323: Whoops!

Not been here two weeks yet and already I have incurred the wrath of the authorities. I took the liberty of crossing the road while the little man was showing red. Mr Plod sprang out of nowhere and explained to me, in perfect English, the error of my ways. He gave me the choice of accepting his award of 100 zlotties (about £20) or appearing in court tomorrow. If I chose the second option they would very kindly accommodate me for the night in one of their little rooms. Needless to say I chose the first option. We walked to his police car where he wrote me out a ticket. He offered to translate it for me but I think the language of these tickets is fairly standard. I wanted to just give him the 100 and not bother with the ticket but I didn't dare offer in case it was misconstrued as a bribe and I might have got into even deeper water.
So there we are. I am a criminal in Poland. These traffic lights are everywhere and they seem to take for ever to change to green. The stark choice before me is either to wait, like most other people do, (and now I know why they do!) or to look around more carefully before stepping out.
It's been one of those days really. Talking about water, during my last lesson I spilt some water on the touch pad of my laptop and now there is no functionality to move the cursor. I hope it will return once everything dries out. It will save me carting a mouse all over town.
Last weekend I had a recce for this week's lessons and came across this Christmas tree on the edge of the old town. Wonder if it's late, or early?