Shopping around Lublin.

It was a a busy and productive day in Lublin.  David and I started the morning with an extended visit to our local grocery store to investigate all the unfamiliar items on the shelves.  Our final assessment - we won't be eating well if these are our only options, but enough variety to get us along in a pinch (ie the next few days as we get bus passes and find out where the supermarkets are located).

After lunch I was picked up and taken to the University to be introduced to the Int'l Relations faculty.  As they continued their meeting, I stepped out to walk the streets around the University.  I found an automatic bus ticket dispenser (1 ride and 24 hr tickets only, no long term tickets); I spoke with a bus employee who gave me the address where I needed to go to get long term passes (to be a destination in the near future); and I found the equivalent of a Walgreen's for some needed toiletries.

After the meeting, the department head took me to a store called "Real" (German-based) that is a bit like Walmart with some notable exceptions.  The shopping carts require a 2 zloty coin deposit in the handle in order to disconnect them from a chain of baskets. (When the basket is locked into the chain again, the coin is returned).  Inside the store I found the kitchen aisle and started putting pots into the basket, but an employee took them out again, explaining something to my host.  She proceeded to weigh them on  a scale and put a price sticker on them.  We repeated this for my skillet, my plates, my glasses, my pairing knives and...well, you get the picture.  Very odd indeed.  We proceeded to another aisle and I added cooking spoons and tupperware to my basket without the need to weigh them.  As I checked out, there was another discussion with the cashier.  My host explained that she could charge my credit card in zloty or euros, which did I want?  Since our bank charges the same fee for int'l transactions, I figured it didn't matter...I was just surprised euros were a choice since Poland is not in the Euro Zone yet.

Our final stop was the Galleria Mall and an excellent delicatessan called Alma.  My host just wanted me to see one more shopping option for the future.  We stopped at a Czecolada (sweet shop) and my host bought some Polish chocolates for Adam and Delaney and we headed back to the apartment. With some cooking utensils on hand, dinner was better than last night!  -Carolyn