The Day of Walking

Monday morning: time to hit the ground running. I was to meet Luisa and Evelina, the adorable but tough as nails real estate duo at 10AM to tour apartments and, hopefully, lease one.

At 3:30AM, my eyes popped open, declared I’d had enough sleep and started the day, whether I wanted to or not.

Although the bounty of time was great for writing my Superprof articles, the fact that the WIFI died on Sunday afternoon put the kibosh on any research and writing... ALMOST put the kibosh on it!

Turning my phone into a WIFI hotspot got the job done, allowing me to get my job done – at least, that installment.

At the appointed time, around 9AM, I laced up my boots, took one more look at the map and took off walking.

I’d been put off by the public transit system because I had read about how to buy a ticket to ride but had no idea how to actually do it and, besides, didn’t have the language skills to.

Thus, I’d been walking everywhere – which is fine; this is a very walkable city.

I came to regret that sentiment, somewhere around 10AM because, by that time, I had already exceeded  my pedometer’s expectation of 5,000 footsteps by over 3,000.

And the apartment we viewed was... at the bottom of the list of desirability.

It was in an old building – here, they’re all old buildings! One fairly large room to myself, with shared kitchen and bathroom.

Although I could see myself living there, after the past year of rooming with people, I was ready for my own place – not that I am in any way ungrateful to everyone who let me stay with them.

The shared spaces is what makes it at the low end of desirability. But, if I have to, that could be my address...

“No, no!” entreats Luisa, “there’s more. Just hang around town, we’ll arrange more viewings and then call you...”

I wasn’t going to say anything about my aching feet; I just agreed to their plan. After all, they are working for me.

And so came the phone call, at noon, to meet at the realty office at 1PM. Fortunately, I was close-by, reasoning that being in that vicinity might be a good move.

Equally fortunately, the next apartment was just across the street – not too far to walk (by now my pedometer was registering over 10,000 steps taken).

I. LOVED. That. Apartment!

Again, a pre-war building: high ceilings, wood floors, large, claw-foot bathtub and dated furniture. It even featured coal ovens, although the building had been modernised to include radiators, making the coal-burning ovens more of a decorative feature.

And, it had a balcony!

I can’t imagine why Luisa was so surprised when I told her I wanted that apartment...

But then, hefty, heated Slavic negotiation ensued.

Apparently, a wealthy gynecologist owns that property and is very picky about who he rents it to. Concerns over how I earn my money and what I will do to the place – nothing! I love it! prevailed and my realtors pitched my desirable qualities as a tenant hard.

All to no avail. It seems the mistrustful owner had rented it on his own, to a friend, the day before, and failed to tell the realty he listed it with. I didn’t find that out until the next day, though...

After suffering that most crushing disappointment, we were off to see another apartment, located close to the first one we saw that day.

“Arrgh! Don’t make us walk that far again!” my feet screamed.

Imagine their relief when Evelina said we’d take the tram – my first time riding public transportation in this city!

Really, the only thing that kept me off the trams was the fact that I didn’t know how to pay for them.

Walking past various stops, I did not see any automated ticket dispensers, as in the states or in Germany. Nor did I have the language skills to purchase a prepaid card, as they use in China, from a vendor.

Now riding the tram for the first time, courtesy of Evelina, I find that there are ticket dispensers onboard, and you can use your credit card to purchase them: for a 15 minute ride, a 30-minute one; you can buy a 5-day pass, if you so desire!

Without any braggadocio at all, I do admit I am a quick study. After watching another passenger make his purchase with his card, I figured it cannot be terribly hard for me to do the same in the very near future.

Returning from that afternoon’s disappointing apartment viewing – the rooms were small and common areas were filthy!, after parting company with my lovely, hardworking realtors, I tackled riding the tram myself.  

But not before enjoying a delicious kebab in a nearby restaurant. The opportunity to sit down was perhaps even more delicious!

Along, the yellow, two-car conveyance rolled, rumbling to a stop. Weary to the bone, I shuffled onboard, with the other passengers, and waited my turn to buy my fare from the onboard kiosk.

And, just like that, I was riding public transportation.

Too bad I didn’t know enough about it to ride it all the way to my current digs. Instead, I got off at Plac Rodła and walked past several bus stops and tram stops on the way home.

As it turns out, the very tram I had ridden, on my own, to that familiar Plac (plaza) also stops near my hotel. I could have ridden Tram Line 11 all the way home!

To heck with dinner! To heck with checking email! To heck with that lovely fruit pastry, bought from a street vendor, that I meant to enjoy with coffee once I got home!

I peeled off my boots, stripped into house clothes and passed out on the couch, sleeping the clock ‘round.  

The next day, I had to pay for my hotel room extension: Luisa had called to give me the bad news about that most desirable apartment, which prompted me to call the hotel reservation desk to extend my stay here.

I was in no mood or shape to lug my possessions to another hotel, so I was quite grateful to be granted a 3-day extension in this room.

The only catch was that I had to go to their office to pay.

Thanks to technology – Google maps, I found it was not very far at all and also discovered that the German grocery store, Lidl, was on the way!

I’d been looking for Lidl... the sister-store to the more familiar Aldi...

But I wasn’t going to walk there; no siree Bob!

I joined the huddled masses at the bus stop just outside my hotel (we were huddling because a wicked wind was blowing), boarded in concert with them and discovered that the ticket issuing machine will let you choose between 4 languages!

The better to make your ticket selection with...

On the tram, yesterday, I don’t recall if that ticket vending machine was scripted in any language other than Polish. Still, it wasn’t hard to figure out what the machine was saying even though I do not know any Polish, but I was grateful for the opportunity to select a language I do know when buying this new ticket.

I was able to buy a 5 day pass!

You know what that means... right?

I’m gonna ride the buses! I’m gonna ride the buses!

I’m gone to ride the buses. 

Incidentally, that infamous day of walking yielded nearly 20,000 steps taken, for a total of over 13 kilometers walked. I felt every single one of them.