Elegant Elbe: Day 3
Day 3: Tuesday, October 31, 2023 - Warsaw, Poland
The day's statistics:
- Weather: upper 50s, light rain to overcast
- Steps: 5,509 Linda; 210,863 Steve
- Miles traveled (approximately): 211
Today was going to be a transfer day to Kraków (pronounced "kra-cove"), so our luggage was supposed to be out by 7:00.
I wanted to get a video of the changing of the guard ceremony - which takes place every hour on the hour, seven days a week. Since
our bus was scheduled to leave at 8:00, I was thinking of asking Ivan if we could leave at 8:05 so anyone (like me) that might want
to watch the ceremony could. When we went down to have breakfast, I saw that it was a few minutes before 7:00. I saw Ivan and asked
with him about the timing of the ceremony. He confirmed it, and I made my way to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
I didn't know what to expect, or when or how it would start, or when or how it would end. I arrived and it started to rain -
so I had to get ready with the camera while also holding the umbrella.
I was just getting situation when the ceremony started. I recorded as much of it as I could, and tried not to end the recording early.
The video is initially a little over-exposed - I didn't have a chance to set-up - and the crackling like noise is the raindrops on the umbrella.
After getting the video, on the way back to the hotel, I got a couple more shots in or near the plaza - including a bit of the park behind the tomb.
I walked back to the hotel and joined Linda for breakfast.
Breakfast was the buffet at the hotel.
We sat with Mike and Carol from Denver.
I had my first crepe on the trip - not in Paris, but Poland. Poland. Poland... (Not that there is anything wrong with it.)
To iterate, I don't usually comment too much on the buffet. But this morning I stumbled upon - cakes. Sweet cakes. Like the
kielbasa and the piorogis, something unexpected.
Today's excursion was called "Jasna Góra Monastery". Today would also be a transfer day to Kraków
(pronounced "kra-cove"). We departed on the bus at 8:02. The guards for the 8:00 ceremony were leaving the Tomb.
Some other sights on the way to the Monastery.
Another gas station pricing comparison. Here, gas is $6.50 per gallon.
We also got a history lesson while en route. For example: Warsaw is 51% greenery; the country has seen a 4% economic growth every year for the
last 25 years; child care, education, and medical are all "free" (paid for with taxes); maternity leave pays 80% salary for six months; everyone
pays a 30% tax rate; apples are a big crop, and the country exports quite a bit; there are more than 2,000 private farms; Germany closed its last
coal plant and will operate at 100% renewable energy in 20 years - Poland is following Germany; 86% of Polish are Catholic.
Jasna Góra Monastery is located at a location called Bright Mountain, in Częstochowa (chest-a-ho-va).
This monastery is the third most pilgrimiged-to monastery in the world. There are 1 million visitors annually,
with the majority of them arriving for the Assumption of Mary on August 15.
Also, Pope John Paul II visited six times.
The bus parked next to another Viking bus (with travelers from another trip), we got off, and started walking in.
A lot of cities have unique manhole covers. At the monastery, there were a number of unique manhole covers - and I did NOT capture them all.
The monastery has a radio station.
Looking around.
The tower is 106 meters (348 feet) tall.
Our local guide was Father Roman.
We entered a passway that contained the entry to the belltower, and into a courtyard.
We entered the building. We walked down a hallway, and entered a church. With Mass in progress. Not that big of a deal, we've
been in a church during service before. But what made this different was that we walked along the side of the congregation,
behind the altar - around the back, and then along side the congreation again as we left.
It was very unusual. And because Father was using the QuietVoice® device, he was able to continue to talk to us without
disturbing the service.
I also put the camera on silent shutter so as to also not contribute even further to the "disturbance"(?).
This church had rosaries hanging on the wall silimar to the church in Warsaw.
This church is considered the home of the Black Madonna.
Our time with the congregation ended, we exited the main floor, and headed upstairs, down a hallway, a short flight of stairs,
and into a hall with some artwork.
We then went down another small flight of stairs into a hall with historical informatiion and artwork, some depicting the history of the monastery.
We exited the hall, went up a few more steps, and through a door. We found ourselves in the loft area above the congreation we passed by not
that long ago. When we entered this area, a younger Polish gentleman made his way through our group - he must have had somewhere to go...
All of a sudden, there was music playing. I stepped off the step I was on taking pictures to see a group of musicians playing for the
service below. That's also when I found that the red record button on camera immediately records video without actually being in
video record mode. Oh, and the gentleman that passed through earlier is the third musician. And Father Romen is the last one.
We started to make our way out of the church.
We crossed the courtyard, and entered the museum.
Pictures may or may not have been prohibited, so the pictures below may or may not be a little out of focus because the photographer
may or may not have wanted to draw attention to themself reviewing pictures that may or may not have been taken.
After the museum, we headed to the chapel. There were four cannonballs, from the war, embedded in the wall around the left sundial.
First, there was a side altar.
Then we entered the chapel - these are all self-explanitory.
Our tour with Father was over, and we headed out to the bus.
We headed to our next stop - lunch. The original restaurant we were going to go to couldn't accomodate the two buses of
travelers, so we went to a different location. We were told this because the second location was a little further away than
the first, so it was going to be just a little later than originally planned.
Some sights along the way, including the bells of the monastery, and some statues in the park adjacent to the monastery.
We arrived at the restaurant - Zajazd Jurajski.
We were almost at the end of the line at the counter - one places their order, pays, takes a numbered tent to wherever they want to sit, and then
the meal is brought to the table. Ivan gave us menus to review while we were in line to order so we were ready when we got to the counter.
We ordered, paid, and headed to the corner table #13, and waited for our meal.
We sat with Bob and Mary.
We ordered three dishes, and shared them. We had the Salatka Cazar z kurczakiem (Casaer salad with chicken), zupa węgierska z pulpecikami
(Hungarian soup with meatballs), and pieroi ręcznie wyrabiane z ziemniakami i serem (cottage cheese and potato pierogi.
We had until 2:00 before we had to head to the bus.
We headed to our last stop - our hotel in Kraków.
En route, Ivan gave out some traditional Polish candy for us to try. The first was a chocolate covered marshmallow one, and the second
was a chocolate covered plum. The marshmallow one was better.
The last daytime picture was of this forrest of evergreen trees that didn't have may branches. They are probably genetically altered to
be grown like this in order to harvest for construction lumber.
The bus finally arrived at the Radisson Blu Hotel.
After checking in, we made our way to our room.
There was a short walking orientation scheduled for 5:30. I went alone as Linda was a little under the weather due to a bad cold.
Ivan briefly talked to us in the hotel lobby, then we exited, turned left, walked a few meters (feet) to the corner, crossed the first
street then crossed again on the other corner. This brought us to the small edge / end of the park. We proceeded down the path to the
market square - which was only three or so more blocks up. Some highlights were pointed out, including the tower, market hall, a couple
of churches, and restaurants.
At this point, Ivan set us loose to do what we wanted. Some people went to restaurants, others went elsewhere.
I walked to the Market Mall.
Then through the mall (the narrow portion), and out the other side - to see St. Mary's Basilica.
I turned right and came across the Church of St. Wojciech.
Turning right again, I passed the end of the Market Mall.
I proceeded all the way back to the hotel. But rather than go into the hotel, I continued on the street adjacent to the hotel - which was
under construction. There was no vehicle traffic, but it was walkable. I was in search of a Jabka - meaning "small frog" - to get a light
dinner. I found one about two blocks down, and bought some cheese (on sale too), a couple rolls, and a bottle of wine.
It wasn't too busy of a day, but it seemed like a long day nonetheless.
After eating, we relaxed a bit, washed up, and went to bed.