Warsaw by light of day

I have the feeling of moving to a more remote and slightly less amenable place.  No greeting unless doing business with me, and then no smile.  I have been warned to carry my bag in front, watch for theft more times in the half day I have been here than in all the days in Berlin, London or in Belgium.  I am assuming they speak the truth.

Going to change money felt a bit like a smuggler's run.  Yesterday my host accompanied me to a money changer so I could pay him in Zlotys, the Polish currency.  Today I went back and changed the rest of my Euros and some dollars for some Russian rubles.  Seemed like a lot of money to get back 8,000 rubles, but once converted to dollars, it is not so much. So now I have dollars, zlotys and rubles.  I have had to make a separate place for each type of currency so I don't pull out the wrong kind.

The sense of personal space appears to be shrinking too as I move east, which I was forewarned about.  It felt odd to have strangers come up directly behind me as I stood at the money exchange counter, and when walking down the street, it is nothing to bump and be bumped, with no acknowledgement forthcoming.  I have to remember not to take offense when clipped from behind and then ignored.  It's just the way of things.

I am going to try to describe the underground warren of life here in a future post, along with the extensive indoor space above ground.  I have to assume it comes of long harsh winters, but I do not know.  It may be that the underground is a result of the Second World War, I will try to find out.