Poland!

(Written 5/12)
I almost had to sleep at McDonald's last night.
After spending four days in Berlin, I arranged to share a ride with a Dutchman from there across the Polish border, and to within a two hour busride from Poznan, my first port of call in the country. This all went according to plan (which is to say, I started in Berlin and wound up somewhere in Poland), after which things became interesting. When I arrived in Poznan, I had the phone number for a local girl who is a member of an online community of travellers and hosts, to which I also belong (www.hospitalityclub.org). It was 4:30pm and I had anticipated being able to call her when I got in, get directions to her house, and then establish a base there for further exploration of the city. She didn't answer her phone. "No problem", I thought. "I will just pop into one of the hostels and get a room for tonight". That's where things went south.
I walked, with my big backpack, for more than two hours all over the city only to find that every hostel is either full or closed. It was after 7pm. Did I mention that it had been raining the entire time, and my rain jacket is borderline useless?
I then decided that I needed to find another host on hospitalityclub in short order, or I was going to be begging to spend the night at the 24 hour McDonald's I had walked by four times. Fortunately, I was able to find internet despite the late hour and wrote down the numbers for three more local members. Then it was back to the convenience store for another phone card (none of the payphones take real money, can you believe that?).
The first person I called did not answer, the second one was out of the city and so could not help, and the third was also out of the city. He, however, must have recognized the desperation in my voice because he went to great lengths to arrange for me to meet his flatmate at the other end of the city to crash on their couch. I tell you, I was never so happy to see a beat up couch in my life!
On the plus side, I have walked around today and been pleasantly surprised by the discovery that this is a very nice city. As always, there is a central square in the heart of the Old Town which is quite beautiful. So far, I am quite glad that I decided to come to Poland, despite the chaotic first day!