Zakopane

A week ago Monday, we had a school trip to Zakopane which is a town in the Tatry mountains. It's about a 2 hour bus trip, so we got there around 11am. It was a super cold day and it was snowing big, fluffly flakes. There had also been snow pretty much non-stop all weekend so it was perfect weather to be up in the mountains. 

Furs

Doro, Me

View from the Ski Lift

Cheese! Yes, that's all cheese

Snowdogs

The main street of Zakopane is very much in the mountains. It's a long snowcovered path that is fairly uneven filled with shops, restaurants and vendors on either side. You can get fresh mountain cheese, furs, boots, and other mountain gear. The cheese is very popular and very tasty. At one point there was a whole line of cheese vendors. They were all yelling at passerby so I went up and sampled the pieces of cheese they shoved at me with a knife. I wasn't ready to buy any before my hike up the mountain so the woman made me take down her stall number so I knew where to stop on my way back. 

We visited this church which had several animated winter scenes inside, much like the Marshall Field's window displays. In one scene there was the Pope and he moved back and forth making blessing gestures. It made me laugh. 

Church

Inside

Animated Pope

At first we had some free time so rather than shop, a small group of us decided to take the ski lift up to the mountain top and walk around. At the top there was this narrow snow-covered path with stands along the side where you could by food and mountain goods. You could also go skiing, sledding, snowboarding, etc. You had to be careful though because every few minutes a horse drawn sleigh would come galloping down the path. All the horses wear bells so that you can hear them coming and can spring out of the way in time.

Sleighs

Sleighs

Snowball Fight!

We tried to walk down the mountain but it was too icy and the path was closed. Afterwards we headed down and met the rest of the group for the Kulig, which is a traditional sleigh-ride on a horse-drawn wooden sleigh. A row of sleighs were lined up, some with two horses, some with one. We piled into the sleighs and the mountain men tucked us in with big furry blankets. Them the horses took off into the woods. It was like being in a fairytale. Everything was covered in a white blanket, you could see the mountains and the forest and the snow was falling lightly the entire time. About twenty minutes in we gave the horses a ten minute break. We all had to get out of the sleighs. One of the more energetic teachers immediately separated us into two groups across this little stream and started a snowball fight. There were over 40 of us, so it was pretty awesome. 

Fire

After the sleigh ride we headed to a huge cabin heated by a fire where a traditional dinner was to be served. The language, culture and cuisine is very different in the mountains. The waiters were wearing traditional mountain attire, and there was a life ensemble. They played music, sang and danced. Then we danced and were given lyrics so we could sing along. 

The first course was fresh bread with smalec (a lard spread with pork), pickles and two soups, żurek and cabbage soup. The main course consisted of a ham that they brought out flaming and sliced in the middle of the room, accompanied by roasted potatoes and bigos. Tea and cake followed. By then we had all thawed out. We loaded onto the bus and headed home. 

Dinner

Tourist Time at Home

Last weekend I had some tourist time. I went to the Schindler Factory. I am going to explain this because quite a few people who I've spoken to have no idea what that means.

If you've ever seen the movie, Schindler's List, it is based on a true story that took place in Kraków. Most of it was actually filmed on site because the 'Jewish Quarter' of Kraków looks very much like it did during WWII. The Poles maintain it this way to commemorate the Jews that were killed during the war. It was a primarily Jewish neighborhood, and the Schindler Factory employed Jews during the war. It served as its own private camp in a way. Oskar Schindler was a despicable human being, but his one redeemable quality was that he seemed to care about his employees. They were taken care of better than in other camps; fed regularly, and received medical care. The famous 'Schindler's List' represents the Jews he dismissed a few days before a Nazi round-up (they would have been killed or sent to Auschwitz or Płaszów where the life expectancy was very low) and thus saved their lives. Many of them survived the war and were able to build new lives and families.

One of the photographs from the museum. I love the 

character of these ladies

Kraków was a particularly interesting place during the war because it became inhabited primarily by Germans. It was used as a kind of German 'headquarters' because of its ideal geographical location. German families were brought in and virtually replaced the Polish population. They destroyed many Polish monuments and buildings and the Polish people suffered terribly. However, Kraków is one of the few places that was not completely destroyed structurally. Most of the historic buildings still stand unlike Warsaw which was basically leveled. 

Most of the Schindler Factory buildings still stand today, but have been turned into a museum. One of the best things about the museum is that there is a note of optimism maintained throughout. The beginning presents life in Kraków before the war and tons of photos of the people, the city and festivals. It then takes you through the fall of Poland, how life changed in Kraków and then addresses the holocaust and the role the factory played for Jews here in Kraków. There are video accounts of employees from the factory, and residents of Kraków. I am so glad I did not go to the museum this summer, but waited until now because being able to understand a fair amount of the Polish gave me a very different perspective than I would have had not knowing any. Of course everything is also in English, but it was nice to be able to switch between the two. It was also fun to see old pictures of Kraków, since I now know where all the landmarks are. Not much has changed structurally since the 40s, which is fascinating. 

A beautiful book I found in a bookstore about

a woman's adventures in Poland

Overall, I found the museum very upsetting. After all, it is the holocaust. But I'm glad I went and I would definitely recommend it to anyone visiting Kraków. The last room of the museum had books you could leaf through filled with positive stories from the war. People who survived, who were courageous, who found love despite all that was going on. So you get to leave on a positive note. It was also amazing to see how resilient the Poles were. They never gave up fighting. When the universities and schools were closed, they continued to have secret classes to continue to educate their youth. An effort was made to continue speaking Polish and even the artistic community was kept secretly alive. Polish culture was like a flame that couldn't be extinguished. 

The carolers in the snow at Podgorze

Sunday night I went back to the Jewish neighborhood for an open caroling event. The temperature finally dropped again (I never thought I'd say that) and so the city was covered in snow again. I prefer this to cold rain. A big group of people gathered together outside around an electric keyboard with candles and sang carols for about an hour. I didn't know all the carols, but they gave out little books with the words and I sang along anyway. It had a very good turnout and afterwards there was żurek (soup) for everyone. In line for soup afterwards, I met a Grandpa who had lived in Chicago for many years (on Michigan Ave by Water Tower Place! He was like, 'do you know where that is?' DUH!). The first thing he asks me is if I know 'Oh Holy Night' and then he just starts singing it. The key was a little high for me, but I joined him anyway and kept up as best I could. By then I was very cold so I met up with some of my classmates for some hot wine to warm up before heading home.

The tent with the accompaniment

Nowy Rok

Probably the most spontaneous NYE I've ever had. Kinga invited Doro and I to join her at her friend's party. Our instructions were to bring what we wanted to drink and snacks. I picked-up a bottle of vodka, some chips and pretzels and at 8pm we headed to the party. 

My favorite pic of the night. I took a pic at the same time as Kinga and our flashes crossed

It took us forever to get there. This girl, Magda, has a nice apartment way out in the middle of nowhere. It's about 30 minutes from the Rynek by tram, assuming the trams run punctually - which they rarely do. We also had to take several different trams and a bus to get there because we had to pick up Kinga2 on the way. It was funny because the tram was filled with people all carrying bags of food and liquor. You could hear the bottles clink as they entered and left the tram.

We finally arrived and met the guests. We ended up having lots of duplicate names. There were three Magdas and two Kingas. To make matters worse, these identical twins arrived wearing the exact same outfit, with the same hair and make-up. I got a bit of a shock because at first I didn't know there were two of them because they came into the room at different times. I met the first girl and then all of a sudden, there were two of her sitting on the other side of the room. I definitely did a double take. All the guests were Polish and spoke no English, which I loved. A few times they tried, but I couldn't really understand them in English. A mixture of their strong accents and bad grammar made it almost unrecognizable. So we stuck to Polish, and dear Magda acted as an interpreter when I couldn't fully express myself in Polish (her English is superb, although Kinga made it very clear she was not to speak English with us). 

Magda, Me, Kinga

We all sat around the room and were given a shotglass and a cup of pepsi or juice. You placed  them on the floor in front of you or on a table if you had one and we were told that it was our glass to take care of. There is a special word for this in Polish. Basically, you had to keep your shotglass empty. Simple enough, right? Then you've never drank with the Poles....

Kinga had some fun with her computer

(Magda, Doro, Me, Kinga, Kinga)

A bottle of vodka was pulled from the freezer (I'm convinced every Polish home as one at the ready) and shot glasses were filled. 'Na zdrowia!' and you took your shot followed by a swig of juice. Then we'd chat, watch some of the NYE concert in Warsaw and then your shot glass would be filled again. Then snacks and sweets would be passed around and moments later your glass would be filled again. I am proud to say that I held my own, didn't get wasted and didn't get sick! 

M&M

The plan was to get to the Rynek for the big countdown. We couldn't get a taxi, so we hopped on the tram, which unfortunately was scheduled to arrive downtown at 12:03am. Somehow, this ended up being perfect. We got a tram car all to ourselves. We did the countdown all together and at midnight popped champagne and exchanged wishes. Every single person on the tram car came and gave me a hug or shook my hand and gave me wishes for the new year and only three of them had met me before. One guy came up and gave me a big bear hug and said, 'I wish you health, happiness, luck' and then he pulled back, but didn't let go of me, looked me straight in the eyes and said, 'and love.' We all had some champagne and then a couple of the guys shook up the bottles and started spraying everyone. The whole car was covered in champagne. It looked like there had been a rain storm.

Smokin' a Palushek (pretzel)

We arrived downtown to a crazy scene. The streets were packed with people passing around open bottles of champagne. The street was filled with bottles so that you had to be careful because about every other step you'd start to roll on a bottle. People were smashing bottles in the street and shouting greetings to each other. There was a huge stage erected in the main square and a concert was going on. We stayed for awhile, danced and then when it got too cold we headed our separate ways and called it a night. 

Mayhem at the Rynek

Parties went on all night long. There were several in my dorm. The people above me  woke me up at 9am singing 'stand by me' followed by lots of loud Polish conversation. They finally crashed around 10am and things started to settle down. The Rynek was spic and span by the next morning and it left you wondering if it had all been real. Not a piece of glass in sight and the stage was gone. New Years Day was sunny and there was not a cloud in the sky. I'm taking it as a sign of good luck because we hardly ever see a full day of sunshine here. I got to start the New Year off with a nice long walk in the park.

More Germany Adventures

Run-in with the Polizei : I went to a Xmas concert in Freudenstadt with Doro and a couple of her friends from school. The concert was great. Vocal and instrumental. I knew almost every single song on the program, so naturally, I sang along in the Wassermann way. Every song was in English except for one and it turns out I knew that one, too so I just sang the English words.  

Doro and I after tea with the grandparents

After the concert we discovered that we had  parked in a 'no parking' zone. There were these huge arms blocking the exits so we couldn't leave the lot. There was no number to call, so we had to go to the Police station to see if they could let us out. Fortunately, Doro's Dad has a friend that is a policeman and he called the police station and gave them a heads-up before we arrived. The Policeman were amused to say the least, they told us we should learn how to read. They found the key to the arm and sent us on our way. 

I tried Grandma's famous knödel and sauerbraten for the first time. Yum! This is what it looks like. Knödel is a sort of bread dumpling. Sauerbraten is meat that is a bit like brisket and is served with sauce. 

Xmas Eve

Oma and Opa took the whole family out to lunch last weekend. They do this every year so that everyone will get together and catch-up. I got to meet Birgit's  sisters and their families. Doro's cousins are all much older and have families of their own. We had lunch and then returned to the house for cake and coffee, during which one of Doro's cousins and his wife announced that they are expecting their second child in July! Doro's Opa kept talking to me in German and her Oma would subsequently scold him, saying that I didn't understand. But he kept saying the same three things over and over, so by the end of the meal I was on the same page. He would tell me that his son studied music, that is grandson was studying medicine in Vienna and that he was so happy to have met me and that I should send his regards to my family. I assured him I would.

Xmas 

After everyone went home, Christian announced that we were all going to watch a movie together as a family since it was our last evening together. He told me we could watch something in English because he only looks at the pictures, anyway. It turns out the movie we chose didn't have English as an option, so we just watched it in German. We all squeezed together on the couch with a line of chairs as footrests along with wine or beer and a sweet of your choice. After the movie Christian made his familiar announcement, "who's going to the bathroom first?" I love that he always says this even though me, Anna and Doro always get ready for bed first. We all head to the bathroom and wash-up simultaneously. We have reached the point of no privacy between us. When we are done and in our jammies, Anna calls down the stairs, 'ok, the bathroom's free. Goodnight!'

The whole family on Xmas

Sunday we woke up early and had breakfast together. Then Doro headed to the stable for the last time and I packed. Both Doro and I were given figs and packs of Vitamin D to be added to our luggage (figs are better in Germany and there is no sun in Poland). Around 12pm we all sat down and had lunch together. It wasn't too long after breakfast, more like a second breakfast, but Birgit was determined to feed us again before we left. Then Anna headed to the stable and the rents, Doro and I piled into the car and headed to Stuttgart. En route to Stuttgart we encountered a huge, bright rainbow. One end happened to be over the road so we actually got to drive through it. It was really cool. At the airport we checked-in and then bought some Polish magazines for the plane and sat and had coffee and macaroons together. Saying good-bye at the gate was difficult. I had such a wonderful time and feel like I acquired an additional family over the last two weeks. They told me that if I have any time over the semester break I should come back and stay with them and if not, I will always be welcome in their home in the future. We went through security and then they waved to us as we headed toward our gate. 

Awaiting take-off

Our flight to Berlin was packed, but then we had a connection in Berlin. It's clear how the Germans feel about Poland. Our flight to Kraków was about half-filled. In Kraków, Doro's cousin Michał picked us up and took us into the Rynek for drinks. I had forgotten how beautiful Kraków is, especially at night. The city is even more decorated than when I left. There are strings of lights hanging above the streets and there are huge Xmas trees covered in lights everywhere. "Falling lights" are everywhere so that it looks like it is snowing. We sat at a cafe and watched the New Years preparations and the many tourists mill about. It was a little challenging because I can only speak to him in Polish, but I found that it was much easier than when he took us to Poland. All my conversations with Christian have helped my listening comprehension immensely. 

Our empty plane

After a glass of hot wine, Michał took us home and headed back to Katowice. All my roommates are still at home, which was a wonderful relief. However, I came home to mushrooms growing in my bathroom sink (our faucet leaks so badly that 'off' isn't much different from 'on'), a fridge full of moldy food and a bowl of rotting fruit on the counter. Gross.