Positively Poznan

Anna is an amazing tour guide and very gracious hostess. We have seen the major sights in Poznan, shopped until our feet ached, dined at some of the finest establishments (more detail below) and museumed ourselves smart! Not bad for two days in town...
One of the curiosities of Polish cuisine is the apparent fascination with cabbage. Not that it's such a bad thing, it's just really noticeable when it features in every meal (except breakfast, thanks to our hostess!). We sampled the delights of the Sphinx restaurant last night, since for Kyle and I, the prices were uber-cheap (a huge meal plus wine and dessert for three people came to about $35 Cdn. ). Sphinx is like an Earl's-type place. It's a chain, and they have a policy of hiring cute boys to serve there, in order to attract the female clientele, who apparently make all the decisions on where to go (go Poland!!!). Dinner consisted of an assortment of tasty grilled meats, flatbread, spiced rice, and you guessed it: about 2 lbs of shredded cabbage. Sure, the cabbage was half red and half green, and both varieties came with a tasty dressing, but it was the wallflower of the meal, I have to say.
Another curiosity we encountered today, lunching on peirogies (that's the local spelling) at a holdover of the communist days. The name translates to "milk bar" and you can find no-frills, filling, and very local style food at these places, still subsidized by the government, for about $3 per person.
Enough about food, for now. Shopping in Poland is a treat! A treat if you are young, skinny, and read Vogue a lot. For me, clothing is just not the thing to buy here. Kyle and I both figure that neither of us is cool enough to pull off some of the items on offer. Nice to look, tho.
Sorry for the lack of photos - I'll update those when I get back to my computer in Sveeeden.
Tonight's festivities include taking an overnight train to Cracow to see Auchwitz in the morning. Not the most cheerful holiday spot, but I feel compelled to pay homage to the millions who suffered there. Being so geographically close, there is really no excuse to miss it. Unless you are Jim Keegstra and the whole thing "never happened." It's a bit grim to think that the place where so many suffered is a tour destination. At least Disney hasn't got ahold of it... (C'mon kids! Let's go for a train ride!) Yeecchh.
So with those happy thoughts, I bid you farewell until the next big shiny installment of "pole to pole with ME!!!

P.S. It's still okay to email me! I do check, y'know... And I simply adore the comments - keep it up!