Roadtrip to Southern Poland and Prague

A couple of weeks ago we had a wonderful visit with our daughter Lauren and Aaron (her husband.) who flew in from Salt Lake City and after seeing Old Town in Warsaw we went on a whirlwind 5-day trip with them to Krakow, Auschwitz and Prague.

We enjoyed two nights in Krakow at a Bed and Breakfast, first visiting a Salt Mine that was amazing! David and I were just hoping for something to do that would get us out of the rain. But we had no idea what a treat we were in for when we first climbed down staircase after staircase after staircase. Lauren (our trip planner) had researched it and had a better idea, although it exceeded her expectations.

You can read about the Wieliczka Salt Mine online. We learned that it has been in operation for 900 years. Once, it was one of the “world's biggest and most profitable industrial establishments when common salt was commercially a medieval equivalent of today's oil.” Since the mid-18th century Krakow's Wieliczka Salt Mine has become increasingly a tourist attraction. For years David's saying "back to the salt mines," did not conjure the images we now have in mind. We were amazed by the many tunnels and art-work carved in the walls and chambers of the mine.

This picture was taken by David a week before the kids arrived. Located 20 minutes from where we live, Wilanow was built for Jan Sobieski (r. 1674-96), Poland's heroic monarch. Sobieski led the Catholic Allies in the liberation of Vienna from the Turks in 1683. Touring through this palace with Lauren and Aaron the day after we returned from our trip, I'm sure David will want to return for an indoor tour.

We loved the beautiful city Prague and enjoyed visiting a museum and the Old City Center there. It seems that all of the ancient cities of Central Europe have an "old town".

The magnificent churches and architecture spanning hundreds of years give each "old town" its distinctive appeal. It's fun to speculate on the lives that have walked the streets and wonder how each generation has left its mark to all that we now enjoy.

Even though we are experiencing these cities in the blustery fall or pre winter season, we managed to find a great deal of life and activity around every corner. Even though we were surrounded by many other tourists, we could sense

the unique culture of the local people of Praga. Praga is the Czech Republic spelling for Praque as we know it. It would be well worth a return trip to see the castles and other sites that we had no time to visit on this trip.

Thanks Lauren for being a terrific trip planner--we loved touring castles, the salt mine, eating out and visiting along the way! When we get together over Christmas we'll have to play Favorite Five again adding some elements of our memorable vacation.

A few more pictures on All Saints Day

I loved the glow and warmth created from hundreds of candles left on many of the graves in the cemetery.

How gorgeous the leaves were in full autumn color just before falling. A walk five days later leaves were not just fallen from the trees but raked into piles, showing much effort given in taking care of the cemetery. Kind of those leaves to stay on the trees for All Saints Day!

All Saints Day

Halloween is barely noticed by Poles in Warsaw. A few pumpkins were lit in restaurants beconing tourists or festive-minded site see-ers like ourselves on October 31. However, the cold, crisp night air didn't detract thousands of Poles from paying respects with lit candles and flowers on November 1, All Saints Day to neighborhood cemeteries. We walked about 4 kilometers from our apartment and back to a large cemetery with the Stuckis. Prior to our late night trek, they showed us how to make gnochi (amazing Italian potato noodle fare coated in gorgonzola, butter and pecans--delicious! Paula Dean's never made anything better!) What could be better than memories of that delicious meal? Nothing, but our friends' photos (our camera was out of juice) which they were kind enough to share with us provide equally wonderful mementos of that Polish holiday.

On the way to the cemetery we passed the Monument for the Fallen and Murdered in the East. It commemorates all the victims of the Soviets who after they had invaded Poland in 1939, deported the population of Eastern Poland to Gulags and killed about 30 000 P.O.Ws.

The bronze cast monument includes a piece of a railway track and a wagon similar to those used by the Soviets for deportations.

Many westerners are only aware of the cruelty of the Nazi occupation in Poland. The Poles, however, are very mindful of the extreme conditions that existed thoughout history under the occupying forces of the former Soviet Union. Leading up to WWII and by the end of the War, Poland lost more than 7 million people to extreme cruelty. This includes the 3 milliion Polish Jews.