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In September and October
of 2009 my wife Carina and I traveled around
in Eastern Europe like we occasionally do, this time aiming to get a
closer
look at Poland and Berlin but also to visit Slovakia. Our intention had
initially been to additionally travel around in the
Ukraine but for various reasons we ended up in Slovakia instead.
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First we started off with Berlin, this pic showing
you a part of the
Brandenburg tor in close detail.
Click
to enlarge!
Here is Carina sleeping in our
hotel room which has a very lofty ceiling and
early
morning
sunlight softly percolating through the curtains.
Peekaboo! Here I am!
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And now we're off for new
and exciting adven- tures, passing onwards from Germany by train to
Poland.
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Click
to enlarge!
The beautiful town hall in the old town square of Poznan.
While this was all ruddy from
top to bottom!
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I hope the music museum
of Poznan forgives me for having taken shots of
these two funny bagpipe like instruments without paying the fee
required! While this one has a definite goat like
appearance about it
the one to the right looks like a strange combination of cuddly toy pet
along with a weird sort of
multiple bugle contraption.
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In the botanical garden of Poznan Carina soon
found her favorite Dahlias.
Click
to enlarge!
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After a horrendously
overcrowded
ride with an inter city train down to Krakow, we boarded our hotel
which was
in
fact the same one at which we had resided only one year before, this
being our third visit to Poland since 1994.
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Click
to enlarge!
Luxury horse carts queuing up for today's work in the old square of
Krakow.
The eons old Adam Mickiewicz Monument just
beside the Cotton market on the main square.
Click
to enlarge!
Typical wooden houses of Zakopane, this one showing you
the hostel where we stayed for several days.
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And here is the famous
Wilhelm Kaiser kirche or what remains of it, the post war
government once having decided to keep it as a monument over the
devastation caused to the city by the allied forces.
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This is Carina chasing rainbows created by a sprinkler
inside the Tier
garden.
One of many small lakes and canals within the garden area.
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So first we embarked on
the rather lively, mid sized city of Poznan in
the north western part of the country where we stayed for three or four
days. Of course, anyone who's the least bit into religious
matters can tell
who this bronze statue represents, hardly any further explanations
needed at this point!
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Every day at twelve
o'clock these two
mechanical billy goats appear above the gold plated clock of the town
hall tower
putting on a performance where they bash their heads together
to the great amusement of the assembled crowd down below, a ceremony
which is
said to have continued ever since the 16th century.
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Click
to enlarge!
The colours inside were so warm and much of the ornamentation was
embellished in gold.
 With anyone who has been to
India there is unquestionably a certain similarity between some of the
crafted sculptures representing worshiped deities of the Hindu and
Catholic religions. Like here with those caught on camera in Poznan
(above) and Mumbai (below), both samples showing a flamboyant splendor
as well as, what I would call, an almost naive lust for glitter
and gold!
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Or maybe this is how I
like to visualize myself on my retirement as a
musician, looking a bit grumpy and cranky but still prepared
to blow my
whistle (or bugle) at anyone's will!
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Click
to enlarge!
This is the view outside our hotel window as the sun went
to bed in golden rays of awe and wonder.
Beautiful balcony in Krakow.
Click
to enlarge!
The famous Mariacka basilica seated on one corner of the main square.
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After four days in Krakow
we made it by bus down to the skiing resort
of Zakopane seated in a valley just north of the beautiful Tatras
mountains. And these are two nuns who we happened to pass by on
searching for our hostel at the day of our arrival. Catholic nuns are
still a common feature in parts of Polish society, not only in parishes
and sacred dominions but on streets, in busses and on board trains.
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This house was nearby, just across the street.
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