Sef and Glen in London

I am getting in the habit of following my friend Sef from San Francisco around the world. Or maybe we just end up in the same places more often than not.

This time, through the magic of Skype and a receive only cell phone, I met him at Nottinghill Gate station.


While I was visiting we went to a going away party for one of his Italian friends who was moving back to Italy. It was quite a gathering with many Italians, lots of good wine and pasta.


Vincenzo had Ducati sneakers so I wanted a picture with him:


While in London, I also visited my friend Glen from SF, who moved there 3 years ago. We worked together for about 5 years at a company called SquareTrade.

Actually finding him was quite lucky, since he wasn't really sure I was coming because I couldn't call or send him a reply. I actually walked out of the train station and looked up just as he looked up at me.



This picture is from a wine bar outside the train station where we had a chance to catch up and then we both ran off to our respective next adventures.

My time in London was short, just 2 nights and a very early morning plane ride back to Philly via Frankfurt.

Stephan, Herkules and Castles in Kassel (Germany)

Stephan and I met in 15 years ago while we were both studying abroad in Galway, Ireland, at University College Galway, now the National University of Ireland, Galway . It was a most fortunate experience to meet up with him again after so long.


Stephan lives in Kassel, Germany and teaches business and English and business in English to students in 11th, 12th and 13th grade.

Stephan (with a PH!) met me at the train station and whisked me off to the forest in his convertible to see Herkules. Herkules overlooks Kassel and the main street, Wilhelmshöher Allee.


The view is quite spectacular. Herkules is currently under renovation, so you can really only get a picture of him from the back.


After Herkules, we went on a short hike through the forest to two castles, the Wilhelmshöhe Palace (now an art museum) and the Löwenburg Castle (below).


This castle was one that Michael Jackson was looking at buying. On the way down, we stopped past Devil’s bridge—you should definitely visit this! :)


That night we went to a bier garden and met his friend Andreas to watch the World Cup…Italy vs. Portugal. All of the waiters were dressed up for Italy, included painted faces. At the end of the game, the score was tied 1-1.

I only had one day in town, so the next morning after a yummy extended breakfast (soooooooooo good), I had to go back to the train station and Stephan had to go to school.


At the Kassel Hauptbahnhof train station, there is a man, walking to the sky.

Mateusz and Agnieszka's Polish Wedding

Matt and Aga got married on June 12th at St John of Nepomuk church in Bochnia, Poland.

The church was very beautiful. Like many of the churches, it had rosaries in cases displayed on the walls.




The people in the choir watching the wedding:


After the wedding, Aga with a little girl picking up coins (they throw coins, not rice).


The reception was at the Hotel Zalesie in Bochnia, Poland. Polish wedding receptions last 2 days. The first day is 12 hours (6pm to 6am). The second day is the same, from 5pm to 5am. There is lots of dancing. And food. And vodka.



Speaking of dancing, Matt and Aga nailed the wedding dance. Here's a little piece of it, it was very beautiful. :)



Matt's sister Sabinka and her boyfriend Arthur at the reception. They are both very good dancers. I guess it runs in the family. :)

Matt's Parents Wieslawa and Zbigniew at the wedding:

Agnieszka's parents:


Vodka--so much vodka.


Anna (with her husband Damion) is Aga's friend from school.

Marlana and Sandro are Aga's friends from New Jersey.



Aga and Anna
Matt and Matt (Aga's brother) and Greg (Aga's cousin)


Bride and her friends
Steve and Sabina singing at the wedding


Marlana, Sandro, Steve and Matt's brother.


Food was served throughout the night--at all hours. There was pickled herring and coleslaw.


Miko...Matt and me


Goodnight reception. It's time to go to sleep. I love that there's an actual key. :)



I love Poland.

Auschwitz

Auschwitz was...incredibly hard. It has a horrible poisonous feeling that seeps into and stains your soul. When this tour was over, I was more than ready to leave and never come back--a feeling I'd imagine many people stepping off those grounds have felt before me.

I'm not going to blog about the conditions and the experiences of people who were there. If you want to know, however, feel free to ask. And here's the official link.



One particular man taking my tour caught my eye. He was elderly, and had a hard time on parts of the tour, like walking and climbing stairs. He was supported by two men, generations apart.


By the time we reached the gas chamber towards the end of the tour, I had had enough of Auschwitz, and I opted to sit out and take my headphones off. I went over to sit by the man and what appeared to be his son.

The son translated in a thick accent, "As you can see, my father does not speak English. My father was here. He is the only survivor of his family. He has come here for closure. We brought my son." Sitting next to this sweet old man with withered skin and sallow cheeks, I looked into his eyes, wise with age, and promptly burst into tears.

Later, after the tour, I found them again, resting on a park bench. I walked over to him and held out my hand. He extended his hand, eyes wide, a big toothless smile, and I softly placed into it a small, smooth, white crystal I had been travelling with. To my horror, he popped it into his mouth! "No! NO!" I shouted. He spit it out and I explained to the son that it represented goodness.

We translated and laughed and the old man wanted to know where I was from. When his son told him San Francisco, he didn't know of it, but he did understand United States. Then he smiled and asked to take a picture with me. When I got up to leave and he said, "Thank you very much."

I walked away, knowing it was really me who was thanking him.

Matt's family, Kraków and Bochnia

After traveling on a short flight from Munich into super sunny and hot Krakow-Bochnia, Matt met me at the airport, and we waited for Steve to arrive from Oslo.

[Quick background info: Matt is a co-worker who lives in Phoenix, Steve was his roommate. Matt is Polish, he and his fiancee are from the Bochnia area and Matt is getting married, which is why we're all here.]

From the airport, we drove to Matt's family's house in Bochnia. His parents are so outgoing and lovable, and his younger sister Sabina speaks English very well, so between her and Matt, Steve and I had excellent translators. It was so comforting to be surrounded by not only a family, but a wonderful one at that.

When we arrived, they had fruit salad and a fresh egg dish (super yummy, fresh eggs from a family member's chickens) waiting for us. After we ate, we began to play cards. It was here I learned the coins of Polish Zloty. :)


Another sister, Barbara, joined us later in the evening as we were sitting around the table playing cards...a form of Rummikub.

L-R: Steve, Mae, Matt's dad Zbigniew, Matt's mom Wiesława, and his sisters Sabina, Barbara

The next morning, we traveled to Krakow, about a 45 minute drive. "We" being Agnieszka, Matt, Steve and myself.


L - R: Agnieszka, Matt, Steve, me

The plan was that Matt and Aga had errands to do and Steve and I would explore Krakow. We started in the town square at St. Mary's Basilica, where we just missed the trumpets that play from the towers every hour.



However, we did catch the parade of school children dressed in traditional Polish dress.


Starving, we navigated a way to the closest vegetarian restaurant, Green Way Bar. I had lentil soup and cabbage steaks over brown rice. It was all awesome.



After feasting, we started to walk around. First we stumbled upon Sts. Peter and Paul Church. The statues outside are the 12 apostles.



We came across some interesting statues--is that a Phoenix?:


...and street signs--beware of children holding lollipops?.



We also went to Wawel Hill, which was a Royal Castle, and there's a cathedral. It also is apparently a good place to take wedding pictures. We let this couple go on to get a shot of them alone.


After walking around all day, we stopped at a little sidewalk cafe for a drink. The change was returned to us in this box:

Prosting with Friends in Munich

Going to Munich was all about visiting friends. So...while waiting for them to get off work, we took advantage of being on vacation and waited for them to meet us in a proper German way...in a beer garden.


I was very excited to see my friend Coco (from Hazleton area), who moved to Munich about 9 months ago with her husband. They're working for US companies, traveling around and enjoying exploring Europe. We met up for a drink. It was great to see her and catch up!


In this picture we're at the Augustiner in Munich.

Lindy's friend Mike who used to live in SF with us moved to Germany with his fiancee in January (they got married last week, yaaaaaaaaay!) and so we were excited to see him as well.


Somehow on the way out of the Hofbräuhaus, the brass band caught up with them:


During our time there it was on again off again rain...and a rainbow appeared in Mike's neighborhood:

The Sights of Munich

Examining the architecture of buildings isn't really my thing, but it's hard not to notice something like the new town hall (Neues Rathaus) in Munich. It's so crazy elaborate and ornate, in the middle of a town square.


It was partially bombed during WWII, so part of the building is old stone and part is brick where they restored it. At noon, the middle hole in the tower opens up and chimes go off with little moving parts, kind of like a cuckoo clock. It's called the Rathaus-Glockenspiel.

I really liked this "dragon bird" hanging off the side corner of it:


The original city of Munich was surrounded by walls, and some of the gates are still there. This Felderrnhalle (Field Marshal's Hall) with the lions at the Odeonsplatz gate, is probably the most famous:


One of the reasons this is so famous is that it was the site of a pro-Hitler protest in 1923.

We walked around to most of the gates, this one below in the south west is Sendlinger Tor.


We also went to Isartor on the south east side, but I didn't take a picture.

Of course we also hit the outdoor markets, the picture below is of a maypole in Viktualianmarkt. This is a big market, they sell food and all kinds of trinkets, jellies, fruit, etc. They also have a giant beer garden that is great for people watching.


We also found another small market. In this market, they sold lots of franks, fried food, weird looking fish, but no water. On hot day I say...Booooo.


And finally, we explored the beer gardens. The size of the beers is a bit intimidating. Here, Lindy is up for the challenge.


As we walked back to the Marienplatz square we ran into a BP Oil Spill protest. I couldn't understand a word of it, since it was all in German, but there was a man walking around with a big scary balloon that was pretty cool.



If you click on this picture, you can see the brick replacements in the right side of the building.