Sunday, May 4th, Vilnius, Lithuania

 

Greetings!

Finally, there was a reason we brought our raincoats and umbrellas.  The weather report said that we were in for a sprinkle, and it turned out to be much more.  Cold hands juggling umbrellas and cameras, and growing puddles to avoid getting wet feet.  

After a welcoming briefing after breakfast, Ella (our local guide) took us on a walking tour of the Lithuanian capital.  The people whose country stretched from the Baltics to the Black Sea now govern a small European remnant north of Belarus and Poland.  Founded in 1579, when Jesuits were invited to fight against Catholic reformers by establishing the first (and now largest) university in Europe, it's the Vilnius University.  There, we listened to Arturus, tellus about life as a young person in Vilnius.

After lunch in a local restaurant, the group headed off in different directions for some individual exploration before meeting back at the hotel in the late afternoon.  Our main tour guide, Paulius, then led us to the Republic of Uzupis, a kind of bohemian artist community founded one April Fools Day and maintaining a light-hearted approach to independence and anti-establishment status ever since.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Sunday, May 4th, Vilnius, Lithuania. 
 

Saturday, May 3rd, Vilnius, Lithuania

Greetings!

 Today, we packed up our bags, and headed to the Airport for a flight to Lithuania.  Our tour guide for Poland (Monika Auksutyte) managed exceptionally well our logistics and happiness, and we all were very reluctant to say goodbye to her upon arrival at the Congress Hotel in Vilnius.

Having spent almost the entire day getting here and obtaining our rooms, our new local country guide took us on a walk from the Hotel to the City Center, and then to dinner at a local restaurant. 

On the way, we encountered a parade of almost 500 motorcycles ridden by celebrants of the opening day of their riding season.  The roaring of their engines became almost unbearable at times, and no one dared cross he street anywhere near their routes.

To see all of the evening walk photos, click on Saturday, May 3rd, Vilnius, Lithuania.

Friday, May 2nd, Warsaw, Poland

Friday, we set out by bus for a city tour of Poland's flourishing capital.  Unlike Krakow, much of Warsaw was destroyed in World War II, and since then, the city has used its vivacious spirit to rebuild.  We walked through Lazienski Park, the largest park in Poland, and full of historical buildings designed by centuries of renowned architects for the City's political elite.

Chopin is the most famous locally-born resident by far, and his heart is truly here.  Several in our tour attended a concert this evening in the Warsaw Concert Hall to excellent reviews.  In a local park, speakers in benches play excerpts of his music at the push of a button.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Friday, May 2nd, Warsaw, Poland.

Thursday, May 1st, Warsaw, Poland

Greetings!

Our travels took us to Warsaw on Thursday, by train from Krakow.  In the morning, a local guide (Deedee) walked us through some areas of the oldest section of the Jewish Quarter in Podorze.  We visited Oskar Shindler's Enamel Factory.  Next to a museum which provides a unique perspective on life in Krakowfrom 1939 to 1945, displaying 45 meticulously assembled rooms designed to show what streets, hair salons, train stations, and more looked like in Krakow during this contentious period in history.  

We then walked to the Ghetto Heroes Square, dedicated to the memory of the victims of the Krakow Ghetto.  The former Concord Square was the place where 300,000 Jews had to congregate to be deported.  In 1943, when all but 15,000 young and employable residents had been deported, the belongings which the Jews had managed to carry on their last journey to Plaszow or Auschwitz accumulated on the square.   

According to Tadeusz Pankkiewicz, the proprietor of a chemist shop at number 18 on the square.  “An incalculable amount of furniture which had been carried backwards and forwards countless times was rotting”.  That witness, who was not a Jew, ran Apteka Pod Orlem, a chemist's shop at number 18 of the square which was the only one in the whole Ghetto which the Nazis allowed to continue with its activity due to the fear of spreading epidemics. Taking advantage of the concession, the pharmacy provided the Jews not only with medicine, but also with smuggled groceries, information from the outside and a space for the clandestine meetings of the resistance.

In the Old Jewish Quarter in Kazimierz, we visited the Remah Synagogue, and then peered into one of the oldest Jewish cemeteries.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Thursday, May 1st, Warsaw, Poland.   

 

Wednesday, April 30th, Krakow, Poland

Greetings!

Today, we went by tram (free for those over 70), train (fast and clean), and foot to Tarnow, where a significantly smaller version of Krakow shared a beautiful sunny day, and people enjoying a pre-holiday (May Day) vibe.  Plenty of museums, churches, and ice cream (lody) shops to visit,  Last night, when instead of sleeping, we previewed the city by watching six YouTube videos by locals of the top (?) things to see in Tarnow. 

Speaking of museums, one of those in the town square displayed examples of what ChatGPT said Pat's local ancestors might have used their metal-working skills to make.  Armour and swords were suggested could have been the source of the surname's origin, and blacksmithing a valuable skill in support of local knights and hose protecting the landed class.

Did you know there are 67 steps in the circular stairway leading up to the tower above the town offices and museum?  And do watch your head near the beginning.  Once at the top, the 360-degree view provides an impressive opportunity to repel any foe by arrow.  

Much of the day was spent getting to and from Tarnow, so not many photos.  To see them, click on Wednesday, April 30th, Krakow, Poland. 

Tuesday, April 29th, Krakow, Poland

Greetings!

 Krakow began as a towering cathedral, castle, and trading center built on a rock near a bend in the Vistula River in the 10th century.  It stretched north to add gridded streets around the second largest Medieval square in Europe, one of the world's oldest universities, encircling it all with a huge wall and garden, and it became the Royal Capital of Poland.  

This morning, we walked from our hotel to the rocktop site, and continued on throughout the rest of the City in two large expanded golf carts.   Visiting St Mary's Basilica, and Saints Peter and Paul's Church, we obtained tickets for the huge underground archeological dig under the square we'll visit tomorrow while others visit Auschwitz.

South of the City lies Kazimierz, the Jewish quarter and home to many old synagogues and refugees from Ukraine and Bohemia.  Our hotel (Golden Tulip Krakow Kazimierz) lies in the center of the district, and is served by several free trams.

To see all of the photos taken today, click on Tuesday, April 29th, Karakow, Poland.

Monday, April 28th, Krakow, Poland

Greetings!

This weekend, we began a journey to combine a return visit by Pat to Poland with our first visits to Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.  Finally, we'll fly to Lapland in Finland to share some time with those carrying for reindeer.

As you will remember, Pat's grandfather left from Poland in 1909 at nineteen years of age.  We're here in Krakow to see what we can find in Tuchow, Tarnow County, about where he might have grown up.

We're with our tour guide (Monika) of Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT), who showed us the City square, after we earlier toured the Jewish quarter by ourselves yesterday.  

To see all of the photos taken yesterday and today, click on our first trip post, Monday, April 28th, Krakow, Poland.