Hey there, folks! I was given the honor and privilege of contributing to another travel writer's blog! I was her server at Gadsby's one day a week or so ago, and she asked me if I'd write about Alexandria and give some details about the things she saw since she only had an afternoon. The post is all about George and his Alexandria. Check it out!
http://travelingwithsweeney.com/2012/05/31/alexandria-virginia-afternoon/
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Monday in Prague: The Conclusion of the Matter
Monday in Prague!
Hooray for sleeping in a big, comfy bed! Louise and I had
fun being roommies. We got along great and enjoyed spending time together.
She’s so much fun! We all decided to meet for breakfast at 8:30 and be ready to
leave for the day at 9:30, and it actually worked out that way—go us! I
actually got up to the lounge early so I could blog and do my Trip Advisor
reporting before everyone else got up there. The others trickled in at various
times for coffee and breakfast. Steve and I are apparently the early birds of
the bunch, so we were both up there and alert for a while before time to leave.
And guess who we met… some more Americans! =) I have to say that when I travel,
Americans are the ones who are willing to make friends and talk to others more
than most. You know how much I love meeting people and chatting them up. It’s
what I do when I travel! We met a nice couple from Utah on a tour with some
friends, and another older couple from CA on vacation before they go visit
their daughter in… DC!
And now, onward we go to… the Prague Castle! We decided to
take a cab and get there quickly (since it was uphill and across the river),
then walk our way back to the hotel throughout the day. People always talk
about how the Praha (Prague) Castle is such a highlight of the city, but
honestly I wasn’t all that impressed. The most impressive thing about it was
definitely the cathedral on the castle grounds. It’s incredibly big, ornate,
and impressive. There was a choral group there that I think just decided to
start singing in the church. They may have been on tour from somewhere and were
just sightseeing, but I’m glad they decided to stop at the castle the same day
as us and give us a free concert! Their voices were lovely, and the acoustics
in the cathedral are lent to that kind of music, as opposed to organ music. I
got goose bumps and nearly started crying right there! It was beautiful.
We also saw several of the other buildings and important
sights around the castle, such as the defenestration window—where they used to
throw people out! I think that might have actually been my favorite thing to
see at the castle. =) We also walked through the vineyards and a VERY
interesting museum of the “Story of Praha Castle.” There we could read about
people who had lived in the castle or been important political leaders in
Prague during the 4th-12th centuries. Pretty cool! We
even got to see some crown jewels and other artifacts. I, of course, wanted to
read everything, but you just can’t do that with other people. That’s why I
like traveling along. Not that I don’t appreciate my traveling companions, I
just feel bad for slowing them down. I picked up my pace, though, of
course—there’s so much more to see!
When we did at last finish up the castle grounds, we worked
our way through the “Lesser Town” (as opposed to “Old Town” Prague) and found a
place for lunch. This time I branched out beyond goulash and went for DUCK! It
came with red cabbage (one of my favorite side dishes!) and potato pancakes
(which kind of came looking like a sausage patty, but it was definitely
potato). It was a winner! Everyone else’s looked good, too, but I was one happy
duck. ;) hahaha.
After lunch we walked over the Charles Bridge, which crosses
the Vltava River and connects the two parts of Prague. It’s supposedly one of
the most romantic places in Europe, but this particular Monday, it was also one
of the most crowded! We got lots of good pictures, though, and there were lots
of vendors to choose from who were selling jewelry and other handcrafts,
drawing caricatures, and performers playing instruments—I love that kind of
things around cities like Prague and others around the world! At the end of the
bridge, “guarding” the way through the gate to get to Old Town Prague, was a
knight—sword and armor and all! He was really there for photo-ops… and of
course Louise and I were right on board with that! She and I both got our
pictures with the guy: one threatening him with the sword and one acting all
chummy. =) I like it when people know how to have fun! I wonder if they’re
actually paid by anyone or just work off tips. Either way, it looked like he
was having fun!
Winding through the cobblestone streets of Old Town, we
stumbled upon our Trdelnik pastry shop and stopped to smell it. Mmmmmm… Since
Brian had been to Prague fairly recently and had seen the sights, and since
Steve had a Top 10 Prague Eyewitness
Travel book, we ladies let them play tour guides for a while and we just
took it all in! We all seemed to gravitate toward the astronomical clock,
probably because it’s the biggest and probably most famous thing in Prague, and
it IS quite interesting. There’s also a cathedral close to the main square that
looks like Melefecent’s castle from Sleeping
Beauty. Jen and I really liked that one! We also went to Wenceslas Square,
which is another famous square in the Old Town. It used to be a place for horse
auctions in medieval times, but was renamed for the famous king in 1848. He now
sits atop a horse for all eternity in front of the Czech National Museum. Quite
a nice little place. I had unknowingly stumbled upon this place on my two-hour
trek to find the Hilton Prague, actually, but I appreciated it more this time
than I did the first. =)
Moving along… the next item of interest was a statue left
from Communist times. It’s one of the only statues from the era still standing,
and it’s a statue of a Czech man kissing a Communist soldier. Weird. But
whatever. I just said it was interesting, I didn’t say it was a highlight. ;)
And up next we had a surprise for Louise… We stopped for
coffee and tea at the Art Deco Restaurant and Café Imperial! Louise had just
recently finished a book based at the hotel Imperial in Prague in the 1940s for
her book club, so of course we needed to stop there and have a little snack
while we were in the neighborhood! It really was a special thing because this
place is art deco at its… finest? Haha. I actually thought it was really
amazing looking. Just like we were back in a ‘20s or ‘30s movie featuring Fred
Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Everything was tile mosaic, flashy, shiny, gold, and
fancy! Louise was tickled, and we just couldn’t stop laughing with her when she
asked the hostess if she could have a bunch of the napkins to take home and use
when her book club comes to discuss the book! Too funny. Life is so much fun!
And then… we were pooped! Back to the Hilton we went. It was
already 5:00 by the time we got there, so we all kind of did our own thing and
got comfortable and rested, then ended up in the executive lounge talking for
the rest of the night. I think that actually might have been my favorite part
of the whole weekend—just talking with my friends till the lounge closed down
at 11! The Hilton folks have snacks and drinks available all day long, so we
never even had to leave for supper or anything. It was great! We laughed about
pictures and things we’d seen and done and just basically enjoyed each other’s
company all evening. Traveling alone has its perks, beyond a doubt, but I am
very grateful for the invite to tag along with the Stuckerts to Prague. I can’t
think of a better way to end my European excursion!
The next morning, we got all ready and were on a plane bound
to Frankfurt that afternoon! We got a bit delayed in Frankfurt, but once we
were off the ground things went fairly smoothly!
Again, thank you for joining me on the journey! Next stop… I’ll
let you know when I get there. =)
Boys vs. Girls: Running Around Prague!
If you missed the pictures in the previous post, please find them here: PRAGUE!
And now comes Sunday—race day for the boys and church day
for us! We had decided to meet in the lobby and leave by 8:30. The race started
at 9:00, and we wanted to see the boys off. We got breakfast upstairs as we got
up and moving around—and I don’t just mean breakfast… I mean a lovely, sit down
meal with people attending to our every wish. I’m not ashamed to admit that I
get excited about things like that! I’d just spent over a week having to deal
with various hostel issues and fending for myself; not that I can’t handle that
or I’m above that, it’s just really nice and I appreciate having someone else
take care of me for a couple of days! =)
At any rate, we got our breakfast and met down in the lobby
at the appointed time. And off we went into the brisk morning! The temperature
and weather were fine for running, but my goodness, it was chilly walking over
there! I’ve never gone to a marathon before, and I really had no expectation of
what it would be like. There was a LOT of energy and even more excitement from
volunteers, friends and family who were there to cheer them on, and of course
from the runners! I didn’t realize what a huge production a marathon is. The
Prague marathon is one of the top 10 in the world, if I remember correctly, so
this is probably not the most “typical” of marathons, but I’d be willing to bet
there’s just as much excitement and enthusiasm at most! Apparently there were
people all along the route in costumes with crazy things trying to motivate
people, and there were bands and music, too, along with food, water, and
bathrooms for breaks. I can honestly say that there was a fleeting moment when
I wanted to run a marathon myself! Maybe I’ll start with a jog around the block
first. ;) Haha. It definitely made me miss running like I used to!
At any rate, we left the guys to that, and we ladies went
window-shopping around Old Town Prague until time for church! We saw several
cute shops full of marionettes (who knew Prague was known for marionette puppets?)
and other souvenirs, but the thing that caught our attention most was… the
pastry shop, of course! We smelled it first, then we saw what smelled so
wonderful. It’s a traditional Slovakian pastry (that I never saw in Slovakia)
called Trdelnik (ter-DEL-nick, for those who wonder how you say all those
consonants together). I think the concept of the bakery there is kind of like
the taffy and fudge factories in Gatlinburg. You get to watch it being made in
a very traditional way, and of course that makes you want to try it! I got
pictures, which are in the link provided below. They cover this yummy, thin
pastry dough in sugar and/or cinnamon and/or nuts, and then you wrap it around
this big cylinder, probably about 3 and a half inches across. Then you roast it
on a spit over an open flame until it’s golden and delicious! We were still
full from breakfast, but we decided to save room after lunch to enjoy it later.
=)
So now it was time to find the church. We knew (or thought
we knew!) where the church met (the YMCA), but when we got there, no one spoke
English! We tried to convey to the lady who seemed to be in charge that we were
looking for a church that meets there, but we just couldn’t get the right
message conveyed either way—to her or to us! She said something about a “Baby
Center”, but we had to idea what that had to do with anything. So we whipped
out Jen’s iPhone and used the GPS. There was a problem with the way we’d been
putting in the address—whatever, now we were on the right track! We found out
way to the OTHER YMCA in Old Town Prague, just in time to go to the church
service! I’d gotten in touch with a woman named Tami, who’s an American married
to a Czech, and they live just outside of Prague. She was so sweet, and her
husband is the one who translates the service from Czech to English for his
wife and a couple of other English speakers in the congregation. They have two
or three men there who take turns preaching, and that day it was one of the
Czech men. Everyone was very kind and seemed excited to have visitors! The
service lasted nearly an hour and a half, due to the need to translate
everything, but honestly I didn’t think it seemed all that long. I just find it
fascinating the way that other Christians worship and seeing their commitment
and devotion in adversity that we as Americans don’t truly understand. We have
our own struggles that are different from the ones that other Christians around
the world experience. I also just loved hearing the whole thing in two
languages. It’s just intriguing to me!
And then it was lunchtime! So off we went. On our way to
scope out a place, we met a guy standing on the street advertizing for a
restaurant. His name is Richard, and Jen said I have to tell everyone reading
this blog that he REALLY liked me! He was quite complimentary, which I admit I
appreciated. =) We did end up going inside that restaurant, and we’re so glad
we did! It was just like a medieval tavern inside, peasant/servant uniforms and
all! Just like Gadsby’s is to Alexandria, I suppose. This time Jen and her
mother-in-law Louise got some kind of soup (potato, I think), and I got the
old-fashioned pancake with spinach and cheese—which was kind of like a quiche
and was really good! The place was really interesting with old wood and rope
everywhere, and we were definitely sitting on some kind of animal hide on the
benches around the table! We made our way down to the bathroom—because, of
course, no good woman misses an opportunity—and were quite surprised at what we
found! We couldn’t really decide if the place was supposed to be a dungeon,
torture chamber, or simply a basement, but it is definitely a dining area now! The
place went down at least two more floors, all lit by candlelight, and full of
old tools and things like that. Very authentic-looking to us!
So after our bathroom excursion, we decided it was time for
dessert (woohoo pastries!) and to wait at the finish line for Brian (we knew
we’d already missed Steve). We went back to that same little place and get
something delicious. I got an apple-filled pastry of some sort, which was
awesome, and Louise got the big cylindrical pastry thing. Jen just wanted a
bite of that, and we all three decided it was worthwhile! Quite the tasty
little treat, if you ask me!
Walking over to the finish line, we gawked again at the
astronomical clock right there in the center of town, which is an interesting
piece of machinery—still functioning correctly to this day! We even stood in
front of a tour guide and heard her explanation of a couple of the characters
around the clock. =) And there we were at the finish line, waiting and waiting
and waiting, thinking we’d missed Brian already. But not to fear, because he
came right up to the finish just as we were walking down the tour route. Of
course he looked like he was making almost no effort whatsoever, and he even
turned and flexed his big burly muscles at us as he ran by! We met up with him
and Steve a little bit later at the hotel, and we all just kind of sat there in
the lounge for a while, allowing the guys to recover and chat a little. =)
Steve finished the race under his self-set goal of 4 hours (3:51 hours), and
Brian did a respectable job of 5:35 hours as well! Honestly, Brian running a
marathon seems like a feat—he’s so muscle-heavy, he’s carrying a lot more
around than most runners! He does an excellent job at whatever he does, despite
(or perhaps because of) anything that might seem limiting. The whole thing was
quite the task for anyone running on cobblestones! Better them than me, I’d say.
;) At any rate, we ladies were quite proud of our boys!
Suppertime came around, and so we went in search of another
culinary adventure! Brian was so pooped that he decided to go on to bed, but
that didn’t stop the rest of us. ;) We roamed the streets for a while until we
found something particularly Czech—another tavern-type place. So many of the
places around there have murals painted on the walls of the restaurant, and
this was no exception. This place had quite nice little scenes of old Prague.
Something about it made the place seem very homey. While the place was really
cute, the food was just ok. I got Hungarian goulash with bread dumplings, which
is the same thing I was disappointed in the other day in Slovakia. It was
described differently, so I didn’t realize it was the same thing. Oh well. Live
and learn!
When we got back to the room, I called my mom because, of
course, it was Mother’s Day! I woke up my parents from their nap, I think, but
they were glad to hear from me, or at least they said so. =) No worries, I got
her some very nice presents while I was away!
Anyway, bedtime soon followed because we had a full day of
touring ahead of us the next day! Please join us…
Lost in Prague: The Saga Continues
Saturday would be my last morning in Bratislava, so I wanted
to make sure and get the pictures I wanted and see a couple of other things I
didn’t get a good look at before. I made a point to get up by 6:30 so I could
see some things in the morning light… the sun comes up EARLY here! And it sets
really late! I’m a bit confused about the positioning of this part of the
world. I don’t even have any idea what time the sun actually comes up, but it’s
before 5:30, and I was not willing to get up that early!
At any rate, out I went (after a couple of cups of coffee)
in search of statues and post card-type photo-ops! I found several, and enjoyed
the perfect morning weather—not too hot, definitely not too cool, just right
for me! I thought surely some breakfast places will be open by 8:00, just like
weekdays, right? Um, not so much! Breakfast places around here don’t open on
Weekends until 9 or 10! Imagine my hungry disappointment! But that gave me time
to go back to the hostel and check out, put my bags in the luggage room, and
enjoy another cup of coffee. By then it was 9, and I had checked to make sure
Shtoor, my new favorite breakfast place, would be open. =) So I got my yummy
sheep’s cheese on homemade bread again—I broke a travel rule of mine and went
to the same place twice, but it was worth it!—and I also got a thing called
orangeade. Yum! I also caught up on my Trip Advisor reports and blogs, since
they have free wi-fi and comfy chairs there. I really wish there was a Shtoor
in Old Town Alexandria!
Around 10:30 or so I headed back to get my stuff at the
hostel and walked to the train station—much easier to find this time than when
I arrived and tried to find my hostel just a couple of days before! The people
in the train station were much more helpful in Slovakia than in the other train
stations I’d been on during this trip, so I had no problem finding my platform…
except I didn’t know that Prague is actually spelled “Praha” in Czech and
Slovakian! I kept thinking, “Praha? Is that the name of the Prague train
station? That’s what it says on my ticket and on the platform marquee sign, so
I sure hope that’s the right place!” Haha, only later did it click that “Praha”
IS “Prague.” ;)
The train ride was about four hours, maybe a little less,
but it was definitely a bit uncomfortable. I got spoiled with the direct train
from Warsaw to Krakow, and then the private night train cabin on my way to
Bratislava! This was an older train, I guess, with much smaller seats, but it
got me from point A to point B, and that’s what mattered!
And then came the challenge… finding my way to the Prague
Hilton. I got a quick snack and changed my money over to Czech Koruna, then
went dutifully to the information desk, thinking that would be the place to get
the best information—boy was I mistaken! I stood in line for about 20 minutes
before anyone was available to help me, and then the girl gave me the incorrect
directions! She said to turn left out of the train station and keep on
Wilsonova, but I should have trusted my gut and gone right! I ended up walking
30 or more minutes in the opposite direction, and by the time I figured that
out, I wa already on the other side of Prague! I went inside a hotel to ask
directions again, and the woman was so rude! My first experience in Prague was
definitely not a good one—walking through the “bad” part of town and meeting up
with rude receptionists!
At any rate, I did get a map and the right directions (she
gave me the information begrudgingly, but I was carrying all my luggage and had
just walked a long way—I didn’t care how rude she was as long as I got the
info!), and so I set out again! Back past the train station, over the bridge
(it was actually not pedestrian-friendly, which surprised and disappointed me
being in Europe! But after two hours (and a few tears later), I made it! Again
with the confusing roads around here—not my favorite!
On to nicer things! Jen had left me a note at the front
desk, so I was able to check in and get my key, dumped my stuff, and went to
the Executive lounge to meet up with everyone! Jen, Brian, Louise (Brian’s
mom), and Steve (Brian’s marathon-running co-worker) were all sitting there
waiting for me! Jen said some of them were getting worried about me, but Jen
assured them I’d just navigated my way around Europe and would be fine. ;)
And off we went! We roamed around Prague and got some
pictures, we looked around at where the guys would be running the next morning,
and we found a great place for supper—hooray for Czech food! I don’t remember
the name of the restaurant, but I got the goulash in a bread bowl—very Czech! It
was excellent, and I was really hungry, too, from walking so long, so I’m sure
that helped with the taste as well. =) I also tried some of Jen’s dumplings
with farmer’s cheese and fruit in them—which were so good! That was actually on
my list of things I needed to eat while I was here, so that put me in a good
mood and got the Prague leg of my trip off to a good start.
Please see the pictures HERE!
Monday, May 14, 2012
Devin Castle and Bible Study with the Bratislavans!
So, after that good night’s sleep, I was ready and rearing
to go exploring! I got a sub-par breakfast (but filling, nonetheless) and
headed over to the bus station so I could get to the Devin Castle ruins, about
20 minutes away. I was really confused about the buses, and I don’t think I did
everything right as far as my tickets are concerned, but I didn’t get arrested,
so the day started as an overall success. =)
When at long last I made my way to the castle, with the help
of some kindly Bratislavans, I started getting really excited! I am just
fascinated with castles, and particularly with ruins. It’s just amazing to me
that anything can be that old. And castles are only for fairytales, right? Not
here! It was only about 3 Euro (a little less than $4), which I thought was
quite the deal! There was a one-room church at the foot of the big hill leading
up to the castle, and a couple of houses/workshops, too. The castle itself was
used from the 9th century, and owned by people up until the mid 20th
century. The last family who owned it acquired it in the 17th
century, and I guess they’re the ones who let it get into a state of ruin,
although I’m not sure what the circumstances were. There was an interesting
exhibit all about weaponry and defense systems for fortifications and castles
back in the day. They actually had stone cannons, hand-made bullets, tools,
swords, maces, torture devices, arrows and crossbows, and lots of other things
all on display—the biggest of which were not behind glass or in any kind of
case! This would not happen in American for several reasons, but it’s pretty
cool to see that stuff up-close and personal here! =)
Another interesting part was the well. It still has water in
it! It’s 55 meters deep, which is about 170 feet or something close to that.
The lady there talking about it dumped a mug of water in and we waited… and
waited… and waited… and then… SPLASH! There’s still water in there! The well
was a very important thing to explore when they were excavating the place. Apparently,
there was pottery, trash, tools, and other stuff to be found way down in there.
They used the stuff they found do determine dates of when the castle was built,
what they used it for, who lived there, etc. It’s amazing what they can find
out from people’s trash. I think if someone were to explore my trash, they’d
find a lot of nasty stuff—why would anyone want to explore trash?!
At any rate, I roamed around there for a bit—it’s very
pretty. It’s situated up on a big hill between the Danube and Moravian Rivers, and they
offer boat rides between here, Bratislava, and Vienna. Quite nice!
So off I went to the bus stop. I either just missed the bus,
or someone didn’t know what they were talking about when they said the bus
comes every 15-20 minutes. I was definitely sitting there waiting for at least
40 minutes! Oh well. I got some blogging done because I’d taken my laptop with
me. =)
Back in Bratislava’s Old Town, I found another sub-par
eating place (bummer!) where I got Hungarian Goulash with “dumplings”, which
were really just slices of bread. Better luck next time.
Time to change into the dress! I was supposed to meet my new
friend, Lucia, from the church here between 4 and 5, and there were a coupel of
other things I wanted to see. So I walked back to the hotel to change to give
myself the most time at my next stop—the city history museum—before meeting her
at Hviezdoslav’s statue. And boy am I glad I did—it got hotter and hotter as
the day wore on!
So, two hours was definitely not enough time at the city
history museum! I could have spent the better part of a full day there. There
was so much to see and so much to read. I went all the way up to the top of the
big clock tower (the one with Napoleon’s bullet in it!) and got to see the best
view of the main square. =) There were clothes, weapons, tools, pottery, keys,
official wax seals, and targets (which had pictures of Bratislava and things
like that painted on them—and they used these for target practice! I thought it
was really funny!), as well as things from more modern times, all the way up to
the 20th century. If I go back to Bratislava, I am dedicating at
least 5 hours, if not a while day, to this museum!
Next up: Meeting Lucia! I sat and read up on the last
chapter of John for our study that night, and Lucia came there to meet me
around 4:30-ish. She is about my age and is SO nice! I think we really enjoyed
our time together. I was just excited to be spending time with another
Christian in a foreign place. We went an got walnut Bratislava Rolls (REALLY
good!), sat by the river, and just talked for a while till it was time to go to
the study. Lucia said there are around 30 (or 40? I don’t remember) people in
the church there; some come just to come, and some are Christians. Lucia said
tonight there would only be about six or seven of us. Of course, people were
VERY nice, and I really enjoyed the study! It was in Slovakian and English as
best it could be (there’s another American who lives there and is married for a
Slovak, her name is Amy), and I got a lot out of our time together. Hooray!
That really is what I needed to help lift my spirits!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
Bratislava City Tour... and pictures! =)
Bratislava, Day 1,
Part 2
Bratislava Tour Time!!!!! In a large portion of the European
tourist cities, there are free tours by this company called “Be Free.” I will
be looking further into this for future trips! Our guide was Timmy from
Australia, and in addition to his fabulous accent, he was really cute!
The meeting point is in the Secondary Square in front of the
Hviezdoslav statue. He was a poet from Bratislava, but this statue was not the
original one in this place. There was another statue of a Hungarian poet here a
couple of centuries ago. His name was Ptofi (spelling? Not sure), and when
Bratislava was part of Hungary for a short time, he was the Hungarian national
hero. Bratislava had a couple of different names over the years when it changed
hands a few times—it was called Pressburg when Germany took over and Pizoni
when it was Hungarian. But when Slovakia and Czech became Czechoslovakia in
1914, the Bratislavans didn’t want to be part of Czech. They decided to become their
own independent country for a while and called themselves “The Free City of
Wilsonova”... after Woodrow Wilson! That lasted about a year or less. In 1919
Czech defeated Bratislava (Free City of Wilsonova), and they took it over again
(they were surrounded on all sides, after all).
So when Czech and all of Slovakia, including Bratislava,
decided to get along, they banded together, wrapped Ptofi’s statue up in
dynamite, blew him up, and put up the statue of Hziezdoslav the Slovakian! Even
today there remains a rivalry between Hungarians and Slovaks because of this
very incident!
Moving right along… Also in this square we have the Historic National Theatre
(which is actually still used more than the new one the Communists built when
they tried to “modernize” the city), and a place for Bratislavans to come
together and protest, celebrate, etc.
And then we come to some statues. Bratislavans LOVE their
statues! There are so many of them, but unfortunately there are very few signs
or plaques that indicate what they are or why they’re there. The four I find
most interesting are the Watchman (peeping out of a manhole!), Napoleon
Bonaparte (more on him in a moment), the Paparazzi (standing taking a photo
outside the Paparazzi Restaurant), and the man in the top hat. The top hat man
is said to have gone mad due to an unrequited love in the early 20th
century. He would walk around town dressed in his finest, and people would give
him food. In return he would give flowers to the ladies of Bratislava. (Please enjoy more detail HERE.)
And that brings us to the Main Square. Here we see…
Napoleon! He is appropriately located just in front of the French Embassy, but
it’s not all a kindly gesture. You see, Napoleon tried to take Bratislava
twice, once in 1805 and then in 1809. The first time he was stopped, but not
before he lodged a cannon ball into the huge clock tower—which remains there to
this day! In 1809 he finally got it, but not for too long.
Now about this clock tower. It was built in the 13th
century, I believe, and it was added onto several times. The building attached
to it currently houses the Museum of the City History, but before that it
housed the mint office, then weapons, and then prisoners. In the 1600s it was
actually used as a place to torture witches! There’s a plaque a few meters away
that commemorates where the first witch was burned at the stake. Please see
pictures.
From this place in the main market square, we looked back to
see St. Martin’s Cathedral. This is the place where kings and queens were
coronated for centuries here in Slovakia. Mr. Tour Guide pointed out that
there’s a solid gold crown and pillow at the very top of the tower that weighs
8 kg (around 15 pounds, I think). Here it’s important to point out a couple of
things. Number one, this is the first time in over five years that St. Martin’s
has not been under extensive repair. There’s a highway going right past it,
where the old Jewish district used to be. The Communists took over Czech and
Slovakia after WWII, and giving them possession of both Prague and Bratislava.
They decided to keep one city pristine and preserve the history, but then
modernize the other. Fortunately for Prague, they kept that one very nice.
Unfortunately for Bratislava, they started modernizing. The old town portion of
Bratislava is only 20% of what the city used to be. The other 80% was torn down
and destroyed to make way for modernization. In place of that historic 80% now
stands a new bridge with a UFO on the top (which foreigners affectionately call
the “Jetson Bridge”), a building shaped like an upside-down pyramid, and quite
honestly some really ugly socialist architecture. I went into one of the
apartment buildings the next day, and it literally looked like a jail with bars
on the doors and windows. The tile walls looked like bathroom floors, and you
could tell things were very cheaply made. The buildings are only about 40 years
old or less, and they’ve just not been taken care of. It’s pretty sad-looking!
At any rate, thankfully some of the important and beautiful buildings are still
standing. Who knows how they decided what to tear down and what to save!
Also interesting about this particular square is the
indication of a severe flood in 1850. The city sits on the north side of the
Danube River (which is not really blue!), and in February of 1850, it froze
over. Now that’s all fine till it starts to melt. The only problem came when
the icebergs, which didn’t melt as quickly, did not melt. They were actually
big enough to block the river in such a way that it redirected the water uphill
into the Bratislavan City Center! The flood was the worst in the city’s
history, and other floods since then have no even come close to comparing with
this one.
Moving right along, just a few meters away, we stood in the
middle of the main souvenir marketplace! Here we learned about Slovak
traditions and culture. Apparently, if you cut an apple across the middle and
the seeds are in a star-shaped design, you will have good luck! Last I checked,
all apples typically have seeds in a star-shape when you cut it in half
cross-ways. ;) Also, if you rub honey on your face, you will have good luck! If
you throw nuts into the corner of a room, you will have good luck! If you hear
an ambulance siren, you must bump your head against something three times to
have good luck.
But the luckiest of all are Slovak boys on Easter Monday.
They have full permission to beat up and terrorize poor little girls! Boys can
throw cold water on a girl, hit her with a special stick, pick her up and take
her away kicking and screaming… and the only way to stop this is to give the
boy chocolate or a strong drink! And when she does this, she also has to give
him a ribbon to tie around his beating stick. And then he gets to do it all
over again to someone else! So those are some fun traditions…
Next stop: St. Michael’s Gate! This is the only surviving
gate to the city, but if one was to be saved, it’s good that it was this one
because this was the Barbican gate! Like the Barbican in Krakow, this gate is
also off-center so as to avoid a head-on attack. But unlike the Krakow Barbican
which had a 45-degree angle between gates, this one has a 90-degree angle! Both
types have their advantages, but this one is particularly unique because any
attacking force would have to make a 90-degree turn, forcing them to stop and
redirect the entire army. This would buy the soldiers of the city some time to
put some arrows into the attackers and defend themselves!
Also important about this gate is that this is the same gate
that new kings and queens would walk through to get to St. Martin’s Cathedral
to be coronated. They would walk through the streets, and the path they took
was marked with little bronze crowns embedded in the cobblestones. Pretty cool
to still see them there, I’d have to say!
Through the gate, we looked hung a left and took a good look
at an inconspicuous plaque on the ground. This commemorates the place where the
first witch was burned at the stake in 1602. Four hundred years later, in 2002,
the plaque was dedicated.
And also in this spot is where we had our best view of the
Bratislava Castle! Now, this castle had withstood attacks from Mongolians,
Ottomans, Napoleon Bonaparte, and others, but in 1811, when Bratislava decided
to hire the best Italian builders to make improvements to the castle, they had
a party inside and burned it down! They still joke that the castle withstood
all those armies but couldn’t survive one night of Italian partying. Bummer.
And to our right was the Trinitarian Church. Interestingly
enough, there was another church on this spot at one point, called St.
Michael’s Church. But it actually blocked the view of incoming armies over the
hills! So whoever was in charge at that time decided to have it torn down. The
only problem now… they didn’t have a church! So they built this one in its
place and made it such that the view was not blocked. It is now one of the
primary churches in the city. This is an important church for other reasons,
however. In 1939, a deposed Slovak leader named Tiso called an emergency meeting
of parliament here.
And then we walked a bit further and got a good view of the
Slovak White House! =) And we continued with the story…
You see, Tiso had just been personally invited to dinner in
Berlin with Adolf Hitler. Hitler proposed that Tiso should break Slovakia away
from Czech and become their own country, and Tiso should be their leader. At
first Tiso said no, but after several rounds of Tiso declining and Hitler
insisting (promising protection if Tiso would do it and a Hungarian attack if
he didn’t), Tiso conceded and called this emergency meeting of parliament.
Ultimately, Slovakia conceded and Tiso became president of the country.
Slovakia was now with the Axis powers, and Czech is on the side of the Allied
powers. Czech felt betrayed, to say the least.
So, all that happened in March of 1939. In May of that same
year, Hitler went back on his word and invaded Slovakia. Hitler also demanded
that Tiso give him 20,000 Slovak soldiers, which was most of their army. But
Tiso gave Hitler an alternative: he would give Hitler 20,000 Jews instead to
work in labor camps. But then Tiso went back on that word and offered full
civilian protection of Jews. This lasted until 1944 when the major deportation
of Jews occurred in Slovakia—and Slovakia had, at one time, been one of the
places where they “knew” they would be safe. Of course, they didn’t really go
to labor camps, they went to Auschwitz, which we now know was an extermination
camp.
And so came a Slovakian National Uprising. There’s not a square
called “Uprising Square” dedicated to this event, and there’s a statue of the
guy who started it. (Side note: This is where Bratislavans come even now
whenever there’s a national celebration or a national tragedy. They hold
protests here as well. They are very active in their squares around there!) The
people of Slovakia knew they were fighting against fascism, and they felt very
strongly about that. But they didn’t really know what they were fighting for. Political leaders used this time as
a platform to promote their agendas, and things just didn’t go well. There was
too much confusion and not enough facts or truth for people to look to.
When WWII ended, Britain asked the Czechs if they wanted
Slovakia back, and interestingly enough, the Czechs did. Pretty big turn around
after the betrayal they’d felt six years previous. Eventually, Tiso was demoted
again and again, and he was finally hanged in Bratislava in 1947.
Moving along, we talked about how Slovakia is doing at the
moment. By standards around the world, there is still a good deal of poverty in
Slovakia. But there’s also a lot of growth. They became part of the EU and
adopted the Euro, their economy is growing, low taxes bring in large companies
like VW and others, and their strategy to getting what they want with the EU is
to always be the last to decide on EVERYTHING. =) It seems to work!
Our guide also gave us an interesting aside. Several bridges
cross the Danube, and they’re currently building a new one. The people of
Slovakia held a preliminary vote to come up with a name for this bridge. Some
wanted to name it after Maria Teresa, who is very important to Bratisava, some
wanted to name it after something else, but overwhelmingly, 81% of the people
want to name it after… CHUCK NORRIS! Too funny! Why? I’m not sure. But that’s
what they want!
Now on to more historic sites! There’s this very large and
interesting cathedral called St. Elizabeth’s Church. It’s blue. Very, very
BLUE! It’s also done in the Art Nuevo style, so it kind of reminds people of
Cinderella’s Castle. There are several nicknames for this church: The Blue
Church, The Cake Church, The Big Blue Marshmallow, and—my favorite—the SMURF
CHURCH! Too hilarious. There are weddings there every Saturday of the year, and
people will be on a waiting list for years to have their weddings,
christenings, etc. happen here. It’s actually one of the top 20 Art Neuvo sites
in the world, and just across the street is… an unsightly, abandoned communist
hospital. Kind of a shame, but you’ll find that type of thing everywhere, so
said our guide. One of the other interesting things about this church is that
the clock on the tower actually tells the right time—quite an oddity in Europe,
I’ve been told!
And then we came to the square in which Prague Spring took
place. Not sure why it’s called Prague Spring, since it started in Bratislava.
Our guide said it’s because the events grew and protests got bigger, and then
everything culminated in Prague. Anyway, we need some background. There was
this Bratislavan leader named Alexander Dubcek. He was a Socialist, but he
promoted “Socialism with a human face.” He granted freedom of the press and was
not forceful about the Socialist ideals. Moscow told him to stop giving these
freedoms, and when he didn’t stop anything, Moscow decided to invade and put a
stop to this themselves.
Around 9:00 on a Saturday morning in 1968, people were out
doing their shopping, sightseers were sightseeing, people were going about
their lives, and all of a sudden, with no warning, military tanks from Moscow
came rolling across the bridge into this square, invading the city. Want to
know something ironic? The Soviets thought they were in Berlin. They had their
instructions, and they were in the right place, they had just been misinformed
of where that place actually was. They started talking to the Slovaks and
realized it wasn’t Germany; they demanded to know where the press offices were
(because of course they don’t want word of this getting out around the world),
and the Bratislavans were quite smart in this situation—they told the Soviets
it was in a building across town. During the hour or so it took the Soviets to
find out where it was, word had already been printed up and was on its way out.
People stood in the streets giving out magazines to tourists—magazines with the
story and this picture in it—to take back to the Western world and get news
out. And surely enough, it worked.
A very famous photo was taken here on this day, right in
front of the university and an interesting-looking building which housed the
newspaper press. This picture was taken by a man named Ladislav Bilak. (Tank Man Please click the link to see the picture. This was actually taken at the beginning of Prague Spring in Bratislava; there's a lot of confusion surrounding this picture, since the photographer was so adamant about keeping it a secret,) A man witnessing this uncalled-for, surprise invasion,
tore his shirt open and stared down one of the tanks. It’s one of the photographs
that always appears on lists of pictures that changed the 20th
century. Of course he didn’t want the Communists to find out he took it, for
fear of being executed or having his family be hurt because of it. He kept it a
secret for over 20 years, until after he died. His family found the negatives
in some old boxes and realize what their father had done. So now we know who
took the picture.
A series of events happened after this, and there was
hard-core Communism all over Czechoslovakia. Interestingly enough, when they
first became Czechoslovakia after WWII, the Czechs are the ones who wanted
Communism as their form of government. Slovakians wanted democracy. Anyway.
They obviously had Communism forced upon them. During the Velvet Revolution, there
was a huge student protest outside a major university in Bratislava. A few
people were killed, including students and civilians who were caught in
crossfire. There was also a series of very mysterious car wrecks involving
political officials and other influential people all over central Europe. When
the iron curtain finally fell, they called it the Velvet Divorce. After this
the Czechs and Slovakians separated their countries, and Slovakia joined the EU
and adopter the Euro instead of the Slovakian koruna. The Czechs and Slovaks
have a very close relationship now, and there’s finally a sense of peace and
growth there.
And so ended our tour! It was really quite impressive,
especially for FREE! Afterward, I was quite hungry, so off I went in search of
Slovak food! Both the girl at my hostel’s reception desk and Timmy the Tour
Guide recommended Flagship Bratislava as an excellent restaurant, so that’s
where I was headed! And boy was I ever impressed! It’s touted as a place with
excellent food and the feel of old world Bratislava, and it certainly is. The
wood work was amazing, the food was excellent, and I truly felt like I was back
in Medieval Bratislava! I got the Halusky (pronounced “halushky) upon
recommendation, and I was not disappointed. It’s little dumplings in a milk
sauce (not a cream sauce) with cheese and big chunks of bacon on top. YUMMY! I
also got these things for dessert that looked like pierogis. They were sweet
and filled with poppyseed stuff, swimming in butter—kind of like part of the South
over in central Europe. ;) It’s quite full of poppyseed stuff, by the way. Not
like a poppyseed muffin where you get a tablespoon of poppyseeds for the whole
batch, it’s FILLED with poppyseeds! That’s big over here apparently. They had
similar stuff in Poland, too.
And then it was off to shop! I typically do NOT go shopping
unless I have to (even in the States!), but it had been so incredibly hot and
even a bit humid in Bratislava that I just needed something cooler! I went in
with a mission to get either shorts and a tank top or a sleeveless dress, and
out I walked with a cute, light, airy sleeveless dress. =) Woohoo!
Next on the agenda: Skyping with Momma’s class! I am ALWAYS
up for inspiring people to explore new places, try new things, and don’t let
anything stop you from living life to the fullest ("The theif comes onlu to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." --John 10:10), so of
course when Mom asked me to talk to the kids in Carthage I said sure. So we
Skyped for a bit and I told them about my travels so far, and that was that! I
got to talk with both Mom and Dad for a few minutes afterward, so that was
nice. =) Wednesday was Mom’s birthday, and all I got to do was leave her a
message, so it was nice to be able to talk to her, too.
And then it was shower and bedtime! The beds at Hostel Blues
are SO much more comfortable than a couple of the other places I’d stayed, so I
actually got a good night’s sleep! And then comes Friday—Castle ruins and Bible
study with the Bratislavan brothers and sisters! =)
Before I get to that, though, please enjoy the PICTURES! =)
Saturday, May 12, 2012
Night Train Ride and Bratislava Part 1!
Welcome back! I hope you’re enjoying the trip so far. =)
So, we don’t really use trains very much in the States.
People use them more in certain areas of the country (like people who often
travel between DC-Philly-NJ-NYC), but where I grew up, trains were Thomas the
Tank Engine and something people used in the 1800s to get across the
country—not something people use as an alternative to driving or flying! I’ve
ridden trains before in Japan and Switzerland, and each time it’s a fun and
exciting experience. While my previous train ride from Warsaw to Krakow was not
the most pleasant I’ve experienced, I was still looking forward to the night
train thing.
Now I’ll be honest, I was starting to get a little concerned
the close it got because so many people had told me to watch out and be
careful. But since I was going from one main city to another, I really didn’t
have anything to worry about! I had to ask a couple of different people what
car I needed to get on (I’m not sure whether it was something lost in
translation or miscommunication on part of the train folks; one guy told me to
go to one end of the train, and two others told me to go to the opposite side
of the train), but I got on the right one. I was actually quite pleasantly
surprised! The interior was small, of course, but the “room” I was in was
plenty big enough for me! There were three bunks, and mine was on the bottom. I
thought maybe a couple of other people would be getting on, but nope! Just me!
It’s really interesting how space can be so well utilized. Pictures to follow.
=) There was even water and a towel and breakfast provided. Quite nice!
The only problem came when we started moving… it was a
really bumpy ride! I have trouble sleeping on anything that moves, even on an
airplane. I had hoped having an actual bed where I could lay down and the
methodic movement of the train would actually help me sleep—but boy was I
mistaken! We stopped and started, sped up and slowed down, went around curves,
etc. I might have gotten an hour of actual sleep, but I survived it. I’m glad I
did it so that now I’ve had the experience! =)
The train got in at 5:38 am, right on schedule. And I had no
useful money. I had US dollars, I had a few Polish zlotys left, I even have
some Swiss francs with me, but in Slovakia, they use the Euro! So, I had no
money for a bus or a taxi, the exchange places in the train station weren’t
open yet, and I didn’t see an ATM anywhere. Fortunately, my hostel is within
walking distance of the train station! Unfortunately, the directions were a bit
confusing! The roads in Bratislava are very curvy, and I couldn’t quite figure
out their naming system. Somehow I missed a turn, but I kept going toward the
Old City center. Along the way, I saw some posters for a Jethro Tull concert,
which made me think of my daddy! The Slovakian “White House” was on my way as
well, so that was cool to see, and you know what else I saw? And ATM! So I got
me some Euros and went on my way. Crisis averted!
Now the Bratislavan Old Town is really cute and quite
pretty, but my goodness it’s complicated! The roads are not in any kind of
order, and people drive and park anywhere—sidewalks, squares, wherever you can
fit. I was getting kind of frustrated because no one I asked seem to have ever
heard of the street where my hostel is located, but eventually I met a kindly
police officer, and she said I was on the right road! I just needed to go a
little further, and the hostel would be on the right—and it was! Again, crisis averted.
;)
The hostel girls were very nice and let me go ahead and
check in so I could put my stuff in my room. They gave me a key and pad lock
for my stuff and said whatever lockers were open were free to use. They gave me
a map, suggestions for where to eat, told me about some of the features of the
hostel—full kitchen, “chill room” where people can “chill out” and not have to
be in their rooms, and they sent me on my way! So I dumped my stuff, changed
clothes so I could feel like I actually did start a fresh, new day, and set out
to find Shtoor, which is a little café that serves homemade Slovakian food!
Shtoor is really cute, and they have great stuff! Coffee was
typical European (strong), and I got whatever was the most Slovakian. I asked
the girl at the counter what the best thing would be, and she told me about
this thing called Bryndzik (that is probably totally wrong). Anyway, it’s
homemade whole grain bread (with beans in it—interesting and quite good,
actually) with spiced sheep’s cheese spread; it also came with salad. The
cheese was on there THICK, so I ended up taking some of it off, but it was
really good! And it definitely stuck with me till I had time for lunch. Shtoor
was an interesting kind of guy. He actually was the person who codified the
Slovakian language! That interested me to no end, of course, so I HAD to go to
his café!
Next up: The Slovakian National Museum. Apparently this is a
lot like the Smithsonian; lots of different museums make up the institution of
the Slovak National Museum. This one had a special exhibit of toys, home life,
and schools over the years. This was all in Slovakian, since it’s a temporary
exhibit, but it was neat to see the stuff, even if I couldn’t read about it. =)
The next couple of floors (they call it the first and second floors, but we
would call them the second and third floors in Europe) were dedicated to
natural history. Lots of rocks and fossils, lots of land, air, and sea animals.
The content didn’t interest me as much, but they had a really awesome exhibit
there. It was a huge, blank, white book with a projector above it. The pages
were definitely blank, but when you turned the page, the projector would go to
the next slide. There was a mark on the back of each page, and I guess the
sensors picked up on that and knew which slide to show. Pretty cool!
I had some time on my hands till time for a tour at 1:00, so
I headed up to Bratislava Castle, which is not really a castle like we might
think of it. It’s nice-looking, but it wasn’t build for kings and queens. They
were coronated (crowned) there, but they didn’t usually live there. It was
built as a fortification (i.e. a fort) to protect the city. It’s situated up on
a hill, and there are lookout towers so you could see who was coming from far away.
The Ottomans tried to get in and take over Bratislava, as did the Monguls, as
did Napoleon himself in 1805! No one succeeded while this fortification was in
use, at least not on their first attempt; Napoleon was successful in his second
attempt in 1809. They also have a barbican here, like the one in Krakow. The
Krakowian barbican has two gates at a 45 degree angle from each other, which
has its benefits, but the Bratislavan barbican gates are at a 90 degree angle.
That would slow down an army quite a bit to have to make a complete 90 degree
turn just to get into the city! That would have bought the Bratislavan army
some time to get some arrows into any attackers for sure!
Anyway, there is a lot of reconstruction going on because
the castle had fallen into such disrepair after WWII, and it’s taken this long
to get together the research and funding for repairs. But they’ve really done a
great job with the parts that are open to the public. In one exhibit are
various items that have been excavated. There were tools and jewelry and
weapons from as far back as the third century BC, before the castle was even
built! The first written account of the castle was in 907 AD, and it’s changed
hands several times since then, but always remained Bratislavan. In the 16th
century, the Hungarian capitol liked the place so much, and Bratislava was
basically the place to be, so they moved their capitol from Buda to Bratislava.
I’m not sure where the boundary lines were at this time, but they felt
comfortable coming on over!
The other exhibit open to the public showed models of the
castle in its heyday, as well as pictures from the 1950’s when it was at its
worst. There were a few things about knights, too, which was pretty cool. No,
my knight in shining armor was not there. The search continues. ;)
Friday, May 11, 2012
Salt Mines and the final day in Krakow!
So, now we’ve come to our last day in Krakow. I so don’t
want to leave yet, but I know more awaits me!
So I have to confess, I think I basically messed this day
up. I definitely need to go back to Krakow one day in the next couple of years
to make up for it, though. I decided to go to the Salt Mines instead of
Auschwitz because I didn’t want to do that on my own. I’d seen the Jewish
Quarter the first day, then Schindler’s Factory the next, and I think Auschwitz
is something I’d rather do with someone. Now I regret it, but I do plan to go
back. I couldn’t fit both into one day.
So, I checked out of my hotel, they stored my stuff for me,
and off I went! I bought the ticket, transportation, and guide all at once through
a company that does the tours, and that ended up being the best way to do it, I
think. However, adventure #1 of the day was a bit unexpected. The driver had
never driven an automatic vehicle before! It was a new experience for him! =) That’s
a huge difference between just about anywhere else and the States—they ALL
drive stick shifts; very few people drive automatics!
We rode over to the mines with two Canadians, and one of then
was of Polish descent. I think we enjoyed each other’s company. It was nice to
be with other Americans, even if it’s not the same country in North America!
Salt was very important WAY back when they didn’t have any
refrigeration. People needed salt to preserve their food so they could live.
Therefore, if you owned a salt mine, you were a wealthy man! Only kings owned
them, and their noblemen managed and operated the mines. The mines go and go
and go, but we were only allowed to go down 135 meters. And the only way down
was to walk the wooden steps—380 of them! While the steps are not original, the
path we followed going down is original—from hundred of years ago!
The mines are not used for salt mining anymore, mainly just
for a tourist attraction and educational opportunity. There are lots of rock
salt statues down there—some of kings and queens, some of famous people who
visited the mine (such as Goethe and Chopin)—and there are even a few chapels
down there! The people of Poland are very Catholic, and so any place that’s
important where people go often, there needs to be a church! People still hold
regular Masses there, as well as weddings, parties, conferences, and concerts!
There are these huge chandeliers down there to light the important rooms, and
they’re made entirely of rock salt.
So, how did the miners get down further and further into the
depths? It was quite dangerous. People and horses alike were lowered down by
ropes, with only a make-shift harness to keep them from falling. They actually
sang funeral songs on the way down and back up, just in case one of them fell
to his death. There was an exhibit down there demonstrating this, which was a
little bit scary to tell you the truth!
So why would men risk their lives like this? There are
several different kinds of salt, ranging from the most mineral-rich, which is darker,
and the purest (least minerals), which is a translucent white color. People
called this “white gold” because it was so expensive and so important to their
lives. People needed to keep their food stored, and they needed salt to do
this. People were not very well compensated for it, but it was certainly job
security for them.
Another fact I found interesting about the whole situation
is that, since salt is such a fabulous preservative, all the salt stautues and
other things that have been in the salt atmosphere are incredibly
well-preserved! I wish I could have gotten some pictures, but it was so dark
that the pictures didn’t turn out very well.
After spending about three hours in the mines, we were all
very hungry! We stopped in a tavern-type place that serves traditional Polish
food, and I got something that was exactly like schnitzel, plus potato soup
with bread—it was WAY too much, and I didn’t mean to get it all! But it was
very tasty. =)
Back in Krakow, I called my mom for her birthday and left a
voicemail (silly time difference), then walked around a bit and made it my
final mission to find the one food I’d wanted to try but hadn’t found yet:
Pickled herring! I found it at a cute little café-restaurant, and I liked it a
lot! Pickled herring is one of my most favorite types of sushi, so I was
excited to know they have something similar here! =)
After that I needed to get to the train station. I changed the
time for my ticket from Bratislava to Prague, to allow me to have a second full
day in Bratislava, and then I waited on my train. I was actually pretty excited
about the train ride! More on that in the next installment! ;) If you didn't see the pictures from the last blog post, or if you just want to see them again, here they are!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Krakow: Schindler's factory and home Polish cookin'!
Well, if I didn’t get enough yesterday, I thought I needed
to go to the Schindler’s Factory Museum.
But first, breakfast time! I went to this place called
Coffee Heaven, which sounds like a wonderful, magical place, but it’s totally
not! I got scolded for trying to take a picture, the staff hardly made eye
contact, and the looked kind of perturbed that I was in there! The coffee was
good and so was the muffin, but I totally should have gotten the Polish
breakfast again. =)
Moving on! Next up, I switched from my hostile hostel to an
actual hotel. They were running a special rate (200 zl/night, which was about
$65), and so I moved my stuff right then and there!
And now it was time to go to the Schindler Factory Museum.
It’s about a 15 minute walk from the Krakow city center, but it took me about
30 thanks to a couple of missed turns. =) That’s life.
When you walk in, you buy your ticket and walk up the
stairs. The first room is all pictures of life before the war. Pictures of
people in their wedding dresses, family pictures, people having fun, etc. There
are sounds of people talking, the radio going, and normal house noises. Some facts
are on the hallway walls: During the inter-war period, ¼ of all Krakowians were
Jewish. Krakow was experiencing a booming economy and growth; it was the
cultural center of Poland. The next room looked like a carnival or a movie
theater. There was a place to watch a film about Schindler’s Factory. It
described the working conditions, which were quite good for the time—they even
got one or two bowls of hearty soup and a couple of servings of bread and
coffee per day. They made metal goods, such as pots and pans that were sold
both in store and on the black market. Schindler was repeatedly arrested by the
Gestapo for smuggling drugs several times, but always got out unscathed. He
made a significant moral transformation, although not a complete 180-degree
turn. But he did save upwards of 1200 Jews, putting his own life in danger. There
was at least one time when he went directly to Plaszow work camp to get some of
his workers out when they were taken away.
On September 1, 1939, the Nazis began bombing Poland,
including Krakow, at 5:00 am. Poles were not allowed to help Jews—this was
outlawed and a Pole could be shot on the spot. The next hallway I entered was
cold. You could hear sounds of people talking, factory work, and bombs. You had
to walk through a maze of Nazi flags. Poles and Jews were all mistreated and
restricted from living in their own city. Polish professors were arrested, and
Hans Frank, the General Governor from the Nazi army himself, who made Krakow
his seat of government, told them they were about to be arrested. Many died in
prison; others were shipped to concentration camps. There was to be no higher
education. People were to be educated enough to know that there was no way to
overpower the Nazis. General Frank moved into Wawel Castle.
Krakow was “Germanized” as quickly as possible. The main
market square was renamed “Adolf Hitler Platz,” which means “Adolf Hitler
Square.” In this exhibit you could hear German marching music and singing.
There were also pictures of the Nazis having a good time and having run of the
city.
Sounds of work came from the next room, and there were
pictures of people being beaten and mistreated and hanged. Jews were taken to
prison, and to give you and idea of their fear, there was an old Polish prison
cell down a set of stairs you could go down to in a corner. It is a tremendous
understatement to say it was creepy and frightening. You couldn’t see anything
in the cell but darkness, and all you could hear were scared whispers.
Then you went to an office, probably like Schindler’s
office. There were hats and coats on a hat rack, books sitting out. (I noticed
a lot of things were sitting out and not behind any glass. This would not
happen in an American museum, unfortunately. That’s a little off topic,
though.) This room was interactive and very informative because it explained a
lot about the factory and Schindler’s role. Not only was the factory for making
pots and pans, but also for munitions. The factory used to be called “Emilia”
Factory, or enamel factory, and belonged to a prosperous Jewish family, but of
course that was done away with. Schindler bought it and started manufacturing
some of the same things. At first he hired mostly Poles, then mostly Jews
because they were cheap labor and didn’t have to be paid.
After this exhibit was a bit of a relief. There was a room
all about the underground theatre. In the ghetto, Jews held performances in
their homes and in the basements of businesses. There had to be some way to
think about something other than how awful it was. I thought this was a good
way to break up the progression.
Now we made our way to the Jewish Ghetto, just half a km
from the factory. It was then that I noticed the floors were always changing
with the exhibits. It’s a small thing that made a difference in setting the
mood. Some floors were wood, some cobblestones, bricks, etc. In this part of
the museum, you walked through a path with the ghetto wall on one side and a
black wall on the other. On either side of the path were bits of written
accounts from people’s diaries about life in the ghetto. The ghetto was like a
labor camp, and if you didn’t have the right paper work when they checked, you
were shipped off to another camp. The area where the ghetto was located was
built for the 3000 people who already lived there. But when the Jews were all
relocated there, 17,000 people lived in that place. It was crowded, the sewage
system couldn’t handle that many people, and many apartments housed five or six
families at once. Jews were not allowed to leave, but there’s a pharmacy there
in the ghetto called Eagle Pharmacy. It was used to smuggle messages during the
War, and it’s now remembered for that.
Then we came back to Schindler. This exhibit was again like
an office, but bigger. There were books on the walls and office machines like
typewriters and old phones in there, too. The exhibit gave a lot of information
about the inner workings of the operation. Schindler was not known as a nice
person, as I’ve already said. With two mistresses, a history of Gestapo
arrests, unfair trading and gambling on his track record, along with various
other things, people simply did not trust him. He even used the factory to
cover up spying against Poland. But the fact remains that he did save people’s
lives when that very well could have gotten him killed.
Next up was a labor camp room. The floor was gravel, there
was machinery there for manual labor, and there was a barbed-wire fence in the
back. Things were very quiet in there.
Then you walk downstairs and the last thing you see is the
“Room of Choices.” We all have the opportunity to choose what we do—for others,
for ourselves, and for humanity. Pretty humbling, depending on what kind of
choices you tend to make.
So now that we’re all somber, let’s get some lunch! I wanted
to find this place our tour guide had told us about called The Olive Tree. It’s
supposed to be completely kosher, abiding by every Jewish law in the Old
Testament. I know I’d just seen it the day before, but I had no idea where it
was! I ended up going to a place called “Kuchina Domava.” The sign said Polish
Traditional Home Cooking, and that sounded about right for me! =) I walked in
and the little man working didn’t know a lot of English, but he gave me an
English menu and we got started. I decided on this thing that someone had told
me I needed to try. I don’t remember what it’s called, but it’s a potato
pancake with goulash on top. And it was SO good! And very heavy. I was so
hungry that I ate it too fast and had a bit of a stomach ache afterward, but it
was totally worth it. =)
I walked back over to the Old Town (it quickly became my
favorite place!) and browsed the Cloth Hall shopping place. I went to the
underground museum of the old church and the original Main Market Square, too.
It’s a small museum, but they had a lot of very impressive artifacts, such as
graves with bones still in them, original wood, pottery and tools found on the
site, and the like. There were also models of what the church looked like when
it was first built in the 900s, then when it was reconstructed and added onto
in the 1600s (if I remember the dates correctly).
And next up, I thought it’d be fun to walk the Plant Garden
path around the city! I needed to work up an appetite so I’d have room for
supper, so walking 4km sounded like a good idea. =) The Krakowians have done a
wonderful job of landscaping. It’s right along the river for part of the way,
which is my favorite thing—sitting or walking by the water! Also, so
fire-breathing dragon happens to be on the path, so I got to stop over and get
a picture with him as well. =)
Making my way around, I decided I was not going to be hungry
enough for a full meal, but I needed to eat something to get me through till
breakfast, so I got a traditional Polish soup, which was about the right
amount. =) It's called Zurek Staropolski, and it's a rye flour soup with boiled egg and sausage in it. Probably wouldn't get it every day, but I was glad I tried it!
And the final stop of the day: Bed time! This time, I went "home" to a nice hotel with nice people who possess excellent customer service skills. Done. =) It was the first good night's sleep I've gotten on this trip, and it's a good thing: I had a night train ride ahead of me the next day!
And now for your viewing pleasure: PICTURES!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Krakow: The Knife Incident and the ROYAL Capitol of Poland!
The first day in Krakow was exhausting, but wonderful! I literally walked from 7:30 am to 7:30 pm, with
no sitting down till supper time! First up, breakfast! My hostel was pretty
much awful (I won’t go into all that, but I’m now in a hotel and MUCH happier
with this situation!), and the “included breakfast” was instant coffee, regular
sliced bread, and jelly that was no telling how old. So I went in search of a
real Polish breakfast, and I found it! This is a bit lengthy, but there's a contest at the end if you take a look! ;)
One of the first places I stumbled upon happened to be a
hotel restaurant, and the menu with pictures they had displayed outside looked
appetizing, so I decided to give it a go. The Polish breakfast included two sausages, a boiled egg with mayo-chive sauce, bread (you're right, Dr. A, it's really good stuff!), vegetables and brewed coffee. It was a good morning for little Whit! Mission number 2: Find the Lost Wawel! Wawel Hill has quite the interesting past, including being home to the royal family of Poland for around 500-550 years. The original stone castle was built in the 10th century, and one of the exhibits (called the Lost Wawel) is dedicated to archaeological discoveries from the earliest parts of the structure. It was incredibly impressive, because they've literally left things generally where they were, rubble and all, and you can walk on a raised path through the ruins inside! There were fragments of bones (behind glass so they're preserved), pottery, shoes, tools, etc., etc., etc., all there for people to see. I wish there'd been more explanations about how and why things were used, but it was sufficient enough to read what it was and around the year it was made. These ruins were quite different from the ones in Turkey, which were out in the open and free for the exploring. Both ways of displaying historical ruins have their advantages. =)
There is also an exhibit all about armor and weaponry. Interestingly enough, I had my own little weaponry incident going into the exhibit. So, my friend Alan let me borrow one of his pocket knives, just in case... you know. So, I had it in my purse. I walked right through the door, put my bag in the conveyor belt to be scanned, and walked right through the metal detector. As soon as the guy scanning my bag got that puzzled look on his face, I knew I was in for it! He looked at me in disbelief and calmly asked, "Knife?" I said yes, I'd forgotten it was in my purse and I was very sorry. He said I couldn't take it in, so I asked if I could leave it there and come back for it. He said sure! So off I went to enjoy the exhibit!
Now, in America, I would have been taken away and questioned on the spot in some places. At the most lenient of places, they would have taken the knife and not given it back--which is really what I was most afraid of because it's not mine, it's borrowed! But thankfully that was not the case here! (And honestly, I don't look like the knife type at ALL!) When I went back later to get it, there was a different guy at the metal detector, but the other girls greeting people as they came in were still there and remembered me. I went and asked if I could get my knife back, and they told the guy where it was and for him to get it for me. Again, there was this look of disbelief when he looked at me and gave me the knife. He LAUGHED! And then the other girls did, too! =) So a good laugh was had by all, deportation and international scandal avoided. =)
Back to the royal weaponry! So I kind of couldn't quite grasp what I was seeing. There were suits of armor, crossbows, lances, maces, tournament weapons, etc., all from medieval days. That's the kind of stuff I've really only seen in movies! There were swords, guns, pistol-swords, cannons (which I have actually seen before, of course!), and other royal items like tournament outfits and the like. One of the hats actually kind of looked like a Mad Hatter hat--oversized and made of what looked like velvet or something like that. Pretty cool looking, but also kind of funny looking! Sorry, pictures were not allowed in the castle exhibits unfortunately. =(
And much to my delight, I got in and out of the castle quick enough to grab a pretzel on the go and make it to the free walking tour at 11:00. And then the fun REALLY started! The company is called Free Walking Tours Krakow, and the guides are licensed, local experts. I feel confident calling them experts because they've all had to take an 8-month, rigorous course all about the historical significance of Poland, the politics of the country, and just all kinds of things about Krakow. They have to pass up to 20 exams, and the very last big exam is very difficult--only 10% of the people who take it pass each time! That fascinated me, since I haven't had to take any tests or rigorous courses yet for my tours! I took notes the whole time and got along well with the guide. He was not what you picture when you think of a professional historian--early 30s, nose ring, tattoos, long hair, baggy clothes... but he was awesome! He was so funny and spoke English better than just about anyone else I've met on this trip! There were people on our tour from Spain, France, Great Britain, Australia, and various other countries I don't remember, but the tour was in English! The first tour was two and a half hours, the second tour was three hours. The longest tour I've given is only one and a half hours! The guy said they will take a maximum of 50 people, and only if there are more will they split into two or more groups. This group probably had around 35 or 40 I'd say. The most we're allowed and advised to take is 30. This guy said he's taken as many as 76 on a day when there were so many and he had no backup! This is quite the feat since we had to cross so many streets--tour guiding can be dangerous!
On to what we learned:
The Spanish are always late. Our tour guide said so, and surely enough, we had some stragglers come along and guess where they were from--Spain! The guide asked them when they walked up, "Spain, right?" They said, "Yes, how did you know? Oh, we're late." Too funny!
Krakow was established even before the 10th century, but the first written reference to Krakow was from 966 A.D.
We began at St. Mary's Cathedral on the main market square. There are many, MANY Catholic churches in Poland because 90% of the people are Catholic; at one point in time, the ratio of churches to people was 1:100--Wow! That's like protestant churches in the Southern US! They say if you throw a stone in Krakow, you'll hit a church. One of the reasons there are so many in Krakow alone is because noblemen would often donate land to build a church. In those days, they thought if you gave generously to the church (and what's more valuable than land for a church?), you could basically buy a better afterlife. So that's what so many nobles did!
Poland changed hands several times through the centuries, and even ceased to exist as an nation around the end of the 18th century. When they regained their country, the officials made all the people say four certain Polish words to find out if they are really Polish. The words all had to do with mill houses, because that's what the Polish people did back then, so they would all know how to pronounce them correctly. If you pronounced the words correctly, you got to live, if you pronounced it wrong you would be either tortured or executed! So, our guide asked each of us to pronounce one of these words and told us whether we'd live or die! Most people did poorly, but he gave me a long word (wish I knew how to spell it!), and he was very impressed with my perfect pronunciation! =) He even asked me if I was Polish! When I said no, he asked if I was of Polish descent, and when I said no to that, I think he didn't believe me! And he really didn't believe it when I said I'm American--apparently, we have a problem pronouncing long Polish words or something. ;) Anyway, I completely owe my ear for pronunciation to Dr. Ablamowicz (my Polish communications professor in college) and Dr. Slotkin (my linguistics professor). It pays to pay attention in class! =)
So, Poland ceased to exist as a country from the 17th century until the end of the 18th century; the land was divided between Russia, Prussia, and Austria-Hungary--Krakow was part of Austria. During this time, there was a woman who wanted to preserve her Polish past. She began collecting historical Polish items, and even went so far as to rob graves! All these things are now in the first Polish history museum, which is in Krakow!
Next stop: the Planta Gardens. There's a path all the way around Krakow, beginning and ending at the Florian Gate and the Barbican (more on those in a moment). The path exists because that is where the city fortification walls used to be. The walls were torn down sometime a couple of centuries ago, but people decided to preserve the path, so now it's a beautiful 4 km walk around the outside of the city. The Florian Gate is the place where future kings used to enter into the city to be coronated. The Barbican, across the way from the Florian Gate, was the main gate into the city--the one that was armored and exceedingly difficult to break into! I plan to go on a tour of that and get more info on it soon. Our guide called it an "architectural marvel." The entire Barbican included 7 different gates that needed to be broken though just to get into the castle. Krakow was never defeated when this system was in use.
Moving along! I asked the guide a burning question: Why is Krakow sometimes spelled with c's and sometimes spelled with k's? (Cracow/Krakow) He said that C is the German way of spelling it, and K is the Polish way. It is used interchangeably for some people, but the Poles prefer the spelling with a K, for obvious reasons. =)
While Krakow and the surrounding parts of Poland were part of Austria-Hungary, you could only actually "be" Polish in the Hungarian part. There's a statue in the middle of the main square of a Polish man who was a famous poet. He never came to Krakow in his life, but there, in Krakow, in the Hungarian portion, was the only place that was allowed to have this statue of this man. Anywhere else, it was illegal!
And then we were in for a special treat: we heard the bugle call! Every hour, on the hour, for centuries, a fireman plays the bugle from the top of St. Mary's church. It's always a fireman, and there are five different buglers (I guess they take shifts). The legend goes that a fireman saw that Krakow was about to be invaded sometime in the 16th century, and he sounded the bugle call to alert everyone. And so they do this in honor of him. =) An American Journalist wrote a book about this called, "The Trumpeter of Krakow."
Our next stop was exceedingly interesting: it was the original level of the main Market Square. It's actually about 3 meters lower than where the current square is today. It's now a small archaeological museum.
Next he pointed out the City Hall Tower. It has been built and renovated at different times, ranging from the 14th century to the 20th century. There is a pub in the basement, and back in medieval days, you could go down, get your drink and look out the window into the other room: the torture chamber! Kinda of a graphic show! Our guide said that as you went clubbing in the middle ages, you could also SEE clubbing. ;) Anyway, the tower is the only part of the old city hall that still exists. The rest of it had been torn down by the various people who ruled over Krakow over the centuries.
On to Cloth Hall! The reason Cloth Hall is so important and is still a market place today is because cloth was a very profitable business in Poland, and especially Krakow. The building is in the Rennaisance style, which looks a bit different from the other buildings around. If you sold cloth, you were sure to make a lot of money, and they still use the place for markets today. There are lots of shops set up in small booth inside that sell everything from mugs to amber to clothes to pottery and cut glass.
And then we got to some more modern stuff. Russia and Germany invaed Poland on September 17, 1939, and one of the first things they said was that there was to be no more higher education. Professors from universities were taken into a room, informed that they would be arrested, and taken away to prisons. But there was a lot going on in the Krakow underground. People took their lives into their own hands when they studied in the underground. The most famous student of the time was a man who wanted to become a priest. He did become one after WWII, then he became a Cardinal and all the other steps as he progressed in his career, and then in 1978 he became... Pope John Paul II. We saw the place where he studied and the window that has his picture on it. He would stay there once a year, and people would always gather to see him because he would open the window and wave to the people at least once on his visit. Mr. Tour Guide said that 88% of Poles are Catholic, and one of the smallest religious groups is the Protestants. There are only around 22000 Protestants in all of Poland.
Anyway, WWII was obviously devastating to many, including Poland. But afterward, things didn't really improve while they were under Communist rule. But since Communism fell, they now have democracy and are part of the EU. This is the first time in 500 years that Poland has been truly "allowed" to be Poland.
Next stop: Back to the Castle Wawel! This is where Polish kings were coronated, as well as where they were burried. Each king had a chapel built for himself, so there are dozens of chapels there today. Sigismund I built the most impressive chapel, with the golden dome. We also saw Kochuszko's statue. He is Poland's very first national hero because he started the first Polish uprising (sorry, I don't remember the year!).
Interesting architecture of the castle: dragon drainpipes. They're cool and medieval looking, sure, but think about it... when there's a lot of rain, water comes rushing out its mouth. They are affectionately called "pukers." =) Haha.
The castle has withstood a couple of fires. The most famous one was in 1595. King Sigismund III, an amateur alchemist and scientist, started a fire in the basement of the castle. Instead of fixing it, he decided to move the capitol up to Warsaw, where there was already another castle he could live in! There is no paperwork officially giving permission for this, only the fact that he moved the whole operation from one city to the other. Krakowians despise Warsaw for this reason--they are always in a competition! But Krakow definitely declares itself still as the ROYAL Capitol of Poland. =)
During the Krakowian occupation by the Prussians (I think he said in the 18th century?), the Wawel Castle was used as a hospital and stable for soldiers and their horses. The Prussians took the Royal treasury (over 4000 items) from the palace, sold some, and used the rest of the treasure to melt down and make things out of. No more crown jewels in Poland! =(
And next up was one of my favorite things we saw: the FIRE-BREATHING DRAGON!!!! =) Yep. There's a fire-breathing dragon back behind the castle. It is the unofficial symbol of the city. Legend has it that the "real" dragon ate young girls. The prince of Krakow sent his noblemen out to conquer the dragon, but it ate them, too! So the prince then offered a reward to the person who could defeat the dragon: he would receive the princess' hand in marriage and half the kingdom. A young shoe cobbler heard about this and tricked the dragon. He took sheep's wool and filled it with all kinds of nasty things like tar that would poison the dragon. He ate the "sheep," then got very thirsty because it tasted bad. So he drank half the river... and exploded! The shoe cobbler got the girl and half the kingdom! =)
There was an hour or so for a break, which I spent just walking around and exploring (and getting lost and meeting a cute American who's studying here to be a doctor--he brought me back to the square, hehe), then it was onward to the Jewish Quarter tour! The guide for this tour was a cute, young girl, probably a year or so younger than me. She also noticed I was taking notes, so we struck up a conversation with her about tour guiding as well!
So, how did the Jews end up coming to Poland? Well, in the 10th and 11th centuries, the crusades were going on. Many of the Jews were prosecuted and had Pograms (acts of cruelty) done to them, so they needed to move. Poland, at the time, was known to be very tolerant of people and their faith. The word "Polin" in Hebrew means "God dwells here," and Polania means "You should dwell here." So they thought they should, and they did. The oldest Jewish Synagogue for Jews in Poland was built in the 1400s, and still exists today. Just behind the synagogue is a Catholic church; the Jews dug down when they built their building so that they could build it as tall as necessary, yet still be short enough to be protected by their walls around the synagogue. Very smart. In front of this building is a monument built in honor of those who were executed by Nazis during WWII.
There were hundreds of prayer houses around the old Jewish district (called Kazimeriz) because they were not allowed to do any work on the Sabbath. They needed so many prayer houses so no one had to walk very far (and do too much work by walking) to get to their prayer houses.
Before WWII, there were around 68,000 Jews in Krakow; after WWII, there were around 100. We saw more monuments dedicated to the executed Jews, and all of them had small stones or rocks sitting on top. I've seen this before at Arlington Cemetery and other gravesites where Jews are burried, and I've wondered why they do this. Our tour guide told us! It's because when the Israelites were wandering for 40 years in the wilderness, some of them died; when they died, the people had to put sand over the bodies and cover them with stones to keep animals from digging them up. So many Jews honor that still with the tradition of putting stones on top of gravestones. The first Jewish cemetery in Poland is also there in the Jewish district. A lot of the gravestones were crushed and used as gravel in the Jewish ghetto, which is a pretty sick and irreverent thing to do for so, so many reasons.
Moving along. The square that has been preserved in this way was not the Jewish Ghetto, but this is where many of the scenes from Schindler's List were filmed. Spielberg thought the actual site of the Jewish Ghetto was too modern, of course because things have been rebuilt by now. There were very few parts of the ghetto wall left, and there was a monument in the middle of the square now. But when he saw this other square, he said that one looked more true-to-life of the time period of the movie.
Looking around, I noticed many of the hotel names. There was Hotel Eden, Hotel David, and a restaurant called the Olive Tree, which is completely kosher. Also close to this place is a street called Cinema Street. (Ironic name since what I'm about to tell you is why the movie was eventually made.) During one of the displacements of the Jews, when they had to move to the ghetto, there was a Jewish man named Leopold Peferberg, also known as Poldek Page. This man was a Jew who was trying to make his way out of the ghetto via the sewage system. He came up too early, though, and he was caught on this street by some Nazis. But he was a very fast-thinking man. There were suitcases (from the Jews who were being moved) sitting haphazardly in this street. He quickly began putting them up against the wall, as if that were his job. When he made eye contact with the Nazis, he gave a Polish salute (two fingers only against the forehead) and greeted them. Well, the Nazis thought he was just a poor Pole who was being helpful, so they let him alone. He is the man who escaped and told Schindler's story.
We stopped for a few minutes at this round building that houses a bunch of fast food stalls. There are windows where you walk up, order your food, and they make it for you right there! So, why is there this odd-shaped building in the middle of the Jewish quarter? Because it used to be the sacrifice slaughter house. Please read the Old Testament of the Bible or the Torah to find out more!
Now we're getting to the old Jewish Ghetto. When the Germans invaded Poland, they made Krakow the primary seat of the general government. This is why Krakow was not completely destroyed like Warsaw was. That was in September of 1939, and one month later, in October, that's when the Nazis told the Jews they had to move to this particular place they called the ghetto. It was made to house 3000 people, but when all the Jews were moved, there were 17,000 people there. You can imagine how crowded things were, and that the sewage system could not handle that. Five or six families would have to live in one flat all together, no Jews were allowed to leave the ghetto. Brick layers built the walls, Poles were not allowed to help the Jews for fear of being executed, and even Jewish police would beat other Jews or punish them in some way because they thought doing those things would bring them freedom of their own. Of course, that was not the case. Now, there is only one section of the ghetto wall left, as a memorial. Our guide pointed out that it looks like a row of gravestones--the implication was purposeful.
At one time, there was a mass execution. All Jews had to come out of their homes and come to the main square. at least 600 Jews were executed at one time, chosen at random. The square was covered in blood for months. Now, there is a monument in the square. It's a bunch of statues of chairs, and they face different directions. There's a lot of symbolism involved, but I couldn't catch everything she said. Even without getting all of it, it was a very moving monument.
Our last stop was Schindler's Factory. Schindler was born in what's now the Czech Republic. He was known as a shrewd and unfair businessman, and he was even sentenced to death at one time, but he was let go before his sentence could be carried out. He arrived in Poland in early October of 1939 to take over a factory that made metal pots and other items from metal. At first he employed mostly Poles, but eventually, he employed mostly Jews because they were cheap labor (only 4-5 zlotys per person to hire a Jew), and they were not to receive any compensation. He said after the War that once you know someone, they become a person, and you begin to care about them. So he helped save all the Jewish workers he could, which numbered around 1200, including Poldek Page (Leopold Peferberg), who told Schindler's story.
Well, that was the afternoon! I met a very sweet Australian girl who has been teaching English in Oslo, Norway. We became fast friends! She's a doctoral student in Melbourne, Australia, getting her Ph. D in ESL Instruction--I didn't even know there was such a thing! She and I walked back to the Krakow city center and got supper together at a fancy-dancy place called Apertif. We got each got a Polish traditional dish and split them--they were so good! She got the pan-fried sheep's cheese on salad, and I got a form of chicken. The picture is the last one in my Krakow 1 pictures, and the first person to guess what it is wins a prize! Pictures are HERE.
GO!
Much love to you folks! More to come. Thanks for coming along with me! =)
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