Poland Part 2

Home again home again!  Huzzah.  Let's go back in time two weeks ago.   To Zakopane.

 

This was our home away from home.  The Villa Passion.  Passionately tiny.  Passionately affordable.  Let's take a tour.

 The office.  

Brock's room.  We set up the small couch/bed on its side and then strung a blanket up between it and the closet.  Here Brock has already out-smarted the "wall".  I am not sure if jet lag could be blamed but in Poland he wanted to get up between 5 and 5:30 (6 and 6:30 feels super different).

The playroom.  All two feet of it.  Here Brock is sampling one of his Polish souvenirs, a train with a double prong stacker.  He hasn't quite it got it yet, but he needed a new challenge.

 

 If Zakopane had a city animal mascot, it would be the slug.  They are EVERYWHERE and HUGE.

Just up the hill from the Villa Passion (which is already very uphill) is an area where shepherds take their sheep to graze.  We took a walk up the hill and carried Goo the entirety of the climb.

 

We spotted the rarely sighted bear-man on Krupowki street (the main tourist drag in Zakopane).

I made this picture "X-large" on Blogger so you can see the "Nog" graffiti tagged against the station wall.  I felt right at home knowing that the Cap'n was part of an official gang in Poland.  He always seems to me like he had a shady past.

Ok, we did get Brock a train, and that was going to be the one toy memory of the trip.  However, Brock has a mind of his own.  There are a million of these stuffed sheep throughout Zakopane; after Brock distinctly reached for a purple one on two separate occasions... irresistible.  It does turn into a travel pillow, as practical as a purple sheep can be.

Some last minute pics of the cabaret side of the theatre that we performed in.

and the other side, the big space.

On our last day we went for a walk, here is a small sculpture garden along the way.

 

The hoofed-mammal Zakopane experience continues.  

We jumped on the bus for Krakow.  One of my favorite European cities that I visited previously.  We had two days there before we flew back.  I did not take too many pics as I had been there before, and European cities tend to run together in my mind anyways.  Here is one tiny one of Wawel Castle that Brock and I visited.  I insisted that Matt take a trip to Auschwitz and Birkenau on that day as a few of the actors were going and I had already been.  Not the kind of place one wants to go again or take a baby to.  Obviously one of the most haunting and memorable places I have been; I don't think Matt took pictures (or even if you can?).  Auschwitz is essentially a museum, but Birkenau has been left in its original state after the US came in and liberated the camp.  A guide accompanied my group (and Matt's group as well) and explained what happened at each location, most of which are primarily ruble.  What I remember most is just the size of it.  The view from the guard tower shows an endless stream of fence, 20 feet tall and bent in a curve at the top, that when in their rows resemble human forms with heads bowed.  For miles and miles. 

The day was very rainy, perfect for a tour of a concentration camp, but not so good for me and Brock.  The extra poncho serves its purpose here. 

The next day we re-grouped to tour the Wieliczka Salt Mine, which has been active since the 13th century through 2007.  Then they ran out of salt, at least to handle commercial demands.  They still mine salt for their souvenir rock salt.  So cool, even on my second trip through, the "378 steps provides access to the mine's 64-meter (210-foot) level. A 3-kilometer (1.9-mile) tour features corridors, chapels, statues, and underground lake, 135 metres (443 ft) underground".  Guests are invited to lick the walls at their leisure.   

Miners through the centuries have sculpted figures of all kinds throughout.  Here the legend of Saint Kinga is depicted, quite a charitable woman who became the chaste wife of the Prince of Krakow; the saint of salt.

One of the highlights of the mine is the chapel, entirely carved from salt.

...including the chandeliers!

...and the floors!

...and the dinosaurs!!  Just kidding, the dinosaurs were real.

The caverns that were not part of the tour looked really awesome and creepy!

Salt mines are exhausting.

I think someone is ready to go home. 

Our final morning in Poland we enjoyed a farewell coffee, piwo and a puppet show in the Old Square.

Here Brock models Maeve's souvenir skirt from a local Polish vendor.  Doesn't he look fabulous?  I guess I'll be fine if we can't manage to have a girl the second time around.

 

Oh Poland.  An airport with a kids zone (there was one in the main bus station too).  We'll miss you!

An amazing trip with my favorite people, making art and memories.  I'm sooooo happy to be home!