Krakow! Church ceilings, synagogue porticos, and cafes everywhere.

In Sopot

We find ourselves at the old Grand Hotel Sopot, a famous spot on the edge of the Baltic which is now a Sofitel. They kindly gave us a key to the spa showers and access to the beach for free. I keep feeling like I’m sneaking into the Galvez pool to rinse off on my way out of Galveston.

We had lunch and cappuccinos on the beach for 139 zl–$45–and are killing time before the flight to Kraków. Here in the cigar room their gallery of famous guests on the wall includes Putin, Henry Kissinger, Lech Walesa, The Shah of Iran, and Castro. What a team.

Strongly feel I do not need further evidence of man’s inhumanity (I am Irish, after all), but here we are in Poland

In Malbork we hired a private guide who recommended herself chiefly because she could show us which parts of the castle were original and which were bombed or destroyed by Germans, Poles or Russians over the centuries, then artfully reconstructed after the war. (As Peter’s cousin told us, the Poles are famous for their ability to recreate history, and they have had plenty of practice, starting with the wholly reconstructed Warsaw.)

The guide was smart and knowledgeable and very fast on her feet–looked like a 68-ish prosperous upper east sider. However, she didn’t want to tell us much about herself.

Here she is looking out one of the drawbridge doors.

I fear she was completely appalled by how quickly we wanted to move through the famous place.

So we arrived to Gdansk, the city on the Baltic Sea, at 6:30 last night and took a stroll to the old town. We can see it plainly from the hotel but we have to walk a bit in cross two rivers to get there. Pass through the old Town Hall — a Dutch Mannerist masterpiece from 1587-1595, and enter a world of tall narrow buildings that also look Dutch, or Belgian. In fact there are two points here. First the city was Polands largest trading port on the Baltic, in constant communication and in business with Dutch, Russians, and other Hans. Second, the whole place was ruthlessly destroyed by the Soviets at the end of the war, largely because they felt it was more German than Polish and they wanted to get revenge on the Germans for all the pain they given the Russians. So, like Warsaw, much of it is a painstaking reconstruction but with slightly less fidelity to the past. Much of their ancient brick work was sent to Warsaw after the war in a Fix-Warsaw-First program for the country. Lots of Plaster remains. What’s more we read that some of the urban planners decided to do some judicious editing, ridding the city of German architectural influence, and emphasizing Dutch elements.

Poland.

Anyway, here is the Town Hall I so liked, and which I’m not entirely sure is original.

And here is the water of this port town.

What is this 6-inch Oblaty Produkt in the stores in Poland? A pale thin wafer wrapped in paper with a cross on it? Do they sell hosts in the grocery stores? How Catholic is this country?

Moonflowers

My favorite installation from the Torun Light Festival, Moonflower, was staged by Singapore artist Lee Yun Qin.

 

Festival of Lights in Torun

We are here in Torun on the recommendation of a Pole from Kraków. It is roughly halfway between Warsaw and Gdansk. It is an ancient city, completely charming, and they say wasn’t destroyed like so much of Poland, primarily because Hitler felt it was German. This is the part of Poland that was sometimes German, sometimes Russian, and occasionally Polish. Torun also had a strong Lutheran community, which was something of an anomaly in Poland; the rivalry lead to murder and riots in the 1720s. But there are still Lutheran churches and Lutheran plaques on the street.

We have arrived during the summer week that is their Festival of Lights, called the Bella Skyway Festival. This city, always a tourist destination, is swollen with people come to see the various light shows, eat ice cream, and move back and forth, inside and outside of the ancient walls of this city on the banks of the Vistula.

That said, brace yourselves, Nicole, Megan, and Jane. This is just outside our hotel.

And you have to eat gingerbread in Torun–they have a museum for the stuff.

Benches Play Chopin in Warsaw

All you do is press the little button on this black marble bench in the middle of Warsaw’s famous park, and a recording begins to play Chopin.

Staropolski Zurek

Staropolski Zurek translates to old Polish fermented rye soup. Don’t be put off by the name. After all fermented Rye is at the heart of whiskey. The soup was so good after a bite I thought this is the kind of thing I’d like to take a picture of. And I thought I don’t like to take pictures of food. And then I thought but this is so much better than most food. So I buy that point I couldn’t stop myself from eating it. And now you have a picture of an empty bowl. Old Polish fermented rye soup. You won’t regret it. We are having it here at the 1231 Restaurant, which is named for the year that the Teutonic knights arrived to quell the troubles here in the medieval city of Torun.

Stop in Kutno

When on the road between Warsaw and Torun, you don’t have to Google for the best café — go to Kutno, to the Cafe Zamenhofa.