, it's not far and there are frequent concerts performed by pianists from all over the world.

Dinner back to Borzena's. My parents have a hard time understanding when we explain that people must line up for food for hours. Borzena's family provides such meals that make you think this is easy for them. Of course it isn't, we know well, and it is all the more remarkable for that.

We have driven a lot today and need to fill up. For the first time, our usual gas station will not sell us fuel at the "Polish" price, apparently they have had some problems with the authorities. But today they want the "foreign" price, about four times more expensive.

No problem, we just go to another station and proceed as usual to pay the subsidized price: 25 zl/liter.

26 April 1980

East-West Seminar party and blind singer

Party at our university with the participants in an East-West trade seminar. The substance of the seminar is not so important as the opportunity for young colleagues from the two sides of the Cold War to mingle together and speak freely.

We are not official participants: those come from the many countries represented: Common Market, Comecon, North America. But everyone seems to be eager to have us around. It seems any opportunity is precious for most of our Polish colleagues to associate with Westerners. And we are very eager to be here. We can hear more candid talk, and learn more about politics and economics, in this kind of context that in any classroom.

Lots of flags hanging from the balconies in the inner courtyard of the university. I wish I could take some home for my collection but no chance. Just kidding. The flags are hanging in no special order, and the American and the Italian flag happen to be next to each other, how appropriate for the three of us!

In the evening we all go to the home of Karol, a blind singer. It's amazing how he can not only sing but actually have a very positive attitude to life in his circumstances. He can sing in English as well as Polish.

I end up staying out until very late with some friends, but Andrew somewhere else with some other friends. Because we did not coordinate Andrew ends up locked out of the dorm! The dorm door is locked at midnight but this is never a problem, a little tip and we are always let in.

But today somehow the porter woman, a gargantuan lady who never smiles, and who usually will let us in after hours for an American quarter, is not around. Probably fast asleep. I feel sorry for him, oh well not too bad, stuff like that can happen in college, especially in Poland, and I guess he was in good company.


24 April 1980

Parents fly over from Italy to meet us in Warsaw

After the usual morning classes and lunch, in the early afternoon I drive to the airport to pick up my flying in from Rome to visit for a week.

It is going to be a week of surprises for them, their first time beyond the "iron curtain". They are obviously very happy to see me and excited about visiting. They flew with Lot, the Polish flag carrier. Alitalia does not serve Warsaw. The Soviet-made aircaft is not especially comfortable the the service on board leaves a lot to be desired, but the flight is only a couple of hours, no big deal. I take them to the rented apartment so they can freshen up.

In the evening, Andrew and Ann take us out for a meal of duck at our "1st duck place" as we refer to the anonymous restaurant where we have consumed many a duck in recent weeks. We named it so in order to distinguish it from the "2nd duck place", a similar eatery in the center of Warsaw. Who knows why duck is so popular on Polish menus.

22 April 1980

Classes and some privacy

Usual classes in the morning at SGPiS. Nothing to write about.

In the afternoon foreign policy class at the foreign policy institute, more propaganda coming our way but I must admit that these classes are actually fun. Not because of what they want us to learn, but because it is interesting to see how educated professional bend reality to suit the mandatory party line. They actually do a pretty good job of it. Basically they zig zag between "well you know we did not like doing it but we had to do it because the USSR so decided" and "we had to do it but it actually made sense, in a way, if you think about it from another point of view".

Dinner is at the Pod Golembiami restaurant (it means "under the doves"), pretty good and as usual dirt cheap for us.

Spent the night at the apartment I rented for my parents, they don't arrive until Thursday but the landlord was nice enough to give me the keys a few days in advance for free. Nice to be away from the student dorm for a few days, privacy and space!

21 April 1980

Duck and private lodging

Another big lunch at Borzena's home. Her mum has prepared duck, a favorite dish in Poland and it is delicious as almost everything she prepares. In fact, judging from the voracity of our appetite at every meal, I'd say everything must have been very good. Simple cooking, lots of proteins and fat, hearty cooked cabbage. We are really very lucky to be treated like royals every time we come here, which is almost every day. The duck is crispy skin and tender tasty meat.

In the evening we all go the the Chopin Academy for a concert by the Italian pianist Ruggero Gerlin, he is getting on with age and shows it but still plays quite well.

Afterwards Ann and I go to our friends Ewa and Marianto pick up the keys to an apartment of some friends of theirs where I will host my parents who are planning to visit soon. Strictly speaking it is illegal to rent out to foreigners fnr hard cash, but of course it is a widespread practice among Poles with extra real estate to spare.

We then go and have a look: a fairly dreadful gray building, typical Soviet block construction. But everything is in order, it is big enough for the purpose and clean. Obviously I will pay in dollars for this and for the owners it is going to be a significant boost to their income for the month.

20 April 1980

Wedding stripping and beers

During breakfast somehow the conversation gravitates toward a the wedding party of P. She says how it was an unusual wedding, people got a bit drunk and started to strip until some were totally naked. Some guests rushed to cover up the a naked man, but she did not mind to see that at her wedding. it make it all more natural. Well, I guess why not? Going naked is something that is sometimes used in Communist countries as a display of protest. Not many other ways of protesting are allowed and this is a cheap and cheerful one. In East Germany they are especially good at it.

I spend the afternoon in my room studying for the upcoming exams. But not too long. Romek comes up with an invitation to go out for a beer. We all go to the "Bolek" pub. I down one beer, some of my classmates up to five or six. It is really amazing how we have become close friends with Polish students is such a short time. I guess it is in part because of their eagerness to meet people from the West, and our eagerness to penetrate the Iron Curtain. Beer can do a lot to facilitate this.

19 April 1980

Football and mountain climbing

Easy day. Tried to go to a bank but it was closed. Sometimes they are open on saturday, but not today.

Visit at the post office to call Italy. Must wait half an hour or so. It must be easier to call the moon.

Easy afternoon at Larissa's home watching Italy vs Poland, a friendly match. Not so exciting, ends up 2-2. Anyway better than when we lost to Poland in the 1974 World Cup in Germany.

After the match Borzena gives us no choice: her mother has prepared dinner for us and we are expected. Again an avalanche of proteins, cold and hot, has fallen over the dining table by the time we take our seats.

During dinner we watch some TV and today there is a program on mountaineering. The whole country is justifiably proud that a Polish expedition has reached the summit of Mount Everest in February of this year, the first team to make it in Winter. Leszka Cichy and Krzysztof Wielicki are national heros.

It is, appropriately, unseasonably cold in Warsaw. When we leave Borzena's place to go home it is snowing!