It’s 75 degrees F here in Ames, Iowa, and I bought my first flowers for the garden, so I better wrap up my recent postings reliving my trip to Poland. I’ll end with a flower picture, just to get you in the mood for gardening season! This was taken in Wroclaw.
And this last photo shows the reason for the trip in the first place, spending time with my son!
I had the privilege of visiting in several Polish homes while I was there in 2008. I so wish I could have known some Polish so I could have visited with this wonderful lady. But maybe next time…..if I keep working on my Rosetta Stone Polish lessons!
I loved the color in Poland, sometimes a flash of red from geraniums on a balcony, sometimes a flash of bright paint on a wall. These colors at Coffee Heaven give you an idea of what I saw.
We had a nice visit here on our way back from Kutno.
Going to Poland to visit my son in 2008 was my first (and so far only) trip to a different country. I expected things to be quite different, I mean, I traveled ALL that way, right? But the first day there we went to a large mall and it was a lot like the mall in downtown Indianapolis really, except when people opened their mouths, this strange language came pouring out. They looked just like Americans…….it was quite a strange feeling! Maybe I expected the cut of the clothes to look different or something! One thing I did notice though as I saw several apartments, things were smaller in Poland and I loved it. This small kitchen of some friends is one example. Maybe I am too used to the large McMansions of American suburbs, but this petite version of living sure seemed to make more sense.
This washer under the bathroom sink is maybe even a better illustration of small living.
So Day 3 of my Poland trip was spent in Poznan and enjoying my time at John and Carol Pepper’s apartment. John is on the left in this photo and our friend and worker, Loran, is on the right.
Late night accordion player serenade in Warszawa’s Old Town.
To continue reliving my 2008 trip……Castle Inn in Warsaw was a charming place to stay my first night in Poland. As you can see here from their web site, each room is uniquely decorated. Ours was called the Tree Room.
Right outside the building you can see this:
And the bathroom and shower in our room were divine!
I arrived in the morning and managed to stay awake until about 6:30pm. The sound of horse-drawn carriages and an accordion player outside my window was a lovely way to fall asleep!
Poland is in mourning for the 16 who died in a head on train crash last weekend. From the BBC photos I saw, at least one of the trains seemed to be like this one I rode in going to Turin.
I liked this train, even though it broke down on the way back to Poznon.
It was open and roomy. Here is my son, enjoying the space.
There was plenty of room for children and a kitty too!
While we were waiting for our train to be repaired, some hopped off and picked golden plums off the trees.
My sympathy goes out to those in Poland who are mourning.
On one trip to Denver a few years ago, I ventured further west by myself and discovered the Colorado National Monument. Normally, I like the lush and green…. and the beach, of course…… but sometimes the lack of green fascinates me too. I thought a lot about bare bones survival on this trip. When life gets distilled down to hundred year old trees that grow at a snail’s pace and animals that survive by living underground, one sees life through a different lens.
On our nostalgic trip out east, my sister and I visited Washington D. C. I’ve been there several times, once for an AmeriCorps training week where we toured the memorials at night after our training sessions. What I’ve always loved most is the memorials, not really sure why. If you ever have a chance to see them at night, you should really take advantage of it.
I don’t really believe in war as a means to solve conflict, and yet, I am thankful to each and every soldier for what they have had to face. Does that make any sense? When I was a child, I thought I could stop the Vietnam War, if I could just stand in the middle of the “battlefield”, I would say, “stop this!” My heart goes out to every soldier who has faced the battle, to every soldier who has died, to every family who has suffered a loss. I wish our society would stand up with one voice and say “no” to more war. Maybe some day……..
Steven and I have taken several wonderful trips to Colorado. We visit his family, but we usually take a little vacation side trip too, which involves mountains and sometimes even some snow in July! The drive west always amazes me…corn, corn, corn, flat….then some irrigated fields in Nebraska, then dry, dry, dry…so dry it makes your nose uncomfortable. And then……mountains appear like clouds in the distance. We took a trip to the Rockies when I was a kid and I loved it, but especially so since my sister did a lot of the driving! Remember Pike’s Peak?!! I’ve gotten used to driving in Rocky Mountain National Park in recent years though. The mountains are overpowering, more so than the ocean for me, but they have their own magic..and then there are the valleys and canyons and white water rushing over boulders, all frothy and exuberant!
