Adventures with Julia

Map of Poland

September 14, 2017

Our driver today, Maciek, told us to pronounce his name “Magic”, so Magic it is.  Thankfully he speaks excellent English after spending 2 years in Chicago (the second largest Polish city in the world he tells us), and 4 years in England.  We traveled in a very comfortable mercedes sedan, after departing the Augustine Hotel at 9:15 and heading east out of town.  It took almost an hour just to get through the city as the roads, although in reasonable good shape, are clogged with traffic.  Finally, we began to see green trees and small farms.  Gradually the farms increased in size and the scenery became more open and expansive.  The terrain was fairly flat and reminded us of the Sacramento Valley, except there were no orchards; just corn, sun flowers, grasses and vegetables.  There were pockets of planted trees that included birch, linden, poplar, oak, pine, maple, chestnut, spruce and willow and other conifers.  Happily, Magic knew his trees.   He told us the farms in the Czech Republic are nearly all cooperatives, which is why they seem so large.  In Poland the farms are smaller as no one wants to be cooperate.  They do share equipment.  I did not take photos during the drive as the scenery, although interesting to witness, would have been flat in a mid day photo.

We learned that Magic did not go to university, and was a steel fitter while he was in England.  Now he drives cars for a large car rental company.  He makes reasonable money and owns his apartment free and clear with the help of a deceased relative, who left him a nest egg.  He and his wife have an 11 year old girl and a 1 1/2 year old baby girl.   They have been married only 4 years.  The new modern way.  His wife has been on paid maternity leave since the baby was born and soon she must go back to work.  Fortunately, his mother lives nearby and will tend the baby.

Holy Trinity Column. A baroque sculpture built between 1716 and 1754. Is now a UNESCO site.

The sky was overcast, cold and rainy for the first 2 hours of the ride, but by the time we reached Olomouc, our lunch stop on the drive, we were under warm sunny skies.   The three of us did a walk about the town square, looked at the Holy Trinity Column that is now a Unesco site and several fountains.

A turtle and porous fountain in Olomouc.

St Maurice Church. Very 1400’s gothic, with impressive windows.

Then we visited the Church of St Maurice, which had impressive gothic stained glass windows and the largest organ in Central Europe with pleasing organ music being played while we visited.

I liked this carved alter piece in St Maurice

THe largest organ in Central Europe, made by Michael Engler in 1745

From there we stepped into the Church of St Michael and say a very baroque altar piece and a lot of scaffolding.  As we turned to leave the church se spotted a restorer up near the ceiling and caught him painting.  After leaving there we walked back into the square and had an unappetizing sushi lunch as every other place was full.

A restorer at work on the church ceiling.

The baroque alter in St Michael’s Church. Too rich and un-Christ like for my taste.

A walking street in Olomouc.

Back on the road the terrain began to undulate more and we could see hills in the distance to the east.   Magic pointed in the direction of the hills toward a place where the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia come together.  The hills were covered with trees.  As far as I could tell, the forests have been planted and none look very large or old.  Without the slightest change in anything, we were suddenly in Poland.  I would have missed the small sigh if Magic had not pointed it out to us.  My only disappointment is that I wanted to have my passport stamped.  Not sure how I will get that done in EU countries.

My only photo of the drive to Krakow. A bridge through the window shortly before entering the city.

Entering Krakow did not seem all that different than leaving Prague.  The outskirts are modern, industrial and suburban.  When we arrived at the Hotel Stary in the heart of the old city, it looked a lot like Prague’s old city, including the river, in this case the Wisla, running through it.  Also, like the Augustine, the hotel entrance does not stand out.  The place is a collection of remodeled old buildings that are very convoluted.

Entrance to Hotel Story very near the old town square.

We have to walk around several corners to get to our elevator to the 4th floor, then walk another hallway, up some stairs and around a couple more corners to our room.  Without the bellman, we would still be wandering around lost.  Turns out our room is on the top of a new, old building.  Our ceiling is pitched from one end to the other with 2 full length skylights that we can open and have screens that close to make the room darker.   The space is quite large feels like a garret.  The only bad part is that we cannot look out, except at the sky.

Our room at the Hotel Stary.

With very little time before our concert booking at the nearby Church of St Peter and Paul, we changed quickly and went to find something to eat.  We settled on an outdoor place near the church and were about half way through dinner when it began to rain.  We were under an awning that helped for awhile, until the wind picked up and we got cold and wet.  Did not finish eating.  Mark paid and we ran for the church, while our rain gear was nice and dry in our room.

Classical music graduates of the Music Academy in Krakow perform in the Church of Saints Peter and Paul..

The church was dark, but dry as people slowly filed in.  The lights did not come on until the  musician walked out.  There were 6 including harpsichord, base, cello, viola, and second and first violins.  The music was lovely, but the program was too short, only 45 minutes.  Everyone wanted more, but they did not come back.  It was still raining so we walked very fast back to the hotel.  We could hear the rain pounding on the skylight.  Lovely.