When we arrived to our hotel/workspace in Warsaw, we immediately had to get to work. We had several liveshots in a small amount of time. By the time we were done with that, I had some other work to catch up on, including uploading photos from our previous stops. After almost a week of no sleep, I think it was the first time I was really, really time on this trip. Part of the work I was going to catch up on was to do something about my out of control hairstyle (thanks to France!) I thought I was being careful by plugging my flat iron into a power strip with American voltage but alas, I was very wrong. My beloved flat iron, which had changed my life (at least for my hair), was dead as a doornail. I literally almost cried. Luckily, there were engineers present so I handed over my deceased flat iron to them to see if they could revive it. It was the first time they had ever looked at a hairstyling appliance. They are used to cables and transmitters and satellites and other broadcasting stuff. Not flat irons. I had to come to terms that it was truly a goner.
Obviously, I was growing weary that I had another day of dealing with out of control hair so I had to come up with another plan! So I found one of the local people who help with setting up everything for us and asked her where the nearest place was that I could get a new flat iron. She told me that the mall was down the street and to find some particular store and I’m not sure what else she told me. She quickly realized that I was not going to make it by myself. I would have been in the same category as my flat iron: a goner. So she graciously called a taxi for me and took me herself. All for the sake of my hair!! We went to the mall, which was really nice, and led me to this Best Buy-type store. I picked out my new flat iron, without having a clue of how much I was spending, and was out of the store with my new European flat iron in hand. I was back to the workspace in 25 minutes!! It was a miracle!!
So after a few hours of sleep, I was able to wake up and get ready and do something about the mess on top of my head. I was heading to a press conference with POTUS and the prime minister of Poland. I had to look presentable. I was sort of representing our country and it was in America’s best interest for international relations that my hair looked okay. (Seriously, I’m really not that vain but had you seen me, you would have totally agreed. Trust me!!) We went to some non-descript government building where the presser would take place. About two hours after we arrived, we came to the even more non-descript room to get our seats for the presser. Here’s a little secret behind-the-scenes piece of information. There weren’t that many reporters who were actually going to the presser so they were taking away chairs and encouraging anyone in the room to sit down so the room looked a bit fuller. Each leader made opening statements and then took one question each. I wish I could tell you what was said but I have no idea. Something about the importance of US-Polish relations. My interpretation earphones worked and everything but since I was so ridiculously tired, I was having a hard time concentrating. Suffice it to say that no news was really committed in this “presser”.
Afterwards, we headed back to the workspace and ate lunch and then one of my colleagues figured that since our work was done, we had time to go exploring. We had exactly 45 minutes to go somewhere and get back before the bus left for the airport. So we got a driver to take us down to Old Town Warsaw. I really should have studied up on the city and its history as I only know general things and had no real idea of what I was exploring. The street scenes were colorful with a lot of people walking in the square. I loved the colors of the buildings and Shawna and I had a lovely walk for about 25 minutes before it was time to go. It was definitely a cool place and one day, who knows, maybe I’ll be back for more time to figure out what I was actually seeing.
All in all, I had a great trip. It went sooo smoothly and besides almost missing the bus in London and the deceased flat iron, was crisis-free. Those were just minor personal crises that were easily solved. In the past, there’s always been some moment of drama that defines the trip but this trip will be remembered for how well things went. I was able to cross three new countries off my list of places I’ve been and even found some things that I would be interested in seeing again in the future. Congratulations if you’ve made it through my entire travelogue. I promise my life will return to somewhat boring pretty much immediately!!Total sleep in Warsaw: 5 hours.
TOTAL SLEEP ON THE ENTIRE TRIP: maybe 25 (including naps!)
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