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Poland

August - September 2021
A 16-day adventure by skip's retirement travel Read more
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  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 2

    Royal Lazienki Park

    August 28, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    This is the estate and Royal park of the last king of Poland before Poland was partitioned among Russia, Prussia and Austria which lasted until 1918 when Poland was reestablished as a republic led by Marshal Pilsudski who lived in the Belvedere Palace shown in the 1st picture.
    The 2nd picture is of the 1st building built in the park and was the king's residence while the palace was built. It became a guest house. The 3rd picture is the summer palace. The residence palace/castle was in the old town (see another post).
    The 4th picture is the orangerie, about the largest I've seen.
    The 5th picture is of a small amphitheater by the lake. It was designed after temples of antiquity, including damage to the old temples.
    The last picture is a look at one small area of a very large park.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 2

    Jewish Ghetto area

    August 28, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    The Jewish ghetto in Warsaw is famous in Polish history as the neighborhood where the Nazis walled in up to 500,000 Jews. At the time, Warsaw had the 2nd largest Jewish population in the world after NYC. Poland provided protection, and was a center of religious tolerance and freedom for centuries. By the end of the war, almost all 500,000 had been killed, most at Treblinka.
    The ghetto was destroyed by the Nazis. These pictures are of memorials in that part of the city where the ghetto had been. The 1st picture in said to be known to Jews worldwide and is the memorial of the uprising in the ghetto in 1942. The 2nd is of the simpler 1st memorial to those who revolted.
    The 3rd picture is of the stature of Jan Karski, the journalist who gathered evidence of the Holocaust early in the war, but no one believed him as it was too horrific. He remained in the US and taught at Georgetown.
    The last 2 pictures are of the Polin, the museum of the Holocaust in Warsaw. The entryway is said by the architect to represent the parting of the Red Sea. The last is of the mezuzah at the entrance to the Polin. It is made from a brick from the foundation of one of the demolished ghetto buildings that was excavated at the site.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 2

    Old Town, Warsaw

    August 28, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    This is the original part of Warsaw. It was destroyed in world war 2 and rebuilt on the original gothic and baroque foundations using original materials as much as possible.
    The 1st picture looks across Castle Square named for the home of the last king of Poland at the end of the 18th century that lies along one side. The 2nd picture is inside the castle courtyard. If you look closely at the red wall (which remained after the bombing), you will see a multiple coat of arms. This has the white eagle of Poland and the armored knight of Lithuania dating to the time when the 2 countries were combined. The 3rd picture is also in the castle square and is the statue of the king who moved his court from Krakow to Warsaw. The 4th picture is of the barbican or city gate in the double medieval city walls. The 5th looks along the city walls with the guard space and/or killing ground in between.
    The last picture looks across the market square around which the old town developed as most medieval towns did.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 2

    St Ann's Church

    August 28, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This is the old church closest to the castle, dating to the 15th century. The 1st picture looks at the church from Castle Square of the old town (see another post). The oldest part of the building is the brick apse to the left of the picture.
    The 2nd picture is of the nave and the 3rd is of the chancel. A close look will show that there is a double chancel behind the altar. This is where the cloistered monks worshiped keeping them separated from the people.
    The 4th is in a hallway to the former monastery. The ceiling has very unusual architecture. Pictures 5 & 6 are at the left side of this hall. The 5th picture is rare inlaid wood at the entrance to the sacristy which is the last picture.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 2

    Warsaw

    August 28, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    Warsaw is the capital and largest city in Poland. There is so much here that I am providing several posts. This is just an introduction to the city.
    The 1st picture is of a landmark building. It is the Palace of Culture and Science. If you have been to Moscow, you might recognize Stalin's wedding cake architecture, as it is called. This building was a "gift" from Stalin to the people of Poland. Of course it was the tallest building and a reminder of the Soviet presence. The building to the left of the Palace is a new building under construction. The look of Warsaw is changing. In fact, the 1st building to be taller than the Palace of Culture and Science is only now being built. The 2nd picture show several buildings of various ages all together.
    The 3rd picture is of the Presidential Palace.
    The 4 picture is of one if many plaques line this around Warsaw. After the 2nd Warsaw uprising (the 1st was the Jewish ghetto uprising), Hitler ordered the destruction of Warsaw and it's people. The plaques are located where the local people were executed. The only difference is the number cited. This one says 50 were killed at this spot. I'm told there is one citing 550 deaths.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 3

    Olsztyn

    August 29, 2021 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 16 °C

    Olsztyn is a small city with a famous connection that I'll get to shortly. The 1st picture is the upper gate to the city and is the only part of the medieval walls I saw. The 2nd picture is the back of that gate. The mosaic is a gift from Pope John Paul II during his papal visit. The 3rd picture is the exterior of the Church of St. James where the Pope visited. I was surprised to see the scallop shell symbol of Santiago de Compostela, linking this church to the cathedral all the way at the west end of Europe on Spain. BTW, I didnt get to see inside the church as I visited on a Sunday, and there were back to back to back masses, precluding a tourist visit.
    The 4th picture is actually about the famous historic connection. This is a a statue of Copernicus. He worked here in charge of the castle in the 5th picture and made many of his astronomic observations from the tower shown.
    The last picture is unusual. This is a carving of a female deity that is a memorial to the pre-Christian warriors who died in battle but were not buried in their home towns.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 4

    Swieta Lipke

    August 30, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C

    The story is told of a criminal facing execution who had a dream of the Virgin Mary. He was told to make a carving of Mary, and he was to place the carving in the 1st linden tree he saw after being released. When the carving was found in his cell, he was exonerated and released. He placed the carving in the tree and left.
    The tree became known as the Holy Linden or Swieta Lipke in Polish and became associated with many miracles. And the small town took that name.
    After the original tree died, a church dedicated to Mary was built. It is one of the finest baroque churches in Poland.
    The 1st picture is of that church, and the 2nd is a detail of the gate. The 3rd shows part of the cloister and the decoration, similar to frescoes. The 4th picture is a mosaic of Mary within a linden tree placed on the outside of the rear wall of the church. The 5th and 6th pictures are in the church itself.
    There is still an active Jesuit monastery here at what is the 2nd most important Roman Catholic pilgrimage site in Poland after Czestochowa. I will visit Czestochowa later on.    Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 4

    Organ at Swieta Lipka

    August 30, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    The church at Swieta Lipka (see another post) has an historic organ of about 4,000 pipes. It was played in a mini-recital while we were there. This video captures a bit of the organ music and is a panoramic view of nave. What you see is mostly originally as this church was not destroyed during the war.Read more

  • skip's retirement travelPoland
    Day 4

    Wolf's Lair

    August 30, 2021 in Poland ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    This is probably Hitler's most well known military headquarters. It was here that all activity on the eastern front was directed, and it was here that the failed assassination attempt on 20 July 1944 took place.
    Interestingly, this place was never discovered during the war until the Soviets over ran the site after the German military had destroyed all evidence.
    When the Soviet army came through here, they blew up everything. The pictures I've included are remains and reconstructions of the bunkers that made up the 2.5 square kilometer site. It was, for all practical purposes, a small village unto itself.
    The 1st picture is Hitlers bunker. The 2nd is of the remains of the building where the assassination attempt took place, and the 3rd is a recreation of that space just before the bomb went off.
    The 4th picture is inside remains of a bunker. The 5th is a restored bunker where the Wehrmacht headquarters were located. Notice the rebar loops at the top. These were connection point for camouflage netting. The last picture is some reconstructed camouflage over a pathway.    Read more

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