Ogród Botaniczny Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego

having chosen the cheapest (and earliest) possible flight option to poland i am left with 10 hours to kill until my Airbnb host can grant me access to her home. after taking a 4 hour nap on the floor of warsaw chopin airport, followed by a visit to the cinema i still have 4 hours remaining until i can become inside my hosts home. i walk 12 minutes to the local park and adjoining botanical garden. the entry fee is a very reasonable twelve zloty. the gardens are modest and relatively well maintained. as i travel deeper within the garden, small winding rock paths begin to fork outwards from the main walkway. there are signs describing the paths destinations but I can not understand them and choose one at random. the path winds upwards for what seems like some time and as i climb a rock staircase a mild sedative effect seems to take hold of me. i put my bag down and sit for a moment and without realizing it i seem to have fallen asleep. suddenly i am awoken by a man of short stature that introduces himself as mr. trumpkin. his accent is hard to place (not polish) and he speaks in a style of (olde?) english i am not accustomed to. he gestures to a small opening in the rocks i hadn’t previously noticed. he shuffles inside and and gestures again for me to follow. my new friend is approx 147 cm tall and can navigate the earthen tunnel with ease, while i (175 cm) experience some difficulty. the tunnel is dark but mr. trumpkin has taken a small phosphorescent rock out of his pocket which has illuminated the passageway. he seems increasingly agitated and his pace begins to quicken, and begs me to do the same (which is challenging as the tunnel has actually decreased somewhat in size). he assured me his friends glimfeather and puddleglum are waiting for us on the other end but warns that the telmarine usurpers are sure to catch up with us if we do not hurry. i’m not sure what is meant by this but i say nothing. after what seems like many hours the tunnel finally begins to widen and i can see sunlight again. we emerge into a wooded and mountainous country. i check my iPhone to see how long it will take to Uber to my airbnb which i am certain i am late for now but the gps system seems to be malfunctioning and all four signal bars are gone. then I notice the time in the left hand corner of the screen and it is morning again. i double check my google calendar and see that 1 full year has passed. i have missed my dental tourism appointment and my flight home and when get a signal again i am sure to receive a notification that my Airbnb host has left me a negative review.

my overall opinion of this garden is that is was very beautiful but that the signage for the paths could use some english translations and it would be nice if the public bathroom facilities were more conspicuous. i would come back here. 9/10