Zakopane

Jim at one of the churches we visited. Everything was made of wood

Our carriage ride

Madge and Marylou at the market by one of the cheese stands where we bought our cheese

grilling Polish sausages

Photos from the Salt Mines and Zakopane

meal after the salt mine

Salt factory church 400 'deep

Schindler's Factory

going down the elevator in the salt mine-a thrill ride

Jim in the church

Zakopane

Today was a full day tour to the mountains of Poland.  It was a lovely trip-the scenery reminded us somewhat of Norway or the Canadian Rockies with the tall trees and type of greenery.  Zakopane is nestled in the valley of the mountains and has a large market with all sorts of items.  One of the main local treats is cheese-smoked cheeses from all sorts of animals-goat, cow, etc..  They gave samples and it was quite good so we bought a few small pieces for our bus trip tomorrow.  We got a small ice cream cone and sat on benches and people watched and enjoyed the time there.  We stopped at some pretty churches on the way to the town where we had some free time.  Then we headed up the road to a lovely little hunting retreat where we had dinner.  The meal was excellent.  My favorite thing was the fried smoked cheese that is a delicacy in this area. yum. It was really good. They had music and dancers while we ate.  Afterwards, we had our first surprise of the evening-a horse drawn carriage ride out into the countryside.  I think it was a national park if I read the sign right at one point.  Jim got to sit with the driver and Marylou and I got the backseat.  It really was a lovely afternoon to do it and it was peaceful and just a real treat.  After about 45 minutes, he let us out at a small restaurant where the bus was waiting.  But instead of getting on the bus, we were taken to the yard out back where they had built a big bonfire and had polish sausages for us to roast and eat.  I didn't try any as I felt sure they had garlic in them, but it was fun to roast them.  We all laughed about how they could do this right after a huge meal.  But most managed to find the room to down them pretty well.  After a nice visit there, we headed on back to Krakow.  It was a really nice day and we were glad we got to go see this part of Poland as it is very different from the cities where we have stayed.

Salt Mines

We just got back from a really great tour of the salt mines in Wieliczka (Poland).  They are awesome. The miners have carved all sorts of scenes and figures and other things in the mines and there is a huge cavern with the most beautiful scenes where they play music and can even hold worship services.  We had heard it was beautiful and it surely lived up to our expectations.  We had a meal afterwards and it was excellent as well. They have been wonderful to make sure I have not had any problem with the garlic and onion allergy.  We had the best mushroom soup served in a carved out roll with a top and everything.  On the way back from the mines, the bus driver (Martin) and our program director Yenreck detoured and took us by to see the factory from Schindler's list.  We really were thrilled to get to see this.  Tomorrow we have an all day touir to Zycopane in the mountains.

Photos of travel day and Krakow

Krakow

Madge dancing in Krakow

Black Madonna

Auschwitz

Birkenau

Jim dancing in Krakow

Krakow

On to Krakow

Today was a long travel day.  We left the hotel in Warsaw at 7:30 and headed toward Krakow.  We ran into an accident that shut down traffic on the highway and so we were late for our appointment with the nun guide at the monastery where the Black Madonna is located I can't spell the city.  They were having a mass and they cover the Black Madonna at noon so we got there just in time to see it today.  I think for some of our group who have Polish heritage, the mass and songs and other things brought back very poignant memories.  Poland is very Catholic and over 90% go to church every Sunday so it is a huge part of their culture. 
We headed on toward our next stop at Auschwitz but first stopped and got our box lunches so we could eat on the bus.  Let me just say that I felt sorry for our program director again-the sandwiches were all VERY moldy-no one could eat them because of this.  It was a weird assortment but most of us had enough to at least get through without eating the sandwich.  I do think they better find a better place to get box lunches from! We had another two hour drive then on to Auschwitz.  We had been to Dauchau and I thought I was prepared for this but I have to say this was just almost more than one can take in.  The inhumanity to man and the terror and the stories are beyond description and so much of this camp is still there for people to see. We also toured Auschwitz 2 better known as Birkeanau which killed over a million people.  There are just not words to describe it all.
By the time we left there, we were all pretty drained and exhausted. There was a lot of walking but also just the emotion of it. Our guide was great-he ended the tour by telling us his great grandfather was a prisoner there and that is why he does the job he does.  We piled back on the bus and got to the hotel in Krakow late.  We had an included dinner which was very good and then we had entertainment. The dancers and singers were dressed in traditional Polish costumes and were very good and a lot of fun.  Today was Cassandra's 18th birthday so we all sang to her and enjoyed the program. Afterwards anyone who wanted to took a walk with Yendreck to the square. Our hotel is in the middle of the Old Town so walking will be easy for us. Jim is doing that now while I am updating this.  Tomorrow we have a city tour and then we go to the Salt Mines for an optional tour and will get in late, so it will be a busy day.  I will have to post photos tomorrow as I don't have time tonight to download them.  It was an interesting day even if it was tiring.

Sunday in Warsaw

Today was a relaxing interesting day here in Warsaw.  We started out with a lecture that was supposed to be given by a former Auschwitz survivor, but it turned out he was in the hospital so his son came instead. His father's life story was so interesting, shocking, sad, all of the above.  It all really makes what happened during WWII that much more vivid.  His father had medical experiments done on him and this son has CP as a result of it. 
After the lecture, the bus took us to the royal park, which was not part of our tour but Yendrick arranged it all himself. He is beginning to loosen up and I have heard him laugh or make a joke a time or two so I am hopeful that he will be enjoying himself by the time the tour is over.  He is trying so hard and as I said before, this is a rather unconventional group.  But he has them under control for now anyway.  The park is very pretty and the palace there reminded me of the chateux in the Loire Valley in France-set out on an island in a lake.  We then drove to Old Town where we got out and enjoyed joining the many residents of Warsaw in their Sunday afternoon walks and enjoying time together out with their families.  We went throught the Royal Palace since it was free today to go through it.  It was beautiful and ornate and has a lot of gorgeous artwork.  We went inside a couple of the churches in the area which also were pretty.  We walked around the center of Old Town and went in some shops and then decided to come on back to the hotel with the ones who were going to the Chopin concert tonight.  I had been to several concerts when I came to Prague and Budapest and Vienna with Janis several years ago plus we have done some on other trips and we decided to pass on this one.  We went to the little market next door to our hotel and got some things for dinner and are relaxing, watching World Cup, and getting our things packed up to move on early in the AM.  Another interesting thing on this trip has been the two hotels and the elevators.  We've been places before where you have to put your key in to get the elevator to work, but not too many.  Both the ones on this trip have been that way, and not just because we are on the executive floors.  So we are having to remind ourselves not to put the key away too soon after we leave the room. There are a lot of Inner Circle members on this trip so we are all being treated really well.  Those of us that went on the pre trip in Berlin, got rooms that were suites with kitchens and living rooms and balconies.  Those that were there just for the one night before the regular trip started had regular rooms.  I do think all of us that took the Berlin pretrip are glad we did. 
Tomorrow we have a long travel day as we move on to Krakow.  We go by bus and got our bus and driver today and we all are quite pleased.  Yesterday the bus had broken seat backs and other problems so we were not looking forward to traveling a long bus ride on it.  But the one we had today that we will have the rest of the trip was nice and nothing broken.  So we are all happy campers.  During the drive to Krakow, we will stop at Czestochowa at a 14th century monastery and also at Auschwitz where we will tour both camps.  I think most of us are both looking forward to that and dreading that as it is certainly a horrible place and one we can hardly imagine. 

For Dalton, Emily and Delaney

Last day in Berlin and Warsaw City tour photos

Checkpoint CharlieOld Town WarsawAt the Lego StoreJim at the wallKaiser Wilhelm new churchMarylou and Jim buying our tube tickets

Warsaw

Today we were both tired-the late night arrival and short night of sleep caught up with us.  We had a city tour of Warsaw and it was very good.  It is very sobering to realize that our hotel (the Radisson) is located in what was the Jewish Ghetto.  It was totally destroyed after the Jews were killed and it is a nice new section now, but to know what took place right here, is just very sad.  The Old Town of Warsaw was destroyed but has painstakingly been rebuilt with old materials to the exact way it was before the war.  They have done an amazing job of it. Again our weather today was perfect. We have been so very fortunate.  We had about an hour after the city tour before we left for our home hosted meal which was in a small town out from Warsaw.  It was just lovely-one of our best ever with GCT.  It was on a farm and we learned so much and the food was just wonderful-turkey with cheese sauce and pork with a sauce, fresh vegetables and potatoes from their farm and farms of their neighbors.  The mother cooked the meal but her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend were our hosts and their English was wonderful.  We are still getting to know our group so this was a nice way to also get to know some other travellers.  We loved the yard and were tickled to find they had bought "honeysucker" as Dalton says and it was blooming on trellises etc. 
Our program director has not had it easy on this trip for sure.  We have a couple of people who I suspect the elevator does not go all the way to the top and so far, he has handled them well.  And I can't remember a trip where there has been anyone as challenging to deal with.  It will be interesting to see how it plays out. 

On to Warsaw

This will be short because we are tired and need to get on down to breakfast.  We had a long day yesterday with the train ride to Warsaw after our city tour of Berlin.  Our group is an interesting one and let's just say our guide has his hands full.  There are a couple of guys who can't understand directions and who were consistently late so should be interesting. We enjoyed the train ride.  It was rather stressful getting on the train but we all made it and we were in a compartment with one other GCT man and a Polish lady who spoke no English but we tried to communicate.  It was very interesting and our little room was comfortable and we enjoyed the train travel very much. However, the bus was not there to meet us, and neither were the porters so our poor PD and bus driver had to do all the luggage for 40 people themselves and it was not easy. The bus finally came after about 3 phone calls and a half hour of us standing in the cold, damp night at 11 pm.  We got to the hotel about midnight and so it was a long day, but like I said, interesting and fun.  We were not that impressed with our program director (PD) but after that day, we were all cheering him on and felt so sorry for him! The Polish countryside is beautiful and we did so enjoy the train ride.  Will try to fill in details more later.

Fun day in Berlin

Today we were on our own all day as the main portion of the trip starts today as the others arrive at various times during the day.  So we spent a leisurely morning and then took off on our own to see some things we had been interested in.  We went back to Wilhelm's church that was bombed out and is left as a memorial and it is an amazing place. The mosaics and fascade are so beautiful and we enjoyed being able to walk and take it all in.  We then went down to Ka Da We, the biggest dept store in Europe and we took our time just wandering around looking at the food court which is bigger than Harrods in London.  Then we got on the 100 bus and went up top and just rode it all the way out and back and enjoyed the sites.  We had made sandwiches that we ate on the plaza near the church and we enjoyed that.  Just a nice relaxing day. 

more Berlin and Potsdam photos

Potsdam conference took place hereWannsee Conference Final Solution meetingSan SouciWannsee ConferenceIshtar GateIshtar And who could resist sticking in this photo of Dalton that happened to be on the card in the camera!Kaiser Wilhelm Church

photos of Berlin and Potsdam

Potsdam

We had a great tour to Potsdam today.  Our guide was just terrific and we were delighted to find out that he will do our city tour on Friday as well.  We left Berlin and drove through some of the more affluent neighborhoods where a lot of famous people have lived over the years.  We stopped at the railyard where Jews were loaded onto the trains to take them out of Berlin. It was a deadend track and very sobering.  They have turned it into a memorial with the date and number of people on each train that left from this spot.  Next we stopped at the place where the conference was held to decide the fate of the "people to be displaced".  We went on to the bridge where prisoners have been exchanged over the years.  We went to Sans Souci which was beautiful and the gardens were just so pretty.  From there we went to the place that the Potsdam conference took place and took a tour of the house.  All of it was just so interesting. 
I really am just so impressed with Berlin and the number of trees and green areas that it has.  Our guide today said they have the trees numbered and they each have tags on them and no one is allowed to cut a tree without permission from the agency that cares for the trees, even if it is in your yard. 

Berlin Day 1

Today was a lovely day in Berlin.  The weather was sunny and just right.  We went on a supposed two hour walk today and it took us almost 4 hours.  But we learned a lot and saw a lot. I am quite surprised. I like Berlin and I was not expecting to be impressed. Everything I had read or heard said it was a pretty blah city.  Well, to me, it is very pretty-very green with parks and trees and flowers everywhere.  The people have been very friendly and the public transportatin system seems excellent.  We had a day pass so we rode several forms of transportation to see the things we were going to see.  We saw the Brandenburg gate and several other famous places. Our main Berlin city tour will come the first day of the main trip so we are doing things that are not covered on that city tour. We ended up at the island where all the museums are located.  Our program director left us at this point , with instructions on how to return to our hotel.  The main thing that Jim and I had wanted to see in Berlin was the Pergamon museum since we went to Pergamon last year and enjoyed it.  That museum is worth the trip to Berlin.  That is saying a lot from two people who are not really museum people. Awesome is all I can say.  We ate lunch at a great pizza place near the museums where they had no trouble fixing me a great pizza without the garlic and onions,etc.  We then started our journey back to the hotel which we did without a hitch, but being rush hour, it took quite a lot longer and was spent standing up for quite awhile. 
Right now, our feet are thanking us for the rest and we are getting ready to have our nice gourmet meal down in Marylou's suite-peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, fruit and cheese. lovely for us. Meanwhile, we are watching the world cup games and enjoying those as well in the evenings.

We Begin in Berlin

We made it safely here to our hotel in Berlin.  We took the shuttle to Atlanta and it was a very busy day in the airport there.  Jim and I were "fortunate' enough to get to try out the new xray machines at Hartsfield.  Jim got a poor grade in following directions so he also got a lovely pat down too.  I asked the guy if it was a random thing or why we were picked and he said right now it is random but that soon they will have them at all the xrays. Fortunately we were not harboring any contraband so we were able to continue on to the gate. From there, we and several hundred of our closest friends were packed together for the journey.  We were flying Air France and it was a good trip but the plane was one of the double decker ones and we really did feel like sardines.  But it was a pleasant flight and except for the crowding, we survived just fine.  We arrived in Paris and got through all the passport stuff and found our way to the next gate. At Paris, that is no small feat.  Another adventure took us to our plane.  We were checked in and had to go down several flights of steps to get to the bus that took us all over the the airport before stopping at another set of steps that we got to climb to get to the normal looking little tunnel to the planes.  It too was packed but it was a short, nice flight to Berlin. Our guide met us and sent us to our hotel in a nice cab and we have spent the afternoon settling in.  Marylou was already here and it was great to see her and we are having dinner in our suite.  It really is a lovely suite on the executive floor so we found a grocery store nearby and we are having our own little cafe here which is fun.  We have a group meeting later tonight. 
Hope all is well back with you all.

Off to Eastern Europe

Tomorrow we fly overnight to Berlin, Germany to spend the first few days of our trip there.  We have never been before so are looking forward to seeing all the places there that we have heard so much about.