Pandora's bo(to)x has been found. Or was it Katarzyna's?

Sunday we used pretty much for spending time together, starting off with a run in the Prater in the morning, breakfast with fresh apple&carrott juice on and scrambled egg on our terrace followed by enjoying the fine sunny afternoon on the roof-terrace. In the later afternoon we delivered Maria and Mirko their presents (Maria's Manolos and Mirko's poker-set and vodka-kalashnikov) and Kerstin discussed details about this Saturday's wedding. Markus left early for the airport heading to a 2-day business trip to Warsaw.

Close to the Intercontinental Hotel in which he was staying one can find the Palace of Culture and Science, the unloved monument in Warsaw's city center is very similar to Moscow's Seven Sisters, was a present by the late Russian dictator Stalin to the Poles and stretches over a vast territory close to Markus' hotel and the main train station. Noone really tells you, what the building really is used for, which shows how much they love it.

From Stalin with love - the love is not really returned by the Poles

In the two days one of Markus' client wanted to meet oil&gas and retail companies as well as do some 'mystery shopping' in Warsaw's most modern shopping center, Zlote Tarasy. Not only was the center absolutely packed for a monday afternoon, but also there were shops we don't even have in Vienna! One of the shops Markus saw seems to be the explanation why there are so many good looking women in Poland: a quick-fix Botox Shop! With such tools its quite easy to be attractive, no?

A "botox drive-in" in a Warsaw shopping centre was the most curious observation

The trip also made it clear that Poland is not (yet) in recession: the shopping malls full, the people out spending and the restaurant where Markus had dinner on Monday evening was expensive and busy. After 6 more meetings on Tuesday, including one with an oil exploration company digging for oil in Kazakhstan, Markus flew back in the evening for one night, as on Wednesday he will set off for Istanbul to the Annual Emerging Market Conference which UniCredit is hosting there. He will only return on Saturday morning, just in time for the last stage of the wedding tri-athlon!

Kerstin & Markus