What a day! It started well enough: heaps of scrambled eggs, rolls with cheese, coffee, hot milk, OJ for a mere 25 zł at the Neptun Bar Mleczny. It was cloudy and rainy so we hung around till just before noon. The hotel confirmed that the laundromat near the University of Gdansk did still exist so hopped on a tram to Oliwa. We got the wrong tram but figured out where we were and walked the kilometre to the laundromat. There we were told all the machines were busy and we couldn't leave it and pick it up tomorrow because they were going to be closed. This in spite of telling our hotel that they were open Saturday. She suggested their branch in the Manhattan Mall. On the tram again - to the wrong mall. Back on the tram (same ticket - they're good for an hour) to the right mall - where we found the Hydro Salon - one of the only two laundromats in Gdansk. In spite of the instructions and help from another patron, we still managed to screw up and waste 20 zł. Someone is supposed to come and give us a refund at 18:00. With two loads of laundry (the machines are teeny tiny) finally churning, we head out for a very very late (14:45) lunch. Huge kebabs slathered in garlic sauce are a mere 10 zł (2/3 the price of a load of laundry) and really help our mood.
Now we are hopefully awaiting someone to refund our money. A few minutes after 6pm, a young man shows up, reads the Polish translation of our tale, chats in English for a moment, and willingly returns our 20 zł. Back onto the #6 tram and we're back in the hotel before 7pm.
Too tired to go restaurant hunting, we break the rules and decide to eat in the hotel's. Big mistake. Clarisse's chicken and walnut salad comes with both walnut shell pieces and the tomatoes which she had asked to be excluded. My flounder, not deboned, was cold and greasy. It was so bad that I sent it back uneaten. That's the first time in my life I've done that. The waiter was apologetic, didn't charge us for either dish, and gave us free cheesecake for dessert. So the whole bill was about 30 zł. We did leave him a nice tip as the kitchen's incompetence wasn't his fault.
Tomorrow has got to go better than today :-)
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