Best Birthday Ever

Michal asked me what I wanted for my birthday.  I told him that the only thing that I wanted was to go somewhere warm.  This was the cheapest place he could find, that was warm.  Tickets were less than $100/person, and 3 nights at the hotel was even cheaper than our tickets.  We felt like we really scored on this inexpensive "find" so we packed our bags and headed to Rome.

 Our Hotel was extremely hard to find (that's probably why the price was so cheap), but when we got there, we loved the room.  We had such a fabulous site from our window, and we had a bonus of getting to listen to real Italians argue each morning when we woke up.

After dropping off our bags at the Hotel, we went out and hit the town!

We first passed by a few churches, including Santa Maria della Vitoria where Bernini has his famous sculpture "Saint Teresa in Ecstasy" (it is also in the book/movie 'Angels & Demons').

I read somewhere that the one thing that you should NEVER do in Rome is rent a car. After we got there we realized why.  Everyone (well... almost everyone) rides Vespas.  The traffic is crazy, and these little scooters, just scoot in between every car and don't obey any of the traffic laws, except for red lights.  Michal loved that they had a 4-wheeler, he made me take a picture of him with it so that he could show my dad.

So, while Michal loved the cars zipping in & out of everywhere.  I loved the food.  I truly believe that if I had to rank my favorite things about Italy. Ice Cream would rank #1, and food would be #2.  For that reason, I took large quantities of food pictures so I can remember how wonderful the food was.

  

Our next stop was to the Trevi Fountain.  Before we even got there, we got suckered into one of those picture traps.  This particular guy - or wannabe warrior - tried to get us to pay him 10 Euros for our picture with him.  Seriously!?!  We told him we didn't have any money, and to prove it Michal pulled the change out of his pocket to show him that all we had were 2 coins to throw into the Trevi Fountain. Ooops!  I guess we had 2 Euros (along with our two coins) and so he snatched it out of our hand before we knew what he was doing.  Don't worry though, we made him work for those 2 Euros after he took them and we got about 30 pictures with him.  We made him work for his money.  This picture below is my favorite.

 At the Trevi Fountain, there is an old legend that if you throw a coin over your right shoulder into the fountain, that one day you will return to Rome.  (I read on Wikipedia that Rome makes almost $200,000 Euros/year from this tradition). Well... almost 8 years ago - I threw a coin over my right shoulder in Rome.  So I guess the saying is true.  Michal loved Rome so much that he said he HAD to throw a coin in.  (Doesn't he have the greatest facial expressions).

The last stop for the evening was the Spanish Steps.  When I went to Rome, our "tour guide" (my professor) didn't want to take us to the Spanish Steps because he said there was nothing historical or interesting about them.  As I tried to research about the Spanish Steps & debated whether or not Michal & I would go there, every website said the same thing.  Regardless, it is a "touristy" thing and there were a lot of people there so we ended up going.  

 We decided we would wander the streets and take our time finding our way home.  On our way, Michal noticed that someone wished me a happy birthday.  

Gelato + Michal + Pasta + Pictures + Rome 

= 

An Awesome Birthday!

Day 2

From traveling to Rome before, I learned that if you want to see St. Peters Basilica & the Vatican Museums - you have to get their early.  There is no other way.  Otherwise you are standing in lines all day long.  So Michal & I got to St. Peters around 7:30 and no one else was there.  It was still and quiet and serene. It was so peaceful and picturesque and perfect.  

When we were coming out we saw the longest line to get through security to enter the square.  But since we got there early, we didn't have to wait in any lines, or fight any crowds.... and best of all, we didn't have any unwanted tourists in the backgrounds of all of our pictures. 

We had a nun take this picture for us.

Michal loved the inside of St. Peters.  However, due to poor lighting and 'no flash' policies.  We didn't get very many great pictures. 

Each of us in front of Bernini's Baldacchino. 

After taking our time at St. Peters, we headed over to the Vatican Museums - right after they opened. I think that we were hit up about 28 times to have a tour guide.  But, instead I was Michal's tour guide.  He sure is lucky to have an Art History major walk him through some of the most famous artworks in the world.  I also did a little research before we went and found out the significance of each room in the Vatican and what works were there and why they were so important.  As we walked through each room, I gave him a brief synopsis and he said that he liked it more because then it gave him more meaning and it wasn't just a pretty-picture.

 

 This is the maps room.  I am pointing to Italy (trying to point to Rome). The map on the right is of Venice - which is where we were headed the next day.

I don't know why, but Michal really liked these baths & wanted pictures of "ancient bathtubs."

 This is my favorite picture in the Vatican: School of Athens by Raphael.  I think that the reason that I like it so much is because it combines Art History with Mathematics; both of which I majored in at college.  If you ever study this masterpiece, you'll also realize there is more to it than just art & math & science & literature, etc. etc. etc.  There are so many subjects, figure identifications, meanings, interpretations, and art innovations embodied in this one work of art. Truly, Raphael's work here is one of the best examples of classicism during the High Renaissance. 

Euclid (or Archimedes) teaching his students.

Pythagoras

Here are the two thinkers.  Me & Michal with Rodin's 'The Thinker'.

 Since I had my favorite painting, Michal had to have his as well.  (But for some reason - I ended up in the picture instead of him).  This is Jan Matejko's Battle of Grunwald painting.  It is very Polish.  Polish painter, Polish battle, Polish ruler, Polish subject, and the picture taker was even Polish.

After the Vatican Museums.  We participated in Siesta and then headed back out to see the Colosseum. 

I'm not sure what Michal is looking at, but I love this picture.

 Here are some of our best Gladiator photos.

 

 

We started a revolution with this picture.  We had to teach a few tourists how to take jumping pictures, but finally after about 6 or 7 tries, they got it and the picture turned out great!  After we left, we looked over our shoulders and there were dozens of tourists jumping as their pictures were being taken.  I couldn't have been more happy.  Michal & I decided that our next goal is to have other tourists (or locals) be in the jumping pictures with us.  We'll see how that ends up turning out.

 After the Colosseum, we took at walk and saw the Constantine's Arch & the Circus Maximus.  We were on our way to find the Bocca della Verita.  But I never found it.  Sad Face. 

We found the Bocca della Verita Plaza (Michal's standing in the center of the Plaza - I love this picture of him).  So I after hunting and trying to find the Bocca della Vertia - and after trying to find a place to eat (in this area of Rome, they don't eat until like 7:30 or 8:00 and it was only like 6:00)... I started to get tired.  Michal did a great job of capturing that on film. 

Like the night before, we decided to wander our way through the streets of Rome looking for a great place to eat.  On our way home Michal found a sign with the Economist and begged for it to be in our blog.  So a promise is a promise and here it is.  But he also found this super cool building.  We're not quite sure what it is, but he wants to put it on facebook saying that he found the new LDS Temple in Rome and ask people if they like the new temple and see how many people fall for it.

 

Then at last, we were able to sit down and enjoy dinner.  (These are acutally side by side pictures of what I had the first two nights there).  Can you tell what kind of Italian food I like?

Day 3

Michal & I decided that it would be super adventurous to take a train to Venice (3 or so hours away) on Saturday.  We didn't know if we'd ever get the chance to go again, so we figured that we'd try to fit it into this trip.  Again, we found a super killer deal where it wasn't very expensive if your return trip was the same day. So we got up at 5am - headed out the door in Rome - and came back around Midnight.  It was a super packed day.  But totally worth it.  Michal loved this city, and I did too (because I didn't have to use a map to figure out where we were going).  He was the main picture taker for most of the trip, but I think that he has a fabulous eye for capturing the beauty and essence of Venezia.

 

 

 

Remember that part about me liking Italian food?

These two Disney pictures are for my sister-in-law who LOVES Disney. 

(Left is Venice, Right is Rome).

Look how much the water has receded.

  

This tourist sucked at taking jumping pictures.
This was the best we could do.

 

This is the exact hotel I stayed at the first time I came to Venice. 

We really, really had such an amazing time in Rome & Venice.  Thank you Michal for a wonderful Birthday gift!  Traveling with you is so much fun!  I can't wait until our next adventure.

Books Read - February 2012

Exploring Warsaw

Michal & I went 'Monument Exploring', in Warsaw, the last weekend of February.  The activity was free, and cold, and helped us to get better acquainted with this city.  We haven't been able to get out much because of the weather - so this time we just decided to bundle up and go see what we were missing out on.  Here are many pictures from our little exploring adventure and what monuments they are or represent.

UMSCHLAGPLATZ MONUMENT

This monument makes the site of a former railway siding which from where some 300,000 Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto (and elsewhere) were loaded onto cattle trucks and dispatched to almost certain death in the extermination camps.  This monument, of blocks of black and white marble, bear the names of hundreds of Warsaw's Jews. 

MONUMENT TO THE HEROES OF THE GHETTO

- Okay no description about this one.  I was pretty upset.  Apparently they decided to build (another) Holocaust Museum atop of the monument.  So all you get is a nice pretty picture of the building that they are constructing - and me with my sad face because we didn't get to see this monument.

KRASINSKI PALACE

 - We stumbled upon this really pretty palace on our way to the next monument.  Here is a little description about it.

Krasinkski Palace (pronounced craw-sin-ski) is in the Baroque style and is regarded as one of the most beautiful 17th century buildings in Warsaw.  It was designed for the maybe of Warsaw, Jan Dobrogost Krasinski (hence the name).  The triangular pediment features ornamental reliefs depicting the heroic deeds of the Roman patrician Marcus Valerius, who was an ancestor of Jan Krasinski.  This palace had to be rebuilt after war damage.  Now the palace houses a collection of antique prints and manuscripts from the National Library.

 - Since the Krasinski Palace is a part of the National Library, we walked around to the front and noticed lots of colorful horses with wings.  I have tried to research if there is any particular meaning to this, and I can't find one.  I think that every library has some sort of interesting modern sculpture in front - and I guess that this is the National Library's rendition of their modernity.

MONUMENT TO THE 1944 WARSAW UPRISING

This monument commemorates the heroes of the historic Warsaw Uprising.  The sculptures represent soldiers - one group defending the barricades, the other going down into the sewers (which was the way the insurgents moved around Warsaw during the uprising - in fact, one such sewer can still be found near the monument).  

In front of this monument, during the celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the uprising, the President of Germany, Richard Herzog, apologized to Poland for unleashing WWII by the Third Reich and the bloody suppression of the Warsaw Uprising.

- I have no idea what the next building is, but it had this creepy hand atop the mantel of the door.

SOCCER STADIUM

- It's really hard to make out the stadium in this picture, but it's just above Michal's right shoulder.  Michal loves soccer and can't wait until (it gets warmer and) we can go to a game here.

ZYGMUNT'S COLUMN

Zygmunt's Column is the oldest secular statue in Warsaw. It was erected in 1644 by Zygumnt III's son. The monument is about 72 feet high and consists of a Corinthian granite column  and topped with a bronze statue of the ruler - who is depicted with a cross in his left hand and a sword in his right.  This monument, unusual in European terms, glorifies the secular ruler in a manner which had until then been reserved for saints and other religious subjects.  Despite repeated damage and repairs, this statue retains its original appearance.  (However, the column has been replaced twice).

 JAN KILINSKI MONUMENT

The Jan Kilinski Monument honors one of the commanders of the Polish uprising against Imperial Russia and the Kingdom of Prussia in 1794.  This monument was endangered during WWII when the Germans took down the statue.  However, the monument was recovered due to the efforts of the Polish Underground.

- Street shots leading up to the Rynek (or the Old Town Square).

THE RYNEK

Until the end of the 18th century, this rectangular market square was the most important place in Warsaw.  The houses around the square were built by the most affluent members of the community. Most of them date from the 1600s, and it is these that give the square its period character.  In the center there was once a town hall, but it was demolished in 1817 and in its place now stand the statue of the Mermaid.  

THE WARSAW MERMAID

- There are several legends to this Mermaid and why it is the statue honoring the center of the Rynek.

Michal's Legend Story:

There were two mermaids: War & Szawa.  They each swam from different parts of the Wisla River and met up in (now) Warsaw.  They decided to stay and together decided to name the city "WARSZAWA".

Legend 1:

According to legend, the mermaid Szawa from the Wisla River was in love with a prince called War.  The legend explains the naming of the City of Warsaw.

Legend 2:

Once upon a time, lived two mermaids in the Baltic Sea. These half-fish, half-women were beautiful sisters who had spent their whole existence in the sea, before apparently getting bored of the life aquatic.  One day they both decided to come ashore. The first sister headed up to the Danish straits, and so she sits at the entrance to the port of Copenhagen to this very day. The other sister swam first to the port of Gdansk, from where she decided to swim the river Vistula to its end.  The mermaid decided to rest on a sandy bank on the foot of what is today Warsaw's Old Town and she loved it so much that she decided to stay. 

Soon though, fisherman from the neighboring village began to notice that someone was letting the fish out of their nets.  Annoyed, they decided to capture the culprit and punish them.  They didn't expect to find the mermaid, however, as soon as they heard her beautiful voice, they vowed never to harm her.  Soon, the mermaid would fill every evening with her gorgeous songs to the merriment of the villagers.

One day, a rich merchant was walking by the Vistula and spotted the mermaid.  He had the bright idea, as merchants do, to capture her and show her off at a fair, making himself a fat profit in the process.  He tricked her and threw her in a wooden shed, but her cries for help were so loud that soon a young fisherman's son heard her, and with the help of friends, set her free.  The mermaid, grateful for their aid, promised to defend them and their village, which would later grow into beloved Warsaw.

Since then the mermaid, armed with a sword and shield, has been protecting the city and its inhabitants.  Today it is depicted with the city's coat of arms.

TRADITIONAL POLISH MEAL

- After our explorations, and when it got dark, we decided to end our day with a traditional Polish Meal.  We knew a member who worked at this place so we decided to go and visit her.  I've officially decided that the only "traditional Polish food" that I like is Michal's Moms (and his grandma's and cousins, aunts, etc.)  But seriously, his Mom makes THE BEST Polish food ever.  Everything else I have had is really gross and I don't particularly like it.  But I get excited every time Michal's mom makes a traditional meal for us.  She doesn't think that she is a good cook - but she is - she is WAY better than this restaurant we went to!

Tłusty czwartek

Last night we had over several friends and all the missionaries for a "Tłusty Czwartek" party.  In Polish "Tłusty Czwartek" means "Fat Thursday" and is celebrated the last Thursday before lent. Traditionally, it's a day where friends and family are invited over and everyone indulges in sweets (and other foods) which are forbidden during Lent, in which you fast for 40 days and are not permitted to eat these types of foods again until Easter.  In Poland the typical "sweet" to mark this festival or celebration is called "pączki".  The Polish reason for making paczki was to use up all the butter, sugar, eggs, & fruit in the house (because they were forbidden to be consumed during Lent, due to Catholic fasting practices). This treat is quite similar to a doughnut in the United States, but the ones here are filled with all sorts of delicious jams & jellies & cheeses, and the bread-dough is much more fluffy and not as greasy as a typical doughnut... and... there is no doughnut hole.     

Katie, Michal, Nina, Kristina, Sister Ence, the Elders

 Kinga & Sister Mann (who somehow missed our group photo)

We ordered a lot of paczki's and I'm glad we did because our guests decided to have a competition to see who could eat the most while they were there.  I was sure that the Elders would jump all over this, but (drumroll please)... it turns out that our winners were: Nina & Kristina (who both ate 6 or 7 paczki each).  They liked experimenting to see which flavor was going to be in the next one and they were our official taste-testers for us, letting us know which ones were the best.

Overall we had a blast with everyone that came and we can't wait to have another fun get-together at our home. 

Valentines Day

Since Michal had to teach Institute on Valentines Day, we decided that we would celebrate the Friday before.  Michal planned out an evening for the two of us which included dinner and a movie... but it didn't go as smoothy as he wanted it to.

We got lost trying to find TGIFridays (which - by the way - is nothing like it is in America!  Here it is overpriced and doesn't taste the same... in other words, I would NOT recommend this place to anyone here).

After we finished our (not-so-good) meal, we were still hungry and we decided that it was a must for us to buy the largest popcorn possible at the movie theater to satisfy our tummies.  This was not a wise idea... (details to follow).

Michal makes a great jedi warrior.

The movie was great, we went and watched "The Vow".  In Polish the title is: "I ze cie nie opuszcze" which translated means, "I will never leave you."  Since it is a movie about a woman who looses her memory and her husband fights to win her love all over again since she has forgotten who her husband is.

At the end of the movie I asked Michal, "What would you do if I lost my memory?"  And his reply was quite a shocker: "I'd watch all the 'King of the Hill Episodes' with you to help you remember how cool this show is and how funny it is."  Here I was setting him up to give me a cheesy, romantic response - and instead I get a white trash one.  I told him that with a response like that get a 'do-over' date.

Regardless, when the movie got over it was around 12:30 and Michal & I discovered that public transportation doesn't really run that frequently at this time of the night.  We were the only ones one the Tram & the Metro on the way home.

Michal used his charm and talked a tram driver, who was taking the tram to the garage, into dropping us off at a nearby Metro station.  From there it was about a 40 minute metro ride home.  And we walked into our apartment around 1:45.

Well, remember all that popcorn that we ate?  It was so salty that when we got home all we could even think about was drinking lots and lots and lots of water... which kept us up even later and later.  We weren't tired, we were just so thirsty.  By the time we ended up falling asleep it was well into the early hours of the morning.  I haven't stayed up that late since I was in College, and trying to convince Michal to stay up to even ring in the new year is a trial for me.  (Next time I'll just feed him lots of Salty Popcorn and that should do the trick!)

Overall, it was a fun adventure and one that took us through a lot of unexpected turns.  We tried to make the most out of a date that did not go as planned. I had fun and I'm glad that I have a great memory of our very uncommon, unusual Valentines day date.

Since we moved to Poland

It's been cold.

Very cold.

I don't think that I've ever been this cold before.  But we have decided that staying in the house all day is no fun.  So we try to get out and go exploring.  Michal & I found an outdoor market, like a Bazaar.  Here you can buy things really cheap - so we shared our knowledge with the sister missionaries & with Kristina and Ky Staples and we went bargain hunting with them.  Our Mission was to find Kristina & Sister Ence a warm coat.

I don't know how Kristina was brave enough to try on coats outside when it was so cold, but we found her a lovely gray one and it looks lovely & extremely flattering on her.

While it has been cold, Michal & I have tried to get to know people in our church better and have invited several over for dinner.

The sister Missionaries in our Branch.  Sister Mann & Sister Ence.

It's really pleasant to get to know more about people from here and what their interests are.  I also appreciate that they always speak English in our home and try to make me feel included in the conversation.  If the conversation ever turns to Polish, at least one person stops it and reminds the others that we need to speak in English.  It's also really nice that people are so willing to help me with Polish.  They teach me so much every time they come over, but it is so hard to remember everything that they taught me.  I get so frustrated so easily with the language, and I get so discouraged so easily... but when my new friends are so patient and try to help me, it helps motivate me.


My favorite part is walking them down to the Metro station where we always make it a point to take a jumping picture in front of the train as it's coming down the track.   Here are some of our favorites:

Marta & Kinga.  They love jumping just as much as me.  I think you'll see them appear in more jumping pictures as the weather gets warmer.

Books Read - January 2012

Since moving to Poland, I have had a lot of free time.  Here's how I've been spending it!  

(Ordered by books I liked the most with (Delirium) to the books I disliked the most (Living Dead in Dallas).  Think of it as assigning out grades Delirium = A, The Lovely Bones = A-, ... , Dead Until Dark = D-, Living Dead in Dallas = F).

I'd love to hear about what you are reading also...

If you have any good book recommendations, leave me a comment!