The top photo is my mom and dad in the courtyard of Wawel Castle (where the frescos from the 15th century are). It was pretty amazing to see!This is my dad standing on a bench of this ancient castle, peering into a window.
This picture above is our main form of transportation for the week. They rode a total of 4 trains during their time here and are old pros at the Polish train system, which involves being ready to tuck and roll at your stop...the train waits for no one.
Below, a picture of mom and dad in Old Town Olsztyn. My dad bought an Olsztyn baseball hat. It's official: he liked it here =)
Not only was it great to be back with my parents for the week, we also got to see some beautiful sights in Poland and experienced a lot of history. Our first full day together, we caught the express train to Krakow and arrived, checked into our hotel and headed into Old Town. It was beautiful. Way bigger than Olsztyn or Warsaw! We walked around, went through a castle with frescos from the 15th century(!), and enjoyed dinner outside. The next day was not what I would call "fun", but powerful. We went to Auschwitz concentration camp. It's actually a series of three camps, and we saw two of them. It was...hmmmm, I don't know what to say. It definitely left an impact. I'm glad I got to see it, but wouldn't want to do it more than once. I'm also glad that I got to experience it with my parents.
The next day, we spent a little more time in Krakow, then caught the express train back to Warsaw, where we spent the next two days. We saw lots of different monuments and learned more about what happened in Warsaw during the German occupation in World War II (by the way, if you're ever interested in learning more about this, you can watch the movie "The Pianist"--it's strong and intense and a little hard to watch, but worth it nonetheless). Then, we headed back into Olsztyn and went to the Intemann's house with the rest of our team to celebrate Ethan's 5th birthday. It was a great chance for my parents to meet everyone and we all had a great time.
In Olsztyn, we had some time to just relax, but we also saw Old Town and went through the castle here. We got to go up into the tower and saw some amazing views of Olsztyn.
The visit with them was amazing. I'm SO thankful that they were willing to make the big trip. It was wonderful to see them, for them to see where I'm living and what my life is like here, and for them to meet my "family" here. Thanks mom and dad! When are you headed back? =)
(I can imagine that their answer is along the lines of: when Poland discovers ice cubes, air conditioning, and starts getting Cleveland Indians games broadcast...oh, and starts speaking English)
5 comments:
Asked and answered! We loved being with you and sharing all those experiences. Just remember your words: the next vacation we take together will be to a beach, and I don't think we're talking about Gdansk.
Thanks so much for sharing your adventures!! It looks like your mom and dad really enjoyed it there.
Funny, Joe's only complaint about Switzerland was the lack of ice cubes also. What is it that Europeans have against a cold beverage?????
~Lori
You know what's funny...they think it will make them sick. Really. On a rare 90 degree day here, we had a friend over and offered her some cold water and she said "I know it's not good for me, but it tastes so good!"!!!!
Thanks for sharing a summary of their trip and some photos! It sounds like you had a great time catching up and seeing some of the sites!
Our internet was "down" for the past several days, but it is fixed and now I am catching up on the missed blogg entries. Glad you enjoyed the Deadliest Catch programs:) We have a new series of them recorded that Tom will transfer to a DVD for you soon. Thanks for the updates and photos of camp and Family Week! I am looking forward to news of your interaction with the college students this fall.
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