Saturday, July 7, 2007
Caught up!
WE DID IT! we caught up to our current day.... now you are with out exactly on the day we are with us!
Poland Day 30 - Day 32
Day 30
When Ola finally got up at noon, we all played some cards till 5ish and then headed to Tomek and Ania's for Filip's birthday supper... It was a very ncie meal and Ola and I got to meet Ania's mother, sister and brother.... Filip is now fully walking as of the last couple of days!!! (Happy Birthday --- your now actually a number... 1 ) ... We then went home and went to sleep!
Day 31
We woke up and headed out with Tomek and Ania to Lowicz, a small town about 1 hour away. The town has a castle, in which we visited, that was constructed in 1,355 A.D. Inside we walked to the keep, where Tomek is convinced they put all the disobedient women, who then let down their long hair to the knights..... We also so a little fabric/textile exhibit... We went to Tum to see a church that was built in 1,140 A.D...... It was unfortunately closed due to renovations, but the outside was very beautiful.... We then went to meet up with Ewa, an old friend of Ola's mom. We walked through a local park, while Ola and Ewa talked, Darrin walked around taking some photographs. After the stroll we headed to Tomek and Ania's for supper and then cards.....
Day 32 (July 7th - in case you lost count!)
Darrin woke up bright and early and watched Ocean's Eleven... Afterwards we left to go with Tomek, bowling. It was Tomek's first time playing and he did pretty good...
Ola scored: 81,79, 70
Tomek Scored: 60, 99, 78
Darrin Scored: 119, 130, 92 (my hand hurt? riiiiiight) - I still won every game.....
After playing for an hour we picked up Ania and Filip and went back home for supper at Tadeusz... He made pork loin, potatoe's and yellow beans with greek salad.... It was very good! Then we got ready and left to go to Ola#2's place.... We hung out there for 3 hours and then headed out to a club called, West port. It was a very cool club, with waterfalls... Darrin wanted to buy a round of shots, so he went to the bar and due to his lack of polish he ended up buying 4 large glasses of Jack Daniels..... Yea, next time Ola does the ordering.... But it was still very inexpensive, for almost 1/2 a bottle of Jack daniels in our 4 cups it only cost 80 Zloty (30$). We hung out there for just over an hour and then went to a second club called: Opium. When we arrived the girls went to the washroom, Darrin lost sight of Marcin and therefore he sat down with some random people and started to speak with them.... one of them happened to know english and told me all about her studies...... Her name is Iza. The girls finally found me, and we moved onto the dance floor... After another hour or so we headed out and called Tomek for a lift home... Now here comes the bad part..... After 33 days of being clean, Darrin and Ola succumbed to the power of McDonalds.... As they were the only thing open at this hour and we hadn't eaten since 4pm... I see this as not an excuse but a simple explanation!
When Ola finally got up at noon, we all played some cards till 5ish and then headed to Tomek and Ania's for Filip's birthday supper... It was a very ncie meal and Ola and I got to meet Ania's mother, sister and brother.... Filip is now fully walking as of the last couple of days!!! (Happy Birthday --- your now actually a number... 1 ) ... We then went home and went to sleep!
Day 31
We woke up and headed out with Tomek and Ania to Lowicz, a small town about 1 hour away. The town has a castle, in which we visited, that was constructed in 1,355 A.D. Inside we walked to the keep, where Tomek is convinced they put all the disobedient women, who then let down their long hair to the knights..... We also so a little fabric/textile exhibit... We went to Tum to see a church that was built in 1,140 A.D...... It was unfortunately closed due to renovations, but the outside was very beautiful.... We then went to meet up with Ewa, an old friend of Ola's mom. We walked through a local park, while Ola and Ewa talked, Darrin walked around taking some photographs. After the stroll we headed to Tomek and Ania's for supper and then cards.....
Day 32 (July 7th - in case you lost count!)
Darrin woke up bright and early and watched Ocean's Eleven... Afterwards we left to go with Tomek, bowling. It was Tomek's first time playing and he did pretty good...
Ola scored: 81,79, 70
Tomek Scored: 60, 99, 78
Darrin Scored: 119, 130, 92 (my hand hurt? riiiiiight) - I still won every game.....
After playing for an hour we picked up Ania and Filip and went back home for supper at Tadeusz... He made pork loin, potatoe's and yellow beans with greek salad.... It was very good! Then we got ready and left to go to Ola#2's place.... We hung out there for 3 hours and then headed out to a club called, West port. It was a very cool club, with waterfalls... Darrin wanted to buy a round of shots, so he went to the bar and due to his lack of polish he ended up buying 4 large glasses of Jack Daniels..... Yea, next time Ola does the ordering.... But it was still very inexpensive, for almost 1/2 a bottle of Jack daniels in our 4 cups it only cost 80 Zloty (30$). We hung out there for just over an hour and then went to a second club called: Opium. When we arrived the girls went to the washroom, Darrin lost sight of Marcin and therefore he sat down with some random people and started to speak with them.... one of them happened to know english and told me all about her studies...... Her name is Iza. The girls finally found me, and we moved onto the dance floor... After another hour or so we headed out and called Tomek for a lift home... Now here comes the bad part..... After 33 days of being clean, Darrin and Ola succumbed to the power of McDonalds.... As they were the only thing open at this hour and we hadn't eaten since 4pm... I see this as not an excuse but a simple explanation!
Poland Day 24 - Day 29
Day 24
We woke up nice and early to catch our train back to Lodz. At the train station we had a coffee with Marciek and said our goodbyes.... When we got back to Lodz and to her grandfathers house it was noonish 
so we decided to go swimming with Tomek, Ania and the pathers. The pool system is very akward at this place. The changing rooms are unisex, but they have individual stalls which you change in before entering and exiting the locker room. Basically you can enter form the front desk entrance or the locker room entrance into the stalls. and when u lock it, it locks on both ends... I could see how some people may feel very uncomfortable with this, but none the less it is a very good system... There is also two sauna's; one is a dry sauna where you must dry off before entering and the other one is wet sauna where it is very heavy to breath because of all the condensation... There is three pools here one for the children, a normal lap pool and then a pool with a slide as well as very cool shower fountains, water pressure holes and a few other little fun gadgets. After the pool, we headed out to go for supper at Aunt Krysia's house... Which was once again Fabulous! We played some cards and went to sleep....
so we decided to go swimming with Tomek, Ania and the pathers. The pool system is very akward at this place. The changing rooms are unisex, but they have individual stalls which you change in before entering and exiting the locker room. Basically you can enter form the front desk entrance or the locker room entrance into the stalls. and when u lock it, it locks on both ends... I could see how some people may feel very uncomfortable with this, but none the less it is a very good system... There is also two sauna's; one is a dry sauna where you must dry off before entering and the other one is wet sauna where it is very heavy to breath because of all the condensation... There is three pools here one for the children, a normal lap pool and then a pool with a slide as well as very cool shower fountains, water pressure holes and a few other little fun gadgets. After the pool, we headed out to go for supper at Aunt Krysia's house... Which was once again Fabulous! We played some cards and went to sleep....Day 25
We woke up in the morning --- well Darrin woke up in the morning, Ola woke up in the "late morning" or I would call it afternoon! We had a very nice brunch prepared by Tadeusz, that consisted of a very scrumptious omelette and a nice cup of coffee ....
afterwards we spent two hours relaxing on the computer and then headed over to Tomek and Ania's for some ribs and potatoe's...... The meat just fell off the bone! After which we headed directly over to Krysia's for an even bigger meal (feel full yet? Imagine having to eat it all)... Tomek and Ania went to see Shrek III, while we helped Krysia clean up the big mess! We waited for Tomek and Ania to come back to pick up Filip and us, as we had plans to go to the Panthers! At the Panthers we just hung out, talked about sports and Darrin learned some more Polish...
Day 26
Darrin woke up at 9 am and went with Tadeusz to his allotment (a portion of land in which you may have a garden, small house/hut, trees, etc) At Tadeusz allotment he has a little 2 room hut, a small garden, and 2 cherry tree's and a small strawberry bush... Darrin picked two or so pounds of cherries and then mowed the lawn, while Tadeusz repaired a few area's in the house and fixed the garden. We were there for about 1 1/2 hour - 2 hours (it was very quite and beautiful). After which we got home to a still sleeping Ola who we forced out of bed at noon, as we were preparing lunch.... After lunch, we taught Tadeusz how to play; 31, Kings, Liar (3 dice game), Yatzee.... Then we headed out for supper at Krysia - While Tadeusz went to a wedding. At Krysia we saw Asia, who was leaving to go away for a couple of weeks since she finished school! She gave Ola a very beautiful bracelet and talked for awhile. Afterwards we accompanied Tomek to drive Asia home to her mom's so she can get ready to leave. We then headed with the Panthers to a Go Kart area. The go karts were very fast and Ola got to do it for the first time ever.... She loved it, but Darrin loved beating her and smashing her into the sides muhahaha....
We then went to the Pathers house for awhile.
Day 27
Today is a very relaxed day... As it is a Sunday and it is the day of rest! hehehe ---- We started of by both waking up late 11ish and then playing some cards... Afterwards we had plans to be at Krysia's to have special meal: Kolduny (sounds like: Co - Dune - Eh). This is what they call their family dish, which means everyone atleast likes it and the most of them LOVE it... It was very good. It reminded me of Perogi's but instead of regular filling, it is filled with meat and mostly the fat.... MMM good good fat! After eating this meal ---> Darrin had 40 or so.... we played some more cards.... and that was all!
Day 28
We woke up had some breakfast and headed out to the Botanical Gardens. Along the way Tadeusz pointed out a few historical places in Lodz, such as; an old factory owned by Karol Scheibler, who built a town like place similar to that of Manufactura, but it was called "The Priests Mill". The new owners of the land wish to turn the location into high class lofts, as well as turn the old town houses of the workers into expensive homes for the wealthy of Lodz... the main building, which is the factory, is not being used at the moment so it will be easy for them to create the lofts, as long as they abide by the laws from UNESCO, while the town houses are currently rented by 100's of individuals, as the strip is that large. The owners have promised to move all the tenants to another location which would be better than their current one... When we got to the Botanical Gardens, Darrin beat Tadeusz to the ticket counter.... but they didn't have change for his 100 Zloty bill... Tadeusz won this fight but I will win the war! The Botanical Graden was very beautiful, however we came during its off season and therefore was not being as cared for as normally done....... After the garden we had some ice cream and headed back home! At home we made some watermelon sorbet, which wouldn't be ready until late that evening and even better the following day! It was very very very very good.......
Day 29
Darrin woke up and had breakfast with Tadeusz, then watched Johnny English until Ola woke up. Afterwards Tadeusz made some amazing potatoe latkes' and then we met up with Ola#2... We then went to see the Poznanski Museum/House which was very big for a small family. The museum itself wasn't that great, but it had some very cool old outfits and some interesting awards which were given to the occupants. There was also a small photograph exhibition on the main floor... In the cellar there were some old Nazi photographs/documents and other misc stuff from the war... We then parted with Ola and went to Krysia for supper....
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Poland Day 22 - 23 (Warszawa)
Day 22
We woke up at 6 am and caught our bus to the bus station (finally on time without having to run --- there is a first for everything)! We took the bus along with Asia and her friend who were heading down to Warszawa as well.... The bus ride was 2 1/2 hours long, which Darrin slept most of it and Ola talked with the other two. We arrived at almost 11, at Centrum station, it was pouring outside so we had to run into the mall to find shelter. We waited for two hours here for the rain to stop, but meanwhile planned where we were going to walk and what we were going to see... When the rain finally stopped we headed out to see the Palace of Culture and Education, it was about 2 blocks away. We tried to enter through the north entrance, but were stopped by locked doors... We then headed to the west entrance, where we were stopped by a very "unpleasant" (fill in the " " as you see fit, but we are keeping this PG-13) security guard who told us it was the pool.... then we finally got to the south entrance where we walked in to find out about the building. Basically inside is an art exhibition as well as a elevator lift that takes you to the 30th floor, where you get to see all of Warszawa... It was kind of expensive and since there was alot more to do we headed out again. We then went to a church about 4 blocks away. This church was different, it was very plain yet serene in its own way, it also had a massive organ which was beautiful, which we photographed. We then headed down one the main boulevards to find something to eat. Along the way we find a little market area where Ola and Darrin bought some sun glasses... Afterwards we found this hole in the wall restraunt which turned out to very nice inside and the food was cheap and delicious. They waiteress and waiter gave us some highlighted places to see and we headed out. We walked past two monuments, which were very nice and then arrived at the National Museum of Warszawa... It was closing in 30 minutes since it was 4pm anyways... We called Ola's cousin and he said he would meet as back at centrum in 1 hour or so.... Ola and I were about a 45 minute walk form there, so we headed back through the side street market area's and finally arrived. We then had about 20 minutes to kill, so we went to the pet store in the mall... Darrin spent 15 minutes talking with a parrot, who actually talked back (was actually whistling with the parrot who mimiced the exact sounds Darrin made). We then met up with Ola's cousin Maciek and his girlfriend Ania and headed back to Maciek's mothers (Magda) home. She made a large meal and we all sat around talking.... At 9:30 pmish Marciek, Ania, Ola and Darrin decided to go out for the evening. We started off by going to an ice club. The whole club is -10 degrees and you are given thermo coats to wear. The walls, seats, counters and everything is made of ice... Including your cup which you drink vodka shots from. There is also some statues here, which if anyone wants to know about you can ask Darrin and Ola as it is not for younger audiences..... After this club we went to the Marriot hotel and headed to the top floor (#30) to see the view of Warszawa during the night (the good thing about here is it is free unlike the culture and education palace). but we still ended up spending 100 zlote on drinks..... After that we went to a shisha bar - the only one in Warszawa, but were denied access as it was 21 over there and they card everyone (Poland legal age is 18, but since it is the only shisha place in Warszawa they could take any clients they want).....We then went back to the house and went to sleep.
Day 23
We woke up to a fancy brunch and then got a lift to the National Museum of Warszawa... We walked through the museum which was interesting but we were very peeved off by the rudeness of the staff... We also got to see a exhibition that was very very interesting. It was a Slovakian artist from the late 19th century and the early 20th. He did most of the advertisements and label for wines, perfumes, food and theatre... His name was: Mucha.
After the national museum we headed to Lazienki (sounds like Wah - Jen - Kee) ---> it means baths.... this large park is home to a palace in which house baths and peackocks. The peacocks also roam freely throughout the park! These beautiful birds were in the middle of their mating season and therefore we got to see the males feathers wide open as they try to attract the females, who seemed unimpressed by their ... ummm oh yea "feathers"! After this Maciek met up with us and showed us around the old town Warszawa.
What is old town?
During World War II Warszawa was totally demolished and therefore unlike the rest of Poland they do not have any of their original buildings. Old town was built slightly after the war in a replica model of how Warszawa used to look, as well as using many of the remains from the old buildings. It only took an astonishing three years to rebuild this part of the city, giving memory to what was lost.
About four blocks south of Old town square, they created a place called New town square. What was funny to see was that old town square was filled with people and busy shops (in a very compact area), while New town square was practically empty and had three times the area of Old town. We then strolled around Warszawa seeing different buildings and churches and finally sat down to eat at a local brewery. Darrin had a wheat beer (was pretty good) and ribs (only 20 zlote/ 8 canadian dollars).... Ola and Marciek both had a club sandwich. Once again we saw the charm of Warszawa with our very "unpleasant" waitress.... After the meal we went to the university where Marciek and Ania study law. Then we went to the airport to pick up Magda from her single day trip to a city close by... and headed home to sleep.... We had to be up at 6 am once again to make our train back to Lodz!
We woke up at 6 am and caught our bus to the bus station (finally on time without having to run --- there is a first for everything)! We took the bus along with Asia and her friend who were heading down to Warszawa as well.... The bus ride was 2 1/2 hours long, which Darrin slept most of it and Ola talked with the other two. We arrived at almost 11, at Centrum station, it was pouring outside so we had to run into the mall to find shelter. We waited for two hours here for the rain to stop, but meanwhile planned where we were going to walk and what we were going to see... When the rain finally stopped we headed out to see the Palace of Culture and Education, it was about 2 blocks away. We tried to enter through the north entrance, but were stopped by locked doors... We then headed to the west entrance, where we were stopped by a very "unpleasant" (fill in the " " as you see fit, but we are keeping this PG-13) security guard who told us it was the pool.... then we finally got to the south entrance where we walked in to find out about the building. Basically inside is an art exhibition as well as a elevator lift that takes you to the 30th floor, where you get to see all of Warszawa... It was kind of expensive and since there was alot more to do we headed out again. We then went to a church about 4 blocks away. This church was different, it was very plain yet serene in its own way, it also had a massive organ which was beautiful, which we photographed. We then headed down one the main boulevards to find something to eat. Along the way we find a little market area where Ola and Darrin bought some sun glasses... Afterwards we found this hole in the wall restraunt which turned out to very nice inside and the food was cheap and delicious. They waiteress and waiter gave us some highlighted places to see and we headed out. We walked past two monuments, which were very nice and then arrived at the National Museum of Warszawa... It was closing in 30 minutes since it was 4pm anyways... We called Ola's cousin and he said he would meet as back at centrum in 1 hour or so.... Ola and I were about a 45 minute walk form there, so we headed back through the side street market area's and finally arrived. We then had about 20 minutes to kill, so we went to the pet store in the mall... Darrin spent 15 minutes talking with a parrot, who actually talked back (was actually whistling with the parrot who mimiced the exact sounds Darrin made). We then met up with Ola's cousin Maciek and his girlfriend Ania and headed back to Maciek's mothers (Magda) home. She made a large meal and we all sat around talking.... At 9:30 pmish Marciek, Ania, Ola and Darrin decided to go out for the evening. We started off by going to an ice club. The whole club is -10 degrees and you are given thermo coats to wear. The walls, seats, counters and everything is made of ice... Including your cup which you drink vodka shots from. There is also some statues here, which if anyone wants to know about you can ask Darrin and Ola as it is not for younger audiences..... After this club we went to the Marriot hotel and headed to the top floor (#30) to see the view of Warszawa during the night (the good thing about here is it is free unlike the culture and education palace). but we still ended up spending 100 zlote on drinks..... After that we went to a shisha bar - the only one in Warszawa, but were denied access as it was 21 over there and they card everyone (Poland legal age is 18, but since it is the only shisha place in Warszawa they could take any clients they want).....We then went back to the house and went to sleep.
Day 23
We woke up to a fancy brunch and then got a lift to the National Museum of Warszawa... We walked through the museum which was interesting but we were very peeved off by the rudeness of the staff... We also got to see a exhibition that was very very interesting. It was a Slovakian artist from the late 19th century and the early 20th. He did most of the advertisements and label for wines, perfumes, food and theatre... His name was: Mucha.
After the national museum we headed to Lazienki (sounds like Wah - Jen - Kee) ---> it means baths.... this large park is home to a palace in which house baths and peackocks. The peacocks also roam freely throughout the park! These beautiful birds were in the middle of their mating season and therefore we got to see the males feathers wide open as they try to attract the females, who seemed unimpressed by their ... ummm oh yea "feathers"! After this Maciek met up with us and showed us around the old town Warszawa.
What is old town?
During World War II Warszawa was totally demolished and therefore unlike the rest of Poland they do not have any of their original buildings. Old town was built slightly after the war in a replica model of how Warszawa used to look, as well as using many of the remains from the old buildings. It only took an astonishing three years to rebuild this part of the city, giving memory to what was lost.
About four blocks south of Old town square, they created a place called New town square. What was funny to see was that old town square was filled with people and busy shops (in a very compact area), while New town square was practically empty and had three times the area of Old town. We then strolled around Warszawa seeing different buildings and churches and finally sat down to eat at a local brewery. Darrin had a wheat beer (was pretty good) and ribs (only 20 zlote/ 8 canadian dollars).... Ola and Marciek both had a club sandwich. Once again we saw the charm of Warszawa with our very "unpleasant" waitress.... After the meal we went to the university where Marciek and Ania study law. Then we went to the airport to pick up Magda from her single day trip to a city close by... and headed home to sleep.... We had to be up at 6 am once again to make our train back to Lodz!
Poland Day 20 - 21
Day 20
Ola and Myself woke up nice and early and had breakfast with Tadeusz. We then got our stuff together and the three of us went to the Jewish cemetery "Zydowski" - it is the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe (43 hectars or 106 acres). This massive Cemetary is home to many of the famous jewish entrepeneurs of Lodz, as well as; The victims of the Holocaust, victims of the Cholera, uprisings and everyday use. As this cemetary is so large, the cost to maintain it is just as great and therefore much of the cemetary is now one with the forest. It is actually a beautiful site to see the vines and ivy all around the graves and trees, as though life itself is forming around usually such a dead place. This magical presence that is formed by the graveyard was even used in many films. Certain section of the cemetary are currently being repaired/renovated by the generous donations of many people from Israel and the U.S.A. The majority of these section are those of the soldiers/citizens who died during the Holocaust. Although much of this renvoation has be done in a manner not to harm the nature or graves, some of the work actually requires moving the graves otherwise further damage to the preservation of its history could occur. In this graveyard, Izrael Poznanski was buried, his grave is one of the most cared for and beautiful in all the cemetary. We then left and headed to the grave in which Tadeusz mother (ola's great grandmother) was buried, in another cemetary. This cemetary was more different and was interesting to see how well kept it was. The reason this cemetary was more kept is that in the Zydowski cemetary, once you buy an area it is yours forever (but the duty of caring for the grave is that of the families)... While at this cemetary you can only rent the spot for 20 years at a time, then someone has to rent it again. So if after 20 years there is no one to pay the upkeep it is given to another individual. We laid some flowers down at the grave and a candle, then headed out to go for supper at Ola's Aunt Krysia house. We had an amazing meal once again (I have not yet found something in Poland I do no thoroughly enjoy). We all sat around till 10 pm eating and eating and eating until finally we were even to full to leave.... We got home and crashed after such a large meal!
Day 21
Darrin woke up once again to have breakfast with Tadeusz, while Ola slept till 10:30. But she's on vacation so she's allowed :) ... We had plans to meet Ola's old friend Ewa for 12pm at her office. The only thing was, where is her office... We left at 11:15 and arrived in the area around 11:45 ----> we forgot to bring the list of phopne numbers..... So we walked around for 2 hours looking in every office building and asking every receptionist if they know an Ewa Grzegorzewska and of course we were unsuccessful... We decided to give it 10 more minutes of searching when Ola finally got a hold of her Uncle Tomek... He was able to contact Ewa and to our surprise we see her stick her head out a window and flag us down.... (we happened to be in a small alley at the time, where her office was located... We still would have never found it! After one and a half hours of chit chatting, we left and headed back home, just to leave 10 minutes later to go to Tomek and Ania's for supper (it was a day of running around with our head chopped off)... We then called it an early night because our bus for Lodz left at 8am for Warsawa, which meant we had to wake up for 6 am in order to catch a bus to the bus station (ironic)!
Ola and Myself woke up nice and early and had breakfast with Tadeusz. We then got our stuff together and the three of us went to the Jewish cemetery "Zydowski" - it is the largest Jewish cemetery in Europe (43 hectars or 106 acres). This massive Cemetary is home to many of the famous jewish entrepeneurs of Lodz, as well as; The victims of the Holocaust, victims of the Cholera, uprisings and everyday use. As this cemetary is so large, the cost to maintain it is just as great and therefore much of the cemetary is now one with the forest. It is actually a beautiful site to see the vines and ivy all around the graves and trees, as though life itself is forming around usually such a dead place. This magical presence that is formed by the graveyard was even used in many films. Certain section of the cemetary are currently being repaired/renovated by the generous donations of many people from Israel and the U.S.A. The majority of these section are those of the soldiers/citizens who died during the Holocaust. Although much of this renvoation has be done in a manner not to harm the nature or graves, some of the work actually requires moving the graves otherwise further damage to the preservation of its history could occur. In this graveyard, Izrael Poznanski was buried, his grave is one of the most cared for and beautiful in all the cemetary. We then left and headed to the grave in which Tadeusz mother (ola's great grandmother) was buried, in another cemetary. This cemetary was more different and was interesting to see how well kept it was. The reason this cemetary was more kept is that in the Zydowski cemetary, once you buy an area it is yours forever (but the duty of caring for the grave is that of the families)... While at this cemetary you can only rent the spot for 20 years at a time, then someone has to rent it again. So if after 20 years there is no one to pay the upkeep it is given to another individual. We laid some flowers down at the grave and a candle, then headed out to go for supper at Ola's Aunt Krysia house. We had an amazing meal once again (I have not yet found something in Poland I do no thoroughly enjoy). We all sat around till 10 pm eating and eating and eating until finally we were even to full to leave.... We got home and crashed after such a large meal!
Day 21
Darrin woke up once again to have breakfast with Tadeusz, while Ola slept till 10:30. But she's on vacation so she's allowed :) ... We had plans to meet Ola's old friend Ewa for 12pm at her office. The only thing was, where is her office... We left at 11:15 and arrived in the area around 11:45 ----> we forgot to bring the list of phopne numbers..... So we walked around for 2 hours looking in every office building and asking every receptionist if they know an Ewa Grzegorzewska and of course we were unsuccessful... We decided to give it 10 more minutes of searching when Ola finally got a hold of her Uncle Tomek... He was able to contact Ewa and to our surprise we see her stick her head out a window and flag us down.... (we happened to be in a small alley at the time, where her office was located... We still would have never found it! After one and a half hours of chit chatting, we left and headed back home, just to leave 10 minutes later to go to Tomek and Ania's for supper (it was a day of running around with our head chopped off)... We then called it an early night because our bus for Lodz left at 8am for Warsawa, which meant we had to wake up for 6 am in order to catch a bus to the bus station (ironic)!
Monday, July 2, 2007
Poland Day 15- Day 19 (19th - 23rd of June)
Poland week #1 (Day15 - Day 19)
Day 15
We had a personal tour of Lodz with Tadeusz (in case you forgot: Ola's Grandfather). We saw Manufactura (a large commercial area and shopping center), which is being built/renovated from the old warehouses of what used to be a Cotton Factory.
What was Manufactura?
Was the main area in which cotton was produced, the #1 export of Poland in the 1,800's and beginning of the 20th century. The owner of this factory was Izrael Poznański, a wealthy entrepeneur of the time. He constructed a whole town "manufactura" for his workers. This town included a fire departement, stores, hospital, restaurants, etc (all these were exclusive for his workers and family). The catch to this little town was that whatever the people earned, they ended up spending at his stores/rent etc giving back to him his money. Although the costs of produce was very low for the people, as he wanted them to favor his location over others.
This area is now for public use and has been generously renovated and repaired for by a French company. The most interesting thing is that the outside was fixed but in its original state and therefore retains the same history. Much of Lodz is cared for in similar manners, as the buildings are under the UNESCO. If you are interested in finding out what Unesco means, just google it. After walking through Manufactura shopping mall and having a coffee we went to the working place of Ola's old friend from grade 1, Ola (her friend has the same name). They chit chatted for awhile and then we headed back to the apartement and had a wonderful polish dinner (curry lol guess Indian dish)... After supper we went with Tomek, Ania and Filip to the Old Cemetery where Ola's grandmother, great grandmother and great grandfather are buried. We walked around the burial grounds and saw many "cool" looking gravestones. We then went for a walk down Pietrkowska, a street with most of Lodz night life. We stopped and had a beer, where Darrin tried his first Guiness (it was delicious).
Day 16
We had a lazy day and walked down Pietrkowska. We saw a monument there which stands for Polands independance and freedom. In Poland the meals work differently then in Canada, we were supposed to be at Tomek's and Ania's house for supper at 3am. Since we woke up late, we didn't have much time to do anything else. We went there and had a very nice meal (chicken, potatoe and salad) - May I add the Polish know how to eat and cook! After supper we went to a pub near by with Tomek, Ania and there two friends: Agnieszka and Lukasz (Agnes and Luke). The pub has a pet camel! After having a beer we headed to park nearby where we walked abit and then played with Filip on the swings and seesaw ---> the six of us had more fun then the 10 month old hehe! We then went to Manufactura for an ice cream and to walk around. Afterwards we ordered and Pizza and went to Agnieszka and Lukasz apartement (They are known us the "Panthers" because of their last name). We sat around, talked (Darrin tried his best), ate and looked at cars and computers on the net.
Day 17
We met Tomek's daugther Asia (prenounced: Ash-A) who we walked around town with. We looked for a bowling alley, but the only one that was even a remote possibilty was only openeing in 1 month. We also stopped by a local computer store and purchased a wireless, optical mouse for Tadeusz to thank him for keeping us in his home. After walking around town all day we went for a 4pm supper at Aunt Bozenka's. The meal was fabulous once again. We then went out with Asia to a nightblub (more pubish) called "club 77". We tried many new drinks, Darrin slowly "learned" polish the longer the night went on.
Day 18
Very lazy day again! Ola slept till noonish and Darrin ate breakfast with Tadeusz and then played on the computer till Ola got up. FINALLY she got up and we headed out to the Cotton factory museum with our personal tour guide Tadeusz. On the first floor we saw machines from the beginning of cotton production till the early 1,990's when it closed down (China became #1 exporter of cotton over Poland). It was very interesting to see the progress of the machines and the amount of woprk required in the early 20th century to create such masterpieces (thanks to Tadeusz knowledge of these machines, we got to learn alot more about them. On the second and third floor there was an art exhibition that displayed works that were created solely with fabric's and material. Alot of these pieces were very delicate, yet stunning. The amount of time to create this art is incredible. After the museum, we went to the European Institute where Tadeusz knows someone who works. This building usually is not one you can just walk around, but thankfully because of family connections we got a private tour around this historical building from (Ania [another one], Ola's third cousin/aunt) - it was in english as she studied in England. This building was another building that has been conserved in the same manner as it was when it was constructed. Even for the institute to change a lightbulb, they need a special architect to come in and approve the change. This building was voted as the most conserved / protected building of original design. It was owned by a gentleman named: Robert Schweikert (a German man - after german retreat from Poland the villa was abandoned). Connected to this building is a soon to be hotel and an already functional conference center. This building was the base of Solidarity movement during the time of Communism in Poland. We saw many of the original pamphletes, photo's and signs used by the Solidarity group, as well as the balcony in which the leader used to speak to the people. The leader of this group was arrested by the communist government, along with his party, for trying to overthrow the government. The leader of the movement, Lech Walesa, is now the president of Poland.
Day 19
We met up with Ola #2 and her boyfriend Marcin. We took the tram / bus to Lodz's zoo. It was very inexpensive to enter (4 zloty/person - 1.75 $ canadian). We spent 3-4 hours here and then headed to their apartement. We ordered some pizza and hung out (Ola and Ola talked while Marcin, myself and his two friends duked it out in playstation soccer). We left around 11pm and headed back home.
Day 15
We had a personal tour of Lodz with Tadeusz (in case you forgot: Ola's Grandfather). We saw Manufactura (a large commercial area and shopping center), which is being built/renovated from the old warehouses of what used to be a Cotton Factory.
What was Manufactura?
Was the main area in which cotton was produced, the #1 export of Poland in the 1,800's and beginning of the 20th century. The owner of this factory was Izrael Poznański, a wealthy entrepeneur of the time. He constructed a whole town "manufactura" for his workers. This town included a fire departement, stores, hospital, restaurants, etc (all these were exclusive for his workers and family). The catch to this little town was that whatever the people earned, they ended up spending at his stores/rent etc giving back to him his money. Although the costs of produce was very low for the people, as he wanted them to favor his location over others.
This area is now for public use and has been generously renovated and repaired for by a French company. The most interesting thing is that the outside was fixed but in its original state and therefore retains the same history. Much of Lodz is cared for in similar manners, as the buildings are under the UNESCO. If you are interested in finding out what Unesco means, just google it. After walking through Manufactura shopping mall and having a coffee we went to the working place of Ola's old friend from grade 1, Ola (her friend has the same name). They chit chatted for awhile and then we headed back to the apartement and had a wonderful polish dinner (curry lol guess Indian dish)... After supper we went with Tomek, Ania and Filip to the Old Cemetery where Ola's grandmother, great grandmother and great grandfather are buried. We walked around the burial grounds and saw many "cool" looking gravestones. We then went for a walk down Pietrkowska, a street with most of Lodz night life. We stopped and had a beer, where Darrin tried his first Guiness (it was delicious).
Day 16
We had a lazy day and walked down Pietrkowska. We saw a monument there which stands for Polands independance and freedom. In Poland the meals work differently then in Canada, we were supposed to be at Tomek's and Ania's house for supper at 3am. Since we woke up late, we didn't have much time to do anything else. We went there and had a very nice meal (chicken, potatoe and salad) - May I add the Polish know how to eat and cook! After supper we went to a pub near by with Tomek, Ania and there two friends: Agnieszka and Lukasz (Agnes and Luke). The pub has a pet camel! After having a beer we headed to park nearby where we walked abit and then played with Filip on the swings and seesaw ---> the six of us had more fun then the 10 month old hehe! We then went to Manufactura for an ice cream and to walk around. Afterwards we ordered and Pizza and went to Agnieszka and Lukasz apartement (They are known us the "Panthers" because of their last name). We sat around, talked (Darrin tried his best), ate and looked at cars and computers on the net.
Day 17
We met Tomek's daugther Asia (prenounced: Ash-A) who we walked around town with. We looked for a bowling alley, but the only one that was even a remote possibilty was only openeing in 1 month. We also stopped by a local computer store and purchased a wireless, optical mouse for Tadeusz to thank him for keeping us in his home. After walking around town all day we went for a 4pm supper at Aunt Bozenka's. The meal was fabulous once again. We then went out with Asia to a nightblub (more pubish) called "club 77". We tried many new drinks, Darrin slowly "learned" polish the longer the night went on.
Day 18
Very lazy day again! Ola slept till noonish and Darrin ate breakfast with Tadeusz and then played on the computer till Ola got up. FINALLY she got up and we headed out to the Cotton factory museum with our personal tour guide Tadeusz. On the first floor we saw machines from the beginning of cotton production till the early 1,990's when it closed down (China became #1 exporter of cotton over Poland). It was very interesting to see the progress of the machines and the amount of woprk required in the early 20th century to create such masterpieces (thanks to Tadeusz knowledge of these machines, we got to learn alot more about them. On the second and third floor there was an art exhibition that displayed works that were created solely with fabric's and material. Alot of these pieces were very delicate, yet stunning. The amount of time to create this art is incredible. After the museum, we went to the European Institute where Tadeusz knows someone who works. This building usually is not one you can just walk around, but thankfully because of family connections we got a private tour around this historical building from (Ania [another one], Ola's third cousin/aunt) - it was in english as she studied in England. This building was another building that has been conserved in the same manner as it was when it was constructed. Even for the institute to change a lightbulb, they need a special architect to come in and approve the change. This building was voted as the most conserved / protected building of original design. It was owned by a gentleman named: Robert Schweikert (a German man - after german retreat from Poland the villa was abandoned). Connected to this building is a soon to be hotel and an already functional conference center. This building was the base of Solidarity movement during the time of Communism in Poland. We saw many of the original pamphletes, photo's and signs used by the Solidarity group, as well as the balcony in which the leader used to speak to the people. The leader of this group was arrested by the communist government, along with his party, for trying to overthrow the government. The leader of the movement, Lech Walesa, is now the president of Poland.
Day 19
We met up with Ola #2 and her boyfriend Marcin. We took the tram / bus to Lodz's zoo. It was very inexpensive to enter (4 zloty/person - 1.75 $ canadian). We spent 3-4 hours here and then headed to their apartement. We ordered some pizza and hung out (Ola and Ola talked while Marcin, myself and his two friends duked it out in playstation soccer). We left around 11pm and headed back home.
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