Nathan’s Holiday Trek 2006
January 5th: Telesfor’s birthday
January 5th is the birthday of my brother-in-law, Telesfor (an unusual name even in Poland). It was also my last day in Wroclaw. So we had a quiet day. In the morning, I went downstairs to have a closer look at the construction going on just below my sister’s apartment.
In the evening, my sister’s neighbours, Andrzej and Irena (by coincidence, that is also my sister’s name), came over to help celebrate Telesfor’s birthday, together with their dog Ara. Telesfor turned 69, a fact that is difficult to believe--he neither looks nor behaves his age. Here he is playing with the dog.
What is being built is a large shopping mall, and a new tram station. The guys pictured above are laying new tracks. There is less regard to safety than in Western Europe, and pedestrians are able to walk right across the construction area.
I had a chat with one of the many subcontractors working on the project. His main complaint was the it was extremely difficult to find workers; all the good ones seem to have gone to the UK or Ireland.
My sister is the one on the left. The dog gets to lick the plate, while the two Irenas hold her ears to make sure they don’t drop down into the food.
Like most Polish men, Telesfor and Andrzej like their vodka, and as the evening went on, the conversation became more animated...but all in a friendly away, as usual. These two couples have been neighbours for more than 20 years.
