Hi there family and friends:
We leave for Warsaw on May 11. Over the first month we will visit Lublin, Krynica and Krakow in Poland , Prague in the Czech Republic and L'viv in Ukraine. We've chosen to stay in apartments in these cities so we can shop with the locals and cook for ourselves. For us, this is a big part of the charm of travel. On June 10 we plan to start canoeing from L'viv in Ukraine to Malkinia Gorna in Poland. This trip will follow the Bug River for about 700 km. We will be paddling our trusty 16' folding pakboat canoe which we have named "Manati". For more on the canoe see www.pakboats.com.
More later.....we've got packing to do.
Friday May 14/10
We arrived safely in Fredrick Chopin International Airport around 10 am. on Wednesday. That's only 17 hours of travel by the clock ... so simple and so fast. We had a car waiting for us at the airport and as we didn't want to deal with our 100 kilos of luggage in and out of Warsaw we drove to Lublin without a stop. That was a bit tough as staying awake for 24 plus hours was definetely catching up to us. However as witnessed by our picture beside the Vistula River we were managing a sense of humour still.
Lublin is a regional capital in eastern Poland. It has an "Old Town" or Stare Miastro which dates back to the 8th century. It's history includes exceptional cultural, commercial, educational and governmental forward thinking due to it's location on the then eastern border of the group of states now known as Poland as well as the large number of Jewish merchants, artisans and teachers who lived there. Though the Jewish community is now gone their legacy is certainly evidenced in the fact that fully one third of the 350,000 residents of the city are students at one of the 5 universities in the city.
We saw a youthful and
vibrant social atmosphere wherever we walked, both in the Stare Miastro
and the Centrum areas of downtown. Many dozens of bars and restaurants
have an outdoor patio area with umbrellas and seating and these were all
filled with couples, both old and young, as well as groups of men and
women during the early dinner hour through to far later than we were
willing to stay up. 
To aid in soothing the nerves after travel we thought a trip to a mineral spring would be just the thing. We booked a couple of nights in Krynica, in the south of Poland after reading that it was the definitive spa town of the whole country. It wasn't until too late that we realized that a mineral spa wasn't a place to relax while sitting in pools of warm mineral water in Poland but instead a place to drink warm mineral water. Apparently the more sulphurous smelling and awful tasting the better it is for you. We tried a couple of glasses from different taps. I'm buying something called Zuber in the picture below. It cost us 1.40 zloty or about 50 cents, which I think may be about 50 cents too much. Diana is pictured giving her best effort at a taste. We don't think you can run your car on this stuff but we didn't see anyone smoking while sipping this mead and Poles generally are not smoking only when they sleep.
Cheers to all.
We are now in Krakow and are learning that our arrival has coincided with an unusually wet and cold spring. A monsoon type rainfall has not only supersaturated the land but also swollen the waterways to a very dangerous level. The Vistula or Wisla River, which splits the city is now flowing over some of it's bridges and last we heard all of them are closed to traffic. The municipal officials have ordered large hoppers trucks filled with sand to park on one of the most vulnerable bridges to keep it anchored in place. The very real opportunity of flooding is, of course a huge concern to the whole populace and they are out in the thousands to witness the river's rise and to take photos. The photo below shows a floating restaurant in the river with it's entrance stairs submerged and Wawel Cathedral in the background.
We've had a couple days without rain now and had a chance to do some walking, shopping and sightseeing. Yesterday we wanted to buy our stove that we will use on the canoe trip. After a fair bit of sleuthing we located a store likely to have our supplies about 6 kms. out of the city center. It was a pleasant walk out to the plaza where the store was but on arrival we found the whole plaza was closed indefinetely due to flooding. A 4 km. walk back toward the city brought us to another mall where we enjoyed a hot chocolate and tea and learned that the store we were looking for was actually beside the plaza we were at earlier and not in the plaza and so had a clerk phone ahead to see if it was open. It was and so we walked back and discovered that the products that they had were insufficient for our needs.
However only about 6 kms. north there were 2 others hardware type stores that may have something we can use. Of course, after walking to both and not finding what we deemed to be the ideal we headed for our rooms, a mere 10 kms. distant, emptyhanded and wondering if perhaps we should rework our requirements to fit Poland. Such are the joys of travel.
Today we ambled through Kazimierz which is the old Jewish quarter. We stopped here and had a couple of plates of pierogis. Surrounding the old city of Krakow is a 100m. wide tree-filled boulevard built on the old foundations of the original walls around the Stare Miastro. This is a lovely quite place to stroll. Closer to the Opera House and main entrance into the Rynek or town square we stopped to take the picture below of Diana. The picture of me is in front of the last standing gate into the Stare Miastro.
A sunny Sunday brought everyone out into the parks around the city. We put in 7 hrs. of walking through various green spaces across the western side of the city. They were all filled with families, couples and single people enjoying the sunny skys and drier days . The river has subsided to less dangerous levels so it seems to be a non-issue now and enjoying the outdoors is now #1.
Krakow has provided us with everything we needed for our trip. The stove and fuel were of course paramount but also some dry foods like beet soup powder, dried fruit drinks and instant potatoes. We'll also get some milk powder and peanut butter here as we don't know if they'll be available in the Ukraine. The rest of our supplies we'll get there.
Last night we took an overnight train to Prague or Praha as it's called. We had a private sleeper but the term sleeper is a huge exaggeration. At most I think a private dozer is a more appropriate name. On arrival we still managed to walk across the city to our apartment, a walk of about 2 hours and arrived at around 09:30am. I think we only covered something like 3 kms. but we stopped at every bench and needed to check our directions during a tea break at Macdonald's. We have a fantastic apartment. It's big, with a full kitchen, quiet, clean and close to Prague's largest city park.
After we rested a bit we went around the corner to buy our food and after lunch we found the energy to check out Petrin Park. It is up on the highest point of the city and so has gorgeous views in all directions. After walking though the many pathways and gardens in and through the old walls surrounding the fortifications on the hill we climbed the miniature Eiffel Tower that is pictured below. The photos of the castle and the river are from there. We are very excited to wander around Prague and see more of this beautiful capital.
We walked around the city today. There are so many beatiful streets that to go any faster than walking would be a shame as you would certainly miss one outstanding setting or another. This city is wrapped in it's long history as buildings and walls jump out at you everywhere. There are some dwellings which date to the 9th century within the castle walls, as well as many churches, bridges, towers and fortifications from the 13th and 14th centuries. These structures can be found in all styles from baroque to renaissance, gothic to neoclassical with modern and even cubist buildings here and there. A living architectural palatte to be sure. We'll try to get more photos in the coming week. The 2 below were taken on the Most Legii, above the Vltava River, one looking north with Diana and the other south.
Along with many other tourists we walked up to the castle grounds today. We had hoped to get there early but we wandered in the parks and didn't get to the cathedral 'til about noon. At any one time it was possible to see a dozen different school classes being led through their local history by their teachers. It was all very organized and really not too crowded as the area is quite large with many open squares to spread out in. We found a bench and enjoyed people watching in the glorious setting. While there we learned of a concert to be held that night by a string orchestra in the Basilica of St. George which was built in the year 920. Even though it's called a basilica it's actually a small unadorned chapel, holding only about 200 people in pews. We, of course, bought tickets straight away and attended and have just returned. They played the classics and we will purchase recordings of them to remember our evening. The first photo below is of St. Vitus Cathedral, the second is inside the Basilica of St. George, followed by views from the castle gate.
Today we got on to the Charles Bridge before 09:30 just as hundreds of other tourists arrived as well. The sense of history is undeniable despite the tourist trappings of souvenir stalls and portrait sketchers that line the bridge. A bridge has stood on this spot since 1132 and created a trade link between Eastern and Western Europe that has been the raison d'etre for this beautiful city. This "Stone Bridge" was commissioned in 1357 after a flood destroyed the original "Judith Bridge" in 1352. The baroque statutes were added in the late 1700's. The "Charles Bridge", as it is called now, is named after King Charles IV who was one of 2 emperors of the Roman Empire who made Praha their home. It has been closed to all vehicles since 1978. After crossing the Vltava from the west bank we wandered through the Stare Miastro, stopping at a few shops and sitting on a bench in the Rynek for our lunch. The astronomical clock is in the Rynek and one of the must see sights in Praha as you can see in the photo below. Beleive me when I say that people watching here would be provide endless entertainment. Praha is seriously entrenched on the tourist trail, but deservedly so.
This mornings amble brought us to Lobkovicz Palace located by the east gate within the castle walls. All of the many castles, properties, businesses and collections of the Lobkoicz family have been taken from them twice now. First by the nazis and then by the communists, who left in 1989. Since being returned to the original family in 2002, the palace has been restored and recently opened to the public. Many hundreds of family artifacts dating back to the early 16th century have been restored and are on display for viewing. As a few of the earlier princes were patrons of the arts there are many rare and priceless articles including signed receipts for payments for services from Ludwig von Beetoven as well as the original reworked manuscript of Handel's Messiah by Wolfgang Amedeus Mozart. The family collection also includes one of the series of six landscape paintings by Pieter Bruegel. The Hay Harvest is an oil on wood painted in 1565. It is beleived that this was the first major work of art created that was not another landscape painting commissioned primarily to depict a dynastic or religious theme. This original work measures about 4ft. by 8ft. Seeing these 3 significant pieces all in the same private collection is astounding.
We took a pause in our tour to take in an hour long recital in the music room. This was performed by a flutist accompanied by a violinist and a pianist. As you can see the setting was quite gentile.
Today the crowds on the castle grounds were quite thin so we stepped inside St. Vitus Cathedral to take the photo below.
We strolled back to our apartment through the Stare Miastro and Lesser Town stopping to look at Bohemian crystal and had a taste of a local pastry called a trdelnik. It is baked twisted around a stick over open coals and sprinkled with sugar and cinammon.
While in Prague on International Children's Day we saw a bird demonstration. Diana was asked to participate and I got this photo. That's an adult vulture Di has just fed and is about to take off in flight back to the trainer.
As this is our last night in Prague we thought we would include this photo we took of the cathedral by night.
Yesterday we took a train trip to Dresden, Germany. We arrived at 10:45 and had most of the day to walk around as our return trip wasn't until 19:10. We'd have to say that Dresden is a city of most startling contrasts. When you leave the train station and make your way to the river you immediately enter the long shopping promenade and pedestrian boulevard pictured below with Diana sitting by the fountain. This dense commercial strip has a series of plazas, malls and outdoor restaurants and continues for about a kilometer.
Upon rounding a turn you jump back in time to witness the scene of an early 20th century square surrounding the old baroque church. This gentile setting of grace and elegance is certainly a far cry from the power retailing of moments ago.
Rounding yet another corner puts you in a much earlier time period. One of humbling magnificence and wealth dominated by tall spires and dark, heavy stone block design. The open square and beautiful setting on the Elbe river do much to soften these heavy buildings but the contrast to us seemed unavoidable.
Another distinctive building is the Yenidze tobacco factory which was designed after a tomb in Cairo and built in 1910. The minarets are smoke stacks and ventilation shafts. It specialized in Oriental cigarettes that were made on an assembly line by hand by East German woman. It was named after the Turkish tobacco growing area where the tobacco came from. The large dome was made from 600 differently designed glass panels. Before 1945 the lettering on the dome read
" Salem Aleikum " ,translated to be, May Peace be with You.
Dresden was completely changed in February 1945 when it was leveled by bombing during the 2nd world war. The reconstruction which is still continuing has everything to do with why there is a slight disjointedness between neighbourhoods. The great affection for Dresden, once known as the Florence on the Elbe, is obvious in the care and attention being put into it's rebuilding.
We've had an interesting time here in the Ukraine. Terrible weather and absolutely no available information due to lack of language on our part has finally given way to sunny skies and negligible information due to lack of language skills on our part. We spent our first day walking to view the river of our dreams. Following satellite images on google earth was successful after 2.5 hours and we beheld a garbage strewn ditch that was only viewable by breathing through our mouths. This open sewer was immediately dismissed and we turned around to try to come up with plan B. You never know what's around the next bend!
We spent the last 2 days developing a plan we were happy with. This involved hours of futile searching for an internet cafe, followed by two trips to an information centre that we finally found. The english speaking person there was able to direct us to an internet site as well as give us valuable information about buses out of town. We have settled into the Double Coffee restaurant that has wifi and we now have plan B. After our week in L'viv we will take a rather decrepid but running bus to Presmysl in Poland, just across the border. We have checked out the bus and it can indeed carry us, our 6 bags containing 250 pounds of gear, and even a few other passengers as well. Once in Presmysl we will paddle the San river which flows into the Vistula River and on to Warsaw where we will stop after a total paddle of 400 kms.
At one time this must have been a glorious city. That time has definetely ended. Much is patched, broken or under permanent repair. Basic infastructure such as roadways, sidewalks, public transportation and even 24 hour access to running water is woefully inadequate. In spite of this, the people of L'viv are out and about doing life as if unaware of their city's failings. Today, a sunny Sunday, it seems like the whole city is out strolling the streets and in the parks and all of them are dressed to the nines.
Here are a few photos of L'viv.
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Gorgeous skies and warm days continue and L'viv is looking better by the hour. There's not a lot of colour to the city. Grey tin or rusted metal roofs are supported by beige or concrete grey walls. Dull stone roads and sidewalks complete the scene. However, when the sun shines, the lush greens of the parks come alive and the whole city is abuzz with people walking everywhere. There are large parks in all directions and the mature oaks, maples and chestnuts shade the paths, benches and children's play areas. These parks are very well used as housing is mostly soviet era apartment blocks and private yards and gardens are a rarity. Yesterday Diana and I walked through a park and stopped to watch some Ukranian folk dances performed by school age children to recorded traditional music. They were really quite good. Bravo for them!
Every day we stop at an open air market right across the street from our apartment and get fresh meat, cheese and produce. This is one of Di's favorite places.
We have no problem bringing home pork, cabbage, beets and dark rye bread. We've tried buying bottled milk several times because Di does not want the raw farm-fresh milk sold in the market. Each time we have ended up with liquid yogurt despite trying 3 different types. Did I mention that there is NO ENGLISH here. Not only no english but the alphabet is indecipherable.
Here are 2 photos of the city. The first is from a tower in the town square where we climbed up something like 400 stairs. In the distance in the far left of the photo you can see a rise where the original castle was built in the 13th century to protect the trade routes. The second photo is taken from that rise where you can see the tower of the first photo on the right hand side. In both shots the number and size of the many parks is obvious.
This photo is of St. Yuriy (George) Cathedral, a Ukranian-Greek Catholic church that was reconstructed from 1761-1774. In 1946 the soviets abolished the practice of catholicism but the people maintained a strong underground following which flourished when the soviets left in 1989. Today the Ukraine has the largest eastern Catholic membership with 5 million believers. A tribute, perhaps, to both their faith as well as their dislike for communists.
One couldn't possible omit mentioning the way the young women of L'viv are dressing. It is a wonder how they manage to walk about these cobbled streets and cracked stone sidewalks in 5 inch stiletto heels. Their hair is usually dyed platinum blonde and the clothing is skin tight leaving nothing to the imagination. The fashion media has taken well here and there are clothing and shoe stores aplenty. Their flamboyance seems incongruent with the strong religious culture and rather crumbling surroundings.
Also worth mentioning is the amount of Polish we hear spoken around us. The only way we can tell the the difference is that Poles say 'tak' for yes and Ukranians say 'da.' Every day there are dozens of bus loads of Polish tourists, which is not surprising because of the proximity and the fact that this city once belonged to Poland. During one of the 3 partitionings of Poland this area was taken and the Wroclaw area was given as compensation. We visited a very large old cemetery and saw graves dating back to the 1830's, many of which are Polish.
P.S. The city is named after the son of the first ruler of this area. The anglo- version of his name is "LEO"