Brooke Comes to Visit!

Brooke came to visit Warsaw.

SUCH A TREAT!

I was jumping with Joy about where we could take her first and what to do and how we were going to get everything "in" that I wanted to show her.  

I began our little excursion showing her around most of Warsaw.  I didn't even think to bring a camera this day because I'd already seen these sites... but... courtesy of Brooke's amazing photography skills (and kindness in sharing her pictures with me).  We captured some really great shots that really embody the uniqueness and history of Warsaw.

This monument is entitled, "Monument for the Fallen and Murdered in the East."  On each of the "wooden slats" where train tracks are laid is a name belonging to a city in Poland in which the city was completely emptied of Poles.  This monument commemorates all the victims that the Soviets shipped off and deported to Katyn when they invaded Poland in 1939.  The railway track and car, although casted in bronze, are meant to look similar to those which were actually used by the Soviets during the time period. I love this monument and it was only by accident Brooke and I stumbled upon it... but I feel like it is a really emotional statement.  I don't really think that people understood what those in living in this part of Europe went through with WWII.  When people think "Poland" they think of concentration camps and Nazis... but there is so much more behind their history with the invasion of the Soviet Union and the way they were oppressed after the war.  I recently read an extremely powerful book entitled, "Between Shades of Gray" which gives a perspective of an Eastern European who was more affected by the Soviet Union than the Germans.  This book was extremely well written and drew you in and made you feel like you were related to the girl giving the story.       

 Our next stop was a monument commemorating the heroes of the Warsaw Uprising.  This is such an iconic monument in Warsaw, that I HAD to include it in my blog update... even though it's made an appearance twice prior to this. 

 Then, after a million other sites, we made our way to the Old City.  I even got Brooke to do a jumping picture so I had to document it (since I can't tag her on FaceBook since she doesn't have an account... even though I have teased her about signing up for her).

 She got some incredible air.  I'm pretty sure that this will have to be a new tradition that she starts!

And after about 6 tries (or maybe more) we finally got a picture of the two of us with this classic "Warsaw Mermaid" in the background.  We didn't want to ask anyone to take our pictures because they were too busy feeding pigeons - and well - that is just gross.

After seeing so much of Warsaw (and finding out Michal had 2 days off) we totally took advantage of that and hopped on a train and headed to Krakow.  I would be a crime to come all the way out to Poland and not visit Krakow.

Our first visit was to Auschwitz.  Since I'd already been there twice, and it's not exactly the most uplifting place, I decided to sit this one out while Michal & Brooke went on a guided tour.  This is what I did...

 

This is what they did.

We headed back to Krakow and Brooke (even though she hardly took any pictures) got some amazing shots to capture the non-scenic things, but quirky things that made our trip SO worth it.

Here we are sitting in the FRONT of the Bus.  That's right... the best seats.  I don't know what I was thinking when I was younger that it was sooooo cool to sit in the "back of the bus" because the front of the bus has the best view and the most leg room (and you get the least car-sick).

Brooke also captured the best hotel I have EVER stayed in.  Period.  It had the most modern bathroom. It had the most comfortable bed (next to my bed in storage). AND... It had incredible air conditioning.  All for under $50.  We really lucked out!  I married the greatest guy for finding incredible hotels to stay in Europe!

The next day we saw some incredible sites in Krakow.

Old Jewish Cemetery.  Here the Nazi's destroyed tombstones and turned them over to pave the streets with the concrete.  After the War they were reconstructed as a wall and a symbolic grave for all those whose resting places go unknown. 

New Jewish Cemetery.  This place is overflowing with greenery and peace.  You almost feel like you are walking on sacred ground in this place.  

Onward to the Wawel Castle.  

We can't leave out Michal!

 We concluded our face-paced journey to Krakow and sped to the train station - only to find out our train was delayed.  I was SO grateful for the chance to sit down and rest my poor feet.

When we went back to Warsaw we realized that Brooke really liked gardens... so we made sure to go and see Lazienki Park & the Wilanow Palace and Gardens.

 Lazienki Park is known for having Peacocks... but I found out two things this day that I never knew before.  1 - When they get hot they dig a hole in the cool dirt and lay in it. 2 - They can fly.  Otherwise I have NO IDEA how this Peacock made it all the way up into that tree.

Wilanow Palace

 

This place is absolutely breathtaking.  Louis XIV's Versailles has nothing on this place.  We got in for free - otherwise - I'm pretty sure that I would come here every single day to do Yoga or Read or just soak up the beauty that God gave us here on earth!

With Brooke's last day we decided to see things in Warsaw that neither Michal or I had seen before - hence - we were off to Praga (the east side of the Wisla River).

I love, love, love Bazaars - and was terribly sad when I found out this one was closed. (Can't you tell from the expression on our faces).

 This is a relatively new site in Warsaw.  It was erected in 2006 to commemorate when such bands used to play and roam the courtyards of Warsaw.  Michal loves Jazz, and with there being a banjo - we decided it was definitely a Jazz band!

 Last, but not least, we saw some pretty cool churches in Praga which weren't very destroyed in WWII.

 Michal & I were so sad to see Brooke go.  At first, we were nervous, thinking what are we going to show her for 8 days... but after she was gone - it was lonelier in our little apartment.

A Polish tour book of the United States - and guess what is on the cover - UTAH!  How great is that!?!

Brooke is such an amazing friend.  I am so lucky to have her in my life and even luckier that she would spend all that money to come out and visit me in Warsaw.  I am a blessed person and so grateful for the friendship we share.  Brooke really helped me talk through some hard issues I was dealing with and helped me see a different side to everything.  She was such a good example to me, and I'm pretty sure she read the Book of Mormon about 3 times while she was in Warsaw.  That girl made me look bad.  Thank you Brooke!  MICHAL & I LOVE YOU!

Euro Cup comes to Poland

Poland (and Ukraine) was selected to host the Euro-Cup in 2012.  Being here while the Euro-cup was going on was unbelievable and speechless.  I loved it when the Olympics came to Salt Lake City in 2002.  Everyone comes together and cheers for their country and it provides so much unity and chances for people to reach out to others and show good sportsmanship.

Poland really took the Euro-cup seriously and decked out the city with different posters and banners to make everyone feel welcome.

Notice all the flags on the car in the parking lot of people supporting their team! 

 These two posters are massive and were found at the main train station in Warsaw.  Every country which participated in the Euro-Cup is represented with their flags painted on their faces (with the exception of Poland & Ukraine since they were the home countries).  

Up top (right to left): England, France, Netherlands, Sweden, Germany, Denmark.

Bottom picture: Greece, Czech Republic, Spain, Ireland, France (again), Croatia, Russia, & Italy.

Note: Portugal is not pictured above, but in the picture below

They also had these cool posters hanging up in a lot of stores all over Warsaw.  Most were in the stores at the central train station.  After the Euro-Cup - I went into one of these stores and totally played the foreign card.  Told them that I was from America and it was my first time to Warsaw (which technically is) and that I was here for the Euro-Cup (which was also true) and that I LOVED the Euro-Cup and going to the fan-zone and that the Poles are such wonderful and incredible people.  Then - I asked them if they knew where I could buy a poster like the one that was hanging on their window (they had two different ones), because I would love to take it home to America as a souvenir to show all my friends.  They then told me that I could have one of their posters.  I hugged and thanked them and told them that they were the best and that I absolutely loved people from Poland.   Trust me, I'm going to frame this exact poster - and hang it in my home one day.  I love this poster.  And even better, I love the story behind it (my Euro-Cup experiences), and the story about how I obtained this poster.

I really do have to say that Warsaw went to great lengths to really try to make people feel welcome. They hired lots of different language speakers and put them all over Warsaw so that tourists could go to them if they needed help.  They were easily recognizable in their bright green or yellow shirts.

They also changed all of their announcements in the train stations and metro to English.  This has been a HUGE blessing.  When a train is late, or a platform is changed, I have no idea and often run at the last minute (if Michal's not around) to catch my train - because I didn't understand the announcement.  After the Euro-Cup was here and the feedback that Warsaw received for not making the train station multi-lingual for people to get around - they took the criticism seriously and decided to make the changes.  Thank you Warsaw Train Station, it is so nice finally hearing English again!

 Everyone took advantage of the Euro-Cup being here.  REAL- is a grocery store in Poland.  What a clever way to advertise!  

Many people came from all over to get in on the action.  One day while walking around I saw campers from Spain - and the Al Jeezera news van decked out ready to report on the soccer extravaganza!

 The Palace of Culture even put up these great signs.

 I do think it's a little odd how they "incorporated" famous Polish monuments to "cheer" for the Polish team.  On the Palace of Science & Culture, you can see Chopin with soccer cleats hanging around his neck.  And the mermaid statue (in the Old Town Rynek) is sporting a vuvu-zela.

In front of the fan zone they have little "floaty" guys facing off against each other.  They have the flags of each of the countries that are playing that day.  This particular day that I took this picture it was Russia (left) vs. Poland (right).

 I went into town early to scope out the fan-zone (because I knew we'd be coming there later that night) and there were already people lining up at 9:00 am to get into the Fan-Zone, once it opened, so that they got seats instead of being forced to stand for 3 hours.

Poland really did a phenomenal job at making everyone feel welcome.  They had posters and signs everywhere, and replica copies of the mermaid all over Warsaw - one for every country participating.  I only found two of them... but I know that there were 16 of them out there!

 But Poland wasn't the only one to advertise and make people feel welcome.  A lot of businesses took advantage of the Euro-Cup and plastered advertisements and banners all over downtown Warsaw.  Here are some of my favorites:

I absolutely adored the fact that the advertisement (crappy picture sorry) was decked out cheering for Poland.  It made me want to go see this cute movie (even though all children's movies are dubbed over into Polish). I mean - with the red & white stripes - the zebra is adorable!  GO POLAND!

The Fan Zone was even more intense and insane than I can describe.  That night Michal & I (and a few friends) went to the fan zone and there were over 150,000 people who came to cheer on Poland.  There were over 8 large screen TVs for people to watch the action.  Plus a lot of cheering, cussing, dancing, and drinking.  I'm telling you, BYU football games don't even compare to how crazy fans get here!

(Pictures below courtesy of Dorotka Musial.  They wouldn't let you take cameras into the Fan-Zone, but those that had cameras on their phone made it past the security.  Therefore, we had to rely on some others for our pictures of this fun night!)

Getting there and back was absolutely crazy.  They had a metro come ever 20 seconds to try to help clear people out of there as fast as possible.  It was insane.  I think everyone needs to experience a fan-zone euro-cup soccer game at least once in their life.

That being said.... once was enough for me!  So even though Michal and I LOVE Poland (and as much as he LOVES soccer)... we opted to cheer at a friends house for the last game that Poland played in.

The Staples invited us over to watch the game at their house (on a much larger screen than at our apartment).  Michal couldn't talk the whole game - he was too focused on the game.  We were shocked that Poland didn't pull it off.  We wish they could have at least made it to the next rounds.  Regardless - it was so much fun cheering the Polish team on.  It was fun seeing Michal get so excited over goals.  And it was even more thrilling to be a part of all the excitement and madness in Warsaw.  Just because Poland was eliminated didn't mean that games stopped.  We still hosted several games (including the Semi-Final Germany vs. Italy), so we were able to see a lot of tourists and jam packed restaurants and side-walks.  I'm so grateful that we were able to get a job in Poland and have the right timing to be able to watch the Euro-Cup in the host country.

Books Read: May & June

Robbie King, Robbie King, Robbie King

Our train ride home from Berlin was anything but ordinary.  I remember saying to Michal & Mom, "I sure hope those fans aren't on our train ride back to Poland."  Well, I forgot to knock on wood.  When we arrived at the platform for the train from Berlin-Warsaw there were so many fans that we couldn't even get off the escalators.  The whole platform was packed.  Normally a train stops for about 5-10 minutes to let everyone jump on... but there were SO many people that this train was at the station for about 35 minutes.  The train was packed - and I'm pretty sure most of these fans didn't have tickets.  But for every person that doesn't have a ticket, they need to stop the train and have the police come and escort the person off. With how many people were on my train, it was just easier to let these fans get to where they needed to go.  Every train car seats about 300 people - but there were about double that in each car. It was packed with cheering, drinking, crazy Euro-Cup fans. 

When we found our seats - we were smack dab in the middle of the Croatian fans and the Irish fans.  While the Croatians were lots more lively and full of spirit... the Irish were more gentlemanly and considerate and well-mannered.  The Croatians didn't stop singing.  At one point they all started to get tired and lay down and Michal stood up and said, "C'mon guys - that's not the spirit." And they jumped right back up and started singing again.  I don't know how you can enjoy jumping up and down screaming cheers for 3 hours - but these Croatians managed.  The ironic thing was, they were singing in honor of the Irish guests that they were sharing the car with.  Their chant went as follows: Robbie King, Robbie King, Robbie King... Robbie King, Robbie King, Robbie King... Robbie King, Robbie King, Robbie King. (If you want to know the tune - just ask my mom - She's an expert after listening to it for 3 hours).  Their chant got boring after about an hour so they decided to switch it up a little and the remainder of the train ride this was their chant: "Robbie King, Robbie King, Robbie King, "F" (the real word) the Queen, "F" the Queen, "F" the Queen, Robbie King, Robbie King, Robbie King, etc. etc. etc.  For obvious reasons, I wasn't able to get an ACTUAL video of them chanting Robbie King (which I later found out was Robbie Keen - but it sure sounded a lot like King and seemed to go well with "Queen").  The only clean video I got of them singing was the following one shown below.

The Irish Fans, on the other hand - were so much more bearable.  They didn't smoke in the cars, or drink (excessively) or jump up and down the whole way - and they tried to carry on small talk with the other passengers there.  They were really a gem to talk to and get to know better.  There songs had a lot more class and a point.  It wasn't the same song over - and over - and over - again!

Here were our favorite two video's of the Irish singing their various songs.

Before they got off (at Poznan), Michal made sure to get his pictures taken with both of the fans that we were sitting right in between. 

The Croatians (with their lovely flag they waved the whole 3 hours to Poznan - in fact, one of the Croatians was sticking his lovely body out of the window for the majority of the trip and almost got clipped by an oncoming train).

 And the Irish... who didn't win a single game in the Euro Cup, but they still had a lot of class and spirit.

 When we pulled up to Poznan.  It took another 30 minutes for the train to unload.  It was full of fans singing and cheering and jumping and swearing and drinking.

 After they left we went around to go assess the damage that had been done to the train.  Well, there were Beer Bottles EVERYWHERE.  As we walked around they already had people cleaning up the bottles.  They decided to stash all the bags into the compartments and they filled up about 4 compartments (that we saw) just with trash that had been left over.  As we walked through the 14 cars there were only about 2-3 people per car.  That's how many people got off at Poznan.

But my favorite was that about after an hour, the train made another stop and several Croatians got off.  They were so drunk (or passed out) that they had missed their stop in Poznan.  When I yelled out the window what they were going to do, they just shrugged their shoulders and said, "We'll walk back. We have all night."

I don't think that I've ever experienced anything like that train ride in my life.  It was crazy and crowded and out of control - but that's the Euro-Cup for you.  After going through that train ride it sure made Michal & I excited for the upcoming matches and supporting Poland in their Euro-Cup Quest.