Dave & Edyta's wedding
Warsaw, Poland
Saturday 29th September 2012
Dave met Edyta a number of years ago at a barbecue and, last year, proposed to her (slightly earlier than planned due to the perceived risk of having the ring discovered by airport security in front of Edyta). The date of the wedding was set for 29th September the following year, and Lynne and I were lucky enough to get an invite. That came with its own problems, though, given that we have a little tot to take care of. Initial plans were to take her with us, but that was (wisely) deemed to be not a good option. We settled on taking up the option of Avis and Graham staying over and looking after Daisy while the two of us had our first holiday away together since our trip to Croatia two years before.
We obviously had to make the most of the situation whilst in Frankfurt airport, waiting for our second flight, so we found a bar and Lynne ordered some champagne (I got beer, obviously). Cheers!
One slight issue with this sortie was that we'd wandered into another area and had to go through security again to get back to our gate, which put us a little behind schedule, and in the end we got to the gate just before one of the members of staff was about to announce our names (we heard him say "Allen" and "Manchester" off mike).
We were staying in the same hotel as James and Katy, so once we'd checked in and freshened up, we met up in reception and headed for a brief spell of sightseeing. Which basically meant going to the Palace of Culture and Science (aka the Stalin building) and then having a couple of beers. The Palace is pretty tall - 42 floors to be precise (and at the time of writing it is apparently the 187th tallest building in the world, and the 6th tallest building in the EU).
We got tickets to go up to the top floor, which took a while (mainly because we had to wait for the lift - the actual journey was quite quick). It offered some great views, not that James or Lynne particularly wanted to look given their dislike for heights.
No idea what these buildings are.
Another view, this time of a car park and a crossroads, with a large building in the background. Not sure what that is either.
We found a place to get beers and then headed back to get dolled up a Friday evening out on the town. Gareth and his brother Paul joined us (Andrew and Kirstie made their excuses) and, after failing to get in one restaurant, we found this relatively quiet tapas restaurant. They didn't seem to quite get tapas as they brought out the orders in, effectively, courses. Getting a bowl of chorizo each (more or less) was a bit odd for the first course, for example. One unique feature was going through to the next room to choose the bottle of wine.
We declined to go to the strip bar opposite, instead choosing a hotel with ridiculously expensive alcohol (although we did exacerbate this by ordering champagne) and...
...a live band. Who were actually pretty good and did a wide range of songs (pretty much all covers, if I remember correctly).
It certainly had Paul Henty grooving on down.
Others were more content to sit and drink (and pose for the cameras). We stayed out for a good while - at a little after midnight, the girls went back to the hotel, but the boys found another bar, where we tried some flavoured vodkas. In retrospect, not such a great idea. (Well, I only had one, sticking mainly to (yet more) beers.)
The next morning, Katy, Lynne and I went for breakfast in Warsaw (James didn't join us due to technical (aka technicolour) issues). We congregated at a different hotel, meeting up with others from the wedding party, including Dave's sister, and squeezed on a minibus. Gareth and Paul were wearing the latest in "buswear" (unaware that we would have time at the hotel we would be staying at on the Saturday night, they put on their full wedding gear for the journey).
Here we are outside that hotel (the Hotel Wiktorianski), in the town in which Edyta grew up (Grojec), with both Gareth and Paul on their mobile phones. You're on holiday, boys! They had a portion of chips each, whilst Lynne and I had a pasta dish each for a late lunch. This was a mistake, but we were a bit hungover and hadn't eaten for a while (it was mid-afternoon).
All dressed up, we were back on the bus once more, heading into the town for the wedding ceremony. We had a slight delay, as there was a car in the spot which Dave & Edyta's car needed to go in. (Not exactly sure why it *had* to be that spot, but evidently there was another ceremony on before this one, so we had to wait for them to finish.) So we had a short wait in the car park...
...during which it was inevitable that I got a shot of the soon-to-be-happy couple. They don't see perturbed by the delay.
Andrew was also tempted to take a photo.
Once out of the car, they duly posed for the cameras.
Some more waiting, this time outside the room where they would be wed. Dave puts on a brave face as Edyta contemplates life as a Hallam, a life of tennis and quiche. Gareth recalls that where we were waiting smelt of cider.
Luckily, she persuaded herself to go ahead, much to our relief, and they walked down the aisle.
Here we are at the business end of the wedding ceremony, thankfully devoid of lengthy prayers and eulogies. Dave & Edyta line up in front of the, er, ceremony person. On the left of Dave is his best man, and further to the left is the translator (we got everything in Polish and English). You can just about see the left arm of the bridesmaid on the right.
Probably some really important stuff going on here, like the exchanging of key vows, or rings. Or just names.
We've only gone and done it!
Worth a mention of this fabulously-named place. It was speculated whether we could open somewhere like this in the UK.
We reached the reception venue and hung around outside while the band played. Gareth and Paul insisted on standing at right angles.
As per Polish tradition, the bride's parents brought out a loaf of bread and two glasses. (And some salt, maybe?)
They didn't have to eat any of the bread, but they did have to down the contents of the glasses (one each). In one, there was vodka; in the other, water. They were not told which was which. Whoever drinks the vodka henceforth wears the trousers - Dave was that person. The next step was to throw them over their shoulders, smashing them on the ground behind them. That's why they told everyone not to stand there.
Inside, there was a toast of sweet champagne and then we moved to the banquet room, where they had already laid out a significant amount of food, as you can see. This was replicated on the three long tables too - food, food, everywhere. The idea was that we could snack and nibble at leisure. The actual need to do this, we would find out, was limited - not that that stopped us.
That's all for now. For after now, see a new page.