Rybka

Last Wednesday we took a little trip into the country to get some fried fish for lunch. Driving on some of the 10miles of highways in Poland, we got a pretty nice view of the old town from the river Vistula.






A little further North, we crossed the river to get an equally unobstructed view of one of the largest water heating plants in Poland. The Żerań plant used to heat all of Warsaw at one point, though I think now there are more plants. The smoke stack is so high, I used to be able to see it from my old house on the other end of the city.


Way out of Warsaw there is this really cool looking restaurant build in an architectural style reminiscent of Polish buildings from the golden age of the Commonwealth. We haven't been there, but I've heard that the food is spectacular.





Driving back we saw some pretty great views of the countryside. I like seeing the contrast between the old fields and the "new" power grid installations.








And finally back in Warsaw. A view of the grand Socialist architecture. I must admit there is something pleasing and peaceful about these buildings to me. The sort of look like a formation of starships moving through space.

Łazienki

The Royal Gardens behind the presidential residence. Apparently the park these days is mainly frequented by tourists. I used to live just outside the park until I was four, so I'm not gonna count myself in their ranks. The clay paths you see become riddled with puddles after rains. Apparently when Mom would take me on walks in the park back in the day, my favorite thing to do much to her dismay, was to plop face down in these puddles and then have Mom carry me home dripping with mud.


The Royal Parks are also known for their peacocks. They are practically everywhere. We couldn't get any of them to open their fan, but got to listen to their calls which sound like something between a crying baby and a stepped on cat.






And of course, I couldn't leave the parks without taking a picture of the famous Chopin statue.















Across the street from the park are the offices of the Premier. For the past three days Polish nurses are camped out in front in a national strike. The strike is all over the Polish news, as the Premier is refusing to meet with them. On the other hand the nurses' delegation is refusing to leave the Premier's offices until he meets with them.


And just in case the nurses rowdy...

Szermierka

I was invited to a fencing practice and I finally made it out there yesterday. The practice conditions were a lot better than at kickboxing, though that prolly has to with the private nature of the institution. I did get to fence a little bit, though it was kinda frustrating - my body wouldn't do things exactly as I wanted. I took these pictures at the end of practice when everyone was warming down playing hockey with this little white woofleball. I remember playing this at my old elementary school, so I guess it's fairly common - yet very funny to watch.

Praha

Just got back from a weekend excursion to Prague - the beautiful city of old buildings, old buildings with tourists, and old buildings with, oh wait, more tourists. Not that I'm really in a position to complain (by now I'm quicker with the shutter button than a Japanese tourist), but really, I think I've heard more Polish, German, and English this entire weekend than Czech! Nevertheless, Prague is truly beautiful. Not having been bombed in WW2 like most European cities, many of the old buildings not only still exist, but are not riddled by old bullet holes. Here's a shot of Praha Castle as seen from the Charles Bridge. The Cathedral of St. Vitus is inside the castle itself.

Here's one of the pictures taken from the top of the Cathedral of St. Vitus bell tower. To get to the top one must climb up a continuous, narrow, winding staircase of 287 steps. The staircase is very dimly lit and in some places one has to climb up in total darkness, bumping into people climbing down. One quickly loses count of the steps and after a while has no idea how far off is the top - its a real relief to finally get there. On the way down, a few turns from the top, I found perverse pleasure in telling some Polish tourists they were only a third of the way up :)





Prague has many churches, especially in the old town. From the main square one can see this one. I'm not sure which Saint it honors, but it doesn't detract from it's Gothic beauty in my eyes. I made night shot of it as well, but here I love the contrast between the dark multi-towers and the bright summer sky.



As part of our sight-seeing we've wondered into the Museum of Communism. It was interestingly set up starting with the dream of Communism, the next sections showing the reality, then the nightmare of an authoritarian state, and finally the fall of Communism in Czechoslovakia. One of the stories was that of Jan Palach, a student who burned himself alive on the steps of the National Museum to protest the Communist government. He was followed sometime later by Jan Zajic. The monument of a molten cross spanning two mounds was placed in their memory in front of the museum.





On our way to see the Bodies exhibit, where you can see human bodies dissected in the strangest way to show the anatomy of the human body, I saw this really cool sculpture. I guess after seeing about 50 sculptures of kings, knights, and saints, one yearns for a little humor.




On one of our crossings of the Charles Bridge, we've been caught by an incoming summer storm. Here's an awesome picture of the approaching weather. It doesn't really give justice to the howling winds, but you can get some idea by looking at the water.





Finally my favorite picture of a giant metronome! In the Communist era the Czechoslovakian government has spent astronomical sums of money on a giant head of Stalin overlooking the city. After the fall of Communism, the head has been detonated with explosive and in its place erected a giant metronome. We've climbed up a million stairs to the top of the hill to check it out. The place has an amazing view of Prague across the river and is the Czech equivalent of "lookout point" for couples.

Do Białego Rana

Last night was a big Wednesday night out. We started at Jadłodalnia, which is one of three clubs converted from an old garage complex. The places sell beer and cigarettes, but contrary to the name - no food. That has been provided by an entrepreneur serving gilled sausages by the half.
After a few hours there, these two guys joined us. One of them was Sebuś, the other's name I don't remember (but I'll gladly change this entry should the name come to light). Sebuś (the guy on the left) was truly an interesting character. Besides his jovial and easy going manner, he held the most superb command of Polish I've ever heard. Everything he said came out in a phrase or an unusual juxtaposition of words.
As the night went on, we tried engaging in a sort of party game where people take turns saying really mean (but funny of course) things to each other. I think at that point in the night we were all a little too tired to think of anything clever.
Finally, around 3:30AM it started getting light. As we were leaving by 5AM it was almost full on day light. Pesky Sun, why does it have to come up earlier in the North? We decided some breakfast would be nice, so started talking down Krakowskie Przedmieście (on of the streets leading to old town). Usually swarming with tourists and college students from the nearby Warsaw University, it was very surreal to see the street empty.
Finally we got to our break fast place - a bar called Bistro open 24 hours. Besides crazy mirrors, the place also has other attractions. For example, the menu is painted on the wall, the clients at that time of day are either looking for breakfast or that last 20th drink, and the bar tender/cook is a riot. Besides divulging many dirty secrets of the food industry, he was telling us that the record time anyone has ever stayed at that bar was 36 hours. Apparently the guy walked in, had a glass of wine, then would pass out an hour, wake up an order another one. After 36 hours of this he finally ran out of money and simply left.
On the way home we walked through Saski park with this giant fountain. After a little cajoling from our side (and some active encouragement for a passerby), Sebuś scaled it's parapets for this one of a kind picture. To top the night off, I couldn't help myself from taking another picture of the Palace of Culture in the morning haze.

Tęcza

The weather here has been refreshingly varied, at least as compared to Cali. We've been getting heavy summer storms about every other day, intermingled with 85F heat. Before one of the storms I was lucky enough to make it inside and as I was watching the storm from my balcony I saw the biggest rainbow ever - I couldn't even take a photo of the whole thing in one shot!

Pałac Kultury i Nauki

Here's a few pictures of, in my opinion, the most beautiful building in the world - the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw. It was given to Poland by the Soviet Union and while there are other palaces similar to this one, the Polish one is the tallest and most elegant with its single dominating spire.
The story goes that the Russians gave us a choice of whether we would like a subway or the palace. I think we made the right choice, we've built the Metro on our own, but a palace like this one and in this style will never be built again. My favorite thing about the building, besides the layout and general structure, which is so much more interesting than the American sky scraper, is the attention to detail. Every part of the building, inside and out, is adorned in some way. Not richly, but simply and geometrically. I think the Russians had a real ideological problem on how to make something beautiful, but not opulent in the times of reaction against the bourgeois. There is no gold in the ornaments, but a lot of gray and dark gray marble and dark wood inside laid out in geometric designs. Another cool thing about the palace is this little cafe called "Kulturalna," or the cultured one. The inside has kept its original styling with a dark wood bar made to look "modern" in the 50's. You can take your drinks outside and hang out on a balcony looking out on the night lights of Warsaw.