Is this the end of the pandemic?
I set my alarm for 5:00. A bowl of cereal, a bath, and packing my carry-on for a four-day trip were all done in no time, and by 5:40 I was walking to the bus stop.
On the way - what luck and a good start to the journey - my good neighbor and his lovely wife didn't let me drag myself around using public transport and gave me a lift to Warsaw, from where my agreed BlaBlaCar was leaving at 7:00.
It was my first time using this means of transport and I have to admit that it works quite well. The friendly Hyundai driver even tried to entertain me with a nice conversation, but quickly gave up when he saw how my eyes were closing after a sleepless night.
I regained my energy in Krakow thanks to the delicious falafel at Mazaya Falafel and a walk through the old town among the crowds of tourists. I have the impression that the residents of closed European capitals decided to spend their holidays in our country.
My plane didn't leave until 6pm, so I had some time for a few glasses of white wine before boarding. Luckily, I got a special seat, thanks to which the flight passed in a really fantastic atmosphere. Next to me sat a young couple, connoisseurs of good food and drink - in the sky. They were eating kabanosy, munching on chips, washing down quince soplica. I breathed a sigh of relief when it turned out that they were from England.
For our first trip after lockdown, London turned out to be the perfect place.
The capital of the country with the fifth highest number of COVID deaths in the world gives the impression that it doesn't care much about the virus. Although they are following the rule to wear masks in shops and on public transport, there are no signs of concern about infection on the street and in city centre pubs, and the round shapes of passers-by are more noticeable - the British have even surpassed the Americans in terms of overweight. Only in the bar in the suburbs where we lived, the waiters wore face shields and we weren't allowed to sit at the bar. In Soho, where we spent Saturday evening, the crowds were no worse than before the pandemic, no one bothered to wear a mask, and Covid didn't reduce the queues for good pubs by a millimetre.
The coronavirus has caused England to replace traditional card and cash payments with contactless payments. In many places, you can't pay with cash at all. On public transport, you don't have to mess around with tickets anymore - just put your contactless payment card on a special terminal to get on the bus.
We spent most of our day here in the gardens and parks that London is famous for. For £2 a day, you can hire a bike from one of the ubiquitous bike rentals. We saw the impressive Kews Garden and cycled through Hyde Park, which even from a bike perspective seems endless.
The best thing Great Britain has given the world, apart from the Beatles, Harry Potter and afternoon tea, is of course the food. We ate: Chicken Tikka Masala - the most famous British dish (there are more Indian restaurants than in Delhi), Sticky Toffee Pudding - available as a dessert in respectable bars, Steak and Stout Pie - the quintessence of British cuisine served with potatoes and a very meaty sauce. In Soho, at the height of London's Saturday Night Fever, we opted for Japanese food at Eat Tokyo, and our last meal was a burger and chips at Five Guys.
