Christmastime in Gdańsk

December 15, 2012

I've never lived anywhere where it really seemed like Christmas.  Sure, the festivities surrounding the holidays always seemed genuine, but, for some reason 60 degree F* days preceeding Christmas in South Carolina, Virginia, Georgia and Mississippi wasn't "quite right."  It often wasn't cold, and there definitely was no snow.

(*Fahrenheit was from Gdańsk, which is another reason I refuse to use Celsius.)

Gdańsk, however, is now full of Christmas charm.  The old buildings all have a dusting of snow on their roofs, and the Christmas market is in full swing by the Golden Gate.  The site of the Christmas market is also the old site of the coal market long ago.  I wonder if that's where Santa used to get those pesky coal nuggets to put in the shoes (not stockings-that's a German/Scandinavian tradition) of "niegrzeczny" (naughty/not polite) children.

The Saint Nicholas tradition in Poland includes setting your shoes by the door on the night of St. Nicholas Day, and he leaves presents in your shoes. 

The Christmas season starts in Poland on St. Nicholas Day (December 6).  I really did not realize that St. Nicholas had his own Special Day, well, probably because I'm Protestant and the whole Saint thing isn't our bag, baby.  I'm learning a lot about Catholicism in Poland, as they celebrate many Catholic/Christian holidays much differently than even American Catholics, or so I am told.

Reindeer munching away, little girl telling Santa what she wants for Christmas

I didn't realize that Santa is Finnish.  Makes sense.

Saint Nick's Post Office

Christmas Market decorations

Christmas Market or Jarmark

'Sup

Santa, et al by the Golden Gate (the main old medieval gate to the city)

In the building behind the Christmas market was the indoor part of the market.

It included an art exhibit from the Academy of Fine Arts (located next door)

The exhibit:  Cool Christmas Trees

The one above was made from paper cups, and the one behind it was made from a wedding dress

Funky scrap metal tree

I call this one, Yard Sale Tree

Fishing Net and Light Tree

My favorite.

Tiny styrofoam cubes suspended on fishing line, very whimsical. 

The Words-That-Make-Christmas Tree

Dom = Home, Ryba = Fish, Pierogi = comes from the Polish word for "festival", Zakupy = Shopping, Rodzina = Family

Lots of mistletoe for sale on the street outside the Halla Targowa.  Ooo yay my egg lady is there!

You know those Shepherds that visited Baby Jesus had a Shepherd Dog with them :)

Merry Christmas!

So sweet. We miss him so much.  I'm glad that we got to take him down for these photos.

Neptune

Doug snapped this picture this morning of a seagull walking on the river. The ice was thin enough that the river still looked like fluid water, but thick enough for the birds to walk on.  Wicked. 

In the last 3 hours, it has been snowing and the ice is now covered in a layer of white fluffy stuff.

Wesołych Świąt!

Merry Christmas!

Wrocław

Wrocław!  If you want to skip the historical psycho-babble, keep scrolling down to the pictures!

The trip after Poznań was to the fourth largest city in Poland, Wrocław. It sits on the western bank of the Oder, a river of great importance to both the Germanic and Slavic peoples. Wrocław is also at the intersection of two ancient trade routes, the Amber Road (going through Gdańsk, of course) and the Via Regia.

Just like many cities in this part of the world, it has changed hands many times in it's history. Wrocław is also known as Breslau in German.  In the middle ages, it was a Bohemian city, then became a Polish city in 992. It then became a part of the Holy Roman Empire in the 1300s, the Protestant Reformation came in 1618 to Wrocław, and then the Saxons and Swedish came to fight over the city in the 1600s. In 1740 it became a part of the Kingdom of Prussia.  It became a part of Unified Germany in 1871. After World War II, the city's name was changed to Wrocław. The German majority was kicked out and the city was re-inhabited with Poles from Ukraine, Eastern Poland, and Belarus. 

In the 1900 census, the population was around 400,000 and the city was 94% German, 5% Jewish and 1% Polish. Many of Germany's famous Jewish artists and scientists are from Wrocław/Breslau. Ferdinand Lassalle is a famous philosopher and political activist, and is buried in the Breslau Jewish cemetery. The oldest tombstone in the Breslau Jewish cemetery is from 1203. Somehow, even through Nazi occupation, the cemetery is still there, and in pretty good shape.

As a pilot and wife of a fighter pilot, I MUST mention that one of Breslau's most FAMOUS inhabitants was none other than the Red Baron himself. Our cute little Polish city guide says that he is the "World War I ace who inspired both a supermarket brand of pizza and several pornographic films"  LOL!

Manfred Albrecht Freiherr von Richthofen was born in Breslau and then grew up on his parent's estate in the nearby town of Schweidnitz before going on to bigger and better things.

Now! The pictures!

 My favorite advertisement in Poland- Media Markt, "Not for Idiots"

 Our view from the rental apartment in Wrocław

 Every great previously Prussian city has an AWESOME HALA TARGOWA (Central Market Hall)

This one is JUST LIKE the one here in Gdańsk, but BIGGER

 People like to put a lock on the bridge on the day of their wedding, anniversary, birthday, whatever

Cool fountain/statue in front of one of the oldest churches in town.  Built in the 1200s!

 Stately city home with a super cool gate

 Gorgeous detail

 The big city cathedral in the heart of the old town

 Why can't architecture be this awesome in America?

 The gorgeous "burning" crawling vegetation on the National Museum.

It does look like it's on fire!  Love the refection on the water.

 I want this growing all over my house someday.

My grandmother Lynn Summerour would have LOVED this stuff (and let it grow all over her house)

 My favorite city park so far in Poland.  Yep, even better than the Royal Bathrooms in Warsaw.

On top of one of the old bastions!  He was SO EXCITED

After I snapped the picture of Danger, he ran down the bastion in this direction, leaves scattering as he bounded!

View of the old city from the end of the Promenade

I hope that we can return to Wrocław. I only had 1.5 days there, and we did not get to see other cool things in town, like the Jewish cemetery.  Maybe in the spring! I also want to go visit the village where the Red Baron grew up.

Poznań and Licheń Stary

November 20, 2012

Finally getting this post on the air.  On our way back to Gdańsk from Kórnik, we visited the city of Poznań and the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń.

I asked several people at work "What should we do in Poznań? Or, What is there to see in Poznań?" and I was met with responses of "nothing" and "the goats."  Man, I was in for a great surprise. My co-workers must not be history buffs because Poznań (in my opinion) is as important to Polish culture, religion and statehood as Washington DC is to Americans. There is a LOT of Polish and Prussian history in Poznań and we were not disappointed.

Poznań is one of the oldest Polish cities. In fact, it is where Poland came together for the first time as an actual country in the 10th century.  In the year 966, King Mieszko became the first Christian king of Poland.  His baptism is said to have happened in Poznań. From 1793 to 1918 Poznań was a Prussian city.

Here are some of the fun things we got to see in Poznań:

I think this is a statute of General Dąbrowski, a Polish national hero.  

He came to Poznań in 1806 to raise up a Polish army to take control of Southern Prussia.  

The Polish National Hymn is called "Dąbrowski's Mazurka" and was written two years after Poland was wiped off the map. 

It was written to boost the morale of the Polish legion fighting in Italy during the Napoleonic Wars.

The first line of the song: "Poland has not yet died, so long as we still live"

The old city

We had WONDERFUL hot chocolate here, made in the Aztec style, with lots of hot and savory chili.

The old city hall, or "Ratusz"

Center market outside the ratusz

When the clock strikes noon, two little goats come out and butt heads in front of the clock. 

The legend behind the goats is that some dignitaries were coming to town, and the cooks had burnt the deer that was roasting outside the town hall, so they stole two goats from a nearby field and wanted to cook them instead. The goats got away, and ran up the clock tower and began to fight each other. 

Everyone was much amused by this, and they decided to install mechanical goats that would butt heads when the clock struck the hour.

The big cathedral in town

The lighting was terrible

The bleeding heart of Christ? (or a liberal?)  Not sure....it was creepy

Everything will be OK

More fighting goats

An awesome bicycle

The church on "Cathedral Island" right outside of the old city.

The bones of the first kings and bishops of Poland are said to be buried under the church. 

There's a crypt that you can visit and leave flowers at.

J.P. II, popular as ever

Gorgeous stained glass inside the cathedral

Playing in traffic

The other side of the cathedral

This place was enormous.

I present: the Basilica of Our Lady of Licheń

I think the angels are dancing up there

This Basilica SCREAMED Poland, all over it. There were so many symbols of Poland on the inside and outside, it was incredible. Examples to come.

Gorgeous!

Construction started in 1994 and concluded in 2004. 

It is one of the largest churches in the world and the largest in Poland.

Yep, they're dancing

Nice detail of oak leaves and acorns

Bookstore!

He's got the whole world, in his hands....

I got to hang out in this smaller chapel while I waited for mass to be over.

The front lawn

J.P. II, again.  He came and blessed this place in 1999

The tower is 141.5 m tall (424 feet!)

The Polish national symbol, the Eagle.

Another reason I am glad that I went to learn Polish at FSI. 

Without that training, I would have no idea why these pews are decorated in this manner.

These are not angel's wings.

These are another Polish national symbol, the Hussar Wings, worn by an elite branch of the Polish calvary during the 16th century. 

The wings would make a rustling sound as they rode toward their enemies, intimidating them and spooking their horses!

On the left, Poland Always Faithful

On the right, directly over the altar, I am, which I am

Collages made of rosaries, beads, gold, amber in honor of saints and priests

We're having a good time!