Americana With a Heap of Pancakes

On Saturday I took Trey and Abbie to a playground.

We spied it back in early January but this was the first time that it was warm enough to get outside and play. They played hide and seek, and had a great time swinging and climbing.

We then met Myles, Ben and Natalie downtown. We did not really have any plans and just wandered. We walked by the office of Lech Walesa. Although we have not seen him (yet!), he does work right in downtown Gdansk.

It was cloudy but warm so we were happy. We walked by one of the many restaurants in Old Town and look what they had advertised on their board! (Second line under "Polecamy")

We went to a medieval crane museum. Gdansk used to be a major port city and this is where all of the goods came into the city from the ships. It's fascinating to see the innovative ways people used to bring goods ashore.

The best part of the day was that we found a place to eat dinner called Billy's American Restaurant! Wow!

They had license plates on the wall from many states. There was an almost current one from Kansas--Saline County! The expiration sticker was from 07. How did that arrive in a restaurant in Gdansk, Poland? Old Glory is outside and there are pictures of NYC, Mohammad Ali, Harley Davidsons and various other American symbols all throughout the dining area.

It kind of looks like a fast food place, but we went in, sat down and checked out the menu. We had to ask for menus in English but they had them. This was a pretty nice place--and prices were reasonable. So Trey ordered a hot dog, the girls ordered burgers, Ben and I had chicken sandwiches and Myles ordered a steak. While we were waiting for dinner we wondered about how "American" it would be. Red meat is not common here. I have found some fairly good hamburger meat at one of the huge grocery stores, but lots of times the smaller grocery stores don't have it at all. Turns out that this is an awesome American restaurant! It was sort of like an Applebee's. It was definitely a taste of home. The sandwiches, fries and cole slaw were similar to what we would find at any casual dining restaurant in Olathe. And Myles said his steak was pretty good, too.

We told the waiter that it was very American. He was surprised to learn that we were Americans living in Gdansk. He is a student at a different university studying finance, so he and Myles chatted for a bit.

We were full from our dinner so we did not order dessert. But one of the desserts on the dessert menu is "A Heap of American Pancakes with Maple Syrup." That leaves us to wonder how many American pancakes make up a heap? No worries, we will get to the bottom of it before we leave Gdansk for good. We will most certainly be making another visit to Billy's American Restaurant before we head home in June. The kids were already making plans to take Aunt P there while she is visiting us. She will be here on Friday. This Friday! But since she is coming from America, and will be returning to America seven days later, we will probably not be seeking out an American restaurant while she is here.