What a fantastic past few days it has been! So much so that we nearly forgot about the blog!
Arriving in Krakow on Monday morning was fascinating because so much has changed since my last visit. The area around the main train station looks almost entirely different than it did 2.5 years ago, when I was last here. Another amusing thing has been my family’s reactions to my arrival and time in Poland. Many relatives have been terribly concerned if I’m going to “find my way around,” whether it be walking from the train station to my grandmas or doing a day trip to Czestochowa– we made it just through Africa and now in a country where I not only speak the language but have also been to several times people are so concerned! It has been a bit amusing!
Nevertheless, as it was so early in the morning when we arrived and we had our packs, we ended up just taking a taxi to my grandma’s apartment, 2 miles away, so that we could save our energy for exploring later that afternoon. I’ve threatened my grandmother repeatedly over the past few days that she is risking us staying with her in Krakow for the next 4 months because she is spoiling us so badly! Between the heaping amounts of food on the table at every meal, her adamant refusals to help her clean the dishes (“the dishes might fall off the counter if you try helping me!”), and the wonderfully soft down comforters and pillows which she lays out for us at night, we are completly recharging our batteries for the next 4 or so months of travel.
After our enourmous breakfast, we headed out to the Rynek in the center of Krakow’s Stare Miasto. Everytime I arrive in Krakow, I always walk to the Rynek in the same way as ancient traders did in the Medieval Ages, by the Barbican fortification and through the Florian Gate. One thing Katie has enjoyed about Krakow has been all of the city’s legends. When we entered the Rynek, I pointed out to her the dual towers of St. Mary’s Basilica by telling her the story of the two brothers who were competing to see who would build the higher tower, only to have the brother with the shorter tower to murder his sibling with a knife. In fact by one of the Sukiennice, (Cloth Hall) entrances, one can see the knife that was used in the murder plot! (not real) And of course, Katie got to hear the Hejnal mariacki, played every hour from the top of St. Mary’s to commemorate how a brave trumpeter warned the city of an impending Mongol attack in the 13th century.
I had arranged to meet my parents at 1:00 PM over Skype, so before we dropped in to an internet cafe we through we’d go checkout Wawel Castle. On the way, however, we went to the US Consulate to get Katie some more visa pages for her passport, as she is quickly running out. It was a much more pleasant experience in comparison to Cairo. There were no lines or “please take a number.” We simply walked up a window and the gentleman working behind the desk just told us to come back in an hour or so! Katie spent that much time just getting through security and sitting in waiting rooms at the Cairo embassy!
That afternoon, Adam and his wife Marta picked us up from my grandmother’s and we went over to Kosciuszki’s Kopiec to get some nice sunset views of Krakow. Though I had been up there many times before, I hadn’t before noticed that directly in line with the Wawel Castle, about 15 miles away, were enourmous (and ugly) coal plants. Adam told me that the Communists placed them there on purpose so that whenever Krakowians looked out from the Kopiec they would be reminded of the “glory of Communism.” We spent the evening eating pierogi and reminicing with my cousin Adam at his apartment.
On Tuesday, we spent the morning hours in a cafe, Katie studying her Polish and I reading my book. Since we had been mildly disappointed by the marching figurines at the astronomical clock in Prague, I took Katie over to the Collegium Maius where we got to see their clock, which we thought was far better. We visited the Bishop’s residence, where Karol Wojtyla lived before he became Pope John Paul II. There was a display of pictures of him in the courtyard, as well as a statue.
After a sunset stroll past Wawel Castle, we caught a bus to Adam’s apartment. I have been very surprised by how expensive Poland has become. Part of it is due to the weak dollar but part of it may be due, I wonder, due to inflation (a one-way bus ticket now costs about $1.10, a price expensive even by US standards). Adam took us in his car to Nowa Huta (literally, New Steel Mill) which was a planned city built in the Cold War to be a model of a utopian, Communist town. One thing that was missing from the plans was a church. Despite innumerable complaints and protests from the locals (including a famous outdoor mass held by then Bishop of Krakow, Karol Wojtyla, on Christmas Eve that was almost interrupted by army soldiers that surrounded him and the congregation). In the mid 70s however, a church, that would be known as Arka Pana (The Lord’s Ark) would indeed be built.
It is by any account a truly remarkable church. Every detail of its design was intended to snub the Communists. The entire building is built around a theme of suffering and redemption. The exterior of the church was built as a model of Noah’s Ark. During our visit, we encountered a nun who upon learning we were visiting from the US, insisted on taking us around the Church and explaining its many intricacies to us. An enourmous statue of Christ fills the center of it. It was created from a small clay crucifix that was made by a Catholic interred at Auschwitz. The Tabernacle, shaped like a moon, has supposidly a moon rock that was donated by the US government. The chapel downstairs contains a stone from St. Peter’s Basilica, a gift from then Cardinal Karol Wojtyla. Another chapel contains a statue of Mary built from shrapnel from the Battle at Monte Cassino. Adam dropped us off that night near the Rynek and we got steamy cups of drinking chocolate before walking back to my grandmothers.
Since it was supposed to be raining on Wednesday in Krakow, we decided to spend the day at Czestochowa at the monastary of Jasna Gora. This is the home of the painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa, and is considered one of the holiest shrines in Europe. There are several legends and traditions associated with the painting, as you can read in these links. The new museum there housed historical treasure and gifts left there throughout the ages, as well as many things donated by Solidarity members, including Lech Walesa’s Nobel Peace Prize. John F. Kennedy donated a ring that can be seen in the treasury. We ended up spending more time there than we had originally planned, praying and visiting their museums. We returned back to Krakow around 9:00 PM.
We will write about the last couple of days soon, including our visit to the Wielicza Salt Mine, but check out our pictures.
And some videos we have uploaded:
Tommy, we can only imagine how you must feel showing Katie your roots like this. Your family sounds wonderful–we hope Katie accelerates her Polish studies and can talk to them soon!
Mom F.
Tommy, this is my first entry.I was reading it for 2 hours going over all the links. What a great history lesson! There was so many interesting things I did know. Reading about Battle at Monte Cassino I found very interesting fact, that polish soldiers were fighting with the help of bear Wojtek
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojtek_%28soldier_bear%29
Thank so much for the beatiful blog.
Mom S.
Wow. Unfortunately I have not been checking this blog as often as I would like. You need to publish this as a book. I can’t stop reading. Of course Katie’s worth in Camel will forever be a joke in the family. Tommy, I am sure you know by now, that Katie is worth more than all the camel in the world. Now if you through in the Chickens Joey mentioned, you may have to think about it. Contiue to have a safe and enjoyable trip.
Love to both of you!
Rhett
L2ShlS mamoxnjzssyc
QuotesChimp is noteworthy that your auto insurance company will try to restrict you?and properly so?from receiving a double benefit from them. Thus, if your company pays for covered injuries out of the med pay portion of the policy, it will not pay the same bills under the liability section and will be permitted to deduct those payments from the final award.