So this is how it all ends: Frankie and his pals crawling back to their respective rooms at 5:30 in the morning after an indeterminate amount of vodka, an unending night of dancing and rozmowa, with lips smeared with the sauce of good falafel eaten in haste at an all-night Turkish bar and a bad cup of coffee out of the vending machine in the lobby downstairs. And the question I really need answered is this: Did it get any better than this?
In an attempt not to regret too much in my life, particularly over the past unnecessarily difficult nine months, I enlist the following list to help me remember what meant the most to me here in Warsaw. This is what I take home with me:
- Tomek serving me cafe au lait in a bowel with a smile at 6/12.
- Angel wings at Polyester.
- Kino Muranów.
- Qchnia Artystyczna, CSW, and the entire Zamek Ujazdowski complex.
- Sweet/Salty (or was it Sweet Elephant?) with Sarah.
- Sokrat. (I still miss you.)
- The night when fondue turned into fondon’t at Szpulka.
- Pub Depresja–enough said!
- Finding a pumpkin to carve for Halloween.
- The Asia Pacific Museum’s ceramic exhibition.
- The Nut Lady on Nowy Świat.
- Day in early December with Thom, watching Cześć Tereska & feeding the animals who would soon star in some holiday performance.
- Walking around New Town in the snow.
- Discovering the magic of ul. Chmielna and Muza.
- Vegetarian naleśniki at Szpilka with a caffe latte spilling over the sides of the glass.
- Między Nami with Jola.
- Walking through the old Jewish Quarter the day before my birthday.
- Women’s Day with Jola.
- Columbian dinner with Germán & John while their cats curled up on my lap.
- What?! Another Cafe Brama?!
- The Noir Desir concert with Mirek & Daria.
- Not using the line, “I am not you, and you are not your mother!” Or even better: “I am not you, and you are not your cunt of a mother!!!” when I had so many opportunities….
- Parade of Equality with Jola, Sarah & John.
- Men’s Night at Club 69 with Robert & Gwen.
- Piano recital on a Sunday afternoon in Lazienki Park.
- MIA 100 Kobiet with Jola & Paweł, and the subsequent bar crawl from Utopia to Organza.
- The Cesaria Evora concert with Jola.
This will be my last entry from Warsaw. I return to Texas June 19th.