Melissa's Last Day in Warsaw

Mark returned to work on January 2nd, so I had one more day with Melissa.  

What to do?  Another excursion!

Warsaw has a wonderful museum honoring the men, women and children who for two months in 1944 tried to drive out the Germany army that had invaded and occupied Poland during WWII.  Below is the plaque outside the Warsaw Rising Museum, also commonly known as the Uprising Museum.

Mark and I toured this very informative museum on his one-year anniversary of living in Poland last February (2012).  I was happy to return, to re-learn and share a little of Poland's history with Melissa.

We spent a good two hours (though it could have been much longer) listening, looking and reading.

Here is one of Warsaw's most famous statues…the mermaid

Melissa with her hand-held listening guide next to a Polish flag

This tunnel is a replica of the underground sewers that the Polish people used as passageways to secretly move around the city as they prepared for and carried out the uprising.

This symbol that is a combined P and W stands for "Powstanie Warszawskie" or "Warsaw Uprising".  This symbol is seen in many parts of Warsaw…it is a emblem that honors both the people and the event of the Uprising.  This particular monument is in the middle of the museum.

We had a very good morning learning about a sad part of Warsaw's history.  But although the two months of Warsaw's past that are memorialized here ended sadly….the spirit, courage and determination of the Polish people are honored in a beautiful way.

In the evening, we walked to the Old Town area (the Rynek) to take a look at Warsaw's Christmas Market, which stays up until January 6….Three Kings Day.  

Beautiful Warsaw Rynek

This year, a lighted display of gifts was added to the base of the large Christmas tree….

….which sits in front of the Royal Palace.


Happy New Year Melissa….we have loved having you visit us in Poland, and have been spoiled by your long visit.

We can't remember when we last had 2 full weeks of Melissa time during the Christmas season…

….maybe when you were in high school!

Standing in front of the mermaid statue in the main square of the rynek.

Christmas market booths…Melissa even found a necklace to buy here.

So glad Mark is feeling better….

We also came to the rynek to eat at a Polish restaurant one more time.

Fukiera….a charming, warm restaurant...

….with great decor and delicious food.

Happy last night in Poland to our Melissa.

Tomorrow she returns to the US, and to her life as a graduate student.

Traveling to Munich and Krakow, and being home in Warsaw with Melissa during the past two weeks have been the best gift of the season!

January 3rd, departure day, came very early….I tried to not think about saying goodbye, but thought about the great memories we created together.  Ending 2012 with Melissa was a treat…and we look forward to a great new year for each of us!

Safe travels Melissa….Happy, happy new year to YOU!

Thank you for coming to see Mom and Dad…We love YOU!

Happy New Year…Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku

Last day of 2012…

….time spent reflecting about this year….

….Mark working all day….

….Melissa and I visiting the 33rd floor observation deck of the Cultural Palace….

….shopping at the Złote Tarasy mall….

….a New Year's Eve party….

….a fun last day of the year!

I love new beginnings….and I was excited to start planning goals for the new year.  But first, I spent some time reflecting on what this past year has meant for me, for Mark and me, and for our family. 

I have had a good 2012…I have smiled, I have laughed, and I have cried.  I have had new experiences, and I have been challenged.  Most of all I have been blessed and have gone to bed each night with a grateful heart.

Mark, Melissa and I spent New Years' Eve at the home of one of Mark's co-workers…Brandon.  He was a great host and we enjoyed being with many of Mark's co-workers.

We had great food, good conversations, fun music, and a fun evening.

Brandon lives very close to the Cultural Palace in the Centrum area and has a great view of the colorful Cultural Palace at night! 

The temperature was cold outside, but the view was worth going out to see!

Happy Happy New Year's Eve….

Starting a few minutes before midnight, and lasting for at least 30 minutes, we were treated to one of the best fireworks shows we had ever seen!  There were fireworks across the entire horizon of the city.  In addition to several public fireworks displays, there were many private fireworks going off at the same time.

Though this picture is dark, we were all given fun noisemakers to welcome in the new year!

We loved having Melissa with us…she enjoyed visiting with many other Polish young adults…and had fun dancing too!

The new year came 6-9 hours earlier for us than it did for our family and friends in the U.S., depending on which time zone they are in.

We thought of them….missing familiar traditions, but having so much fun in Warsaw.

We didn't leave this party until after 2am…and didn't get to bed until 3:30am!
We can't remember when we last stayed up so late!

Mark and I have had a good year living in Poland…we had fun saying good bye to 2012…and happily welcomed 2013 with our Melissa!

 January 1, 2013….After what seemed like just a few hours of sleep….wait, that's right, it was a just a few hours of sleep…we had a late breakfast and went walking in the Kabaty Forest, where I go on my weekly walks.  Because there hadn't been any new snow for quite a while, we thought that it would quite easy to walk there.

To our surprise though, the trails were completely covered with ICE….and since we did not bring skates, we opted to walk off the trails and on the sides.

Since we woke up late and the sun went down at 3:30pm, this would be one of our shortest days of sunlight ever!  It seemed like we had just begun the day when the sun began to set just barely above the trees.

Mark and Melissa are actually standing on an easy part of the trail…most of the trails were covered with ice and we could not follow any regular paths.

We walked for over an hour, not really knowing where we were going or where we would end up….as all of my familiar paths were gone.  It was cold but not unbearable…and it was great exploring the forest with Melissa .

After our walk in the ice forest, Mark and I did something for the first time in Warsaw…we hand-washed our little Skoda!

Not too far from our home is a self-service car wash. What at great idea…a fresh clean car on the first day of the year!

I loved our simple first day of the year….walking in the forest, cleaning our car, and relaxing at home!

Szczęśliwego Nowego Roku!  Happy New Year!

Kraków with Melissa…Day 3

Day 3 in Kraków, Poland

Wieliczka Salt Mines

Our train ride back to Warsaw wasn't until late Saturday afternoon, so Melissa and I went over to the ancient Wieliczka Salt Mines early Saturday.  Lucky for us, we found a tour that would pick us up at our hotel…so convenient!

We traveled about 35 minutes from Kraków and came to the small city of Wieliczka…here we saw one of the oldest salt mines in Europe. 

The mines were built over 700 years ago and only stopped producing table salt 10-12 years ago. Today it is mostly open for tourism…but people do visit the mines for medical reasons….breathing the salty air has proven to be quite healthy...though a prescription is needed. 

These white clusters growing from the ceiling look a lot like cauliflower.  We saw this type of salt growing in numerous places throughout the mine. If one were to touch it though...it would crumble.

Though I had been to the salt mines with Mark on our first visit to Kraków, I found there was still much to see and learn on my second visit with Melissa. We were told we could touch the walls…and even take a lick of salt….if we wanted to. 

To the men that worked here this was more than just a place to mine salt….the miners also carved unique and beautiful statues, displays, and religious scenes in the salt.  Even more, there are three chapels and even a cathedral carved out of the salt in these mines! 

The unique salt statues are quite impressive.
The statue above is the scientist Copernicus, one of Poland's favorite sons.

This statue was built in a very old chamber….but the statue was created only 25-30 years ago.

I thought the salt carvings would look more crystal-like and sparkle…but the salt in its natural state has more grey-white tones and looked to me more like granite.

A bust of a Polish King 

One of my favorite salt creations….the Hungarian Princess who was to marry the King of Poland…

Here is one story about these statues.…

"The Hungarian princess Kinga was about to be married to the King of Kraków. Since salt was scarce in Poland, Princess Kinga asked her father for a salt mine as a gift for her betrothed.  After her father provided the mine, she threw her ring into it before leaving for Poland.  On arriving there, she asked the people to dig a deep pit. On digging, the people found salt, and wrapped around a salt crystal was the princess's ring."

The largest and most impressive room is the Chapel of St. Kinga.
Though called a Chapel, this is the room known as the cathedral.

Not only is this room impressive in size, but there are numerous religious scenes carved into the walls. Even the chandeliers are made of salt!

A depiction of the Last Supper

Mary and Joseph traveling to Bethleham

A Nativity scene

Weddings can even be held in the chapel.  In fact there was going to be a wedding that very day…so we could not explore all of the areas in the chapel because they were decorating for the event while we were there.

Looking up at the support structure in the chapel….

….one is impressed with the cavernous space dug out of the salt.

On this visit with Melissa, we also went into the museum and saw a model of the nine levels of the mine...

The area in red below shows where tourists go for the 2-1/2 hour tour.  We were quite impressed with the mine's massive size….knowing that we were only traveling through a very small part of it.

Large salt crystals….

….salt crystals growing around old tools, ladders and equipment.

One of the last salt creations we saw was a Nativity.  How fitting during this Christmas season.  Melissa and I thoroughly enjoyed touring these beautiful mines….but we were quite ready to head up to ground level again.

Upon returning to Kraków, Melissa and I went to the market square and looked for another church…The Church of St. Barbara.  Melissa had seen in our book about Kraków….a church that had a "pieta" on display. 

Melissa looks like she is doing a "happy dance" once we found this church…it was right next door to the huge St. Mary's Church!

Once inside we started looking for the "pieta", which is a statue of Mary holding and mourning over the body of her son Jesus after his crucifixion. 

Surprisingly it took us a while to find the statue, partly because it was so small….only about 2 ft by 2 ft.  In one of her college courses, Melissa had seen pictures of one of the most famous pietas, a life-sized depiction by Michelangelo….and we were expecting it to be of that size.

Though small, this pieta was still appealing….the details were quite impressive. I would like to see Michelangelo's pieta one day.

Wow….we have had some great days traveling with  Melissa …but now it was time to return home to Warsaw...

We loved our time in Kraków…but the thought of going home made me smile! 

We would end 2012….and begin 2013 in Warsaw, Poland.

We were so happy to have Melissa with us for a few more days!