Whew! Full, fun day. Had some great encounters with people today. Did a lot of sightseeing, but I can tell you about all of that later. The encounters with people were the best...I'll try to recap...

1 - Early this morning headed off to the musuem and had to cut through Dlugi Targ (Long Street - the main drag in Gdansk with all the pretty houses). A lady was trying to take a picture of one of the buildings, with her camera tilted up to catch the statues on the top. There was no way to go around, so I ducked and waddled like a pigeon past her. Her friend started laughing and yelled 'thank you' a few times in Polish at me. For some reason, this totally cracked me up. I bet I looked ridiculous.

2 - Later in the day, I was looking at the necklaces at one of the waterfront amber tables. The guy behind the table started his spiel...first in polish, then, when I didn't respond, he asked..."deutsche sprache? english? mayalisisch?" I started laughing. "Do you speak Malaysian?" I asked him with a big smile. "This I have to hear." He blushed and muttered a little and everyone else selling at the tables near him started teasing him in Polish and laughing. He laughed too, and in the end, gave me a fair price on something I was going to buy anyway. When I walked away they were still laughing and saying "Malaysisch" and smiling at me.

3 - Maybe this doesn't sound like a big deal, but it was to me. I went into a store today and instead of pointing, said "voda" (water) and "dva" for two bottles and the woman got me exactly what I wanted and smiled at me. This, in contrast, to pointing and getting a sigh and a frown as I have for the past week. I should have tried using my phrasebook earlier! I will remember this for Russia, although I'm told that the storekeepers there don't even smile for the natives.

So the dry news of the day was that I went nuts seeing everything since tomorrow is my last day in Gdansk. National Museum, the Great Crane (climbed lots of little wooden stairs and was herded about by the docents, who were actually quite nice), Archaelogical Museum (climbed the teeny observation tower - exhausting but worth the view), St. Brigit's Church (main church which supported Solidarity during the strikes), Old Town Hall, and probably some other things I'll remember later.

Then I went and saw Troja in the movie theatre here. Movie ticket was 17 zloty ($5) and they had stadium seating. They sell the tickets as reserved seats, so when you buy your ticket, they show you a plan of the theatre on the screen and you point to the seat that you want. The theatre was very nice and in the shopping mall where I bought my glasses. Troy was in English with Polish subtitles. It was like being at home, except for these little funny words on the bottom of the screen. I loved the movie! Had low expectations and was just treating myself to a dose of English, so was pleasantly surprised that the movie not only had good interpersonal relationship plots but also good acting. Nice treat!

Probably the best event of the day...I started my cycle. This is wonderful as it means no more PMS (at least until next month)!!!!! Those who know me know that this is truly magnificent. Have been staying healthy (knock on wood) and am grateful for that also.

So....off to bed! I will post tomorrow, and then I'm off to Russia early on Thursday morning. Love you all!