We traveled to...Torun, Poland

Torun's claim to fame is it is the birthplace of the astronomer Nicholas Copernicus...and also it is known as the "gingerbread capital of the world".

We took a very crowded train ride to Torun, Poland...about 3 hours northwest of Warsaw on Friday evening. We checked into our hotel and walked 5-10 min. away into their Old Town. It was a brisk evening...but we got an idea of what we wanted to do on Saturday. In addition we ate dinner at a small little restaurant....and had some amazing soup at 9:30pm.

Saturday morning we began exploring Torun...We came upon "The Leaning Tower"...it used to be part of the city wall, a prison, and later a home. The ground shifted and thus the leaning tower.

When you try and stand against it with you back feet against the wall you automatically fall forward. Also...when you stand and your head touches the wall your feet can not be against it.

We found one of the many "gingerbread shops" that sell a variety of different types of gingerbread treats...we found some we like and enjoyed the sweet smell inside the shops!

We next found one of the Gingerbread Factories in the city. Torun is known for its gingerbread...and we found a place where you can learn how it is made.

We listened and then got to create some decorative gingerbread pieces.

Mark is rolling out the gingerbread dough and getting ready to select his cookie cutter shape. Mark and my cookies are on the bottom row, far left side. They were to bake for about 10 minutes or to the equivalent of saying "50 Hail Marys"...according to medieval legend. Torun's gingerbread "pierniki" is a Polish gingerbread that has been made since the Middle Ages...key ingredients: honey, wheat flour, cinnamon, cloves, ginger and....black pepper!

These gingerbread cookies are decorative and not for eating. Unfortunately some one else picked up the cookie I created...but here is one similar. It was a fun activity and glad to see how it is created. We soon found numerous shops that sold a variety of gingerbread creations to eat...they were yummy treats!

Torun is one of the most beautiful and older cities in Poland ...we came to see the old, but also found the new...as in this McDonald's Cafe.

Just around the corner is one of the many very old buildings...this is "The Star"residence. Once a home in the mid 1400s...now it is home to art and museum collections.

The cobblestone streets are everywhere...once in a while we could find some modern ones where walking was a bit easier. The streets are beautiful though and adds to the charm of the area.

Next to the Vistula River are a number of walls and gates to the city. We soon found the area of the ruins to the Teutonic Knights Castle.

We saw the grounds of the Teutonic Knights ' Castle established after 1236...the

castle was the headquarters of a Commander and one of the most important convents for the Teutonic Knights.

Can you believe these ruins are close to over 800 years old?

The castle was built in the 13th c. but was destroyed in 1454 when the people of Torun rose up in rebellion against the knights.

We found this fountain and statue..."Rafter's Fountain"...legend says that once there was an over abundance of frogs in Torun... a rafter played his fiddle and frogs soon left the area. The citizens were most appreciative... We had seen a number of "frogs" in the area...statues, souvenirs, and pictures. I wondered if there was some significance to "frogs" in Torun...we found our answer.

Torun is the birthplace of the scientist/astronomer Nicolas Copernicus...and his statue is right in the middle of the Old Town...next to the Town Hall.

We decided to go to the top of the Town Hall tower...above you can see the area we climbed to...right above the clock tower.

We began our climb...the first of "175 steps" to the top. Today (though I've climbed stairs daily for 4 months) my legs are feeling the affects from this climb. I told Mark if I ever express the desire to climb to the top of something to look at the view...please remind me of my "whining"...!

But...we soon saw that the climb was worth every step and effort as the view was so beautiful in any direction we looked.

This is the Church of the Holy Ghost...built in the 18th century.

Mark begins the climb down...at times the steps were quite steep...and going down was much easier than climbing up.

We toured the birthplace of Nicolas Copernicus....housed inside are many artifacts from this time period and many original pieces over 500 years old!

While leaving the town we came to this little brick wall with small medieval characters posted around it...charming for this little town. I'm munching on a chocolate covered gingerbread heart...Yum!

Here we are waiting at the train station...it took the taxi less than 10 minutes to get us to the train station so we had plenty of time just to wait before leaving to come home to Warsaw.

Mark even got a "great nap" before we boarded our train...the ride home was smooth and quiet...and much less crowded than on Friday night.

We enjoyed our almost 24 hour stay in this very old city...it has charm and a great history and we were so glad to we could enjoy, learn and spend the day in Torun, Poland!

October Days in Poland

We are enjoying the absolutely beautiful changes that the fall season brings...we walk through this park daily...it is near the US ambassador's home .... which is just above our neighborhood.

A few weeks ago we traveled an hour on Sunday to view a few sessions of General Conference. We took a tram and on the way home we enjoyed looking at the street sites. Above is a very old church...on a very busy intersection in Warsaw. Though old it is really quite lovely.

We also saw old abandoned buildings...there are a number of these...and instead of tearing them down...new and beautiful buildings are often erected right next to the old ones. During the tram ride we also noticed many beautiful trees...but it was not easy to get good pictures from inside the tram.

While leaving the Wolska Chapel (the only LDS chapel in Poland) we noticed the grove of trees nearby and the beautiful colors that were changing the look of the grove.

Since General Conference begins in the evening in Poland, we enjoyed the last 60 degree weather weekend outside as much as possible. I wanted to take Mark on the route I usually take walking to my language class and on the way we found a new Mexican restaurant.

We tried eating outside but it was to cool for our liking and later went inside.

What is so different about this picture is that for weeks and weeks this street has been filled with umbrellas, tables and chairs for people to sit while eating. There are a number of restaurants here. I meander though all the outdoor table getting to and from my class. We found out that there is law that as of Oct. 1st (which was this day) that all outdoor tables, umbrellas, etc. have to be put away or else the business is given a hefty fine. This restaurant was obviously late in complying with the law this year. And some ignore it because they make enough money from outdoor service to more than offset the fine. We have loved eating outside and thought this was quite a strange law, thinking "what if there is another beautiful weekend?" But I guess the Polish people know their weather...as this was the last weekend with temperatures over 60 degrees...probably for 5-6 months!

A large sign was being raised while we were outside. Large signs cover the businesses and apartments all over the city and these advertisements can be seen often. I often wondered what the people living inside think when their windows become covered? As you can see though, you can see through the signs. The signs often cover the entire length of a building or nearly the height of one also.

One of Mark's co-workers Agnieszka...lives nearby. We called her and she joined us for lunch and we had a wonderful visit. Mark had a split vegetable cream soup before his entree and I enjoyed delicous chicken quesidillas!

Agnieszka treated us to some warm freshly baked waffle cones...nothing inside...just a cone but they were warm, crispy and fun to eat.

A street market was going on while we walked the streets (I took Mark on a mini tour of the area I toured while he was home in the US)...while there we ran into Mark's boss Carl (the one in shorts). It was fun to run into people we knew in this busy big city on a Saturday afternoon.

Last Sunday (Oct. 8) we started dressing differently for work, church and activities... we are wearing layers now (notice the gloves, scarf and hat). I was told the people here say they dress like onions...in layers...and that is so true!

All of the women wear scarves...it is quite unusual to see someone without a scarf...lucky for me I have a couple and I have been wearing the wonderful scarf that my talented niece Jenny made for me....love it!

This past Wednesday I went on an all day IWG (International Women's Group) trip...there were 30 women and we traveled by bus to see the birthplace of Chopin (above) and the Nieborow Palace. We traveled 50 K to Chopin's birthplace about a little over an hour away.
This is the first monument ever created in Poland to honor their wonderful composer Chopin.

My favorite part of this place (Zelazowa Wola) was walking throughout the grounds and gardens and listening to Chopin music playing. It was absolutely beautiful here...the air was cool (in the 40's) but with the sun shining it felt great! Since I did not grow up where the leaves change colors in abundance...nor have I lived anywhere where I see the colors like I see here in Poland, I do not grow tired of their beauty!

We rode another 45-50 min. and came to the Nieborow Palace. It is a Baroque palace in the town of Nieborow. It was built in the late 1600's and has had numerous owners over the years...it has a wonderful history and even the public can stay in certain room of this palace.

This was one of my favorite rooms...love the colors and decor...I don't think today's guests stay here though.

I also loved the library...it housed thousands of books and one of the very oldest in all of Poland...published in the 16th century.

We enjoyed walking these gardens and grounds also...we found a beautiful plot of pansies growing!

Love the autumn season here in Poland...our travels to these two sites gave me another opportunity to see the countryside...I have clearly seen that Poland is a very beautiful country!