Tipsy In The Morning

I GAVE up drinking alcohol - hopefully for ever - in early September, the result being better sleep patterns, a (slight) loss of weight and generally more vim.

The decision has not led to improved chess results, at least in the short run, but I remain optimistic.

This morning I rose at about 07:20 and headed into Kraków old town, having a coffee in a Costa while waiting for the restaurants on Market Square to open.

The restaurants are pricey - think Central London - but the staff are friendly, and the setting is great.

I ordered a muesli at the Metropolitan (I have had the dish there before - despite its name, it consists of yogurt, fresh fruit and granola), a large orange juice and a single espresso.

The waitress warned me that the the orange would be "99," meaning 99 Polish złoty.

That sounded a lot, but I'd had a fresh juice there before and, perhaps not having woken up properly, I could not immediately work out what that was in pounds sterling, and thought perhaps it seemed expensive as previously I'd had a normal-size glass.

Anyway, the espresso and the orange arrived fairly quickly, the latter in an over-sized brandy glass.

It tasted a little strange, but I put that down to it being fresh juice, which is liable to vary.

I had a new book with me, and settled down to read it, but after about 20 minutes my food had still not arrived, so I beckoned the waitress over and politely said: "Muesli?"

She replied: "Oh, OK," and went off to the kitchen, it quickly dawning on me that my original order of muesli and a large orange juice had been misheard.

It turns out I had been drinking mimosa, which, on looking it up on the internet, is a somewhat-potent cocktail of champagne and orange juice.

I quickly sobered up, at least figuratively, working out that 99 złoty is roughly £20. My total bill, including an automatic 15% service charge, came to 185.80 złoty, or about £37.

The offending receipt

It is just as well I am paying only £40 a night for my hotel room, which has proved a very good choice in almost every respect, except that the wifi last night proved not up to the job of streaming the thrilling college-football playoff game between the Texas Longhorns and the Arizona State Sun Devils.

A budget tree in front of my Ibis Budget hotel

The hotel is close to the main train station - about a 30-minute walk from the chess venue, Hotel Galaxy, and also a half-hour from the heart of the old town.

There is no fridge, and it has stools rather than chairs, but the double-bed is comfortable and the shower above-average.

Snug bargain

There are two Żabka mini-supermarkets nearby, and a large Carrefour, the former open on New Year's Day.

If I play when the tournament comes round again next December, I might upgrade to the next-door regular Ibis, but I would not be upset if only the Ibis Budget were available.