BACK HOME AND ADJUSTING

The flight home was hard on us.  We set our alarm for 3:00 am in Poland in order to clear security and board an early morning flight from Warsaw.
After a flight to Munich, Germany, a layover, a long flight to Toronto, Canada, another layover, and then a flight direct to Portland, we found ourselves in the Portland airport at 8:03 Portland time.  Our neighbors picked us up and by 9:30 we crashed into bed.  Near as I can figure that was 27 1/2 hours.  Of course we slept some on the airplanes, but that was out of exhaustion and not too satisfying. 
Now, we’re slowly getting adjusted to local time.  This weekend we enjoyed the boys for two days and an overnight.  Each one got to plant his garden bed.  Casey wanted watermelons.  Since it’s too late to start seeds, we bought some plants.
Phelan wanted a repeat of last year’s bean crop so he planted black beans and bumble bee beans. 

Ryder chose cucumbers and some experimental watermelon seeds. 

The rest of the day was a delightful excursion into Canby for frozen yogurt and a visit to the new Lego store.  Casey’s 5th birthday is on Monday and he spent some time picking out what he would like as a gift.
Then they all got involved in a Lego game on the store’s video.   Back home, we had another surprise.  On our visit to the Castle ruins in Poland we found some helmets that the knights of old wore.  Marlene carried them home on her lap (actually stashed them in the overhead storage once we boarded).    Would you believe this is Phelan.  Casey is ready for battle.
All three are thinking ahead to Halloween. 

WINDING DOWN IN POLAND

We’re down to the last couple of days so this may be our last post from Poland. 
At the end of the “castle hills” lies the city of Czestochowa, the location of the largest cathedral in Poland and the home of the “Black Madonna”.   
It was written that when the Communists took over in 1945 they set up a program to diminish the importance of religion in the country by turning  this city into an industrial center.  So there are several tall smoke stacks belching out smoke, but none of them ever superseded the importance or dominance of the cathedral. 
The story of the Black Madonna is that the image was painted by Saint Luke on the wood panel from the House of Nazareth.  First the icon was kept in Jerusalem, then in Constantinople and finally, it was brought to Poland in the 14th Century.  In 1430, the image was damaged by robbers who slashed the face with swords.  You can still see the slashes today.  Surrounding the cathedral are several buildings housing museums.  This picture of the Pope along with the Nobel Peace Prize medallion won by Lech Walesa This is the only actual gold medallion Peace Prize that we have ever seen, but unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take pictures of it.  This is an aerial view of the grounds with the masses gathered to hear Pope John Paul speak.
From here, we headed towards Warsaw with two stops in mind.  One at a Skansen, an outdoor village museum with buildings representing different periods.    Marlene was interested to see what the living conditions were like when her ancestors lived in the area.  These are some buildings of around 1860. 
   In one of the houses there were household implements like this loom.  
Here are a couple of more parting shots from our travels today.  An airliner turned into a restaurant/ gas station similar to the Bomber in Milwaukie, Oregon,  and the rainbow building in Warsaw which was near the hotel we stayed in the first few days we were in the country.  Last night, we stayed in a hotel about 15 minutes outside Warsaw.  We drove into the neighborhood where our first hotel was and had a celebration dinner at our favorite restaurant in Warsaw. 
 
We had a great time winding down and reminiscing about our month long celebration of our 50 years together.

FROM KRAKOW TO CZESTOCHOWA ALONG THE TRAIL OF THE EAGLES’ NESTS

Before we left Krakow this morning we decided to take one last walk around the old town area.  This time we took a different route into the center and discovered some new scenes.   
We entered through a different gate and were greeted by traditional Polish music.    This morning everything looked new and fresh.  All the crowds from the weekend had disappeared and we were able to see things we hadn’t seen on the weekend.        Marlene was attracted to this window display of home made bread and preserved vegetables.  We left krakow in a general north-west direction following a ridge line of limestone that runs for about 60 miles and is anywhere from 20 to 30 miles wide.  Erosion of the upland has left behind a variety of strange rock formations  as well as 500 to 1000 caves and high points on which castles were built in the 15th and 16th centuries.  One of our first encounters included a field of poppies.  We have seen these all over Poland, but it has never worked out to stop and take a picture.  When the rock formations began to appear we couldn’t resist stopping and hiking up to take a picture.  At lunch time with the help of an old lady that spoke no English, but understood sight language well, we found a restaurant with a unique motif.  We didn’t realize the significance until we finished lunch and drove about 2 miles down the road and encountered our first ruined castle. Of course we had to stop and hike up to examine it closer.                Marlene couldn’t resist trying on some local attire.  Throughout the afternoon we visited 3 more castle ruins.  At the end of the day we found one of the most delightful hotels and restaurants that we have experienced anywhere in Poland.  We met the proprietor, a young man who has spent a lot of time in the U.S. and had for a while lived in Truckee, California.       
  There is only one room in the hotel and we were lucky enough to get it.   
  The structure of the hotel is an original granary that was constructed in 1783.   We had a view of the castle ruins from the balcony.  Needless to say, before dinner we decided to explore the ruins.            Dinner was delightful and almost private.
www.spichlerz.netCheck out  the web site at  www.spichlerz.net  for more pictures and description of the facility.  I'd recommend this place to anyone traveling in Poland.  In fact I think it would be a good destination point for someone wanting to explore old castles and caves.