I forgot to mention that in Prague the women’s Olympic tennis team was in the Old Town. They were there for publicity for an event. Word on the street is that one of the women won Wimbledon a few years back. I had no idea who they were, but there was a crowd taking pictures with them.
My jet lag is kind of weird. Normally traveling eastbound is hard and westbound is easy breezy. Going there (eastbound) it was quite an easy recovery. I woke up really early the first few nights but that was it. Coming back (westbound) was very hard. I had to fight to keep my eyes open to a decent hour. And some nights I have woken up and stayed up. Other nights I am going to bed around eight and waking up at six. So I don’t know if I’m having regular insomnia or jet lagged.
Oh, and I have been meaning to say that my guide used the phrase “okie dokie” a lot. If you hear me say it, that’s why.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Pictures from trip
Here are the pictures from my trip. I need to reduce them still for printing.
The password is: italia
http://latonjab.shutterfly.com/
The password is: italia
http://latonjab.shutterfly.com/
Monday, November 5, 2012
Home
I made it home safely.
I drifted off early in the flight but not for long. I rewatched Rock of Ages and What to Expect When You are Expecting and added 2 days in New York and Night Watch.
It went quickly. I was so tired around 7:00 that I went to bed and woke up at three. I probably would have drifted back to sleep but around 6:30 a friend on the east coast called me. Sunday I was able to stay up and wasn't tired until around 8:00. I slept most of the night.
I used today to get organized. I did my laundry on Saturday while I was trying to stay awake.
Tomorrow is back to the grind.
Pictures coming soon!
I drifted off early in the flight but not for long. I rewatched Rock of Ages and What to Expect When You are Expecting and added 2 days in New York and Night Watch.
It went quickly. I was so tired around 7:00 that I went to bed and woke up at three. I probably would have drifted back to sleep but around 6:30 a friend on the east coast called me. Sunday I was able to stay up and wasn't tired until around 8:00. I slept most of the night.
I used today to get organized. I did my laundry on Saturday while I was trying to stay awake.
Tomorrow is back to the grind.
Pictures coming soon!
Friday, November 2, 2012
Last Night
My group went on a farewell dinner. It was a lot of fun. Picture a table of crazy Americans + 1 Canadian+ 1 Qatarian + 1 Belizian singing Country Roads.
It was a good group and now the long journey home begins. My flight leaves at 6:10 to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Seattle. I will be home around 1 p.m. Saturday.
Good Night!
It was a good group and now the long journey home begins. My flight leaves at 6:10 to Frankfurt and from Frankfurt to Seattle. I will be home around 1 p.m. Saturday.
Good Night!
Prague
I had 1.5 days to see Prague! I covered quite a bit. Rick Steves recommends two days minimum, and I was able to cram most of it in.
I had a chance to explore some of the New Town, Lessor Town, and back to the Old Town and Charles Bridge. The Old Town Square was cool. Touristy but nice. Actually in general the old town squares are some of my favorite places in each city. You can sit back and people watch. You can also imagine how life was once upon a time. I was able to see the short astronomical clock show. Could have missed it but I saw it.
Also went to the Jewish Quarter and saw the oldest synagogue in Eastern Europe. It was built in 1270.
Went to St. Vitus Cathedral, which goes down in the top ten if not top five beautiful churches I have visited in my travels. This of course means I was also up in the Prague Castle. Very nice views.
We visited the Infant Jesus Church, which is where women who want to get pregnant go.
There is a 67% divorce rate so there is this strange gate were people put up locks. Not sure what that is all about.
We passed by the John Lennon Wall, and I added LTB around six times. So next time you are in Prague, look on the right side and you will see my vandalism.
Today was a busy day, but I feel like I have seen some really good highlights. The city has some great architecture and that within itself is art. The museums here are not rated that high so I don't feel like I missed anything from that standpoint. I just had to move quickly to see a lot.
But I do plan on coming back!
I had a chance to explore some of the New Town, Lessor Town, and back to the Old Town and Charles Bridge. The Old Town Square was cool. Touristy but nice. Actually in general the old town squares are some of my favorite places in each city. You can sit back and people watch. You can also imagine how life was once upon a time. I was able to see the short astronomical clock show. Could have missed it but I saw it.
Also went to the Jewish Quarter and saw the oldest synagogue in Eastern Europe. It was built in 1270.
Went to St. Vitus Cathedral, which goes down in the top ten if not top five beautiful churches I have visited in my travels. This of course means I was also up in the Prague Castle. Very nice views.
We visited the Infant Jesus Church, which is where women who want to get pregnant go.
There is a 67% divorce rate so there is this strange gate were people put up locks. Not sure what that is all about.
We passed by the John Lennon Wall, and I added LTB around six times. So next time you are in Prague, look on the right side and you will see my vandalism.
Today was a busy day, but I feel like I have seen some really good highlights. The city has some great architecture and that within itself is art. The museums here are not rated that high so I don't feel like I missed anything from that standpoint. I just had to move quickly to see a lot.
But I do plan on coming back!
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Prague
We arrived in Prague and got settled.
We went to the Old Town. My hotel is near the Flora stop so we took the metro four stops to Old Town.
Walked around and I had dinner with Lisa and Brooks.
There was a lot of activity and I can't wait to see the views from the day as my camera takes awful night shots. We walked across the Charles's Bridge. I petted the dog on the St. John the Baptist statue, which means I will come back.
I can see why people love Prague. It's nice and has some great architecture. We are supposed to vote for which city we liked the best, but I am hard pressed. I want to come back to each one for sure. Interestingly, I think I am favoring the smaller towns of Cesky Krumlov and Bratislava.
Tomorrow I have a full day of site seeing, and then Saturday it is home sweet home, ready or not.
I am kind of torn because on one hand there is not place like home. On the other hand the world awaits. It's always a conundrum.
I think I mentioned I am off of fall/winter travel - unless I am going somewhere warm. Being cold is for the birds!
We went to the Old Town. My hotel is near the Flora stop so we took the metro four stops to Old Town.
Walked around and I had dinner with Lisa and Brooks.
There was a lot of activity and I can't wait to see the views from the day as my camera takes awful night shots. We walked across the Charles's Bridge. I petted the dog on the St. John the Baptist statue, which means I will come back.
I can see why people love Prague. It's nice and has some great architecture. We are supposed to vote for which city we liked the best, but I am hard pressed. I want to come back to each one for sure. Interestingly, I think I am favoring the smaller towns of Cesky Krumlov and Bratislava.
Tomorrow I have a full day of site seeing, and then Saturday it is home sweet home, ready or not.
I am kind of torn because on one hand there is not place like home. On the other hand the world awaits. It's always a conundrum.
I think I mentioned I am off of fall/winter travel - unless I am going somewhere warm. Being cold is for the birds!
Cesky Krumlov
We left Vienna in the a.m. and spent a few hours in the Czech Republic town of Cesky Krumlov for a few hours.
It was a very nice spot. I could totally see myself spending a few nights there to just chill. I really liked the Old Square, and there was water all around the town. I met a local who was smoking along the river bank. We chatted for a few minutes. She was very nice and friendly. Curious about me I think.
I was wandering around the town and encountered some folks who I would consider transient had I seen them downtown Seattle. They were nice enough but their pit bull took a dislike to me. It would have been an international and PETA incident rolled up in one. But alas, the dog did not attack.
Anyway, I really liked the town. Thus far I like it better than Prague.
It was a very nice spot. I could totally see myself spending a few nights there to just chill. I really liked the Old Square, and there was water all around the town. I met a local who was smoking along the river bank. We chatted for a few minutes. She was very nice and friendly. Curious about me I think.
I was wandering around the town and encountered some folks who I would consider transient had I seen them downtown Seattle. They were nice enough but their pit bull took a dislike to me. It would have been an international and PETA incident rolled up in one. But alas, the dog did not attack.
Anyway, I really liked the town. Thus far I like it better than Prague.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Random
Today is Halloween.
I will add taking piano lessons and learning a language (maybe Spanish or French) to my bucket list.
Tomorrow we leave for Prague.
I come home Saturday, and I realize I am not ready to come back. The three days I took off to be local now seem like a waste, as I could be doing something but alas I feel like that the down time was needed.
I also learned more about Roma gypsies. I had always thought they came from Romania, but they come from the area around India and Pakistan and migrated years ago. The name Roma is from an area of I want to say Turkey they lived in for years before becoming wanderers. The gypsy part comes because people thought they were from Egypt.
Will run spell check as soon as possible.
I will add taking piano lessons and learning a language (maybe Spanish or French) to my bucket list.
Tomorrow we leave for Prague.
I come home Saturday, and I realize I am not ready to come back. The three days I took off to be local now seem like a waste, as I could be doing something but alas I feel like that the down time was needed.
I also learned more about Roma gypsies. I had always thought they came from Romania, but they come from the area around India and Pakistan and migrated years ago. The name Roma is from an area of I want to say Turkey they lived in for years before becoming wanderers. The gypsy part comes because people thought they were from Egypt.
Will run spell check as soon as possible.
Vienna
When we returned to Vienna, I went for a walk along the canal.
Then I cut over and went to the Royal Treasury. There were some amazing pieces! Looking at how the Hapsburg's lived, I wonder how their people fared. It's one thing to see their lavish palaces and another thing to be a common person during those times.
After that, I went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. There were pieces from Raphael, Holbein, Rubin, Rembrandt, and others. There were a lot of pieces. The ones that stood out were of people I knew like Jane Seymour (Henry VIII's third wife), Mary Tudor (his sister not daughter), Charles V. There were also some paintings involving Jupiter seducing various women.
There was a section I ignored because the paintings disturbed me and not in a good way. I don't want to see decapitated heads. Call me old fashion!
Then a final stroll around Vienna for this trip!
Then I cut over and went to the Royal Treasury. There were some amazing pieces! Looking at how the Hapsburg's lived, I wonder how their people fared. It's one thing to see their lavish palaces and another thing to be a common person during those times.
After that, I went to the Kunsthistorisches Museum. There were pieces from Raphael, Holbein, Rubin, Rembrandt, and others. There were a lot of pieces. The ones that stood out were of people I knew like Jane Seymour (Henry VIII's third wife), Mary Tudor (his sister not daughter), Charles V. There were also some paintings involving Jupiter seducing various women.
There was a section I ignored because the paintings disturbed me and not in a good way. I don't want to see decapitated heads. Call me old fashion!
Then a final stroll around Vienna for this trip!
Bratislava
This morning we drove to Slovakia to visit Bratislava. I so loved it!
We started with a tour by a local guide who is also a writer and photographer. Then free time.
I basically stayed in the old town area. Went to St. Martin's Cathedral, which was quite nice. It reminded me of St. Colman's in Cobn because not only was it beautiful but it was also quite peaceful as it is not on folk's radar.
I thought the place was charming and understated. Rick Steves said to give it two hours but I could see myself coming for a few days. Like Wales a great place to relax from the hustle and bustle of the city life.
There were also some pretty funny statues. The Promenade area was nice to walk through.
Mozart and Beethoven both spent time there so those buildings were pointed out.
I was bummed because a museum I wanted to go to was closed. It holds a series of six royal English tapestries (apparently the only intact set in the world).
It's one of my favorite spots so far!
We started with a tour by a local guide who is also a writer and photographer. Then free time.
I basically stayed in the old town area. Went to St. Martin's Cathedral, which was quite nice. It reminded me of St. Colman's in Cobn because not only was it beautiful but it was also quite peaceful as it is not on folk's radar.
I thought the place was charming and understated. Rick Steves said to give it two hours but I could see myself coming for a few days. Like Wales a great place to relax from the hustle and bustle of the city life.
There were also some pretty funny statues. The Promenade area was nice to walk through.
Mozart and Beethoven both spent time there so those buildings were pointed out.
I was bummed because a museum I wanted to go to was closed. It holds a series of six royal English tapestries (apparently the only intact set in the world).
It's one of my favorite spots so far!
Vienna - Random
The computer here is kind of weird. Every word shows as wrong so will run spell check at home. Also the y and z are in the wrong spots so bare with me. Actually the keyboard is pretty funky. I always forget!
Some of the lovely food I have had includes beef stew with potatoes, wiener schnitzel (veal), Wurstelstand hot dogs for a fast, cheap lunch, and apfelstrudel. I thought I would lose weight, but alas, negative! The hotel also makes yummy Belgian waffles for breakfast. Cannot resist!
I forgot to mention that in Budapest, we went to the observation deck at St. Stephen's Basilica. The views were decent.
And not to confuse you but yesterday I also went to St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.
Some of the lovely food I have had includes beef stew with potatoes, wiener schnitzel (veal), Wurstelstand hot dogs for a fast, cheap lunch, and apfelstrudel. I thought I would lose weight, but alas, negative! The hotel also makes yummy Belgian waffles for breakfast. Cannot resist!
I forgot to mention that in Budapest, we went to the observation deck at St. Stephen's Basilica. The views were decent.
And not to confuse you but yesterday I also went to St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Vienna
Today I slept in and skipped breakfast.
We started the morning at the Schronbrunn Palace, which was the summer home of the Hapsburg emperors. The rooms we saw were quite nice and the garden behind the castle was nice even though it was fall.
We also walked around the grounds of the Hofborg Palace courtyards, which was their main home. Vienna is pretty impressive, and I am counting the city as a museum in itself.
I wanted to go to the Royal Treasury but it was closed so I will need to go tomorrow afternoon after Slovakia.
I did go into the Imperial Rooms and they too were impressive.
I walked around the area of the Opera House, City Hall, Votive Church, and Parliament.
I will be heading in pretty soon.
Tomorrow Slovakia and then the Royal Treasury and perhaps more walking.
My vacation is winding down. Today is Tuesday and I come back Saturday!
We started the morning at the Schronbrunn Palace, which was the summer home of the Hapsburg emperors. The rooms we saw were quite nice and the garden behind the castle was nice even though it was fall.
We also walked around the grounds of the Hofborg Palace courtyards, which was their main home. Vienna is pretty impressive, and I am counting the city as a museum in itself.
I wanted to go to the Royal Treasury but it was closed so I will need to go tomorrow afternoon after Slovakia.
I did go into the Imperial Rooms and they too were impressive.
I walked around the area of the Opera House, City Hall, Votive Church, and Parliament.
I will be heading in pretty soon.
Tomorrow Slovakia and then the Royal Treasury and perhaps more walking.
My vacation is winding down. Today is Tuesday and I come back Saturday!
Vienna Night One - You Must Leave by Seven
We arrived in Vienna yesterday afternoon. After I got settled in, I joined the couple from Qatar, Lisa and Brooks, for dinner.
I need to remember the name of the dish I had, but it was good. Brooks had some boiled beef, which was by far the best dish.
When we asked for a table a little before six, the restaurant was almost empty but there were a lot of seven o' clock reservations.
So the host was like I can sit you but you must leave be seven. It wasn't rude it was just very matter of fact. We laughed about that for the rest of the night. You must leave by seven. Yes, still on the floor!
We then went to the concert. It was good. There was a live orchestra and also some singers and some dancers. Good way to spend an evening. I was so tired when we got home and was ready to crash!
I need to remember the name of the dish I had, but it was good. Brooks had some boiled beef, which was by far the best dish.
When we asked for a table a little before six, the restaurant was almost empty but there were a lot of seven o' clock reservations.
So the host was like I can sit you but you must leave be seven. It wasn't rude it was just very matter of fact. We laughed about that for the rest of the night. You must leave by seven. Yes, still on the floor!
We then went to the concert. It was good. There was a live orchestra and also some singers and some dancers. Good way to spend an evening. I was so tired when we got home and was ready to crash!
Goodbye Budapest!
My prior hotels had free Internet, but alas, this one does not. I have been waiting to find an Internet Cafe.
When I woke up yesterday morning, it was snowing! Then it turned to rain mixed with snow. Very cold and losing my gloves that much more irksome.
I have officially been invited to visit Addy and David in Belize up to two weeks plus one! Who wants to go with me?!
This will be short. We started off at the Parliament. The entire time we were flanked by two men who escorted us the whole time. I'm not sure if it's to employ people or to listen to the words said by the guide. They were two big dudes. Our guide also pointed out some of the politicians who were in the building.
We then went to see St. Stephen's and were even able to see the relic of his hand. It was kind of gross. When I first heard of St. Stephen's Basilica, I thought it was the apostle, but it's actually after the king who converted he and his pagan nation to become Christians.
Then we went to the Great Market. I was actually walking in that area the day before. Pretty cool market with fruit, veggies, meats, wines, and tons of people. This guy was squeezing fresh orange juice, and it smelled so good.
I also discovered that this interesting building I saw the day before was called Cave Church.
Then we were off to Vienna!
When I woke up yesterday morning, it was snowing! Then it turned to rain mixed with snow. Very cold and losing my gloves that much more irksome.
I have officially been invited to visit Addy and David in Belize up to two weeks plus one! Who wants to go with me?!
This will be short. We started off at the Parliament. The entire time we were flanked by two men who escorted us the whole time. I'm not sure if it's to employ people or to listen to the words said by the guide. They were two big dudes. Our guide also pointed out some of the politicians who were in the building.
We then went to see St. Stephen's and were even able to see the relic of his hand. It was kind of gross. When I first heard of St. Stephen's Basilica, I thought it was the apostle, but it's actually after the king who converted he and his pagan nation to become Christians.
Then we went to the Great Market. I was actually walking in that area the day before. Pretty cool market with fruit, veggies, meats, wines, and tons of people. This guy was squeezing fresh orange juice, and it smelled so good.
I also discovered that this interesting building I saw the day before was called Cave Church.
Then we were off to Vienna!
Sunday, October 28, 2012
YOY
P.S.
In sad news, I managed to lose my new gloves! My punishment will be cold fingers for the rest of the trip. I am not sure what it is about gloves, scarves, and hats. I am surprised that I don't lose my glasses. But this is why I never purchase expensive sets.
Oh well. Two years ago, I lost my new sneakers, so this will be cheaper to replace.
Rain mixed with snow is in the forecast!
I just had dinner, and I now I am going to have a quiet evening reading.
xoxo
In sad news, I managed to lose my new gloves! My punishment will be cold fingers for the rest of the trip. I am not sure what it is about gloves, scarves, and hats. I am surprised that I don't lose my glasses. But this is why I never purchase expensive sets.
Oh well. Two years ago, I lost my new sneakers, so this will be cheaper to replace.
Rain mixed with snow is in the forecast!
I just had dinner, and I now I am going to have a quiet evening reading.
xoxo
New Travel Mates
P.S. We picked up some new people yesterday.
There is a couple from Houston. They were both born in Asia (I want to say Malaysia and Indonesia), but they met while studying in the U.S.
There is a couple of young ladies probably a little younger than me. I think they are from DC and OH.
There is another American couple who lives in Qatar. The husband is helping build an airport there. They have also lived in Afghanistan.
And there is now a single bachelor who is 35 who was born in Syria but lives in Qatar. He's an architect.
So last night the guy from Syria, the ladies from Miami, and me shared a table for dinner. We were talking about the middle east.
Somehow we got to talking about following the rules in the country you visit. And how some countries we probably won't visit (i.e. countries where women are oppressed). The case of the young boy who got caned in Singapore came up. He brought up a case where his ex-girlfriend (who is from Australia) was arrested and deported from a country (and I am drawing a blank to which one) because she gave a police officer the middle finger. She spent a few days in jail, and she is banned for life. Oh and we talked about the Sex and the City movie that supposed to take place in was it Dubai and the need to respect the places you visit.
I guess the bottom line is that we have to be good global citizens. For example, I am not Hindu, but when visiting a Hindu temple, I will remove my shoes out of respect. I am not Muslim, but out of respect, I will cover my head when entering a mosque. The other choice is to just not go in. Okay. I feel a soap box rant coming on so I will stop!
There is a couple from Houston. They were both born in Asia (I want to say Malaysia and Indonesia), but they met while studying in the U.S.
There is a couple of young ladies probably a little younger than me. I think they are from DC and OH.
There is another American couple who lives in Qatar. The husband is helping build an airport there. They have also lived in Afghanistan.
And there is now a single bachelor who is 35 who was born in Syria but lives in Qatar. He's an architect.
So last night the guy from Syria, the ladies from Miami, and me shared a table for dinner. We were talking about the middle east.
Somehow we got to talking about following the rules in the country you visit. And how some countries we probably won't visit (i.e. countries where women are oppressed). The case of the young boy who got caned in Singapore came up. He brought up a case where his ex-girlfriend (who is from Australia) was arrested and deported from a country (and I am drawing a blank to which one) because she gave a police officer the middle finger. She spent a few days in jail, and she is banned for life. Oh and we talked about the Sex and the City movie that supposed to take place in was it Dubai and the need to respect the places you visit.
I guess the bottom line is that we have to be good global citizens. For example, I am not Hindu, but when visiting a Hindu temple, I will remove my shoes out of respect. I am not Muslim, but out of respect, I will cover my head when entering a mosque. The other choice is to just not go in. Okay. I feel a soap box rant coming on so I will stop!
Budapest - Day Two
As many of you know, Hawaii was almost my destination this year. I saw a post from my cousin's sister (my cousin of course) that I was going to visit asking for prayers for her sister because she was in a tsunami warning! So my vacation could have been a lot different.
Today finds me very, very tired. I was very close to taking a nap, but I don't want to waste any time here. I could easily use two days for Budapest, which just means I need to come back.
I would like to visit some museums, which I have not been to any this trip. Most of my efforts have been to visit certain areas of interest so that has been my focus.
We started the morning visiting Hero's Square, which I went to yesterday. I am glad I had been there for a couple of reason. The main is that it was pouring down rain, and it's been the coldest today that it has been all vacation. I also would not have discovered the palace behind the square as we were only there for fifteen minutes.
There are some good sides to organized traveled (not having to worry about booking hotel, not having to worry about inter-country travel being the biggest). Then depending on the travel company and their key demographics there could be some major annoyances. Key words being viewing vs. visiting. I think I talked about this a few year's back. I can say that I have been able to visit the places I really wanted to see.
The other thing is that I need to get back to July / August vacations. It is cold and the days are shorter. My camera sucks at night pictures. Did I mention we fell back last night? The extra hour of sleep did me good, but it also means an hour less daylight. I get to do it all over again when I get home.
We then went to Castle Hill on the Buda side where we saw really great views of Pest. We went to Mount Geller and Matthias Coronation Church. We couldn't go inside because today is Sunday and there was a service going on.
I got dropped off at the Jewish Quarter so I could see the Great Synagogue, which is is the second biggest in the world. I then just walked around focusing on the Danube River edge. I walked across one of the bridges back to the Buda side then walked back over to the Pest side. By then it had stopped raining but was cold.
I got back to the hotel and chilled for a minute. Now I am hungry and trying to figure out if I should have an early dinner or wait it out for a few hours.
Tomorrow I spend the morning in Budapest going to the Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica, and the Great Market. Then we drive to Vienna. I will attend a Mozart concert tomorrow night.
I am very glad I came on this trip. So far I certainly want to return to all of the locations and spend more time.
Today finds me very, very tired. I was very close to taking a nap, but I don't want to waste any time here. I could easily use two days for Budapest, which just means I need to come back.
I would like to visit some museums, which I have not been to any this trip. Most of my efforts have been to visit certain areas of interest so that has been my focus.
We started the morning visiting Hero's Square, which I went to yesterday. I am glad I had been there for a couple of reason. The main is that it was pouring down rain, and it's been the coldest today that it has been all vacation. I also would not have discovered the palace behind the square as we were only there for fifteen minutes.
There are some good sides to organized traveled (not having to worry about booking hotel, not having to worry about inter-country travel being the biggest). Then depending on the travel company and their key demographics there could be some major annoyances. Key words being viewing vs. visiting. I think I talked about this a few year's back. I can say that I have been able to visit the places I really wanted to see.
The other thing is that I need to get back to July / August vacations. It is cold and the days are shorter. My camera sucks at night pictures. Did I mention we fell back last night? The extra hour of sleep did me good, but it also means an hour less daylight. I get to do it all over again when I get home.
We then went to Castle Hill on the Buda side where we saw really great views of Pest. We went to Mount Geller and Matthias Coronation Church. We couldn't go inside because today is Sunday and there was a service going on.
I got dropped off at the Jewish Quarter so I could see the Great Synagogue, which is is the second biggest in the world. I then just walked around focusing on the Danube River edge. I walked across one of the bridges back to the Buda side then walked back over to the Pest side. By then it had stopped raining but was cold.
I got back to the hotel and chilled for a minute. Now I am hungry and trying to figure out if I should have an early dinner or wait it out for a few hours.
Tomorrow I spend the morning in Budapest going to the Parliament, St. Stephen's Basilica, and the Great Market. Then we drive to Vienna. I will attend a Mozart concert tomorrow night.
I am very glad I came on this trip. So far I certainly want to return to all of the locations and spend more time.
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Budapest
Today has been a crazy day. I started in Poland, went through Slovakia, and now I am in Hungary. Another way to say it: Breakfast in Poland, Lunch in Slovakia, and dinner in Hungary. I will actually return to Slovakia on Wednesday (Halloween) to spend time in their capital.
To journey to Hungary we went through the Carpathian Mountains. This was very funny to me because Alice introduced me to a series by Christine Feehan where the male lead characters are from the Carpathian Mountains. The premise of the books is they are a race of immortals. The men must find their life mates or they risk becoming the undead (vampires) who must then be hunted and killed. The women in the race are few but there are a few human women who are true psychics who can be converted. They are my smut fiction easy reading choices. Today was the perfect day to picture a scene in the book as it was foggy and raining. It sprinkled a little yesterday, but today was full on rain in the morning. By the time we got to Budapest, it was quite nice. So nice in fact that I had to take my coat off while walking.
Before leaving Poland, we stopped by this city called Orawka to visit St. John the Baptist church. It was built in 1650 and looks quite rustic. The paintings are all old. The church is quite beautiful. The woman who showed us around was quite proud of their church.
Based on the crazy Hungarian Forint, I am a millionaire.
As we crossed the border of Slovakia and then Hungary, I thought how arbitrary these invisible borders that separate countries are. You cross a line and all of a sudden you are a foreigner. How totally crazy!
The hotel we are staying at is on the Pest side of the city. Another great location.
Once we hit the hotel, and I got settled, I walked to Heroes' Square. Around there is a great City Park. There are also two museums that flank the square. It was filled with people. My favorite spot was the Vajdahunyad Castle. It is so magical! It looks like the type of castle I can imagine Prince Charming taking me to one of these days. It has four parts: a Romanesque Chapel, Gothic Gate, Renaissance castle and Baroque palace. The grounds were amazing. I also went to see the Szechenly Baths. It was quite a lovely building, but I didn't go in. I just kept picturing Mrs. Bennett talking about her nerves and Lizzie and Jane rolling their eyes. I don't think it will ever come down to that. LOL!
If you go to this main street and turn left you hit all of the above. So I went back and overshot my street because if you turn right, you hit the opera house. It was very nice. There was a group outside their Moulin Rouge who were singing some opera. The sopranos were amazing. I am not planning on attending an opera here, but I will go to a Mozart concert in Vienna.
I really like the buildings here. They are so big that you have to be across the street to fit the entire building in the picture, but then there are all of these trees ruining the picture. It's strange but I already feel like I know my way around here. I feel very at home here!
To journey to Hungary we went through the Carpathian Mountains. This was very funny to me because Alice introduced me to a series by Christine Feehan where the male lead characters are from the Carpathian Mountains. The premise of the books is they are a race of immortals. The men must find their life mates or they risk becoming the undead (vampires) who must then be hunted and killed. The women in the race are few but there are a few human women who are true psychics who can be converted. They are my smut fiction easy reading choices. Today was the perfect day to picture a scene in the book as it was foggy and raining. It sprinkled a little yesterday, but today was full on rain in the morning. By the time we got to Budapest, it was quite nice. So nice in fact that I had to take my coat off while walking.
Before leaving Poland, we stopped by this city called Orawka to visit St. John the Baptist church. It was built in 1650 and looks quite rustic. The paintings are all old. The church is quite beautiful. The woman who showed us around was quite proud of their church.
Based on the crazy Hungarian Forint, I am a millionaire.
As we crossed the border of Slovakia and then Hungary, I thought how arbitrary these invisible borders that separate countries are. You cross a line and all of a sudden you are a foreigner. How totally crazy!
The hotel we are staying at is on the Pest side of the city. Another great location.
Once we hit the hotel, and I got settled, I walked to Heroes' Square. Around there is a great City Park. There are also two museums that flank the square. It was filled with people. My favorite spot was the Vajdahunyad Castle. It is so magical! It looks like the type of castle I can imagine Prince Charming taking me to one of these days. It has four parts: a Romanesque Chapel, Gothic Gate, Renaissance castle and Baroque palace. The grounds were amazing. I also went to see the Szechenly Baths. It was quite a lovely building, but I didn't go in. I just kept picturing Mrs. Bennett talking about her nerves and Lizzie and Jane rolling their eyes. I don't think it will ever come down to that. LOL!
If you go to this main street and turn left you hit all of the above. So I went back and overshot my street because if you turn right, you hit the opera house. It was very nice. There was a group outside their Moulin Rouge who were singing some opera. The sopranos were amazing. I am not planning on attending an opera here, but I will go to a Mozart concert in Vienna.
I really like the buildings here. They are so big that you have to be across the street to fit the entire building in the picture, but then there are all of these trees ruining the picture. It's strange but I already feel like I know my way around here. I feel very at home here!
Friday, October 26, 2012
Auschwitz
Today I also went to Auschwitz. I am kind of at a loss on what to say about it.
One thing I didn't know was that it is actually a series of camps. We went to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II, but there is a third that was basically lost.
It's hard for me to grasp my experience there. When I try to really imagine what happened my mind closes. I may need to walk away from this post.
I am not sure if I should write about the history and leave it at the facts. Or if I should write about my feelings behind it.
We are all humans, and I am not sure what makes anyone feel like they can decide that a certain race is subhuman, 3/5ths of a person, or savages. So I am trying to judge it by the experience of those who lived it as opposed to bringing up every atrocity that man has subject other man to. It's hard! It's sobering.
Again, my mind wants to block it out. We saw exhibits of people's hair that had been shaved. It was used to make products in Germany. Some of the hair was certainly children's hair. We saw the shoes that belonged to people. We saw luggage that had people's names and their date of births.
It was totally mind boggling to see a map that showed the many places the people came from to be sent to their death. There were photos of people that showed where they came from, their birth dates, how they died (firing squad, gas chamber, hanging). There were two twin girls who died within two days of each other. You could see when they were deported and when they died. Some died in a day some months.
The camp was mostly Jews, but also gypsies, Polish people, homosexuals, POWs. It is believed that 1.1M people were killed, and what for? For being Jewish? For being gay? For being a gypsy?
It was so weird to walk into a gas chamber and then into a crematory knowing that people had died their in masses. The wash rooms and toilets were not sanitary. People had to use them in masses and many suffered from stomach problems like diarrhea. And they had to sleep together. There were these standing punishment cells that held four to five people. People were in there over night and expected to still work their 11 hour work days or labor.
People were used as scientific experiments all in the name of creating this perfect, dominant race while an "undesirable" race was exterminated. What the What?! Who determines that a race is "undesirable."
And what of the people who helped or the soldiers who worked there. Yes, you are following "orders" but don't we know right from wrong? If faced with the same situation would I be silent or would I go with the flow. It's hard to fathom how many turned a blind eye to this. If faced with the actions of evil what do we do? Are we silent to mistreatment around us? Probably, but we comfort ourselves by saying but nothing to this magnitude.
Okay. I am starting to ramble, but it was an experience I won't soon forget.
On a lighter note, the county side was beautiful. The fall is very beautiful here!
One thing I didn't know was that it is actually a series of camps. We went to Auschwitz I and Auschwitz II, but there is a third that was basically lost.
It's hard for me to grasp my experience there. When I try to really imagine what happened my mind closes. I may need to walk away from this post.
I am not sure if I should write about the history and leave it at the facts. Or if I should write about my feelings behind it.
We are all humans, and I am not sure what makes anyone feel like they can decide that a certain race is subhuman, 3/5ths of a person, or savages. So I am trying to judge it by the experience of those who lived it as opposed to bringing up every atrocity that man has subject other man to. It's hard! It's sobering.
Again, my mind wants to block it out. We saw exhibits of people's hair that had been shaved. It was used to make products in Germany. Some of the hair was certainly children's hair. We saw the shoes that belonged to people. We saw luggage that had people's names and their date of births.
It was totally mind boggling to see a map that showed the many places the people came from to be sent to their death. There were photos of people that showed where they came from, their birth dates, how they died (firing squad, gas chamber, hanging). There were two twin girls who died within two days of each other. You could see when they were deported and when they died. Some died in a day some months.
The camp was mostly Jews, but also gypsies, Polish people, homosexuals, POWs. It is believed that 1.1M people were killed, and what for? For being Jewish? For being gay? For being a gypsy?
It was so weird to walk into a gas chamber and then into a crematory knowing that people had died their in masses. The wash rooms and toilets were not sanitary. People had to use them in masses and many suffered from stomach problems like diarrhea. And they had to sleep together. There were these standing punishment cells that held four to five people. People were in there over night and expected to still work their 11 hour work days or labor.
People were used as scientific experiments all in the name of creating this perfect, dominant race while an "undesirable" race was exterminated. What the What?! Who determines that a race is "undesirable."
And what of the people who helped or the soldiers who worked there. Yes, you are following "orders" but don't we know right from wrong? If faced with the same situation would I be silent or would I go with the flow. It's hard to fathom how many turned a blind eye to this. If faced with the actions of evil what do we do? Are we silent to mistreatment around us? Probably, but we comfort ourselves by saying but nothing to this magnitude.
Okay. I am starting to ramble, but it was an experience I won't soon forget.
On a lighter note, the county side was beautiful. The fall is very beautiful here!
Krakaw - Day Two
My hotel is in a great location. We are across from a park called Planty. It is the longest park in Europe (according to our guide Isabella) and surrounds the city's old town. The hotel is on the same block as were Oskar Schindler lived, and right by the St. Francis Basilica. We are also about five minutes from the Main Market Square and up the hill from us is the Wawel Castle and Cathedral. When I come again, I will certainly stay in this area. It's where a lot of of my planned site seeing is.
I learned that the emblem/symbol of the city is the dragon. Krakow wasn't damaged much in the war so much of the original city remains. As mentioned it is the former capital of Poland. One of the kings was an alchemist and he was trying to turn metal into gold and the old palace caught on fire.
The city has 800K residents and 200K students. There are 100 churches in the made part of the city alone. It's called Little Rome because of that.
We started the morning in they Kazimierz area or former Jewish Quarter. We passed by the Ghetto Hero's Square. I need to go back and take a picture. It represents the chairs that Jewish children carried when they were being moved to the ghetto. We stopped by the Old Synagogue, which is the oldest synagogue in Poland. We also stopped by the Schindler Factory. There are pictures of same of the people who worked there who were saved from certain death.
We went to Wawel Hill to see the Wawel Castle and Cathedral. I have to tell you that the Cathedral was magnificent. It's one of the prettiest I have seen. It is their Westminster Abbey. There are a lot of tombs in there. Pictures were not allowed, but I am not sure they would have done the Cathedral justice anyway. There was just so much. One fun fact about the castle. When they finally got indoor heat, it was only in the king's section not the queens. I found this funny for some reason. That's one way to force the marriage bed.
We ended up in the Main Market Square. It was established in the 13th century. Everything was sold here during older times. There is an important church there called St. Mary's. A church has stood there for 800 years. The original church was destroyed by a Tatar invasion. I didn't go inside because they charge. I have been in plenty of churches, and I went to St. Francis Basilica later.
Oh and there are sick people all around me. Keep them away please. My nose was running this morning, and my throat is starting to hurt. I don't want to be sick!
Oh and the inside market I mentioned yesterday is called Cloth Hall.
I also went to see the Barbican, which is part of the city walls. I also mentioned going to St. Francis Basilica. They have a real nice glass window showing God as creator called "God the Father Let It Be." Across from the basilica is the bishop's palace were John Paul II the second lived.
I did manage to cross another item off of my Bucket List! I went on a horse and buggy ride! It was so unexpected, but I didn't want to have cash left over when I left here so it worked!
Like Warsaw, the next time I come I want to visit some of the museums, specifically the history museums. The history of Poland is pretty amazing. They prospered for hundreds of years under two dynasties. Then they had weak kings who were elected by nobles so in the nobles' pockets. Then they were divided for over one hundred years. Then they were free for a few years only to be invaded by Germany and "liberated" by the Soviet Union. They have only been recently free since 1989.
I had the zurek soup and more pierogi. I also want to try the duck but only heard about it tonight.
Tomorrow we are off to Budapest (or the two cities of Buda and Pest).
Oh, and some cute translations stories. They call headsets whisperers. It reminds me of when Yamini's grandmother calling crosswalks zebras.
I learned that the emblem/symbol of the city is the dragon. Krakow wasn't damaged much in the war so much of the original city remains. As mentioned it is the former capital of Poland. One of the kings was an alchemist and he was trying to turn metal into gold and the old palace caught on fire.
The city has 800K residents and 200K students. There are 100 churches in the made part of the city alone. It's called Little Rome because of that.
We started the morning in they Kazimierz area or former Jewish Quarter. We passed by the Ghetto Hero's Square. I need to go back and take a picture. It represents the chairs that Jewish children carried when they were being moved to the ghetto. We stopped by the Old Synagogue, which is the oldest synagogue in Poland. We also stopped by the Schindler Factory. There are pictures of same of the people who worked there who were saved from certain death.
We went to Wawel Hill to see the Wawel Castle and Cathedral. I have to tell you that the Cathedral was magnificent. It's one of the prettiest I have seen. It is their Westminster Abbey. There are a lot of tombs in there. Pictures were not allowed, but I am not sure they would have done the Cathedral justice anyway. There was just so much. One fun fact about the castle. When they finally got indoor heat, it was only in the king's section not the queens. I found this funny for some reason. That's one way to force the marriage bed.
We ended up in the Main Market Square. It was established in the 13th century. Everything was sold here during older times. There is an important church there called St. Mary's. A church has stood there for 800 years. The original church was destroyed by a Tatar invasion. I didn't go inside because they charge. I have been in plenty of churches, and I went to St. Francis Basilica later.
Oh and there are sick people all around me. Keep them away please. My nose was running this morning, and my throat is starting to hurt. I don't want to be sick!
Oh and the inside market I mentioned yesterday is called Cloth Hall.
I also went to see the Barbican, which is part of the city walls. I also mentioned going to St. Francis Basilica. They have a real nice glass window showing God as creator called "God the Father Let It Be." Across from the basilica is the bishop's palace were John Paul II the second lived.
I did manage to cross another item off of my Bucket List! I went on a horse and buggy ride! It was so unexpected, but I didn't want to have cash left over when I left here so it worked!
Like Warsaw, the next time I come I want to visit some of the museums, specifically the history museums. The history of Poland is pretty amazing. They prospered for hundreds of years under two dynasties. Then they had weak kings who were elected by nobles so in the nobles' pockets. Then they were divided for over one hundred years. Then they were free for a few years only to be invaded by Germany and "liberated" by the Soviet Union. They have only been recently free since 1989.
I had the zurek soup and more pierogi. I also want to try the duck but only heard about it tonight.
Tomorrow we are off to Budapest (or the two cities of Buda and Pest).
Oh, and some cute translations stories. They call headsets whisperers. It reminds me of when Yamini's grandmother calling crosswalks zebras.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
My Travel Mates
Please Note: Spell Check is not working. That's my disclaimer!
I had dinner with my travel mates tonight.
There is a couple who are from upstate New York. They are both retired and travel a lot. They have been to every continent.
The friends traveling together are from Miami. They too have traveled a lot.
We have a couple from San Diego and a couple from Connecticut.
The other couple is from Florida. Oh and we have a couple who live in Belize. He is originally from Tennessee, and she is from Belize but lived in Miami for a while.
I sat next to the couple from upstate New York and the friends from Miami. They were encouraging me to keep traveling while I was young, which I fully intend to do. One of the women from Miami is a financial planner and she says that she sees a lot of people wait to retirement to travel and then end up sick or injured so they can't travel or at least travel well. I will travel while it is "still day."
There is just so much to see. I need to get on my financial planning so I am able to keep traveling.
Oh, and it sounds like most of the people I am traveling with are well to do. I am certainly not poor, but I am not rolling in the dough either!
I had dinner with my travel mates tonight.
There is a couple who are from upstate New York. They are both retired and travel a lot. They have been to every continent.
The friends traveling together are from Miami. They too have traveled a lot.
We have a couple from San Diego and a couple from Connecticut.
The other couple is from Florida. Oh and we have a couple who live in Belize. He is originally from Tennessee, and she is from Belize but lived in Miami for a while.
I sat next to the couple from upstate New York and the friends from Miami. They were encouraging me to keep traveling while I was young, which I fully intend to do. One of the women from Miami is a financial planner and she says that she sees a lot of people wait to retirement to travel and then end up sick or injured so they can't travel or at least travel well. I will travel while it is "still day."
There is just so much to see. I need to get on my financial planning so I am able to keep traveling.
Oh, and it sounds like most of the people I am traveling with are well to do. I am certainly not poor, but I am not rolling in the dough either!
Krakow
I am currently now in Krakow.
This needs to be edited but I want to make it live. I keep losing posts!
I made some edits/changes to the previous post but would guess it still needs some work!
On the way to Krakow, Dean gave us a history of the EU. I didn't realize it had been around for so long. There are 27 nations in the EU with 17 using the Euro. There are 50 countries in Europe and there are some who hope for a United States of Europe. In June 2014, Croatia joins the EU. There are also candidates like Turkey, Iceland, Serbia, and Montenegro. Turkey's membership is problematic for many reason. Some involve the history, with Turkey invading Christian countries, and Christian countries uniting to fight them. Other involve the size of the population and territory. Both are huge and give them some advantage. Finally some are concerned about being responsible for guarding their borders, which include hot spots like Syria and Iraq.
As a result of the war, Poland is 95% ethnic Poles. The number of Jewish people is only in the thousands.
So I have been eating a big breakfast each morning. I may need to wake up early to keep that going. Mostly yogurt, fruit, and granola. It actually is good to have the energy in the morning. I'm a five more minutes sleeper!
On the Seattle - Frankfurt leg, I sat next to a woman named Annie. She was actually going to Israel to visit her boyfriend. We exchanged information because she goes there all the time. I am going to try to meet up with her when I go and possibly go to Petra with her. She is from Canada so it could be Alice all over again! Alice and I met via the port via email and decided to travel together without ever meeting in person. We have been friends for over a decade! I went to visit her last year in Hong Kong.
Also it is certainly fall. It's not as cold as I thought it would be yet. So it's bearable. Trees leaves are beautiful colors and quite lovely and of course falling. It sounds like snow could be on the horizons. I think I am ready.
I wanted to mention that the restaurants that play music for some reason always play Lionel Richie's Say You, Say Me. It's quite funny to me. That could end up being the theme song of this trip.
So en route to Krakow we stopped in Czestochow to see the Black Madonna. She is hidden from 12 to 1:30 daily. The legend says that St. Luke created the painting of Mary and Jesus out of the wood from the Holy Family's table, which is why she is brown. It was hidden and discovered by Helen (Constantine's mom) who was on pilgrimage looking for the Cross that Jesus was crucified on. She brought it to back with her, where it stayed until the Turks invaded Constantinople. It was spirited off and on its way to Krakow. When they made a stop, the horses refused to move when the journey was supposed to start again so that was seen as a sign. An abbey and monastery were built. Others say that they are brown because of soot from candles people lit over the years. Hard to tell. They are certainly very, very brown.
It's a place of pilgrimage for Slavic Catholics. I have to tell you it's the first time I have seen this dedication and devotion at a pilgrimage site. It was actually very touching to see the reverence and respect. When we went there was service so I stayed to take the Sacrament. It was extremely crowded even in the down season.
I was stopped by two young ladies who I thought wanted me to take their picture but they wanted to take a picture with me. They loved the hair. That was actually very fun!
We arrived in Krakow. I went to the Main Market Square, which was established in the 13th century when the city was rebuilt after being invaded by the Mongols. It was an important meeting place and had a lot of markets, that moved into a shelter during the colder months. But alas, I must depart. More history later.
This needs to be edited but I want to make it live. I keep losing posts!
I made some edits/changes to the previous post but would guess it still needs some work!
On the way to Krakow, Dean gave us a history of the EU. I didn't realize it had been around for so long. There are 27 nations in the EU with 17 using the Euro. There are 50 countries in Europe and there are some who hope for a United States of Europe. In June 2014, Croatia joins the EU. There are also candidates like Turkey, Iceland, Serbia, and Montenegro. Turkey's membership is problematic for many reason. Some involve the history, with Turkey invading Christian countries, and Christian countries uniting to fight them. Other involve the size of the population and territory. Both are huge and give them some advantage. Finally some are concerned about being responsible for guarding their borders, which include hot spots like Syria and Iraq.
As a result of the war, Poland is 95% ethnic Poles. The number of Jewish people is only in the thousands.
So I have been eating a big breakfast each morning. I may need to wake up early to keep that going. Mostly yogurt, fruit, and granola. It actually is good to have the energy in the morning. I'm a five more minutes sleeper!
On the Seattle - Frankfurt leg, I sat next to a woman named Annie. She was actually going to Israel to visit her boyfriend. We exchanged information because she goes there all the time. I am going to try to meet up with her when I go and possibly go to Petra with her. She is from Canada so it could be Alice all over again! Alice and I met via the port via email and decided to travel together without ever meeting in person. We have been friends for over a decade! I went to visit her last year in Hong Kong.
Also it is certainly fall. It's not as cold as I thought it would be yet. So it's bearable. Trees leaves are beautiful colors and quite lovely and of course falling. It sounds like snow could be on the horizons. I think I am ready.
I wanted to mention that the restaurants that play music for some reason always play Lionel Richie's Say You, Say Me. It's quite funny to me. That could end up being the theme song of this trip.
So en route to Krakow we stopped in Czestochow to see the Black Madonna. She is hidden from 12 to 1:30 daily. The legend says that St. Luke created the painting of Mary and Jesus out of the wood from the Holy Family's table, which is why she is brown. It was hidden and discovered by Helen (Constantine's mom) who was on pilgrimage looking for the Cross that Jesus was crucified on. She brought it to back with her, where it stayed until the Turks invaded Constantinople. It was spirited off and on its way to Krakow. When they made a stop, the horses refused to move when the journey was supposed to start again so that was seen as a sign. An abbey and monastery were built. Others say that they are brown because of soot from candles people lit over the years. Hard to tell. They are certainly very, very brown.
It's a place of pilgrimage for Slavic Catholics. I have to tell you it's the first time I have seen this dedication and devotion at a pilgrimage site. It was actually very touching to see the reverence and respect. When we went there was service so I stayed to take the Sacrament. It was extremely crowded even in the down season.
I was stopped by two young ladies who I thought wanted me to take their picture but they wanted to take a picture with me. They loved the hair. That was actually very fun!
We arrived in Krakow. I went to the Main Market Square, which was established in the 13th century when the city was rebuilt after being invaded by the Mongols. It was an important meeting place and had a lot of markets, that moved into a shelter during the colder months. But alas, I must depart. More history later.
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Warsaw - Day Two
Okay folks. This one is long and needs to be edited, but I need to walk away. Forgive any mistakes. They will be fixed in due time. I may also have to add some stuff. I also may need to reorder to help with flow.
Now that I am in Warsaw, I wonder why Poland was not on my radar screen of places to visit outside of wanting to visit Auschwitz.
Warsaw (Warsawa) is Poland's capital and largest city. The capital prior to Warsaw was Krakow but that was changed by a king in 1596 after he lost his castle to a fire.
The Warsaw I am seeing is one that is pretty vibrant. With the history, you could expect doom and gloom, but there is power in the human spirit. It's extremely mind boggling to learn that 87% of the city was destroyed during WWII. I try to imagine how it would feel to lose everything, but my mind can't grasp it. I can't imagine seeing Seattle leveled to the ground. An estimated 800,000 residents of Warsaw lost their lives during the war. Hitler decided if he couldn't have it, it would be destroyed. Exit the Nazis. Enter the Russians.
The architecture the Russians built is just plain awful. I really like the style of architecture that was designed to reflect the Polish past. In my pictures so far there are a lot of churches and a lot of buildings. So right now there is a combination of Soviet influenced buildings, which basically remind me of projects. Buildings that were rebuilt to look medieval (old style), which are my favorite. And there are modern day skyscrapers.
About 1.7M people live here. There are around 38M in Poland. 95% of the population is Catholic with 75% practicing, which explains the many, many, many churches. Sometimes they are right across from each other. Poland was between Protestant Germany (one time Prussia) and Orthodox Russian. The fact that both nations have played significant part of the Polish history is not lost. Faced with oppression, the people hung to their faith. Poland didn't exist between 1795-1918. At this time it was divided between three countries (Russia, Prussia, and Austria).
Before WWII, 80% of the Jewish people who lived in Europe lived in Poland. This was second worldwide after NYC. In the middle ages while other European kings were imprisoning or exporting Jews, the Polish kings accepted them. So they flourished in Poland from the middle ages until WWII.
The hotel I am staying at is in a very good, central location. I have done all of my sightseeing in this area. Today I walked for well over five hours, possible six. Hopefully this will lead to a slimmer me when I return. *_*.
Today I started with a morning tour with my group, which included going to the other side of the Vistual River, going to see Chopin's monument, going along the Royal Route, going to the former Jewish Ghetto, and going to Old Town. When it was finished, I spent a lot of time exploring the Old Town and then went back to the former Jewish Ghetto. Then I cut back to Old Town and walked the Royal Route home. My hotel is literally off of the Royal Route.
So let's start at the beginning.
My tour guide is Dean. He was born in Amsterdam to Serbia parents. He currently lives in Belgrade. The Warsaw tour guide was Magda. I learned that she used to work 30 hours/seven days a week, but has reduced her hours because she has a child.
One thing that sort of sticks out is the Palm Tree. My driver on the way to the hotel from the airport pointed it out to me. I was like what? How? He didn't tell me that it was plastic, so now it makes complete sense.
We drove by a series of embassies. I actually meant to go back and get some pictures because a lot of them are old villa palace style. The eye-soar example is the American Embassy, which is modern. It's my own preference, as I abhor modern architecture.
The park that housed the Chopin monument is under construction, but we could see the statue through the gate. Though his name and dad are French, his mom and birthplace are Polish. I'm not that interested in his life, but learned he had to flee Poland. Ended up dying alone around 39 of TB.
The area on the other side of the river (from the center) is being gentrified. It's now becoming popular and trendy when before people would not go over there. There was a lot of criminals and criminal activity.
When the Nazis' occupied Warsaw the city was divided into three sections: Polish, Jewish, Nazi. We visited a few monuments in the Jewish Ghetto. When I walked through the ghetto again, I revisited the monuments, and I am glad I did! But first some history.
For centuries Jewish people lived in Poland peacefully. In the middle ages, it was safe haven. Other nations in Europe were deporting or imprisoning Jews. In the 1930s there were 380,000 Jews in Warsaw. The Nazis arrived in 1939 and within a year pushed all the Jewish people into the one neighborhood and built a wall around it. People from other towns in Poland were brought there so it was overcrowded (1/2 a million). Over the next year the population grow by1M! By 1942, 1/4 of the people had died of starvation, sickness, committed suicide, or been killed. The Nazis began moving 5K a day to "resettlement camps," which in fact were the death camps of Treblinka and Auschwitz. When the population was around 60,000 they began getting word about what was actually really happening. Thus they staged an uprising (April 19, 1943), which was unsuccessful. The Nazi's struck back. They destroyed the ghetto and "liquidated" the people. About 300 were able to escape through an underground rail system.
I saw two monuments. There was one in the Ghetto Heroes Square. It is "for the dignity and freedom of the Jewish Nation, for a free Poland, and for the liberation of humankind." The people in the monument are very striking. People have left flowers, candles, and stones. There is a Path of Remembrance leading to the other monument. It's kind of like a Stations of the Cross, as it tells the story of the uprising. The next site is the Umschalagplatz (German for transfer place) monument. It marks the stop where Nazis brought Jewish families to prepare them to be loaded into trains bound for Treblinka or Auschwitz. The second time I went there there was a tour group with Jewish teenagers. They sounded like the could be from England. Their leader was trying to emphasize what had happened in very direct terms. It seems like after struggles, each generation forgets or the impact is not there for them. I hope the young people heard what he was trying to instill.
It is hard to not judge history from today's perspective. How many countries promised help but did not deliver? How many countries turned a blind eye and listened to the Nazi propaganda that nothing seedy was happening? And why does ethnic cleansing happen today with the world leaders putting sanctions on leaders who are killing people? It seems so simple.
I saw a brick house that was a place Jewish people used to live. There are pictures of faces all over the building. There is talk about renovating it to it's former glory, which asks the question should it be restored? Or should it be left as is as a reminder? It was an amazing experience.
In lighter news, I visited the Old Town (97% of this area was destroyed) and New Town. I really like the Old Town. I started in Castle Square, which has the royal castle. I also visited St. John the Baptist Cathedral. It's the oldest cathedral (1339) in Warsaw. In 1791 the Polish constitution was consecrated there. It was also the last battle in the Warsaw Uprising. The rebel leaders were hiding in the church and the Nazi leaders sent a tracked mine (a huge bomb on tank tracks) into the church and killed the leaders. There are some that criticize the uprising, but again judging history from our own eyes. I suppose at some point in time, you have had a enough and want to take your future into your own hands, especially when you could be going from worst to worst. The Warsaw Uprising happened in the summer of 1944. The Soviet tanks were near and it was known that the Nazis would be pulling out soon. Many felt that if the Soviets "liberated" Poland, they would not be independent. In August 30,000 Polish resistance fighters launched an attack. The uprising lasted two months. 18,000 uprisers and 200,000 civilians were killed. Hitler was outraged and demanded that the city be destroyed, and it was. After the Nazis pulled out, the Soviets (who sat and watched and waited) pulled in. So was the uprising brave or stupid? I can offer no judgement.
There are some who don't like the Old Town. They say it's cheesy, but I like it. It actually reminded me a lot of Brugge. It has what would have been the ruins to outer walls (originally the rich lived in Old Town and had walls built to protect themselves). There was also a defensive gate. The New Town represents the area that was built outside of the wall. Ironically, because of the war, parts of the New Town are actually older than the Old Town. Basically, some of the buildings built used parts from the old buildings.
There was also a mermaid fountain. Long story short. Two fishermen found a mermaid and would visit her daily. An evil man was suspicious why two fishermen came back daily with no fish but happy. He followed them and saw the mermaid. He captured her to make profit. She sang a sad song and the fishermen recognized her voice and rescued her. She now carries a sword and shield to protect herself and all fishermen. She has a twin who lives in Copenhagen.
For dinner, I had pierogi, which was totally good. It's basically called a dumpling. Mine had meat inside and being as greedy as I am, I could have eaten another serving, but I did not! There is one other dish I want to try before I leave. It's soup, bread, and a sausage.
It's a city that is changing and growing. There is so much construction happening. They are actually building another Metro Line as well. One of the tour members visited 35 years ago. She said it has changed since she was there. Warsaw had been described as dark and gloomy, but hope has a way of changing things. Did I mention communism ended there in 1989?
Oh I met this Russia guy earlier and I wonder how his reception is in Poland? I guess the past is the past is the past and at some point in time there has to be reconciliation. The way I meant him was I accidentally stepped into his picture as he was taking it. I apologized and he was like no problem. Then a few minutes later, he asked me take a picture him. Then I was just wandering aimlessly in the Old Town and ran into him again. That's when I learned he was from Moscow. His impression of Seattle is that it rains ALL of the time.
Which reminds me the building I saw yesterday and really liked was was the Palace of Culture and Science. It was a "gift" from Stalin that the Polish people paid for. They call it Stalin's Penis (insert another word choice). I really, really like the building, but it's problematic since it was a forced gift. There is (or was) seven similar places in Russia.
The next time I come I want to visit the museums and spend more time in the parks, which reminds me I did walk through a nice park. I need to find out the name but it has a cross in honor of Pope John Paul II. He has a street named after him, which ironically has a block with adult themed shops.
Tomorrow we head to Krakow. We will see the Black Madonna enroute.
More to come!
Now that I am in Warsaw, I wonder why Poland was not on my radar screen of places to visit outside of wanting to visit Auschwitz.
Warsaw (Warsawa) is Poland's capital and largest city. The capital prior to Warsaw was Krakow but that was changed by a king in 1596 after he lost his castle to a fire.
The Warsaw I am seeing is one that is pretty vibrant. With the history, you could expect doom and gloom, but there is power in the human spirit. It's extremely mind boggling to learn that 87% of the city was destroyed during WWII. I try to imagine how it would feel to lose everything, but my mind can't grasp it. I can't imagine seeing Seattle leveled to the ground. An estimated 800,000 residents of Warsaw lost their lives during the war. Hitler decided if he couldn't have it, it would be destroyed. Exit the Nazis. Enter the Russians.
The architecture the Russians built is just plain awful. I really like the style of architecture that was designed to reflect the Polish past. In my pictures so far there are a lot of churches and a lot of buildings. So right now there is a combination of Soviet influenced buildings, which basically remind me of projects. Buildings that were rebuilt to look medieval (old style), which are my favorite. And there are modern day skyscrapers.
About 1.7M people live here. There are around 38M in Poland. 95% of the population is Catholic with 75% practicing, which explains the many, many, many churches. Sometimes they are right across from each other. Poland was between Protestant Germany (one time Prussia) and Orthodox Russian. The fact that both nations have played significant part of the Polish history is not lost. Faced with oppression, the people hung to their faith. Poland didn't exist between 1795-1918. At this time it was divided between three countries (Russia, Prussia, and Austria).
Before WWII, 80% of the Jewish people who lived in Europe lived in Poland. This was second worldwide after NYC. In the middle ages while other European kings were imprisoning or exporting Jews, the Polish kings accepted them. So they flourished in Poland from the middle ages until WWII.
The hotel I am staying at is in a very good, central location. I have done all of my sightseeing in this area. Today I walked for well over five hours, possible six. Hopefully this will lead to a slimmer me when I return. *_*.
Today I started with a morning tour with my group, which included going to the other side of the Vistual River, going to see Chopin's monument, going along the Royal Route, going to the former Jewish Ghetto, and going to Old Town. When it was finished, I spent a lot of time exploring the Old Town and then went back to the former Jewish Ghetto. Then I cut back to Old Town and walked the Royal Route home. My hotel is literally off of the Royal Route.
So let's start at the beginning.
My tour guide is Dean. He was born in Amsterdam to Serbia parents. He currently lives in Belgrade. The Warsaw tour guide was Magda. I learned that she used to work 30 hours/seven days a week, but has reduced her hours because she has a child.
One thing that sort of sticks out is the Palm Tree. My driver on the way to the hotel from the airport pointed it out to me. I was like what? How? He didn't tell me that it was plastic, so now it makes complete sense.
We drove by a series of embassies. I actually meant to go back and get some pictures because a lot of them are old villa palace style. The eye-soar example is the American Embassy, which is modern. It's my own preference, as I abhor modern architecture.
The park that housed the Chopin monument is under construction, but we could see the statue through the gate. Though his name and dad are French, his mom and birthplace are Polish. I'm not that interested in his life, but learned he had to flee Poland. Ended up dying alone around 39 of TB.
The area on the other side of the river (from the center) is being gentrified. It's now becoming popular and trendy when before people would not go over there. There was a lot of criminals and criminal activity.
When the Nazis' occupied Warsaw the city was divided into three sections: Polish, Jewish, Nazi. We visited a few monuments in the Jewish Ghetto. When I walked through the ghetto again, I revisited the monuments, and I am glad I did! But first some history.
For centuries Jewish people lived in Poland peacefully. In the middle ages, it was safe haven. Other nations in Europe were deporting or imprisoning Jews. In the 1930s there were 380,000 Jews in Warsaw. The Nazis arrived in 1939 and within a year pushed all the Jewish people into the one neighborhood and built a wall around it. People from other towns in Poland were brought there so it was overcrowded (1/2 a million). Over the next year the population grow by1M! By 1942, 1/4 of the people had died of starvation, sickness, committed suicide, or been killed. The Nazis began moving 5K a day to "resettlement camps," which in fact were the death camps of Treblinka and Auschwitz. When the population was around 60,000 they began getting word about what was actually really happening. Thus they staged an uprising (April 19, 1943), which was unsuccessful. The Nazi's struck back. They destroyed the ghetto and "liquidated" the people. About 300 were able to escape through an underground rail system.
I saw two monuments. There was one in the Ghetto Heroes Square. It is "for the dignity and freedom of the Jewish Nation, for a free Poland, and for the liberation of humankind." The people in the monument are very striking. People have left flowers, candles, and stones. There is a Path of Remembrance leading to the other monument. It's kind of like a Stations of the Cross, as it tells the story of the uprising. The next site is the Umschalagplatz (German for transfer place) monument. It marks the stop where Nazis brought Jewish families to prepare them to be loaded into trains bound for Treblinka or Auschwitz. The second time I went there there was a tour group with Jewish teenagers. They sounded like the could be from England. Their leader was trying to emphasize what had happened in very direct terms. It seems like after struggles, each generation forgets or the impact is not there for them. I hope the young people heard what he was trying to instill.
It is hard to not judge history from today's perspective. How many countries promised help but did not deliver? How many countries turned a blind eye and listened to the Nazi propaganda that nothing seedy was happening? And why does ethnic cleansing happen today with the world leaders putting sanctions on leaders who are killing people? It seems so simple.
I saw a brick house that was a place Jewish people used to live. There are pictures of faces all over the building. There is talk about renovating it to it's former glory, which asks the question should it be restored? Or should it be left as is as a reminder? It was an amazing experience.
In lighter news, I visited the Old Town (97% of this area was destroyed) and New Town. I really like the Old Town. I started in Castle Square, which has the royal castle. I also visited St. John the Baptist Cathedral. It's the oldest cathedral (1339) in Warsaw. In 1791 the Polish constitution was consecrated there. It was also the last battle in the Warsaw Uprising. The rebel leaders were hiding in the church and the Nazi leaders sent a tracked mine (a huge bomb on tank tracks) into the church and killed the leaders. There are some that criticize the uprising, but again judging history from our own eyes. I suppose at some point in time, you have had a enough and want to take your future into your own hands, especially when you could be going from worst to worst. The Warsaw Uprising happened in the summer of 1944. The Soviet tanks were near and it was known that the Nazis would be pulling out soon. Many felt that if the Soviets "liberated" Poland, they would not be independent. In August 30,000 Polish resistance fighters launched an attack. The uprising lasted two months. 18,000 uprisers and 200,000 civilians were killed. Hitler was outraged and demanded that the city be destroyed, and it was. After the Nazis pulled out, the Soviets (who sat and watched and waited) pulled in. So was the uprising brave or stupid? I can offer no judgement.
There are some who don't like the Old Town. They say it's cheesy, but I like it. It actually reminded me a lot of Brugge. It has what would have been the ruins to outer walls (originally the rich lived in Old Town and had walls built to protect themselves). There was also a defensive gate. The New Town represents the area that was built outside of the wall. Ironically, because of the war, parts of the New Town are actually older than the Old Town. Basically, some of the buildings built used parts from the old buildings.
There was also a mermaid fountain. Long story short. Two fishermen found a mermaid and would visit her daily. An evil man was suspicious why two fishermen came back daily with no fish but happy. He followed them and saw the mermaid. He captured her to make profit. She sang a sad song and the fishermen recognized her voice and rescued her. She now carries a sword and shield to protect herself and all fishermen. She has a twin who lives in Copenhagen.
For dinner, I had pierogi, which was totally good. It's basically called a dumpling. Mine had meat inside and being as greedy as I am, I could have eaten another serving, but I did not! There is one other dish I want to try before I leave. It's soup, bread, and a sausage.
It's a city that is changing and growing. There is so much construction happening. They are actually building another Metro Line as well. One of the tour members visited 35 years ago. She said it has changed since she was there. Warsaw had been described as dark and gloomy, but hope has a way of changing things. Did I mention communism ended there in 1989?
Oh I met this Russia guy earlier and I wonder how his reception is in Poland? I guess the past is the past is the past and at some point in time there has to be reconciliation. The way I meant him was I accidentally stepped into his picture as he was taking it. I apologized and he was like no problem. Then a few minutes later, he asked me take a picture him. Then I was just wandering aimlessly in the Old Town and ran into him again. That's when I learned he was from Moscow. His impression of Seattle is that it rains ALL of the time.
Which reminds me the building I saw yesterday and really liked was was the Palace of Culture and Science. It was a "gift" from Stalin that the Polish people paid for. They call it Stalin's Penis (insert another word choice). I really, really like the building, but it's problematic since it was a forced gift. There is (or was) seven similar places in Russia.
The next time I come I want to visit the museums and spend more time in the parks, which reminds me I did walk through a nice park. I need to find out the name but it has a cross in honor of Pope John Paul II. He has a street named after him, which ironically has a block with adult themed shops.
Tomorrow we head to Krakow. We will see the Black Madonna enroute.
More to come!
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Warsaw - Day One
Here is my disclaimer. I will edit when I get home. :).
Monday morning, I got up around seven and did my final organization. I caught the bus to the Mount Baker Transit Center. I had to make a pit stop to Rite Aid because I forgot to get batteries. Then to the airport.
It was a pretty quick process. I gave myself the three hours they recommend, and I did not need all the time. But with that said, I will continue to get there three hours ahead for international. The one time I didn't there were LONG lines. I finally had to go the "problem lane" because I was like my flight is leaving soon! By the time I cleared TSA and got to the gate, they were well into boarding. I would rather be sitting there relaxed than getting there stressed right on time. But I digress.
The flight was relatively quick for ten hours. I watched Rock of Ages, What to Expect When You are Expecting, a Sex and the City in the city episode, and How I Met Your Mother. It occurs to me that I could be repeating some of my earlier post. It's 8:20 p.m. here, and I am trying to to stay up for another hour.
As I mentioned I got to the hotel and settled in, and I went for a walk.
I just walked and would go off track when something drew me. I have seen some beautiful churches and architecture. I need to find out the names of the some of the buildings I took pictures of.
I went to a very beautiful church to pray and thank God for my safe arrival. Sometimes in daily life it's hard to clear the air and see life for how it is. It is good! While my life is not "perfect," it's perfect for me. I can honestly say I have nothing to complain about. The grass always looks greener on the other side, but I am trying to water my own lawn and appreciate what I have been given.
I need to come back here and start an anti-smoking campaign. A lot of smokers and I am trying not to breathe their air. I hate cigarette smoke. I grew up around it and hated it!
Also there are a lot of KFCs and Starbucks. I haven't seen a McDonald's yet. I'm sure it's only a matter of time.
The one thing I really need/want to do while here is to walk through the Old Town section. That is my goal for tomorrow afternoon.
The weather is cold here, but it's not as cold as I thought it would be. I was actually very comfortable walking today, and I wasn't wearing my heavier sweaters.
I met my tour mates. Basically the demographic is older, retired. Many of who are repeat customers to Gate1. The group is 13. Four retired couples, two friends, and a middle age couple and me. We will have seven more join us in Budapest.
Day one is done!
Monday morning, I got up around seven and did my final organization. I caught the bus to the Mount Baker Transit Center. I had to make a pit stop to Rite Aid because I forgot to get batteries. Then to the airport.
It was a pretty quick process. I gave myself the three hours they recommend, and I did not need all the time. But with that said, I will continue to get there three hours ahead for international. The one time I didn't there were LONG lines. I finally had to go the "problem lane" because I was like my flight is leaving soon! By the time I cleared TSA and got to the gate, they were well into boarding. I would rather be sitting there relaxed than getting there stressed right on time. But I digress.
The flight was relatively quick for ten hours. I watched Rock of Ages, What to Expect When You are Expecting, a Sex and the City in the city episode, and How I Met Your Mother. It occurs to me that I could be repeating some of my earlier post. It's 8:20 p.m. here, and I am trying to to stay up for another hour.
As I mentioned I got to the hotel and settled in, and I went for a walk.
I just walked and would go off track when something drew me. I have seen some beautiful churches and architecture. I need to find out the names of the some of the buildings I took pictures of.
I went to a very beautiful church to pray and thank God for my safe arrival. Sometimes in daily life it's hard to clear the air and see life for how it is. It is good! While my life is not "perfect," it's perfect for me. I can honestly say I have nothing to complain about. The grass always looks greener on the other side, but I am trying to water my own lawn and appreciate what I have been given.
I need to come back here and start an anti-smoking campaign. A lot of smokers and I am trying not to breathe their air. I hate cigarette smoke. I grew up around it and hated it!
Also there are a lot of KFCs and Starbucks. I haven't seen a McDonald's yet. I'm sure it's only a matter of time.
The one thing I really need/want to do while here is to walk through the Old Town section. That is my goal for tomorrow afternoon.
The weather is cold here, but it's not as cold as I thought it would be. I was actually very comfortable walking today, and I wasn't wearing my heavier sweaters.
I met my tour mates. Basically the demographic is older, retired. Many of who are repeat customers to Gate1. The group is 13. Four retired couples, two friends, and a middle age couple and me. We will have seven more join us in Budapest.
Day one is done!
The Eagle Has Landed - Warsaw
First of all, the amount of security hoops to get into Blogger, Facebook, and Hotmail was a little crazy. Yes, thank you for trying to protect my identity, but dang! It's hard proving who you really are!
Anyway, I have landed safely in Warsaw, and I am settled into my hotel.
The flights were okay. I don't think I got much sleep, and I can't wait to hit my head on the pillow tonight!
The plan right now is to go for a walk to see what I can see and then meet my group for orientation and dinner.
More to come!
Anyway, I have landed safely in Warsaw, and I am settled into my hotel.
The flights were okay. I don't think I got much sleep, and I can't wait to hit my head on the pillow tonight!
The plan right now is to go for a walk to see what I can see and then meet my group for orientation and dinner.
More to come!
Monday, October 22, 2012
I Wanna Fly Away...
Activate theme music! I will be heading out in about ten minutes.
Today is day five of my vacation, and it feels really good to not think about work for a minute.
So this morning I got up and took another look at my clothes and made some changes. Now that I think about it, I kind of want to make one more change, but dude it's time to go.
So next time you hear from me I will be in Warsaw!
I appreicate your prayers.
Love. Hug. XOXO
Today is day five of my vacation, and it feels really good to not think about work for a minute.
So this morning I got up and took another look at my clothes and made some changes. Now that I think about it, I kind of want to make one more change, but dude it's time to go.
So next time you hear from me I will be in Warsaw!
I appreicate your prayers.
Love. Hug. XOXO
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Ready. Set. Go!
Yesterday I went to Max’s party. Hard to believe he is
already two! Where does the time go?!
I came home, and I put together some layered outfits, so I
won’t be cold and freezing. Not a great feeling. I don’t like being hot, and I
don’t like be cold either.
Today was church and then family dinner. I went to visit my
friend Denise. Came home and talked to Candy (hey Candy), and read through my
Rick Steve’s guidebook.
I just realized I will have two fall backs since they fall
back a week earlier than us. Two weekends with an hour extra sleep. This really
does excite me!
So I will go to bed in five minutes. I will wake up and give
my luggage one more glance through and head to catch the light rail.
Ready. Set. Go!
Saturday, October 20, 2012
P.S. -
P.S.
Yes I am posting random items to get my post number up. By
the end of the year, I want to have at least 52 posts. Luckily, posting during
my trip should help!
Vacation Day Three
I tell you what. Sleeping in Thursday and Friday felt so
nice!
I don’t really remember what I did Thursday! I did have a
hair appointment so I was forced to leave the house to go to it. Besides that,
I read. I looked at Facebook. I played Words with Friends.
Yesterday, I cleaned my house. I did a deep cleaning, which
included dusting and moving items as I swept. I had begun setting stuff aside
earlier in the week. Yesterday, I organized those items. On Thursday, I discovered
that my eye glasses had broken. I was all set to not leave the house Friday,
but alas, I had to get those fixed. Since I was out, I went to Nordstrom Rack
to try to find some good skirts for traveling. I found one that I liked so I
got two of them. I also went to Target to get some last minute items.
Today I slept in and read. I was looking at my clothes
trying away to get them in my carry on piece. Unfortunately, I have concluded
that I may need to bring a larger bag and check it in. WAHH! I know total
tragedy. It’s so much easier sticking to one bag with summer clothes. So a
checked bag it will be. Right now, the weather is around 60 in the places I
will visit. But next week temperatures will be 50 something. That’s still not
that cold but cold enough that my summer skirts and t-shirts won’t cut it.
Today I need to have a beauty day and also head over to Des
for Max’s birthday party!
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