Sunday in the City

Today started slowly. We needed to get rested up. Phylis had room service (Chuck and myself) bring her breakfast and coffee. After Gloria came over we started exploring her neighborhood.
She lives in a panelec---the name given those apartment buildings built by the Communist. They were called panelec because the walls are made with plastic panels. HGTV's International House Hunters had a show recently that showed the panelec apartments. They stand 4 to 16 stories tall with elevators. Each apartment has a small galley kitchen, a WC (small room with toilet only), bathroom with sink and shower/tub, bedrooms, living room. Most apartments have balconies ---nice to sit on, but essential for clothes drying. Most apartments have a small washer, but never a dryer. About 85% of the citizens live in a panelec. They are set up in communities which have their own grocery store, school, playground, etc. During the Communist years they were all painted grey. Now some of the buildings are painted different colors or have designs painted on them. The individual homes are constructed of reinforced concrete blocks and finished with stucco. They are painted a variety of colors---cream, yellow, gold, etc. We also visited a shopping center near there for coffee and carbs! Although we never hear English spoken, McDonalds, Burger King, Starbucks, KFC are present.
The weather was in the 40's but grey and with a bit of a breeze. Went downtown and scouted out where we are going tomorrow. Ate at a quaint French creperie. It was below ground level and located in a section that has quite a few French residents. We each had crepes: blue cheese and bacon, egg and cheese, spinach and cheese, and blue cheese and ham. We had cider to drink and a bowl of olives to nibble on. Total bill was $25 for dinner for 4. On the way home we saw people coming home from skiing in the mountains. Today we were on the bus 3 times, the metro 3 times and the tram 5 times.