Warsaw Poland

We walked across the street to catch the Tram to go to the Russian Market, warned by the hotel folks to leave all valuables, etc at the hotel, which we did and off we went. One of the sights we saw for the first time was the way the men dress…..long parkas with the black pull down over the ears ski caps. Fortunately I had one, and wore it…and all of the men look alike. In addition, many of the people are dark complectioned, from the Armenian and Jewish heritage, etc. Anyway, the men look just like the pictures that you see of Poland and Lech Walesa leading a demonstration. Kind of scary, but just the way they dress, etc. Well, 15 minutes later we got to the Russian Market…got off the Tram and followed the crowd in the cold and snow covered ground. The Market is held at what they call the Olympic Stadium, which is a bowl like stadium used for European football. The entry is a 2 lane alley that leads up to about a 3 lane area where you would normally find the concessions, etc. Except that here, almost from the time you get off of the Tram, booths and stalls line the area, and there are vendors selling everything from shoes and boots to furs and glasswares, and everything in between. Reportedly a 100,000 people selling and no doubt another 100,000 shoppers, including the 2 of us. We walked around for about 90 minutes…Audy got the dolls and some other little items from the woman from BellaRusse…and then we headed back, as we were cold. What we just saw was the largest “Flea Market” in Europe, although they call it the largest “Open Air Market”….It has come into recent fame because it is filled with a lot of black-market stuff, from liquor to cigarettes to CD’s, of which there were probably 50 different tables all selling CD’s. The problem is that there is not way to control this, so no tax comes in, etc. The overall market is run by a Damis Company…and they pay the city to use the facility…and they are a very powerful company….but still many tax dollars are lost. In one area a vendor was selling guns, and masks, and ammunition….and we wonder why we have terrorists with guns. I could have bought any number with no questions asked…just pay in cash. Quite an experience, and one that I would encourage anyone that goes to Warsaw to see and shop. Just be careful. The word is is that the government is trying to close down the market at this sight and then relocate the Market. Our thoughts are that it will never happen…for the people of Warsaw love it. Well, we got back to the tram, and rode to where we were to get a bus to go to the Old Town…