I wait in line behind a vendor concluding some business with the clerk.
Invoices are signed, bread trays collected, and the vendor leaves.
I order white chocolate cheesecake, an americano with milk, and, on the side, an ounce of Dalkowski Advocaat Classic, a Polish liqueur that I’ve never tried.
The seating area is across the hall from the coffee menu and displays of cakes, a room whose walls are covered with old photographs of Warsaw, going back at least to 1919 when the streets were filled with pedestrians and trolley buses.
Alas, when my coffee arrives, the server has already added the liqueur.
Such is the challenge of communication when languages differ.
I take a seat by the window, where an old telephone, houseplants, and flasks of various sizes and purposes sit on the window shelf below a faux chandelier.
The window looks out onto a large courtyard, at the centre of which is a statue of a female warrior carrying a shield and wielding a sword.
I hesitate to taste my coffee; it can go either way with an untried liqueur.
But a first sip alleviates my fears.
The taste is excellent and the alcohol has a pleasant lingering effect on the back of the throat.
And the white chocolate cheesecake?
For another piece, a reason to come back to Warsaw.
No music plays, and I am alone in the room.
I enjoy my cake in the shelter of silence.
