March 2026 • Folksy Travel by Bill Smale

Conwy

this is very interesting fishing port and one of the very beautiful little cities with a castle of renown.

Luxury Welsh ice cream More around Wales — It’s interesting to see excellent Welsh ice cream started by an Italian. Actually I had a good friend from Scotland who was also named Mario. The ice cream was chocolate on the bottom and on the top was strawberry.

Clairvoyant office More around Wales — I could have entered here to find my future. But it was closed so who knows what the future is

Conwy streets More around Wales — The streets of Conwy

Beautiful port More around Wales — On the other side of the port you enter the very popular city of Llandudno

Cold snow on the hills Bill Smale — It was cold enough to snow in the hills but not quite at the port. This was looking out from the castle

The boat man Bill Smale — A cute boat man had an appealing call to the children every three or four minutes

Bank building Bill Smale — A very old bank building near the station

Town Square — A small but adequate town square

Train station — The train station is just this little place out of the rain. You better have already purchased your ticket somewhere else. And some people there told me that if the train is full they may not stop even though you’re on the schedule

Kurdish barbershop — It’s an interesting profession for the Kurds. I am sure they do a great job

The ancient walls — You can walk the walls of the city which go all the way around and are extremely well preserved

The Welsh dragon — Walking around the backstreet I saw this exclamation that the occupants are obviously Welsh. You can tell by the dragon. On the union Jack there are four crosses. The cross for whales is David who slew the dragon.

Famous fish and onion rings — This was very tasty efficient chips except I exchanged the chips for onion rings. This little restaurant, mostly take away, is very famous

Conwy Castle

The castle — Clicking on the title of the section you will get a link to the history of the castle. It’s just a shell now but the shell is very impressive

Inside the castle — Walking around inside

The birds took over the castle — The birds were very comfortable here with the tourists. They obviously have taken over the castle, both see pigeons and the seagulls

Train tracks — A view of the railroad tracks and a new tunnel entrance to the bridge which sort of matches the castle concept

Seagulls at home — The seagulls are at home here

Birds in flight — This black bird and his buddy I caught just in flight which it was kind of cool

Hay-on-Wye

Bookstore town — This cute little town is probably going to be a good highlight for you to walk around. It’s a very interesting town and you can look at all the bookstores which seemed to be the highlight and fame of Hay on Wye. The river this is on is the Wye river

General market building — I’m not sure what this old building in the back was used for but it looks like it might have been a general market

The Wye Castle — You can see the defense door at the entrance which is extremely old and has withstood many attacks

Old shoe store cash register — I bought a pair of shoes here and this is the old cash register from more than 100 years ago.

Famous shoe store — The fellow who sold me the shoes knew what he was doing. Actually he was retired but he decided to come in at work since his wife was working here also. She is the fourth generation of the owner of this shoe store. Now they have jackets and many other kinds of clothing. They are very proud of their profession. You might want to stop here and buy a pair of shoes.

Large shoe store — Here is the shoe store on the corner. Actually it looks like it’s been expanded to another building as well. It’s fairly large

Fish and chips and a bookstore — Fish and chips next to a bookstore. Why not!

Occupied house — A large occupied house near the river

Nice view of the bridge — I like this view

Llandudno

Resort hotel — Looking over at another hotel from the promenade. It’s obvious this was a resort area for many decades

Windmills — In the distance you can see the many windmills and it’s obvious you need to protect yourself against the wind. It was very strong when I was there

Beach promenade — He is looking down the promenade along the beach

Nice food at the goat — I was recommended this beer and I had this pasta which was extremely well done. And the beer was very tangy and delicious

Local beer — The beer was produced not far from here

Llandaff

The cathedral — I stopped here to see the cathedral

Interesting display in front of the altar

Old Norman construction — This is part of the original Norman construction so over 900 years old

King Arthur stain glass window — Some famous fellows and the first one is King Arthur

Balcony and ceiling — The arch and the balcony and ceiling were very impressively beautiful

if you’re traveling in Poland I would recommend the city and spending more time here than in Warsaw. This has a lot of history, many older sites, is a smaller city and is extremely interesting. It is also the entryway to the Auschwitz memorial.

Interesting car Venturing in Krakow — This is what you see when you first get out of the station

Kids playing Venturing in Krakow — These kids are just playing around. I’m sure this man has had many thousands of kids pestering him

Screenshot

Fryderyk Chopin

born 1.03.1810, died 17.10.1849

Composer and pianist. Born in Zelazowa Wola; when he was no more than seven years old he was already believed to be a musical genius. He is considered the greatest Polish composer and the creator of the so-called “national school” of Romantic music. He was known as the poet of the piano and a master of harmony, simplicity and moderation in music. His music drew Inspiration from Polish folk music. His works, in particular the Polonaises and Mazurkas, have become symbols of Polishness.

insoiration from Polish folk music. mis works, in parcula une polonaises ano mazuras, nave Decome symoois of rousnness.

The great majority of all Chopin’s works are piano compositions: waltzes, rondos, varlations, études, preludes, nocturnes, ballades, scherzos, sonatas and songs. Fryderyk Chopin’s premature death as an émigré in Paris marked the beginning of a new chapter in the history of his artistic and spiritual presence in world culture. The ceremony of the unveiling of the Medallion of Fryderyk Chopin – a copy of the original that lies on his tombat PCre Lachaise cemetery in Paris, was held at Wawel Cathedral on

28.02.2010 – on the day of the inauguration of the Chopin Year.

Christmas season crowd Venturing in Krakow — People from all over crowded around during the Christmas season

Banksy Art Venturing in Krakow — This is some banksy art

Area history Bill Smale — The history of the area

Largest synagogue Bill Smale — The large synagogue in Kraków

The Wall of Tears During the Second World War the Remuh cemetery was utterly devastated and profaned by the Nazis. Most of the tombstones were smashed. According to some of the testimonies, the Nazis planned to pave the pavement in the Kazimierz district with the broken matzevot. There is a well known story about the group of Polish doctors and lecturers of Krakow Medical College who collected fragments of the matzevot in order to give it back to the Jews. The brave doctors were harshly punished for their heroic act and sent to the concentration camp. The broken matzevot which were not fit for reconstruction were integrated into the wall, which was later called “The Wall of Tears”. Thus the precious monuments of Jewish funeral art were protected. Many of the matzevot are of exceptional historical and artistic value. They are a testament to the memory of the Jewish community and their thriving life in Krakow’s Kazimierz. – Fragments of the tombstones from the 16th-18th centuries discovered during excavation and conservation works conducted between 1958-68.

During the Second World War the Remuh cemetery was utterly devastated and profaned by the Nazis. Most of the tombstones were smashed. According to some of the testimonies, the Nazis planned to pave the pavement in the Kazimierz district with the broken matzevot. There is a well known story about the group of Polish doctors and lecturers of Krakow Medical College who collected fragments of the matzevot in order to give it back to the Jews.

The brave doctors were harshly punished for their heroic act and sent to the concentration camp.

The Remuh (Remu) Synagogue Built centuries ago, to all the Jews this synagogue is the most sacred place in Cracow. Throughout the centuries it endured fires, wars and plagues. Its walls preserve the memory of the ages long gone. The place is inhabited by “Shekhinah” (Hebrew: Presence of God from the time it was founded up to these days.

It is at this building that the great scholars studied Torah and Talmud day and night, at this courtyard that picturesque Jewish weddings took place, it is here that Jewish life once thrived. The Hebrew inscription on the gate reads: “This is the Gate to the New Synagogue dedicated to the blessed memory of Remuh”.

It is at the time of Black Death which

plagued the Town of The Polish Kings in the second half of the 16th century that Rabbi Israel (Isserl Lasers), son of Josef erected the synagogue to commemorate his wife, Dinah Malka, the daughter of Rabbi Eleazar, who died of this disease. The synagogue was named after his son, the great scholar, Rabbi Moses Isserles, called “Remuh”. The official opening of the Synagogue took place in 1558. Thanks to the efforts of the Jewish Community and attentive care of the experts from the Civic Committee for the Restoration of Krakow Heritage, the Remuh Synagogue regained its former splendour. Presently the Remuh Synagogue is the Chief Synagogue of the Jewish Community in Krakow. It is here that everyday and holiday prayers take place. In 2016 the former women’s gallery was adapted as the so-called “Shtiebel”, the place where the local Jewish community as well as the Jews from all over the world can pray and study the works of Rabbi Remuh.

Auschwitz Orchestra Bill Smale — Auschwitz camp Orchestra

ID papers for a prisoner — This is the camp identification papers for one of the prisoners

Auschwitz map Bill Smale — This is a map of Auschwitz. This was originally created as a barracks for Polish troops and was taken by the Germans and repurposed as a concentration and annihilationcamp

Train entrance — This is the famous entrance of the camp next to the original Auschwitz camp which was built mainly for extermination. You see the train tracks for the transport directly into the camp

Smoked stacks of the houses — You can see the smoke stacks of the houses that used to be there which were destroyed. They were used by the occupation army

Cubicle — Each one of these cubicles would hold many people sleeping together

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