halo

in Cemetery Rakowica

enormous snail

crawling on a moss covered grave

Chopin's fountain on the Planty

On our tour of Old Town,

Katie guessed

what this fountain represented,

a piano.

Planty tree

One branch of a maple tree was

pure white

Grazyna on the Planty

now that autumn is near, I thought

I should put up some photos from

our short-lived spring and summer.

Which, by the way, is beautiful here

Pied Pipers

traditional folk musicians, being followed by

one of the many field trips

that visit the Wawel Castle

bread of life

traditional obwarzanek seller

in front of St. Peter and St. Paul's

night time on the square

clock tower

beach day

the weather is beginning to cool off,

so I thought I'd publish some

of the pictures from summer

Monastery wildflowers

17th century Bielany Monastery,

atop Silver Mountain. Cameldolite monks live

here, secluded from the world.
Only having contact with each other during

prayer, and eating together maybe five

times a year. Women may enter the church

a dozen days, while men tourists

are allowed in during specific times daily.

Lining up for Lody

ice cream is worth waiting for

Skalka Sanctuary

King Boleslav II killed

bishop Stanislav here in 1079,

because the bishop had exposed him

as a excessive tyrannical ruler.

You can still see the blood on the walls

Balconies

great place for a piwo

Mleczarnia

bar in Kazimierz

best seats in the house

watching the crowd at the Jewish Culture Festival

St. Mary's

from the top of the Stary Hotel

Piotr Skarga

a preacher for King Sig III

17th century

Buggy procession on Grodzka

carrying members of a wedding party

Dragon's Bone

a rib bone?

view from Castle

toward Old Town

Hard work

August Harvest

in memory of Elvisa Presleya

I can't tell you how excited I was when we ran across

this monument to Elvis! We were out riding our bikes

and took a detour to avoid a busy road and there he was!

The name of the street is Aleja Elvisa Presleya,

Elvis Presley Avenue. There is a little tavern

across from the monument, and family gardens

are tucked away along the street.

So, since tomorrow is the anniversary of his death,

this is our tribute to Elvis, from Poland.

I have an entry on our travel blog about Graceland

and tribute week 2007. Have a look

http://www.travelblog.org/North-America/United-States/Tennessee/Memphis/blog-215191.html

a peek inside St. Adalbert's Church

Sailing

evening's coming

Happy Ending

What would a legend of

Dragon be unless there
were the princesses and

the brave knights?

more draggin' tails

Dragon Day

In May the town celebrates Dragon Day.
In case you didn't know, we have a dragon that
lives at the base of the Wawel Hill,
in a cave under the castle.
A fire breathing dragon, named Smok.

Along with the carnival atmosphere,
by the river, there is a parade through town.
All the schools have entries, of their version
of the dragon.




















The littles kids are recruited
to be the dragon tails! By the time they got around
to our side of the square,
the dragon tails were draggin'!

Planty intersection

Keith has taken to riding his bike to work.

Is this commuter him?

No, but looks like it could be him!

Wawel Hill on the Vistula River

after work

visitors from home

Alex, Jim, and us.
Our friend, Kate, shared her company with us!
They came out to travel with Kate, and we thoroughly
enjoyed spending time with them.

Turns out Alex and Jim share a feline bond with us.

That old 3 legged cat has added their side of

our old neighborhood to his 'meal train'.

He's now called "Buddy" We laughed over his

quirky personality, and wished them well.

Afterall I did "leave" him behind...

Mr. Buddy

Midtown friends.

A lovely summer evening

above the old town of Krakow.

Scripture on the door posts

And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be upon thy heart;
ז וְשִׁנַּנְתָּם לְבָנֶיךָ, וְדִבַּרְתָּ בָּם, בְּשִׁבְתְּךָ בְּבֵיתֶךָ וּבְלֶכְתְּךָ בַדֶּרֶךְ, וּבְשָׁכְבְּךָ וּבְקוּמֶךָ.
7 and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.
ח וּקְשַׁרְתָּם לְאוֹת, עַל-יָדֶךָ; וְהָיוּ לְטֹטָפֹת, בֵּין עֵינֶיךָ.
8 And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hand, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes.
ט וּכְתַבְתָּם עַל-מְזֻזוֹת בֵּיתֶךָ, וּבִשְׁעָרֶיךָ. {ס}
9 And thou shalt write them upon the door-posts of thy house, and upon thy gates

Book of Deuteronomy


There were decades that Kazimierz was left to deteriorate.
After the war was over
The communists didn't allow the rightful
owners to move back.
Now there is a renaissance going on
and many buildings are being restored.
Some are leaving the door frames
and preserving the places where the mezuzahs were.
(the little diagonal areas held the family's mezuzah)




















I should put a disclaimer here -
obviously I'm not Jewish,
and I don't know how accurate
my statements are. They are only my
interpretations.

Podgorze

The ghetto wall.

The Nazis relocated the Jews from Krakow,
across the river to the district of Podgorze.
They created a ghetto, 320 buildings,
crammed with 15,000 people.
We have walked over to Podgorze many times.
This time, I was struck by the fact that the tram
continued to go thru the newly walled-in ghetto,
but just rumbled thru, never stopped.
How those people must have felt,
watching the tram pass by.
And what were the passengers thinking?
The tram still follows the same tracks,
and as we wait to cross the street,
I had a sick twinge in my stomach
when it went by.



















crossing the bridge over the Vistula