Postcard from Krakow

Mike here; Poland has a very unique tradition. Today is the 70th anniversary of the Warsaw
uprising. Not the Jewish one, the whole city one. At exactly 4:00, the WHOLE country, all 38 million people, turned their backs on Germany, dropped their pants, and mooned them. It was very emotional. I, of course, joined in. So the actual figure was 38 million and one. How could I not?
Auschwitz….no comment.  Very sobering.

Entrance to Auschwitz

Work sets you free

Crematorium

Evelyn here: I think we will retire in Krakow. It is such a beautiful city. English is taught in school starting in the primary grades. The people are friendly . . . . . . .and most important of all – it is CHEAP. We went to the supermarket today to get dinner. Our menu – BBQ chicken (1/4 each), a nice cabbage salad, orange drink for me, beer for Mike, and for dessert – polish donuts. The whole thing cost us the equivalent of $4.00 Canadian dollars. The most expensive thing we bought today was 4 batteries for the mouse. They cost about the same as dinner. In the old town square we had lunch in a nice Italian sidewalk café (already had our fill of polish dumplings). We both had a salad with bruschetta, followed by a pizza that would rival Famousa in Edmonton. Again I had a drink and Mike had coffee and beer. The total – (with a $2.50 tip included) $15.00. Try getting a lunch like that in Edmonton for that price!
And, on top of that – Krakow is truly one of the most beautiful cities in the world. There are only 850,000 residents but they get over one million visitors a year. It received very little damage during World War II as the President (the same as our mayor) surrendered to the Nazi right away in order to avoid any damage to the city. He saved the city but he was sent to a concentration camp and was never seen again. They have everything here: a beautiful river valley with plenty of parks, an ancient castle, an original old town centre with buildings dating from the 1400’s and enough charm to last a lifetime. After touring the main sights this morning we headed to the famous salt mines. Spent 2 hours walking 130 meters below ground. This mine dates back to the 1400’s and the ingenuity of the miners was astounding. Many of the miners carved beautiful statues out of the salt and they are there to see, as well as chapels, and concert areas. It was terribly interesting.
There are great biking paths throughout Poland Leonard and I would highly recommend coming here for a visit.

Mike here:
Krakow is the cultural center of Poland, and no wonder.
There are four main cultural sites.
1….a 700 year old altar in some church or other.
2….a painting by Leonardo da Vinci
3….the salt mines, which are quite spectacular
4….a soccer sized ball of belly button lint, on display in the square
in old town. The guy who did it has been collecting the lint for about
40 years. He actually won the Poland has Talent show. The armpit
guy came in second, and I talked to both of them. They are planning to
partner up and go on the Fringe circuit. The belly button guy actually
juggles the ball of lint. Granted, it is only one ball, but when you see
the ball of lint, you forget all about there only being one ball. I suggested to
them that they should bring their act to North America, and do the Fringe tour, especially in Edmonton. I know I would pay big bucks to see it. Who wouldn’t, eh?

The Black Madonna

Jewish Quarter where Schindler’s List was filmed

Cathedral in Palace grounds

Actual gold dome in Cathedral

Last Supper carved in salt by a miner in the Salt Mines

Postcard from Poland

Edmonton Tourist Note: I received some aside comments from my parents following their arrival in Frankfurt. Good news: their luggage arrived just before they departed to Poland. Sad news: no reason to continue wearing Depends except for pure convince. They arrived in Warsaw and added a few photos of Poznan. Interesting fact : The town was completely destroyed during World War II but the people elected to have it rebuilt as it was prewar,but no real comments.

Buildings and Stuff

Kabaob Lunch

Poznan Town Hall

Poznan Town Square

 

 

Someone needs to teach the Polish people what the concept of air conditioning is. In really hot weather your room should be cooler than the outside – NOT WARMER!!!!!!!!!! Whose brainy idea was it that 26 degrees Centigrade was a comfortable temperature to sleep in. Certainly not any woman pass the age of 40! We finally turned off our air conditioning in the hopes of getting some relief from the heat. How stupid a concept is that?
After a restless night we went to the dining room for our breakfast buffet. Nice assortment of cheese and fresh fruits but I just could not stomach fried garlic sausage and mushrooms so early in the morning. Apparently the Poles love their mushrooms and they are served at every meal.

 
We have a breathtaking view from our window. . . . . .the old railcar museum! To me it looks like a junk yard but then what do I know. Warsaw was almost completely destroyed during World War II and had to be rebuilt. They are lots of tall skyscrapers – apparently the tallest in all of Europe but it does not make for a very attractive city. There is such a mixture of “rundown” and modern with no real planning in place. Of course, it was under communism rule for so long I suppose that does help to explain the lack of planning somewhat. I guess you could describe Warsaw as shabby chic.
Our adventures today are taking us into Old Town.

 
I learned 4 interesting facts today. The first picture below represents the Jewish uprising in the Ghetto. There are no longer any Jews living in that area. (quite understandable). However, the Jewish uprising was not the only one that took place in Warsaw. The Polish people, along with their resistance stood up against the Nazi in 1944. When it was over, there were less than 20% of the original population of Warsaw remaining. That is probably one of the reasons why the Germans came back and blew up or burned over 85% Warsaw. It suffered more devastation than any other city in Europe at the time – even more than Berlin and Frankfurt.
Secondly – the next picture is of the Frederik Chopin statue. I might have know this at one time and forgotten it, but he was born here in Warsaw. Although he toured all over Europe and spent a great deal of time in Paris, he said his heart was always in Poland. After his death his heart was sent back to Warsaw and remains to this day in one of the Catholic Churches. All over the city of Warsaw there are marble benches that when you activate a button on it, it plays one of Chopin’s pieces. It is a beautiful reminder of how great he was. During WW II, if you were Polish and caught listening to Chopin, you were sent to one of the death camps.
The third picture is the birthplace of Madam Currie. Again I never realized she was Polish – I always thought she was French.
The fourth is Mike’s lunch – polish pancakes. Very “light” meal consisting of a bread-like pancake smothered in a goulash with sour cream on it. It is a good job we are only in Poland for four days – what with the dumplings, donuts, and pancakes they would need a crane to lift us out.

 
I have developed a great admiration for the Polish people. Of all the occupied countries, this was the one that fought the hardest against the Nazi and then again against Communism rule. Poland, until World War II had always had a democratic government (well since the 17th century) and they did not give up their freedom easily. They are extremely friendly here and it was interesting to see in the Museums, etc that English was used to described all photos, etc as well as Polish.
Tomorrow we head to Krakow.

 
MIKE HERE:
Apparently the four most famous men in Polish history are: 1–Chopin…2–Marie Currie, who really isn’t a man, but after all that radiation stuff, no one could really tell..3…Pope JP 2….
and 4…some guy named Bo…(with a line through the o and two dots over it….a very famous street corner entertainer who, (I am not making this up) can play the Polish National Anthem with armpit farts. I don’t know where he is performing next, but I have got to find him. Talk about a talent, eh?
Maybe tomorrow in Krakow.