So everyone,
I left off the last blog with some words about hiking JPII's favorite hiking spot. Lots of time has gone by since then and now we're heading off to Ukraine tomorrow. Sorry I've been so bad with the posts. Actually, blame Bob. He hasn't posted at all. To his credit, it's kinda hard to find the time to sit down and devote half an hour to a Blog entry.
Brief run-through of Poland trip:
Days 1-6-- Krakow
Krakow is an amazing city! It was left unmarred by the Nazi and Soviet oppresions and stands proud as the cultural hub of Poland today. It's actually a very quaint city, filled with cafes and bookstores, small shops and little street vendor stands where you can buy the Polish equivalent of pretzels for 30 cents a piece! Everything in Poland is cheaper than in the US, except for gas, but that didn't affect us. The exchange rate is about 3 zloty per american dollar. as you can imagine, when a beer costs 5 zloty at a nice pub, you get pretty excited. We actually didn't spend that much time sight-seeing. We got hooked on the cool cafes, jazz bars, and incredible people we met. Our hostel was right in the heart of Old-town Krakow (which is the coolest part of the city in my opinion). Everyone was friendly and we spent our last night listening to live big band jazz with about 10 friends we had made.
Day 7- Czestochowa
Czestochowa is called the spiritual hub of Poland. However, when you arrive at the main train station and walk around, you feel like you're walking through a place that's really felt the heavy hand of Soviet oppression. Large, ugly, gray concrete buildings are a common sight, some still in use, some dilapidated. The streets are dirty, and the people are not beaming with joy. We got more of a taste of the poverty of Poland here, since Krakow didn't display it as much. Once you walk past all the ugliness and get close to the Jasna Gora Monastery, Czestochowa doesn't look so bad. Streets are being repaved and plant life is prevalent. Once you set foot on the shrine grounds, you're in a haven set apart from the city. There are lots of trees, with nice paths running through them. The shrine buildings number quite a few, and stand like a city on a hill above the commercial district. Inside the shrine, you really feel in touch with Polish history. The floors in the chapels are uneven, having been worn away by the feet of millions of pilgrims. Alot of dark woods are used to decorate the chapels. The main attraction is itself a rather dark image- the Black Madonna icon, which supposedly dates back to apostolic times, hangs above an altar in a side chapel. It's a beautiful painting, decorated with an incredibly ornate frame. It's very serious, though. Mary's face has been slashed, and I'm not sure if that was the painter's doing. But anyway, you get an image of a Blessed Mother who has really felt the suffering of this world in an extreme way. I can understand why this image is so precious to the Polish people, including JPII. It represents hope in the midst of pain and violence. I've seen the image before, but never really understood it's significance and beauty until I began to understand Poland's history. I've pasted it above.
Day 8-9 Warsaw
Everyone we've spoken to, except one person, has complained that Warsaw is a dead city. After being here for 2 days, I wouldn't call it dead, but I'd hesitate to call it fully alive. It seems to be in a sort of limbo. It's not as culturally interesting as Krakow. Most of the city was completely destroyed by the Soviets back in the 50s (?). They've made some attempts to rebuild the city the way it was back then to revive cultural roots; however, the rest of the city is rather bland. I'm not going to say much about it. I have to tell you at the very least about the small underground museum that our friends showed us in front of the palace of arts and sciences. The palace of arts and sciences is the tallest building in Warsaw. It's a huge, stately looking building with a clock at the top- kind of like a Big Ben. Anyway, immediately in front of it, there's and unmarked entrance into an underground area. As you walk down the stairs to this strange place, you feel like you're entering the lair of some serial killer. There's a security guard sitting in a small room at the foot of the stairs. Then you come to two exhibition rooms. You are now beholding the Georgian Hunters Museum exhibit! In one of the rooms, which is about 10ft by 10ft, a graphic wallpaper displays taxidermed animals and animal skins. Water leeks through the wall and forms a big puddle. That's all you'll see in that room. In the next room, which cannot be entered because of a glass barrier, you'll behold the stuffed corpus of a baby deer standing in the corner. The rest of the room is white and completely empty. You've just seen the exhibition of photographs and taxidermed baby deer from the Georgian Hunters Museum. Enjoy your stay in Warsaw!
I'm as confused as you are.
Off to Ukraine tomorrow! I might try to post one more time before we head out to the mountains, but if I don't, I hope I see most of you when I return!
Adios!
-Isaac
No comments:
Post a Comment