Day 11 - July 8, 2018; Hello Bialystok!

Today we had a packed day. First, we woke up and ate breakfast. So interesting, right? Actually, I had quail eggs, which are like a fourth of a small chicken egg. Grandpa and Dad got into a really bad argument. Finally, Dad started to urge us to pack, since we were to go to Bialystok in the afternoon. He specifically told us to be home by noon if we went somewhere. And we did. 

Grandpa called an uber for Grandma, Isabella and I so we could get to the Copernicus Center on the other side of town. If you don’t know what it is, here’s a brief 5 letter definition from my point of view: It’s their Liberty Science Center. We had a really talkative uber driver, so we spent the next ten minutes listening to Grandma chat away in Polish. Sadly, when we got to the Copernicus Center, all the tickets were bought out. And it was only 9:45! Fortunately, one of the ticket booth personnel said that there was a free Copernicus Planetarium on the other side of the building. We rushed over there, but finding out that it was closed until ten decided to walk near the nearby river until 15 minutes was up.

When we got back to the Planetarium, a crowd was already beginning to gather. Finally, the doors were opened and we were able to squeeze through the door. We got to the front of the line, got our free tickets and went exploring. My favorite parts were about satellites, how to build a satellite transmitter, and this fun game were you had to move a board to a certain angle and push a ball with a certain speed so that it hit another ball instead of going to the bottom of the board. I explained it pretty badly, so think about it this way. You know the coin dropping thingie in the Liberty Science Center, where you put a coin at the top, push it, and watch it complete loops around  the center until it falls in. Isabella and I kind of maybe argued about that game, because I got the perfect angle, and she pushed it with just enough speed, but then didn’t give me any credit. Anyway, moving on. After the planetarium, we walked near the river again. Eventually, we came to a few trampolines, and a water fish playground. A playground with fountains and huge fish statues in it. Isabella got her dress completely soaked (of course), and I tried sunbathing on one of the fish but then found a bug crawling near me, so I jumped down. 

Afterwards, we got back home for our trip, but Dad said we still had time if we wanted to be in Bialystok by six, so we went for a walk, had ice cream, phoned Mom, and even walked around the whole old part of town. You know, I keep saying this, but it is really beautiful. We came back home and immediately left for Bialystok. The two hour trip was worth it. We got to the parking of our rented apartment, meeting the owner of the apartment before getting inside and touring it. There was one big bedroom, a living room, a kitchen, and a small guest room with a pullout sofa. The most annoying part, though, was the bathroom. The toilet was in one room, while the sink, washing machine, and shower was in another. I guess that’s an ok idea if you think about it, but when you finish using the bathroom, you need to wash the hands and also open the other bathroom door. Ew. 

After we toured the apartment, we went one block to the old square. It was waaaaaaaaaay livelier than Warsaw. More locals coming out on the streets and having fun. After touring the perimeter of the square, plus finding many ice cream parlors, but not one coffee shop for Dad to work in, we decided to do a search by car. We got in, and found one small shop before going to our relatives house. By the way, they are Grandma’s third cousins or something. Anyway, their house was so nice. They had a garden planted in the most spectacular was, making the neighbors seem almost invisible. In addition, they had two apple trees; one was not yet ready, while the other, beli naliv, was very good. We had dinner at their house, then tea with apple meringue pie, made from apples from their very own tree. 

Dad, Isabella and I left for the city again. We called an uber, since Grandpa and Grandma needed a way to get to the city in the morning. When we got to the city, we found two coffee shops, saw their cathedral and went to their park. It was all really nice, quaint and pretty. While were looking for a place for Dad to work, a Georgian restaurant manager called us over and asked what we were looking for. After listening to Dad’s speech about work, and a power supply, he said, “Well, we have five power supplies. How about you come here for work?” Dad agreed, also promising to get a Hachapuri for lunch. Eventually, Isabella started to yawn, so we had to get home. We stopped by a park so Dad could make a business call. And that’s how this day went down in history, July 8, 2018.