The cold

Our whole family packed well for very cold weather.  So far we haven't had to use our heaviest gear.  The daytime highs have been around 27-32 F (-3  to 0 C).  The winds have been light (a real change from Kansas!)  I wasn't sure that the apartment would be heated well, so we were prepared with very warm jammies and layers of clothes, but the heating system has (mostly) worked very well.  All of the large apartment complexes in Lublin are heated through radiant heat from hot water running through pipes in each room.  The water is heated centrally in the city and then flows through large pipes to each complex. (Individual homes are headed by natural gas from Russia.)  After taking a luke warm shower yesterday, I wondered if something was wrong.  Our radiators were cold to the touch too.  Our landlord confirmed that there was a burst pipe down the street and brought us some extra blankets for the night.  We didn't really need them, however, because we are on the top floor and the insulation must be pretty good.  We didn't suffer at all and the heat was back on again the next morning - yea hot showers! -Carolyn