If you go down to the woods today...

We didn't see any teddy bears, but the three of us enjoyed a lovely trip to Kabaty Forest this afternoon. We travelled there by metro, with Audrey enjoying another go in her harness (thanks for that Robin & Shan).

The weather was nice and as a result the forest was full of parents with babies and children across the full spectrum of sizes and ages. The forest stretches for miles and is a really nice part of Warsaw.

We came back via Tesco (hurrah!) where we bought some overpriced cheddar.

Audrey was so lovely during the day. She really enjoyed the trip and was bright eyed whenever she was awake, and has started coo-ing occasionally!

In the evening we treated her to a bath, where there was a bit of a soap swallowing incident, but fortunately she is too young to call Childline and report her parents.

You can see some more Audrey pictures here

Audrey in the Park

Here's a short clip of Audrey which we took in Lazienki Park yesterday. We took her to see/listen to the Chopin concert which takes place every Sunday afternoon. She was really good and lay on the grass throughout, only joining in with a bit of singing right at the end!

(apologies that this is on YouTube - let me know if you have difficulty accessing it, but unfortunately I couldn't make the video application that comes with the blog program, work this time)

Audrey's Passport Photo

It's now a requirement for children of any age to have a photo on their passport. It used to be that they could be added to their parents documents, but now (presumably as children are growing up faster) they have to have their own passport, I presume just in case the child decides to jet off to sunnier climbs. Although I suppose if that happened they would then be learning to fly before they could walk?

We went into town yesterday to get a photo for Audrey. The difficulty is the regulations for the photo are so strict it's incredible. Top of chin 22mm from the bottom of the picture, no hats, no parents hands, looking straight ahead, no dribble from corner of the mouth (ok I made the last one up). It was certainly a challenge with a baby just 4 weeks old.

In the end we found a really lovely chap who took about 25 pictures of Audrey (eyes closed, mouth open, floppy head etc etc) until we found one that just about did the job. He then set to work on his computerer 'tidying up' the picture and we ended up with one that we hope fits the bill (Amy worries that Audrey's eyes aren't looking straight ahead and look a bit 'shifty').

The man was really good on the drawing program, and I reckon I'm going to set him to work on some of my photos - he could take years off me. It was also amazing as he spent about 20 minutes clearing up tiny specs on the picture for which he charged about 35 zloty - something which an ad agency would have sucked their teeth and charged 500 quid for.

We've just got a multitude of forms to fill in now to accompany the picture!

Sunny Day in Warsaw!

Today was really hot and sunny, not at all like a mid-September day, so we took Audrey out for her first go in her baby harness. We didn't go far, just up to some local markets. She was asleep within minutes which was great!

Trevor cooked fish and chips for tea (something which is definintely hard to find in Poland) I'm not sure if it was quite Harry Ramsden's quality, but still nice (and greasy)

We decided against opening a Northern Rock saving scheme for Audrey.

Audrey gets a Birth Certificate

Trevor went to register Audrey at the the Town Hall, and get a birth certificate for her. It was an exercise in extreme bureaucracy (something that the Poles are World Champions at). It took about an hour to fill in all the forms - at one point they thought Trevor was from Norway as they had misread 'Newbury'! Still at least she's now got a Birth Certificate - she now just needs to register with the Australian and British Embassy, but hopefully that'll be a bit less onerous!

We've grown a couple of cherry tomato bushes on our balcony and they're really bearing fruit now. Ok, not exactly staggering examples of horticulture but they're nice in salads.

Kim and Mark come to visit

Kim and Mark came to Warsaw to visit us for a few days. Amy and Kim work together at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) and Kim is currently posted to Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. It was lovely to catch up with them and show them some of the sights of Warsaw.

Trevor gave them the "Hickman Old Town Tour" (albeit a little rushed as he was in a hurry to get home to resume fatherly duties) on their first day and then all five of us went together by bus (Audrey's first bus trip!) to Wilanow Palace.

The (mostly older lady) guards in the palace had stoney faced expressions that looked as though they had remained un-thawed since the end of the cold war. They were distinctly unimpressed that we had dragged two and a half week Audrey out to see this part of historic Warsaw, Audrey meanwhile was unperturbed by it all and slept throughout.

Mark, Audrey, Amy and Kim

Amy, Kim and Mark in Wilanow's gardens

Audrey snoozes by the palace

We also discovered a useful ruse that the washing machine seems to helps soothe Audrey to sleep when we place her in her basket alongside it. We are running out of things to wash as a result, and choosing the shorter 'eco' cycle is no longer an option as far as I can see!

The car's the star

Warsaw's roads are full of the usual Fords, Toyotas, BMWs, Opels etc. Amongst all the dull run-of-the mill cars though, you can often spot tiny cars, (usually in a poor state of repair), being driven at breakneck speeds along Warsaw's pot-holed ridden streets.

The Fiat 126p is a hangover from Poland's communist past and was Poland's most popular car in the 1980s. It is nicknamed the Maluch (the small one). There were over 3.3 million of these cars manufactured in Poland between 1973-2000 and the place must have been full of them.

Production of the car sat uneasily in Communist Poland, (where cars were considered a luxury item), and so the vehicles were distributed via a 2 year waiting list or via a coupon given by authorities for merits.

Most of the cars you see on the road in capitalist Warsaw 2007 are suffering from old age, but I do like spotting the odd Maluch careering round the city and weaving in and out of traffic - they often seem to travel far faster than their tiny engine should allow.