Polish adventures Part 2

So it was good that we were housed in the super austere and very warm Polish embassy in Canberra. It's a bad idea to check the temperature when you know it's cold, right? One just feels colder for looking at it.
The next day I checked the weather update and commented, "Well, at least it's now positive degrees."
We didn't have much to do at the embassy once the concert was over, so I spent a lovely morning reading a large amount of Harry Potter. It was so relaxing to just not have to do anything, to have a slow morning lazing around.

We were driven to the airport by the lovely Polish embassy woman in another very luxurious (think leather seats, motorised adjustable seats) German car, via a lost way that went past Old Parliament House. Our plane from Canberra to Sydney was a little one - only four seats across, and propellers on the wings. (Reminds me of a fantastic quote from our theory lecturer a number of years ago: "What plane has propellers on the wings? No wonder I felt sick!"). Thankfully, another short flight. Flying into Sydney, you definitely get a different vibe. There are buildings everywhere, you feel like you're about to land in a residential area as you touch down.

After collecting our luggage (flying a Qantas leg allows your to check in luggage - what luxury! For a 7kg orange suitcase...), we looked around for a man with a sign with our names. But no. We looked lost. There was a guy who obviously was waiting for somebody, but he sure wasn't waiting for us (I asked...). We didn't have any contact of the Polish people in Sydney, we didn't even know where the hotel was! We only knew the address of the Polish consulate, but figured we couldn't just rock up there, press the doorbell and tell them who we were and to take care of us (remember, we're not Polish nationals. We can't take refuge there!). A few frantic phonecalls to try get a contact, a man sidled up to us with a sign. Definitely our names. Thankfully he did, we were about to get in a cab to make our way to the Polish consulate!

One thing that always strikes me about a place is the geography. What are the roads like? Are there lots of buildings? What style are they in? Is it mostly freeways? How leafy is it? How hilly is it?
And let me say, Sydney was pretty crowded. For a Saturday afternoon, there sure were a lot of cars on the road! But maybe that is just Sydney? It was a drive that went through tunnels, across freeways, up and down the hills, past a few parks and stopping at lots of traffic lights. We turned into a fancy area: Municipality of Woollahra. As I'm aware from Australian literature studies, this is a FANCY area. Like Toorak. Like Peppermint Grove. Like the Upper East Side. (Sorry, I can't give any more analogies). Just by the bay, lots of nice cafes and homes and stuff. We were driven to right outside our hotel in Double Bay (which is next to the suburb of Woollahra), which Wikipedia tells me is sometimes referred to as "Double Pay". We had been booked a hotel room EACH (how luxurious!) into this boutique 3 1/2 star hotel which is kinda exciting when you've been living in student accommodation for a long time. We checked in ("Your rooms have already been paid for, so anything extra, like breakfast, you pay, right?") and found our rooms.

Awaiting me was a hotel room woo! A double bed - the BIGGEST double bed I have ever seen in my entire life. I could have fit at least one and a half times diagonally. Doing the biggest starfish I could, I couldn't reach the edges. Crisp white sheets, tucked in ever so tight. Amazing. A TV (unfortunately not digital...), an ensuite with dispensers of stuff, a hairdryer, fluffy white towels. Space for me, my daypack and a 7kg piece of hand luggage. Plenty good. And a window overlooking a cosmopolitan street with cafes, shops and exciting things that I could walk out the door and go to (unlike Canberra...)! A long hot shower later, I felt much better and refreshed post-two flights and travel eyes. TV and reading and chatting with KD to organise the next day, and general resting was in order. Bliss. We ventured out in Double Bay briefly foraying for food, which we found at a nice (though slightly pricey) cafe. It was such a beautiful Sydney winter day: sunny and not too cold - I was almost regretting only bringing thick layers but thankful I brough cotton socks, not just the woollen ones. What pleasant weather we had all weekend, even in Canberra (almost perfect: even though freezing cold, it was sunny and crisp!!).

At the appointed time, the driver was waiting downstairs, (yes, right at the doorstep) in the luxury German car with leather seats to drive us to the Polish consulate to have a warm-up and scope of the venue. The Polish consulate is in that suburb of Woollahra, as I found out later, next to the German and Serbian consulates. The driver apologised "Sorry, I said it was five minutes away. I was wrong. It is two minutes away!". We were ushered into what seemed like a large house into this reception room, which held about 100 or so guests. There was a little stage with a piano. Lights all set up, chairs all waiting, and tables with champagne glasses.

The Sydney concert was very similar to the Canberra one, though slightly elongated (a bit more poetry. Apparently the Polish ambassador in Canberra is a concise man...) We were in a waiting room, behind two locked doors in the offices of the Polish consulate, in a sort of meeting room with a large wooden table and various Polish consulate merchandise....a painting, and champagne glasses with the Polish consulate emblem. The thankfully went without a hitch and we were free to mingle with the guests afterwards at the reception. We were given some very lovely flowers which unfortunately I was unable to take into Victoria because one can't bring plant material into the state! As we passed the kitchen on our way to the 'dressing room', we were able to peek in and see the enormous amounts of food....yay! Plates and plates of all sorts of things were served. Amazing. We met lots of really interesting people, including Wanda Wilkomirska, who I had never heard of until that night. So apparently she is a super-amazing violinist who is of Polish ethnicity (which explains her being there..!) and lives in Sydney (also explains stuff..). She really enjoyed our playing, which is extremely high praise! We also met a film-maker, and a nuclear weapons activist whose favourite composer was Gorecki. We met lots of lovely people who really enjoyed the music, and had lots of photos taken (some by an over-enthusiastic photographer). We were saved from the (as it turned out, overly-enthusiastic) filmmaker who was so keen to go out to dinner with us when the driver insisted that we had to leave as he had to drive somebody else home so it was either now or another forty minutes. We went with the former option, while the overly-enthusiastic photographer kept trying to take last photos. We quickly escaped and headed back to the hotel to don some comfortable pajamas! Feeling it too early to go to bed, we donned more comfortable clothes and settled in for tea and biscuits and channel surfing, stumbling upon a very strange movie.....

I slept so well in this MASSIVE bed that night, though I do recall thinking "If I want to roll over, I could, several times over!". First world luxuries.....

Part 3 to come, encompassing my lovely day with KD...