The Suburbs

Legnica was fun as usual. :) It was nice to see more of it from my last two visits and to experience the town with family again. We spent some time hanging out with friends of my mother's on Saturday (went to their house, saw a swimming trophy award ceremony and business picnic, and back to their house - including a great soccer match) and Sunday (going to a really nice public park and local palace for lunch [http://www.palackrotoszyce.pl/; I had bullion soup with little meat dumplings and then a salad made of green beans, sliced turkey, and sun-dried tomatoes] before hanging out in their backyard garden for the afternoon/evening (I also played around with a mini golf set with the young daughter)). It was sad to say goodbye, as usual, but there are always possibilities to return sooner for more visits (and maybe even a closer location to western Poland than months in Warsaw).  Sunday afternoon and night I watched my first partial episodes of "The Flintstones" in Polish and Polish "X-Factor," which is basically "American Idol" with some differences. Monday was spent mostly traveling back to Warsaw after hotel breakfast (seeing mostly countryside and small towns after a brief trip through some of Wroclaw early on), with a stop at a fruit stand and a lunch bar along the way (I had red borscht and a sampling of different sides/surowki - shredded beets, shredded carrots, and a little salad). The weather has been lovely the last few days with warm temperatures and sunshine. We now have given up the rented car, collected all of our luggage (including what I stored in Warsaw at school), and arrived at our final hotel near the airport (after some brief issues on the road with traffic and/or construction). Tomorrow is our last full day in Warsaw before an early flight on Wednesday morning. I have some school work to do and a bit of planning for the final day, along with relaxing in the hotel room (such as watching Polish TV).

Whenever, Wherever

FC Barcelona, UEFA Champions League Final 2011 Winners

Watched one of my first professional soccer games. Saw Barcelona win a great match against Manchester United at Wembley Stadium in London, 3-1.

Culture War

So, we walked around some of Legnica, including where my Mom used to live and to go to school. It is neat to see how it is now and to compare changes I may know about since my visit five years ago and the times when my mother and grandmother used to stay here. We stopped by a newer mall and even went inside the apartment complex my mother and grandparents lived in, where my mother and grandmother spoke with a woman who lived there when they had and told us about some people still there and changes. Our lunch was Polish food (I had Ukrainian borscht and a salad with roasted chicken). Later on, we relaxed at the hotel and some of us went back out to the rynek and had dinner at an Italian restaurant [http://www.dongiovanni.legnica.pl/] (I had a salad with grilled salmon and later some fresh fruit) before walking back. Tomorrow we spend some more time here in Legnica visiting friends.

Deutschland and Back...

We drove to Dresden from Prague on Thursday. On the way there, we ended up taking a ferry to cross the river, while sitting in our car. It was strange, but neat as well. We saw a little bit of Dresden, such as some of the Old Town area. In the afternoon, we took a three hour boat ride along the river Elbe that is along the city. The ride was slow and relaxing. We also saw a lot (including palace and castle-looking places) along the river. After the ride, we went back to our hotel, which was on a hill a bit outside of the city. Today, after breakfast at the hotel's restaurant, we went from Dresden to where we are now, back in Poland. Right now, we are in Legnica, my mom's childhood town. We will be here for the weekend and head to Warsaw on Monday. Our hotel is a cute place where we stayed our (except my Mom) first time here, five years ago. Pictures soon... Now it is time to head out around Legnica. Our hotel: http://www.hotelpalacyk.lca.pl/

Dancing Shoes

The ballet of 'Cinderella' was great [http://www.narodni-divadlo.cz/Default.aspx?jz=cz&dk=predstaveni.aspx&sz=299&sb=3&ic=5535]. The dancing, dancers, music, story, and theatre were all wonderful. I liked the costumes more seeing 'Anna Karenina,' but this performance had great dancing, acting, and I knew the story better, of course (but it was changed a bit in interesting ways, such as the use of a fairy that was really Cinderella's dead mother, rather than a fairy godmother; the father and mother were a lot more involved, and so was the fairy for that matter. Cinderella knew her future before she left for the ball and there was a lot more mourning for her mother. There was a search for a foot using a picture rather than using a lost slipper. Cinderella's parents were heavily involved in the storyline and the prince did a lot more work - more traveling and temptations - to find his love again). And tons of glitter, but no mice or pumpkin carriage or glass slippers (only glittery feet and her mother's dress). I was happy to go since the location was so beautiful and this has been one of my favorite performances since coming to Europe. Pictures of the theatre will be added soon... Tomorrow we head to Germany!

Speaking in Tongues

So, the Czech language comes across to me as some kind of weird, altered Polish (not quite a Bizarro World version since there seem to be a lot of similarities). :-P And the city of Prague itself is quite infested with tourists and peoples of all kinds, which has given it diversity in terms of ages, languages, ethnicities, colors... everything.  I have been surprised by the large numbers of people I have seen lately, which must mean that I have been around too many tourist places/attractions or other commercial/places of interest (restaurants, stores, malls, etc.). Well, the city itself must be busy anyway. I am not sure I can imagine it in high season... whenever that may be (I guess between June and September sometime when more people have time off with children out of school). Today, after breakfast, we went and did a tour of the Prague Castle area. There were several tour groups, especially for senior citizens and school-age children. Prague so far seems much more touristy than Warsaw, Krakow, or any of the cities I have been to in Europe lately (might be behind only Venice so far in terms of numbers and busyness...). At one point we weirdly saw a woman walking around with a bobcat-like animal on a leash... We headed to Old Town for lunch al fresco [http://www.staromestskarestaurace.cz; I had potato soup, rye bread, and another Nicoise-like salad] and some gelato (I had a mixed berry flavor). Now we are relaxing in the hotel before the ballet tonight.

Sadly, now I am dealing with some weird cold. :-/ But, at least the weather is nice for our final day here in Prague before moving on to Dresden... As usual, I added some of today's photos to Photobucket. :)

“Thus, learning to understand our dreams is a matter of learning to understand our heart’s language.”

― Ann Faraday

Blog post title refers to this: http://indieblogheaven.typepad.com/indieblogheaven/2011/05/hear-the-two-new-arcade-fire-bonus-tracks.html

Turning Japanese

Went out to the ballet, only to find out that our tickets are for the ballet tomorrow, while today there is an opera going on. After quickly changing at the hotel, we went by tram towards New Town and had a Japanese dinner [http://www.miyabi.cz/_english/index.asp]. We then went for a walk and went to the mall. Later on, we relaxed in the hotel lobby and now we are planning what to do for tomorrow, which includes actually going to the ballet and maybe taking a boat ride/tour.

Pretty Prague

Today, we had breakfast at the hotel before our first Metro ride in Prague (and the first underground transport my family has had since we used trams and taxis mostly in Warsaw). We went to Old Town and walked around, taking pictures and enjoying the sites. We walked along the river and down all kinds of streets. Our lunch was at a small cafe on the river (I had another Nicoise-like salad and some rye bread) before buying some fruit and heading back to relax at the hotel. Tonight we are attending a performance of a Cinderella ballet. The weather is warm and sunny, which made walking outside easier since traveling by foot would be difficult if it were cold or raining. Tomorrow we have some plans to go on tours of the city and I am not sure what else. Now I may do some homework...

Photos added to Photobucket. :)

Not in Prague, but pretty :-P

“If I had a flower for every time I thought of you…I could walk through my garden forever.”

― Alfred Lord Tennyson “Millions and millions of years would still not give me half enough time to describe that tiny instant of all eternity when you put your arms around me and I put my arms around you.” —  Jacques Prévert

Czech It Out

After breakfast at the hotel this morning, we spent a few hours driving from Swiebodzin to Prague. I can say we were in three countries today - Poland, Germany, and Czech Republic - and stopped a couple of times along the way. We had lunch at a bar/quick service place on the road (I had borscht that had potato pieces, shredded carrots, and beets and then a gyro in a hamburger roll). After arriving at our hotel in Prague (we drove around and saw some of the city on the way), we went out to dinner [http://www.restauraceandel.cz/; I had a Nicoise salad and some good rye bread, but the sip of beer I had was too bitter and weird for me] and some shopping at a mall between the beer garden type place we ate dinner at and our hotel. We ended the night with some drinks at the hotel bar area (I had green tea) and now I am back in the room. Tomorrow we have some traveling/touring around the city to do and a ballet performance to see in the evening. The weather our next couple of days in Prague should be nice and the city so far seems cool - a mix of Polish and German from first appearances.

Quick...

-Ate a simple breakfast at our hotel
-Visited family members at their houses in Buczyna, Sieniawa, and Lubrza. Chatted, visited a corner store, tried foods (a coleslaw-like dish at one house,  'Ruskie' (Russian, cheese and potato) pierogi, 'kluski' (similar to pierogi, but round and potato rather than dough on the outside and meat on the inside), slices of bread, and rolls at another), enjoyed the weather outside, and saw a little lake
-Stopped at a TESCO supermarket for some food and ate it on the hotel's outside deck, so now we are relaxing since we drive to Prague tomorrow (5 hours after breakfast)

After Party: Part II

Went and met some family at a restaurant (Graffit: http://www.graffit.com.pl/#) near the Jesus statue and one of their homes. I had a salad with grilled small shrimp. After dinner, we spent some time having drinks (coffee, tea, etc.) and chatting at the house nearby. Tomorrow we go to visit more family...

After Party

Left Warsaw almost for "good" (until a possible future visit) other than the day-long stay before flights to the USA later. Today, we had breakfast at the hotel before checking out and our car ride from more central Poland near Warsaw to western Poland to visit family. We are now at a hotel in Swiebodzin, the town of my mother's birth and the current location of some family members (and famous Jesus statue...). The hotel is not bad (at least free Internet :-P) and the ride here was pretty smooth. We stopped midday in Poznan to site-see a bit and have lunch in the Stare Miasto/Old Town rynek. The Old Town area is really nice. I liked the small pieces of Poznan that we saw. We walked by a cool mall/centre with restaurants and shops and such that was converted from an old brewery (and is even called 'Old Brewery' [Stare Browar], reminding me of Manufaktura in Lodz, a converted factory) and the rynek was neat, especially the church and colorful buildings. We ate at Brovaria [http://www.brovaria.pl/EN-H28.html] (I had a pretty good seasonal salad with grilled tuna, grapefruit slices, peppers, tomato slices, lettuces, and such). The weather has been pretty good and we will soon be meeting with family members at a cafe... Had some nice chats in the car - even learning a law about always needing lights on when driving in Poland.

Under the Red Hog

No reason, just saw it on the Internet...

Today continued...

For dinner, we headed to a restaurant called "Under the Red Hog" ["Pod Czerwony Wieprz" http://www.czerwonywieprz.pl/]. I had some borscht with little dumplings (I believed meat-filled) and a salad with strawberries, asparagus, lettuce, and grilled chicken (off the seasonal menu). The food was all pretty good and we had a nice time eating outside (even saw a large group of American tourists). After that, we went to the big Arkadia mall and walked around and shopped a bit for some clothes and food/drinks (H&M, Carrefour, and A. Blikle at the mall and Piotr i Pawel on the way back). The weather was a nice temperature to be outside, but we could see lightning in the distance and hear thunder far off, but coming soon.

Tomorrow, after breakfast, we head out on the road. :) Back to Swiebodzin...

Jak Byka Kartofel

Last couple of days in Warsaw (other than another short stay pre-flight in about a week and a half). Yesterday was spent packing, going to Loving Hut for lunch (with a stop for a tiny bit of Malinova ice cream shop gelato-like ice cream/sorbet (apparently extra healthy from the sign about it and Italian-looking with the name 'Rosso'), and then heading to the airport. After picking up family and the car, we drove to our hotel - first hotel stay in Warsaw for me. :) After some relaxing, we went to Old Town and some of the city center. We had dinner at a restaurant in the rynek of Stare Miasto/Old Town (I had red borscht soup with a weird baked pancake with meat paste inside that I did not like and did not finish; I also had a salad with tuna, olives, tomatoes, lettuce, and cucumber). It was nice weather and we had a chance to go by the castle, some monuments and churches, and near the President's Palace. Today, after hotel breakfast, we went to the "state" office, where I learned that I was not fully prepared for gaining Polish dual citizenship unless I lived here a bit longer, in which case I would need my documents in English translated to Polish. I could go to do this procedure where my mother last lived in Poland (Legnica), but I would also need translated documents there. Otherwise, it might be best for me to do this at the consulate in NYC. Once we finished there, we packed up and fully moved out of my dorm, giving up my card, key, and bed linens when the room was checked over. We left one suitcase with the coat room for my program director to keep in his office while we travel around. Once we dropped off some luggage at the hotel, we left for Nowy Swiat Street and lunch at a milk bar (I had some bean soup - being called 'bean' does not mean 'meatless,' since it had pieces of pork or bacon - that was OK and a sampling of 'surowki,' which are basically different sides or pickled and/or shredded vegetables such as lettuce, carrots, cucumbers/pickles, and such that are normally used as sides in dishes. Most of them were good). We walked around a little before going to Lazienki Park; we saw (and heard) some pretty peacocks, the palace, and some monuments (Sobieski and Chopin). We then went to Nowe Miasto/New Town to a cafe before now relaxing at the hotel for a bit before going to dinner later. More to come (including a few pictures to be added soon)...

The End Has No End

Quick note since I have sunshine outside I need to enjoy and some packing, so I just wanted to jot down some quick points of the last day or so. I took the Polish exam and then went out for a bit. I checked out the Warsaw University Library (garden and rooftop). Not only gorgeous, but amazing views. After that, I went to the cytadel area before heading back to the dorm for a few minutes. A little after 5PM, I went to Old Town, where we all met for dinner at POLKA [http://www.restauracjapolka.pl/en]. I had some broth soup with noodles (rosol) and a salad with neat tomato sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and the famous Zakopane OSCYPEK (smoked cheese), which was grilled on some small pieces of bread. This was my first time having the cheese since I was a bit nervous based on the testimonials of others. :-P It was not terrible, but WAY too salty and the smokiness was not too bad; I had the main issue that our director has with it: the salt. We gave our program directors flowers and cards. In exchange, we were given tote bags with gifts inside (krowki - Polish butter caramel candies - in a tin and SGH pin and pen and yo-yo), in addition to a whole several course dinner with champagne toast. After a long dinner, the whole group when to the SGH student club, PARK. (Terrible beer comes with the entry free... the beer was worse than I remember when I had a few sips a couple of months ago...) Today I am about the head out for lunch and I receive guests very soon! :-D

Some photos added to Photobucket. :)

I'm Good, I'm Gone

Today was my last day of regular classes. I had history in the morning (where there was mostly a debate/discussion on conspiracy theories... not sure where that one came from...) before our program had a visit to the Presidential Palace. The tour was very quick because there are only certain parts available for public viewing (either in general or due to renovation) and since there was an event about to happen (details vague, but tourism was mentioned...). Gosia - our program assistant director - said this was the first time the program was allowed to visit the palace, which made us feel special. ;) It was neat to see where the Round Table Talks took place and rooms visited by the president and his guests. There was even a room where Chopin gave his first concert at eight years old. Our tourguide here reminded me of another person I know... :-P She also seemed to be knowledgeable of English, but Gosia acted as her translator instead of her presenting to us in English. After the tour, I walked along Krakowskie Przedmiescie and Nowy Swiat Streets, thinking about somewhere to have lunch. I ate at a popular Vietnamese place (Toan Pho) - some vegetarian pho (it was just ok; not the biggest fan of cilantro, so that was the main issue), sajgonki (Spring rolls... and I thought more along the lines of Summer rolls when ordering, which I prefer because I don't like fried foods; my bad, so I did not really care for these fried rolls), and a salad with fried tofu (only because most menu items had meat (beef, chicken, etc.) and/or fried foods), lettuce, nuts, mung beans, broth, noodles, etc. (salad was good - especially the broth and vegetables). After that, I headed back to the dorm before heading right back out for a trip to the Lazienki/Ujazdowskie Park area. I wanted to check out the Warsaw University Botanical Gardens, but I made it there close to a time that I would need to start heading back to school for literature class. So, I walked a bit in Ujazdowskie Park (so pretty) and along the street before going to class. I had Jews in Poland class (the only class I am completely done with until tomorrow I end Polish) when the literature one ended. Now, I have one more Polish class tomorrow and three papers due in a few weeks (mid-June and end of the month). I will begin my papers tomorrow... I hope. :-P I also plan to do a bit of packing and touring with my last couple of days.

Some pictures from today on Photobucket! photobucket.com/kab1221/

Foals - Blue Bloods

You've got blue blood on your hands, I think it's my own
We can go down to the streets and follow the shores
Of all the people, we could be two
Then I bite my nails to the quick, run back home

You've got blue blood on your hands, I know it's my own
You came at me in the midnight to show me my soul
Of all the people, I hope'd it'd be you
To come and free me, take me away
To show me my home
Where I was born
Where I belong

You've got blue blood on your hands, I want you to know
I hope'd you'd come and take me away, back to my home
Of all the people, it had to be you
Then I bite my nails to the quick, run back home

You showed me
Where to go
To my home
To my home
So take me
Through the roads
That you know
To my home

Come with me accept it, affect it, protect it
Come with me accept it, so now you know
Come with me accept it, effect it, protect it
Come with me accept it, so now you know

You've got blue blood on your hands, I know it's my own
We can go down to the streets and follow the shore
Of all the people, I hope'd it'd be you
You showed me my way back home
To where I was born
Where I belong
Where I belong


Last day of classes is tomorrow. Today I had Polish (last class since Wednesday is our exam during class), history, politics, and Jews in Poland classes. Tomorrow I have history (last one), a tour of the Presidential Palace (instead of politics class, so today was the last class for that one), literature (last one), and Jews in Poland (last one and including a short, quick exam... yikes). Wednesday I have my Polish exam and after that I have to write three papers that are due at the end of May or in early June (depending on the course and each about 4-5 pages, with two of the three being more liberal topics that we select based on course material and personal experience/interest, while the third has three options from which we have to select one). The farewell dinner at Polka [http://www.restauracjapolka.pl/] is Wednesday evening.


Right now I am jotting down a quick list of places to see and activities to try and do with my last few days here. I am also looking forward to traveling a bit more and seeing a few familiar faces very soon. ;)


Polish Word of the Day: bzdury [nonsense]

Maps

"Wait, they don't love you like I love you... maps..."

My thoughts today were about the song "Maps" by Yeah Yeah Yeahs. It can sometimes be easier to stick to a bus ride when you want to go somewhere than to figure out alternatives on-the-spot (sometimes luck or something else comes into play and a map is not needed, but that did not happen today for me). The weather was gray, cool, and rainy (more so in the afternoon a little bit after I decided to venture out). I wanted to do something today other than schoolwork, so I decided to go to Wilanow Palace since the palace has free entry on Sundays and most of my ideas would require the outdoors, but this one had a chance of being inside as well. I was out and did not grab a bus near me, so I took a Metro ride and some walking before giving up in the rain and heading back using a long bus and then tram ride. :-P. Saw some of the city and had a lot of rain on me, but it is okay.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the last school week (and the last Monday). Time for me to head back to working on this silly, lazy Sunday. Just learned not to forget my map next time I go someplace where I may need it. :-P Before I left, I did catch up on "Parks & Recreation" and "The Office," plus a little "Community" (I am a bit more behind on that one).

Underneath The Sycamore

A busy couple of days have happened since my last entry. On Friday, we took a train to Lublin and checked into our hotel (it was neat to have card keys and to each have our own). Our room had a nice view of the square towards the rynek/old town area - which at one point gave us a view of a crowd of spectators and dancers doing 'Brazilian Dance Fighting.' :-P Once we made it to our rooms and left our bags, we went around the city, seeing a group that is trying to preserve Lublin's Jewish history and their exhibit at a special gate in the city. After that point, we went near the city's castle, into an underground area near the town hall to see models and hear stories of the cities historical progress (including a moving model with lights, sounds, and Wislawa Szymborska reciting a poem before we heard the story of a fire that almost burned down the city). We later walked around the town, seeing the remains of a former cathedral, a former orphanage, 'Christian' versus 'Jewish' areas (before and now) and the gates and bridges between them, different places of worship, a Jewish university, a Jewish cemetery, and more of the city (paths, squares - but in the shape of an eye with 10 buildings on one side and stairs to the castle hill on the other). It is a cute little city. We stopped for snacks at one point before having a nice dinner at a Jewish restaurant in the Old Town area. I had a really good cabbage soup, plus an okay grilled salmon salad and this neat Israeli drink (with little bits of apple and cinnamon, which I had served warm since it was a chilly day). Later on, I had the chance to watch some TV and then some of us spent some time at a cafe.

On Saturday, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel (one of the better I have had at an accommodation since coming to Poland) before going to the Majdanek concentration/extermination camp. It is very well-preserved, which makes it seem as though we are on a movie set. It is also very close to the city and interesting to see after visiting Auschwitz (especially for comparison reasons). It is free to enter (just need to set up and to pay for a guide if wanted). It had some neat historical exhibits and the different buildings seem almost left untouched since the camp stopped being used. There was one room that had THOUSANDS of shoes. It was as startling as the amounts of hair and belongings on display at Auschwitz, but Majdanek also has gas chambers and crematoria that were not destroyed. It was a very informative trip and interesting to see how more than one camp appears, even so many years later. We also have been fortunate to have had AMAZING tour guides on every tour, from tours in Warsaw to tours in the tri-cities on the Baltic to Auschwitz and Krakow and Lublin and this camp. The guide also reminded me of someone I know, which made me almost laugh to myself. I appreciate people who care to learn and to teach about historical places with such knowledge and passion (particularly difficult places, such as cemeteries and death camps).

After we returned, I relaxed and did some work before going to the wonderful Night of the Museums. I stuck with a group of us who went, so we mostly saw just a performance at Lazienki Park (cool lights, tons of people, jazz music, a guitarist from Genesis) - on the way there some of us saw a few Annie Leibovitz portraits up along the street - then walked around the park (pretty dark except some candles, lanterns, or lights shined at certain points; saw some loud - they were making their presence known in sound, not sight - peacock friends again, but hard to spot in the tops of trees) and then headed towards a park near a castle/museum before walking around (the soccer stadium was lit up with cool lights and we walked by a hip-hop/rap concert in a park) and then going to Old Town. We sat at a cafe before heading back for the night. There were so many events and available museums (a couple of us checked the extensive schedule for the participating museums, galleries, cafes, and other places), it was crazy! And I am not sure I have ever seen so many people out... even during the day. :-/ There were lines and people everywhere, of all kinds and ages. :-P

Today, sadly, I have work and it is predicted to rain. HOWEVER, I may try to head out in the grayness soon. ;) Not sure what and when, but I want to see Wilanow and the first day of Chopin concerts! On Tuesday, we go to the Presidential Palace for a visit/tour.

Photos added to Photobucket. :-D

Gifted

Quick note about today. I worked on a paper (now due by the end of Monday) and then had two classes - Polish literature and Jews in Poland. I will soon be packing for our day trip to Lublin. 


The literature class' recent journey into more contemporary or modern writers has inspired me even more to look into Polish literature (mainly modern than classic). Some authors include Andrzej Stasiuk, Dorota Masłowska, Jerzy Pilch, and Paweł Huelle.


Lists:
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/2404.Best_Polish_Authors
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/feb/15/top10s.polish.books
http://books.guardian.co.uk/worldliteraturetour/page/0,,1720193,00.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_literature

I will keep looking into other authors. Maybe I will ask our assistant director again since she gave me Dorota's name and that book sounds really interesting.

Parks & Recreation

Part of "Grass" by Animal Collective:
I was very nervous how I felt in there
I was very cautious when you said "hey there"
Would you like to see me often
Though you don't need to see me often
Because I'd like to see you, often!
Though I don't need to see you, often!



Today, I began my day with a Polish lesson, during which we were given our practice tests to work on for next week's final exam. We then had a lesson on Zakopane (people, culture - food, music, clothes, art, animals, etc.) and Polish slang. Since the weather was so nice, I decided to head outside and go the Lazienki Park. I am glad to see it now that winter is over (last time I went inside the park was my first full day here at the end of January). The trees are flowering, the animals are out, the sun is shining... it was a nice day to walk around and see most of  the monuments and other sites around the park. After my walk, my program had a meeting; we talked about our trip to Lublin Friday to Saturday (our train departs Friday at about 9AM, to arrive less than 2.5 hours later; we are staying at Hotel Europa: http://www.hoteleuropa.pl/en/; We will almost immediately begin our tour of Lublin - mainly places of Jewish significance - after we check-in and drop off our luggage. In the evening, we have a group dinner at Mandragora Restaurant: http://www.mandragora.lublin.pl/, which apparently is Jewish cuisine to fit with the trip's theme/purpose of Jewish education.) Saturday, we have breakfast at the hotel before a tour of Majdanek concentration camp. Our train back to Warsaw is at about noon, so we can prepare for Night of the Museums and have some time to ourselves. Also, we received information at the meeting about our final dinner (Wednesday evening in Old Town), our program evaluation, and finishing the semester - checking out of the dorm, finishing classes, etc.

Only one more day of classes this week, plus I need to finish a paper before leaving for our Lublin trip. :-/ After that, I have classes and one test next week, plus 3 final papers that need to be completed by early June.

Photos from today on Photobucket...

Mistaken For Strangers

Interesting day. The weather was nice, but I did not have much of a chance to enjoy it because of my class schedule. It was a bit awkward to have classes again, although not too strange. I had a Polish lesson, where I had to go back to learning the details of Polish grammar. We learned more information about our Polish exam sometime next week (our last week) and that our class on Wednesday will include everyone on the program, where we will learn about Polish slang. I later had a history class (we learned our papers are due at the beginning of June and are much more personal and liberal in topic; we select what we want to write about based upon what we learned in class and from our experiences abroad; our actual lesson was about Prague Spring) and a politics class (again, another open-ended, personal choice topic. Similar to the paper in politics - in terms of due date, length, using course material - except about politics and foreign relations; today we learned about foreign relations between Poland and other countries after the fall of Communism). My Jews in Poland class was cancelled due to the professor's illness (both today and tomorrow classes are cancelled with a make-up tentatively set for Thursday; out trip to Lublin, so far, is unchanged - to be from Friday to Saturday). We had a paper for the Jewish class due tomorrow, but since the teacher is sick, there has been a loose extension for the paper, set to be due by the end of the week. :)

The extra time I had from cancellation of my Jewish class meant that I could eat dinner earlier, begin the long tirade of laundry work, and watch "Source Code" [it was quite good...]. Now I am up to finishing laundry and WORK. I have four papers, readings, some Polish work, and studying (for the Polish exam) to do the next couple of weeks...

Polish poster, where it is called "Code of Immortality" (in Polish)

Quote of the Day: “We don't receive wisdom; we must discover it for ourselves.”

—  Marcel Proust

Tulips

Happy Mother's Day [in the US, but not for a couple of weeks here in Poland]! :-D I almost forgot after being tired the last couple of days...

Today, I finished some Polish work and I eventually went out to buy some groceries before then going on a walk to enjoy the nice (warm and sunny) weather. I went from one park near our dorm to another park where there is a large mound with a monument to the Warsaw Uprising on top (read about this place in my Do It In Warsaw! book]. The first park has the same name as a place in the Zakopane area (Morskie Oko). It was there that I saw a dog that resembled my former dog Maggie. :-P There were some nice views of the city from up the "kopiec" (mound). I also walked by a stand with strawberries and flowers; I really like tulips and the berries smelled so nice and sweet. I later walked on Swietokrzyska and Nowy Swiat Streets and the smaller streets that jut out from Nowy Swiat (stopping at a place for a banana-apple-pineapple smoothie). I ended up looking around inside one of my favorite bookstores, Traffic Club. After that, I walked a bit to Centrum before heading back to the dorm, where I will now be doing some homework, listening to music, watching TV or movies I missed, and plan to do laundry today or tomorrow. I hope the weather stays nice so I can catch up on visiting the parks I missed out on in the winter.

Today's photos on my Photobucket.

Make Some Noise

Some upcoming events:
-Monday, May 9 = Back to school
-Last couple of weeks = filling in free time with any places I have yet to visit around Warsaw (library roof, parks, etc.)
-Friday, May, 13-Saturday, May 14 = Lublin trip (Majdanek death camp, cemeteries or synagogues and other important Jewish sites around the city)
-Saturday, May 14 night = Night of the Museums [http://noc-muzeow.pl/index.php/noc-muzeow/wojewodztwo-mazowieckie/warszawa]; in particular, I will try to attend the inaugural Chopin in Lazienki Park performance that night... and maybe head back for the weekly day performance the next day
-May 16-19 = last week of classes

There will also be one more group dinner for us CIEE students. Not sure what else may happen or is being planned, but on our last day in Krakow we heard about the Lublin trip this weekend and the final dinner.

Then CIEE is done for the spring and I head on 2 weeks of family travel to such places as back to Swiebodzin and Legnica, but also to Prague, Dresden, and near Rzeszow/Jaroslaw.

Another cool website: http://www.tastingpoland.com/index.html

Source Code

Have not written since Tuesday, so I have some bits to fill in from the last few days in Krakow. On Wednesday, we went on a trip around Wawel Castle - the royal tombs, rooms full of weaponry (I was pretty interested in the weapons, especially the swords...), the castle itself (where, in one room, people wore period clothes and sang or used archaic instruments to perform a song), and the cathedral. It was really nice, but sadly no pictures were allowed of most of it. :-/ After the tour, I had my first Krakowian pretzel (obwarzanek; it had a mixture of seeds and such on it) and a vegetarian kebab (basically a regular kebab without meat or cheese or falafel - so lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, tahini-like sauce in a roll). I walked around the city a bit (including going back to a famous store for my family - a deli in the rynek that has candies on one wall and alcohol on the other). For dinner, I went to a place called MOMO (it is an eco vegetarian bar), where I had a miso soup with mixed vegetables and a plate with rice, beans and onions in a sauce, spinach and tofu, and zucchini and broccoli in a sauce (the best of the three; I liked it a lot). After dinner, we all met up for a string concert at a church near the hotel. The music included pieces by Handel, Vivaldi, Chopin, and Mozart. It was really nice. On Thursday, I went out for a walk and saw a monument for a famous Polish battle and then walked a bit at a mall and around the city before taking our group bus to Oswiecim/Auschwitz. This second time at the death camp, for me, was interesting since last time I did not watch the video shown to tourists. We also had two great guides - the one from the museum and our program director (who had previously worked as a guide at the camp years ago as a summer job when still at university). I learned a lot more and had another chance to look at the camp. I did not mind going again to experience it with different people and to learn some new or additional information. Thursday night included a little going out at night to dance and to see the city when it's dark. :-P On Friday, we went on a tour of Kazimierz, the Jewish area of Krakow. The tour included a few synagogues and a cemetery (I also saw a more recent Jewish cemetery later on after I went to the nearby mall). After the mall, we all met up at the restaurant at our hotel (http://www.podwawelem.eu/), where I had some barszcz with dumplings and an oriental salad with shrimp, before catching a train ride back to Warsaw. Since then I have been relaxing since I have more "travel lag" with fatigue and aching muscles. This has led to 24 hours of nothing. I have some schoolwork to accomplish and I am in the middle of catching up on TV shows and movies I have been meaning to see or missed recently. The weather today and tomorrow are not the best for going outside a lot, so at least I do not have to feel very guilty about not leaving much. School starts again on Monday for our final two weeks!

Photos added: http://photobucket.com/kab1221

Young Blood

Happy 3rd of May Constitution Day! :-D Sadly, this meant a lot of places were closed, but not too many. And, it did mean wonderful celebration and decoration with many people and Polish flags around.

Today was the FUN trip to the salt mine. Because of no traffic, the bus ride was really fast and our group had a private English tour (lots of licking, lots of salt...). The mines were amazing. There is so much to see: statues made of salt or wood, several chapels, chandeliers, and all sorts of passages. We spent maybe three hours there and, as visitors, we see only 2%! It was a neat trip and I will show pictures soon. Word of the Day: Krasnoludki (gnomes in Polish; they can be found in the mine ;) )

After that trip, I headed into town and bought my first zapiekanka. I wanted quality (since many sold from gas stations, supermarkets, etc. are not so great). I had to even WAIT since it was that fresh from the oven at a real restaurant that had a to-go window with a shortened menu [http://www.restauracja-horoscope.pl]. It had a proper baguette, cheese, mushrooms, spinach, chives, and garlic sauce (was surprised about the mushrooms, but was hoping for tomato sauce - thought the waiter mentioned ketchup, but maybe he thought I selected only garlic sauce when I heard him ask about that and then ketchup, but I kept just saying yes to it all in Polish... maybe it was forgotten, but I would have wanted tomato sauce over ketchup anyway.) I am glad I did not settle for a junky zapiekanka. When it comes to Polish foods, street ones or not, there still are a few more I have yet to try (of course some I would not try or eat if I had had before ;) :-P ) - kebabs (may sample here since I want a vegetarian one and a place with good kebabs is nearby my hotel and offers them), obwarzanek (sort of a pretzel-bagel hybrid on the streets of Krakow served either plain, with sesame seeds, with salt, or with poppy seeds), nalesniki (other than the vegetable tart I had with nalesniki in it and the one time I had it at someone's home over Easter/Spring Break), potato pancakes, oscypek (smoked cheese that I am uncertain I will try...) meats, non-Polish foods (some Asian, American - hot dogs and hamburgers, some other ethnic etc.). I have had a paczek (singular for paczki) with rose jam filling, a gofra (singular for gofry) with strawberry jam topping, ice cream/sorbet, a zapiekanka with spinach and mushroom and chives, and other dishes (several soups, pierogi, meats, surowki/salads, croquette, vegetable tart, kasza/buckwheat rice, salads, side dishes), candy - toffee Pawelek, vanilla ptasie mleczko, chocolate bar with hazelnuts, princessa waffle bars, one chocolate-covered biscuit candy from a vending machine, paluszki - pretzel-like rods, piernik (gingerbread/cakes), and krowki (caramel candy that I had a while before coming to Poland and not here)...  will have to research the rest to see what I am missing, such as pho that is popular due to the Vietnamese minority. ;) After the zapiekanka, I walked around and it sadly began to rain. I hid in a Coffee Heaven (http://coffeeheaven.pl/) for a bit to read and to have green tea, but ended up heading back to the hotel in the rain for a bit before dinner. At dinner, I had a chicken broth soup with chives, thin noodles, and carrots and a salad with chicken, almond slices, some avocado slices, red peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, and balsamic sauce, with sorbet scoops for dessert. Now I am relaxing before Wawel and other tours tomorrow, with a free time before a concert in the evening. We have dinner alone, but will be reimbursed. I am thinking about what to have: kebab? Vegetarian? [http://vegarestauracja.pl/ may be the place... or my old standby Green Way...] We'll see. I received a lot of good info today about history, culture, books, Poland, and the others on the program. The cold and rainy weather was the main downside of the day.

Time

Some quick info about what my program did on May 2, Polish Flag Day. Yesterday was a neat tour of Krakow. I was especially happy to visit places I had never visited including parts of Jagiellionian University and a couple of really nice churches. After the touring, most of us went to an English-language bookstore. I was very tempted to pick up a couple of books in English by Polish authors... but decided against it to save money and because of future issues with packing. It was after this shop that I headed to Cupcake Corner [http://cupcakecorner.pl/en/] with a few others and I had a carrot cake cupcake. I followed this with some snacks at the room, where I relaxed, did yoga, and went on the Internet for a bit before we all met up to go to dinner at Wesele [http://www.weselerestauracja.pl/]. I had some borscht soup with meat "little ear" dumplings in it, a little of the table bread (not horrible, but not the best of breads), a salad with lettuce, tomatoes, orange slices, duck, pistachios, and dressing, and a bit of two sorbets (lemon and raspberry) with hot tea on the side. After dinner, I hung around with the other students in a room two of them share (we all stayed in the living room area to be together and celebrate "America," as some of them announced, upon hearing news of Osama's demise... even listening to patriotic music, which include "America, F*** Yeah!" that had already been somewhat in my head from the other students talking about the news and their excitement) and then we went to a few clubs. Right now I am preparing for breakfast and then we are off to tour Wieliczka Salt Mine before free time and then dinner (at Miod Malina: http://www.miodmalina.pl/) in the evening. Tomorrow we will be back to touring Krakow when we see different parts of Wawel Castle. (Thursday includes Auschwitz and a performance of classical string music at a church near our hotel; Friday is touring a historically Jewish part of the city before departing).

Lublin Tour has been updated to Friday-Saturday May 13-14. We all visit the Presidential Palace that Monday (May 16).

Photos soon.

Kim i Kraków

Enjoying being back in Kraków. :) Forgot how much I really like it here. Yesterday, we had a train ride that was about 3 hours, so it went by very quickly. We checked in to our hotel (it is very close to the Wawel castle; I am sharing a pretty big room with a sitting area, TV, desk, two double beds, and balcony with view of adjacent walkway. Unfortunately I now smell a weird smell... so my only issue may be my bed. :-P There is also a very awkward "maze" to make it to the rooms and there is construction going on inside the hotel.) Yesterday, we had an Italian dinner at Da Pietro: http://www.dapietro.pl/ I had fish soup, a salad with capers, smoked salmon, hard-boiled eggs, olives, lettuce, and tomatoes, and a dessert of ice cream, strawberry sauce, fruit, and whipped cream (that I tried to skip around :-/ ).

After dinner, I walked around the rynek here (including taking photos or looking at stages, and several other displays and decorations for Constitution day on May 3 and for Pope Jan Pawel's II beatification; a lot of people and celebration here in the city for the long weekend and Pope): some streets, the Sukiennice, and area between the Old Town and the hotel. I went back to my room when the sun went down and hung around my room and other people's rooms before we went out for a bit (dancing and such). Now I am resting before going to breakfast and our first tour session of Collegium Maius (never been), back to the Sukiennice and Main Square (LOVE), and a couple of churches (also never been inside). Later on we have dinner at (I believe) a Polish restaurant named Wesele: http://www.weselerestauracja.pl/

Tomorrow is Wieliczka salt mine. I also started taking pictures yesterday and will take more today, to be added soon to probably Photobucket. :-D Weather is much cooler than what I experienced last week... but still not bad as we welcome MAY. We have a map and a guide to the city, plus free time to go with the scheduled tours. I also have some homework to do: readings for literature class, a couple of final papers to begin (since those are the two with set topics and due dates; any others I lack enough information to work on), possibly watching a movie for a class, and some Polish book and workbook exercises. I know that I have been doing at least some practice and studying of the Polish language in the last week, in preparation for the exam the final week of classes. :-P