Round and about Denmark

My time here in Denmark has been a whirlwind of family exchange (I am the package) but at the same time the family is taking me on site tours along the way!

Denmark hasn't had a great summer in the way of weather, the family tells me, but you sure cannot tell from the lushness of lawns, the green trees, rolling hills and blooming roses and other flowers in their gardens!  Denmark simply is a beautiful country.  There isn't the same hustle and bustle or building going on in Denmark that I saw in Poland and certainly not the "newness".  In fact in some ways it appears Denmark is starting to look a little worn and not enough care taken of its buildings (the roads are still great).  I see contrasts with Poland but also similarity in the love of bright colour on houses (mustard yellow and a kind of orange).

I have visited the small harbour town of Nibe which in the distant past some of my family came from.  I've visited other coastal towns and some harbours look bustling and busy while others appeared very qu iet.  Summer holidays are over from mid-August with children back in school and adults back at work so the sailing ships and yachts were docked.  Harbour restaurants are empty so we certainly had the pick of tables where I confess, I made a pig of myself eating wonderful fresh fish sandwiches and delicacies.  There's nothing like a good, fresh fish!

I've seen a fantastic Marineland called Oceania in north Jutland and I have visited the town of Blokhus to see the H.C. Andersen Sand Sculptures which were simply amazing!  Here in Aarhus where I am currently visiting family I have already seen a Viking museum (small) and then "old Aarhus" which is similar to the Heritage Park we have in Calgary.  It's many, many buildings reconstucted from different centuries in Denmark- from the 1600's to 1974.  Remarkable.  Many times I had a sense of deja vu to centuries back, a feeling both delightful and a little eery.  We had our lunch there, made from authentic recipes from the late19th century, and the flavours were simply wonderful.

You could say that  I am enjoying myself.

Summing up "Lesser Poland"

The title implies that I can sum up southern Poland in a short blog and a 10 day visit which is absurd.  However I can give you some highlights of what I have seen and been impressed by.

The scenery is very lovely, with many areas of old woodlands, green rolling hills, small plots of farmland seeded to various crops which one assumes is by rotation, and mountain  areas in the distance.  The roads are most often new and without a single pothole even attempting to form.  The towns and cities are full of new and modern buildings while there are plenty of magnificent, old churches in excellent condition.  The people are remarkably friendly although few speak English except for the younger generation but even so many in the service industry within the shopping malls do not speak English.  I also notice that there are very few overweight people and I have not seen one person you would call "obese" despite a lot of fast food chains like MacDonalds and KFC around.

I managed several tours like Auschwitz, the Salt Mines, Paradise Caves and  several churches as well as markets and malls.  Shopping is very reasonable, while the food and accommodations are very reasonably priced, even cheap. 

There is a lot more to see not only in this part of Poland but the other districts as well so I would not say Farewell to Poland but only au revoir!

Weather Report

In a word- hot.

I reflect on Mark Twain's little story about the weather but as it is part of the modern human intercourse to not only talk about the weather  but to constantly complain about it I shall continue my monologue.  Yesterday I innocently followed my friend  out the door on a market expedition little knowing that the thermostat was shooting up to 40 degrees centigrade. I do not recall ever being in such strong heat before, not even when  I was in Cuba  or Ecuador.  It is not particularly humid, this heat, until after the rain but you are not guarantee a cooling rain every day.

My friend says this is an unusually hot summer and lucky for me both the car and the apartment is air conditioned or I would be in deep trouble.  The band of heat is across this latitude of Europe but does not extend up into Denmark which is experiencing a cool summer.  My hope is that the contrast in the weather won't cause me to end up with a cold!

But hey, who needs to worry when one is not only on vacation but RETIRED.

Auschwitz-Birkenau

It is difficult to approach this experience because you cannot really use the term "I enjoyed it" and yet I found it an extremely interesting tour. The guide spoke excellent English and was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the camp.

I would say that if you are unfamiliar with all aspects of the Holocaust then this could be a very traumatic experience and as it was I told myself when I went to bed "don't think about any of it" which I managed to do so I slept well.

Nevertheless the tour was a profound experience.  My purpose at this writing is not to describe what I saw but rather what I felt.  Every time we entered an area I thought about what the prisoners were experiencing and while I stood there dripping sweat until I thought I was going to melt into the ground I kept reminding myself "this is nothing compared to what these people went through, you can go through 2 hours of this".  It is hard to ever again feel self pity when you realize that some of the people actually survived the horror and lived for years after wards and one can only wonder that they remained to live sane, useful and maybe even happy lives.

I cannot and never will understand how such depravity as existed under the Nazi regime is possible.  I don't know how much fear-mongering was needed to make the people complicit in these crimes, even by just ignoring them.  But in the words of Santayana "if we do not learn and remember out mistakes from history, we are destined to repeat them". (paraphrase)

Never again.

Wieliczka Salt Mine

Yesterday we went to the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial Museum but since I am writing on the fly I will leave that experience for tomorrow.

Today we went to the salt mines and let me just say that it was more than just salt from the mines since salt was dripping from my brow.  Another day of 35C temperatures!  They "warned" us that it would be between 14 to 16C in the mines and we whispered "please God".

Let me say that the experience in these mines is remarkable.  Aside from the mind blowing experience of the British Museum this has been the most impressive museum I have ever seen.  The various chambers are virtually works of art,carved out of the salt, they are amazing and well worth the trip down under. One of the things that I have been noticing more and more on trip here in Poland is how artistic and creative the Polish people are as well as attention to details.  I have always been led to believe that the Danes make the most impressive workmanship in the whole world but I very much think the Poles have them beat!  The carvings in this salt mine are proof of that!

One of the things that I am struggling with is the difference of Polish to other languages that I know and I really believe I am missing out on a lot by not being able to read Polish.  I had thought I would bone up on Polish history so I read James Mitchener's "Poland" last winter and while he had done some meticulous research it only scratches the surface of this amazing and complex country.

I want to recommend to my readers - if  you get  a chance to come to this country, you should definitely do it!

Day 3 in Poland

So here I  a m in a very hot, sunny Poland cooling off in our beautiful hotel (which I would rate as 5 Star) after a very full day of shopping in the open market in Nowy Targ (New Market).  We had done a pretty thorough job of it in Zankopane ye sterday (a full 8 hours)  so I am pretty sure I have a good  understanding of how to say thank you in Polish ( jenquia).

I was surprised that there were so many trees in Poland; for some reason I thought because the country was so old that all the forests would have been chopped down.  When I arrived in Poland I landed at Krakow airport and the terrain around it was gentle, rolling hills.  The following day when we drove to Zankopane it became more mountainous although not as majestic as the Rockies.  The town of Zankopane is for tourists, much like Banff insofar as it caters to tourists but they have a huge open market with excellent paved roads that are made for pedestrians only. 

I enjoyed the native cheese specialty made of lamb  & goat milk, served hot.  Later I tasted their Whiskey flavoured ice cream which I can recommend highly.  Prices of everything is very reasonable and food is especially cheap but very good.  I have been enjoying traditional Polish meals and am pleasantly surprised at how much I am enjoying the flavours.  Portions are very large so one must be cautious not to order too many side dishes unless you are prepared to not fit into your new clothes!

Tomorrow we travel to Auschwitz and I expect it will be a very powerful experience.

More then! Meanwhile, I think I need a siesta!

Hello Vacation

I'm now writing on the fly, sitting here not so patiently waiting for my brother to pick me up to take me to the airport. 

Yes, the long awaited trip to Poland begins today with a direct flight to Frankfurt and then on to Krakow where my good friend will meet me.  I have been busy all this week talking with both her and my relatives in Denmark and I practically have the month of August laid out hour by hour!  Oh to be so popular.

I spent a wonderful evening with my nephew and mother, chatting over a good meal, excellent wine from my trip to Blind Bay and later we watched the fireworks explode in town.  My nephew is off on his own year adventure in another 10 days so it was lovely to spend my last night at home with him.

Now for the anxiety.  Have you every checked your passport over and over again to ensure that it won't expire while you are travelling?  Have you checked, double checked and triple checked your ticket to ensure you know what airplane you are flying on?  I'm sure you have.  But have you dreamed over and over again scenarios where you can't get on the plane, where relatives are waiting for you "on the other side" but you can't even hear them much less reach them?  Even when I am not planning a trip I have these sorts of nightmares and I wonder why that is because I have actually never had an episode of not getting to the plane on time or not having my passport with me!

Let's not even think about all the duties that I leave behind.  Let's not worry that Mom or John won't read the long list of directions.  Let's not worry about the will.  Let's not worry. Period.

Let's just think about the great month that lies ahead.  I will blog as time permits about my adventures in Poland, Denmark and where the paths lead me.