The city is interesting from a religious perspective since there have been a lot of different groups passing through, staying and then moving on. The best known of these groups is the Jewish population that has been here for so many hundreds of years, was expelled, came back, was working closely with the governing people and then again on the wrong side of governance. The Jewish quarter in this city has a lot of memorial areas worth visiting. You should take the time to walk around, go in the synagogues and look at all the different buildings, markings and signs. From that perspective this is a very interesting city. The Christian churches are also fascinating. The most interesting might be the one at the castle which is a separate paid entrance but very worth the time.
TheRemuh synagogue is very beautifulThis is a nice place to just sit and think The outside wall to the synagogue indicating supporters This is the model of the synagogueThe Corpus Christi BasilicaIt’s very ornate inside Beautiful altar This is where the elite of the church Sit for ceremonies One of the bells inside Sigismund’s Chapel in the castle areaView of the city from the chapel Tower This is the famous Sigismund’s Chapel BellThis is the last famous bishop of the city Saint Peter and Paul’s Cathedral This is quite a beautiful pipe organ Model of the church on the outside
I bet you didn’t think a place to see Banksy Art was in Poland but if you go to Krakow, across from the supermarket where I bought my food, I noticed there was a big sign for the Banksy museum. It wasn’t expensive so I decided to go in and see what few works of art they have but actually they had quite a few. Here are the ones I found entertaining.
This is love in the new generation They needed better weaponsOut in the nick of time A very intelligent gorillaModern USA
I was surprised by Warsaw, such a huge and impressive city. But it wasn’t the quaint place I imagined so I saw what I found interesting and moved on to Krakow.
The Palace of Culture and Science. What I like about this photo is it is almost as if the green building was highlighted in a black and white photo. The contrast is interesting. There is a lot of construction going on now.One side of the Jewish Ghetto wall and a metal map of the extent of the GhettoTracing the wallThe Jewish memorial museum demonstrating the history of the Jewish people in this area going back almost 1,000 yearsSimulating a Ghetto street in this massive museum. You can almost get lost here.
When you come to Poland it is a good idea to visit Auschwitz and Birkenau. It seems you need to book individual entry up to a month in advance and they probably put you in a group? Most everyone was in a group tour which is advisable since there is a progression of buildings to visit and the details are extremely important. The camp you visit is just one of many built to house and mass murder people. There were more than 900 concentration camps built for the NAZIs to house and kill their victims. You will see the living quarters, execution walls, extermination showers and all other buildings preserved by former victims housed here. You will see collections of clothes and personal things left from those killed there as well as tons of hair shaved off before execution, used to make coats and blankets.
Hydrogen Cyanide canisters left in piles after used to kill victims ushered in to “take showers”.. The rooms next to the showers were incinerators to burn the bodies. Some of the ash was used as fertilizer .We arrived at 7:00 and waited 30 minutes in freezing weather for the gates to open. Our bus picked us up and returned us to Krakow. The recommended tour company was Hellow Cracow and they performed well. I paid about US$63 for the 7 hour tourThe famous gateOne of the buildings. In the first camp the premises were built for the Polish army and taken over by the Germans.A huge camp housing up to 70,000 victimsPlaces where people were taken from after 1941. Before 1942 the camp was used to house Polish eliteExecution WallOne touch of this electrified fench would kill. Some victims committed suicide this way.Shower and incinerator bunker entrance.Birkenau entranceThe famous mass one way transport entrance Many mouses between the camp and the woods were used to house victims before the camp was finished. Birkenau was built from the ground up for mass extermination. The incinerators were blown up by the Germans so approaching Russians would not have evidence.Our guide, a train car and a watch towerEach bunk slept 6 victims.
Poznan in winter is still a small town. But it’s almost halfway from the German border to Warsaw so it seemed like a good place to stop over for a few days, see how the trains work and cut the trip to Warsaw in half.
This was a very delicious pork with potatoes and sauerkraut with cheese on top and a few tomatoesThis was in a Ukrainian restaurant and that shows the different specialties in different parts of Ukraine “Recycling“ in Polish looks like the same pronunciation as JapaneseリサイクリングJust some decorations to light up the street Hawaiian Poké bowl is now universal but it’s not really poke. It’s kind of like somebody from Vietnam trying to create Japanese food. In Europe Poké bowl seems to be anything that’s in a bowl and on top of rice.It’s nice to see this old Citro endSculpture in the main park The tower of peace in the park Declaring Poland as a peaceful countryBeautiful older buildings The main cathedral is absolutely beautiful inside The entranceway to a ballet school Time for the ice festival but this year it’s very warm and so the ice is melting Ice sculpture sponsored by a Canadian and a Spaniard It was interesting to see some art deco architecture This was a little music entertainment for the kids
exploring Segovia is easy from Madrid. It’s a very short ride, less than an hour, and after you visit this town you can go back through Madrid to Toledo for a very short train ride there as well. One main feature of Segovia, of course, is the aqueduct where you will start your journey into the old town.
A view of the aqueduct from a distanceJust to show you how much building is going on at the Madrid Central train terminal This is the old Jewish area The main cathedral in the old town I went to a small bar, not a tourist place, and had very good quality calamari and a saladIn early December they are putting up Christmas decorations The main cathedral The extremely ordinate pipe organThe cathedral voltage ceiling somewhat reminiscent of Gaudi’s workThe Alcazar is another “must see” palace in Segovia These priests robes look somewhat Chinese Gold ornate artifact Golden silver decoration maybe to hold something These gigantic entrance doors are reminiscent of the palaces in Italy. They are large enough for men on horseback to enter Very ornate chapel Side road by the Cathedral Just an interesting old building Alkazar as you approach it The main courtyard Unbelievably ornate ceiling Welcoming the queen Another ornate ceiling You can see the Moor influence in this depictionA view from the palace. I think this is the monasteryA small chapel Many of the ceilings are just amazing works of art Another view from the palace The armament’s room A stubby CannonA Korean tour group RapiersIn the gift shop you can learn how to cook tapas A view from the palace into the city A moteA shop in the Jewish sector selling menorah? One of the very famous Jewish supporters of the monarchy The steak looks very delicious but it was sinuey These large steps were good for horsesIs this scary? Entering the Jewish cemetery The tunnel under the road to the cemetery This is the cemetery. It is a group of caverns chiseled out from the rockA view looking back at the cityLooking at the graveyard Kind of a strange sign but in Europe the burger is extremely popular A night view of an administration building More of the Alcazar Can you imagine having to walk in this outfit The complete outfitting of a knight and his horseMango and raspberry
as I mentioned in the previous post on Toledo it is definitely one of the “must see“ cities in Spain. It’s a very short train ride from Madrid which is more expensive so you may want to stay here in a very beautiful old town atmosphere and take a day trips into Madrid. I stayed in Grecco which is right above the gelato shop so on your way back to the very comfortable room you can stop in front and have a delicious gelato.
Actually this is Segovia. Once you get off the bus from the station you will have the aqueduct right in front of you for a great photo the beautiful old buildings are everywhereThere are a lot of little towers all over the city Local sausage cooked well
This is a really good deal for a meal which you can have at the university cafeteriaThe Moorish architecture is everywhereMy favorite coffee shop for breakfast had an addition of a tostada which was a potato baked like a bread, very fillingLocal designs which you can find in many many shops in the area Fixing up one of the cathedrals The sign outside the universityOn top of the university entrance there is this beautiful crest with angelsOld storefronts Swords and knives make very popular shops in this town. You will find them everywhere. I guess this guy will make one to your specification Many of the streets are very narrow I was staying in the Jewish quarter so you can enjoy visiting the synagogues which had been converted twice, once to Islam and once to ChristianityOne of the entrances to the town One of the gates. It’s important to note that Toledo is on a hill and so there is very little flat ground. You are either walking up or you are walking downCamelot lost its “C”I snuck a view into someone’s front garden One of the beautiful church spiresCoffee with mint chocolate The narrow ancient roads One day I sat in the Park area, smoked a cigar and drank wine out of my flaskA tasty vegetable salad with a vegan sausage A small local church built on an ancient foundation And with a small pipe organ Layers in the old foundation Remnants of the ancient church Another larger churchA Greco painting in the churchThe main church courtyard The comment for this was a monkey sitting on a toilet complaining. Evidently the architect had some sense of humor This is a very weird animal A human lodged headfirst in the stoneBeautiful entranceway decoration The courtyard with a different effigies Is this something they should have in a church? Maybe so since it revolves around a death Monasterio de San Juan de los ReyesSeveral Greco artworks here A beautiful view from the towerMangoon top of strawberry
there is a very interesting story about the Jewish quarter in Toledo indicating how powerful these people were in the Gothic and Moorish periods of Spanish history before the people took it back from the Moors. It seems the Islamic groups lived peacefully and with tolerance with the different religious groups but that was not to continue after the Christians took the territory from the Moors. The result was the inquisition in which non-Christians were obligated to convert or leave or worse. This area of the city is expensive and an extremely interesting and intricate part of Toledo. Visiting here is an absolute must if you come to the city.
Inside one of the synagogues This is a map of the city high on a hill. There is almost no flat area in the city so you’re either walking uphill or downhill. The Jewish people who came to this area are called the Sephardic people. During the inquisition and after they moved out of Spain in large groups to the east and some all the way to Russia. Next to my accommodations at Grecco Rooms (very reasonably priced) was a gelato shop. If I remember correctly this one was coffee on top of chocolate mint.
last year I bought a ticket for the Rod Stewart concert Köln, Germany on December 2 so I had to plan my travels accordingly. I had originally planned a month in Ireland but my friend was visiting France for a week and asked me to join so I cut my trip to Ireland short. Then I made it down to Spain and then back up to Germany for the concert.
when I first got to Cornell in 1971 I was of course studying in the room when the fellow across the hallway, Steve, had his door open and he was blasting “Maggie May“ which was a new song from the up-and-coming Rod Stewart. I asked Steve to close the door and turn the music down so I could study. He did nothing. So I went out and closed his door after asking him to turn down the music again which he did not do. So for a whole week he opened up his door and blasted “Maggie May“ I came to hate that song and I won’t tell you what I thought of Steve. But over the years the Song did nothing but bring back memories and they became increasingly good memories of my college days back in the middle of Iowa on the hilltop at a small school in a small town where people became something close to family and at least close friends. After 54 years I really needed to see this concert and it was one of the best things I’ve ever done.
““we are sailing” needs an explanation. It was back in about 1998 when we went out on a boat with the famous underwater videographer Prasong who we worked for on the dive boats. He went with one of the TV channel crew to do a special on diving in the Similan islands off the West Coast of Thailand. On the second day we were up at 6 AM, got some breakfast and Marianne, a famous Danish photographer and videographer and one of our diving crew in Bubbles, decided to take a dive far off Christmas point which was a little deep but we had never explored that area. Since we didn’t have diving customers with us we were able to do some experimental dives in areas that were not really suitable for guiding customers. So the boat dropped us off and as we came up we had manta rays all around us. We came to the surface and the current was pulling us slightly away from Christmas point. We waved to the dive boat but since it was about 7:30 we were in between the boat and the rising Sun so the boat couldn’t see us with the sun glare. we were calling to the boat but we were too far away for them to hear. So we just relaxed, inflated our BCD’s and knew they would come and look for us anyway. After having a few discussions and jokes about nothing a Thai squid fishing boat came to us and asked us if we wanted to board the boat which we did. On these fishing boats they have Burmese (Myanmar people) on as crew because they’re cheap but also illegally on the boats as crew so they were hiding in the cabin. As we walked past the cabin these heads popped up with yellow powder on their face (prickly powder is used to reduce the effects of heat from sweat. the Myanmar people use a yellow powder as the Thai people use a white powder. So that’s how you can tell the Myanmar people from the Thai people especially early in the morning when the powder is most used.We told the captain about our dive and where our boat was. he was very happy to take us back to our boat. We asked him how his fishing was and he explained, “we haven’t caught much squid yet but we did catch a few foreigners“. We all broke out laughing. The whole situation was just so hilarious. As we got close to our dive boat Marianne and I stood on the front of the boat and we started singing “we are sailing“. I guess it was so entertaining the TV crew on our dive boat decided to film it and two weeks later we wound up on Thai TV coming back to our boat singing “we are sailing“ and explaining we saw a lot of manta rays, the first of this dive trip. So that’s the story of the song. After that we showed the TV crew where the manta’s were so we did a number of dives with mantas which became an extra episode on the four part TV series “diving in the Similan islands”.
when you go to Spain make sure you go to Cuenca. It is a world heritage site for a reason. You go up by bus to the castle uphill or you can walk though it is quite a distance and could be tiring depending upon your degree of fitness. Walking back down to the town is a piece of cake and a very interesting stroll. There are also a few ways to go down through the narrow streets which you should probably try. By bus by train from Madrid it will take about an hour and a half so if you leave early in the morning you can spend the day there and then come back in the afternoon or evening but it’s a nice little town to stay overnight. I didn’t find a bunch else except for the journey up to the castle and the churches to visit up there. There are quite a few restaurants in coffee shops along the way but they seem to be mostly catering to the tourist crowd so they be judged as tourist restaurants. As you visit this area you will see a beautiful landscape and buildings right on cliff sides that will definitely be worth a few photos.
The beautiful cliff sidesWalking across the bridge to the museum I thought the colors here looking down into the town were very interestingThe monastery in the middle of the valley which is now a museum There are many different trails off the roadside that you can take to see the beautiful scenery from different points of view The main gate and entranceway into the cathedral and Castle area Some of the road up there is very narrow so they have a traffic light to allow cars one way and then stop to wait for cars coming the opposite way This door to the building must’ve been made a long time ago, for very short people Monumento al Sagrado Corazón de JesusYou can see how the water washed away the land to create a beautiful canyon These stores to the cathedral are very old The entranceway to the cathedral I just thought this was interesting that the Vespa service shop is offering an Aperol spritz for €5.9. This is the first motorcycle service shop I have seen that serves alcohol.Buildings on the cliffside What I learned in Bologna, Italy was that these long steps were created for people on horsebackThis nun is obviously giving directions to the kids You can probably find a place to stay that is right on the edge of the cliff Even though it was cold there were quite a few tourists mailing aroundJust a nice view of the cliffs and the valley and the tall trees that look like bushes It was kind of like a Spanish version of the Chinese “egg drop soup”. The wine was very tasty and the bread was fresh. The food looks good but the meat was raw on the inside and way too chewy to eatbut I had them cook it a second time. It’s probably best to eat down in the town in a place that is not so touristyA nice old restaurant façade Are you looking up towards the canyon And of course you have to be able to see a Ferrari It’s more interesting on the way down to follow the narrow paths rather than the main road I just thought this window was a very interesting shape The name of the shop does not exactly make me feel comfortable with the food Everything I own is in these bags and I am without a home. But recently I decided to get a small suitcase with wheels. There is a limit to carrying 14 kg every other day.
