Poland: Day 8

Christmas Eve!
I slept forever, then went to take photos in the city center of Szczyrk. I drove up to a cool church that I've been to before but wanted to shoot it again. It's really neat. It's got a grotto where a girl a long time ago saw the Virgin Mary, or so the story goes. Any how, I'm getting ready for the big dinner tonight. Ania and Ula have been preparing since the morning.

I'm having trouble with the pictures on this computer at the cafe so I will work on them from the house as well as pics of our dinner tonight, then blog towmorrow if the cafe is open. Speaking of the cafe, it's quite funny. It's me, and about 6 little kids ages somewhere around 8 - 15. They are all playing online games, apparently surfing porn because the pics that are on the desktop of this compter are foul, and cursing like drunken Polish sailors on the Baltic. It's quite amusing.

Ania's unt Helena, Uncle, cousin, as well as Jurek, Ula's boyfriend are coming today. It should be great.

The weather is fantastic, not to cold, and the fog has finally lifted.

Merry christmas everyone.

Poland: Catch Up Blogs

Hey guys, I found a cool Internet Cafe to work from so here is a flurry of blogs to catch up with.
Having a great time.. preparing for the big day (xmas eve) today so not much to blog about.. will blog more towmorrow

Poland: Day 7

Slept like a rock. Jet-lag is done! Today we went over the mountains to the next town Malinka. (After 10 minutes of driving up the road from the house there was snow. The elevation makes all the diference.)

We parked our car at an area that I think was called Czarne (black in Polish) and went hiking.We hiked up for a little more than an hour following the river. It was absolutely stunning and the fog added a nice ethereal atmosphere. Here are some pics:

We stopped at a great restaurant called Stara Carzma (Old Inn) and has a fantastic dinner. It is a restaurant done in the old mountain style made of wood, straw, etc. The food was delicious.

After we returned I set up the xmas tree (choinka) while the girls went into town for more stuff for xmas eve (which is the biggest day here, not xmas day).
Had a GREAT day!

Poland: Day 6

Finally slept straight thru.. Until 11! It was great. There is somthing about the mountain air here that promotes coma sleep. I love it. The house is spotless and as awesome as it always is. The fog is still persistent, and I hear that we are not unique in Europe with the fog, especially London.

(View from the front porch)

Today we went into Bialska Biala, the larger city near by. We did a little shopping. I bought 2 pair of Italian leather shoes for about $100. We grabbed a bite to eat at a great Vegetarian restaurant, then had cappucino and ice cream. Yeah, I'm enjoying my European vacation if you couldnt tell.

For those of you that know Bielsko: They are doing some major construction downtown in Bielsko. Here is a pic of where what once stood a large factory building, will now be the second phase of Sfera (the downtown shopping mall).

Poland: Day 5

The jet-lag has me waking up at around 1am and falling back asleep around 5am. Ania let me sleep in while she ran errands for her mom (Ula) who was taking care of things at her store. I got up at 12, confused and hungry.

I am remiss that I diddnt take a picture of our car when we left Piekary to head for the house in the mountains. Ula has a Volkswagen Polo. Like a rabbit but smaller. Somehow we got all our luggage, food, gifts, etc in.. while still managing to fit ourselves. Ula was joking that Ania was like a little chicken in a coop in the back seat.

On our way out Ania & Ula stopped at the church to see Ania's fathers grave. The church was surreal. I grabbed this picture while waiting with the car.

Poland: Day 4

We went to Ania's Dads Family for dinner today.They are really great. I was met at the door by Ania's grandma (Babcia). Anias family has always made me feel like part of the family and tonight was no exception.

I held my own with Polish while conversing, but Magda & Daniel, Ania's cousins, speaks very good English. We ate fantastic food, cought up on all the latest news and enjoyed good company. It is nice to see how happy Ania is there with them. This is the house she spent many of her childhood days in and I can see the comfort in her face when we are there.

Not many photos today..

Poland: Day 3 : Jet Lag

Hey guys..
It's Tuesday, about 7am in the states and I've been up for 6 hrs.
This jet-lag is rough. I've been working some today on a website project while Ania, her mom, and a friend are at a Mall that makes ours look like 7-11. It's huge.

Last night we went to the city center of Katowice. It's pretty cool, they have a stadium there that looks like a huge U.F.O. We walked around, had coffee. It was cool.

I will have all my gear setup when we head to the mountain house (in Szczyrk).
Until then, here are a few pics.

I watched TV last night. A pretty funny show that was making fun of politics. There is apparently a lot to make fun of here just like home. There has been a small resurgence in ultra-nationalism here and they had fun with that equating it to, well.. Nazi's. Sounds weird but it was pretty damn funny.

If you've never been to Europe and aren't from NYC or LA, the amount of graffiti might be a little surprising but a lot of it is vary talented. Here's a shot. (unfortunately some a-hole had to deface it with the anti-Semitic sign, bottom right. I believe it is kids, not understanding the history of it, trying to be shocking.) This was on the wall of an overpass. The whole wall was done by very talented artists.

We are going to our relatives this afternoon for dinner. Ania's Father's family.

Until tomorrow..

Do Widzenia..

Poland: Day One/Two. Travel. Oui?

Hi guys. We've arrived in Katowice, Poland. It's Monday morning here, but my jet-lag has me very confused..

We left Washington DC with no problems. We were seated in the very last seats on the back of the plane which turned out to be great. Only two seats in our row, next to the kitchen. The flight was very good with only a few patches of turbulence. The fun started when we arrived in Paris.

The plane pulled in, everyone stood up much to early as they tend to do. Ania and I, being in our fancy private seats in the back, decided to chill for a while becuase, well, we were deffinitly going to be the last off anyways. So we're sitting there, 10 mins, 20 mins, noone is getting off the plane. 30 mins.. then the pilot got on the speaker to explain that the guy that drives the gangway has decided to strike. Welcome to Paris.. so, roughly 45 mins after we arrived they found some other qualified person to pull stairs up to the plane.

I thought for some reason that the Charles D'Gaulle (sp?) airport was going to be a fancy deal with models and beatnicks everywhere smoking cigarettes on the end of long sticks and wearing funny small hats... not so much. The airport was old, smelled, and was very confusing. And the people.. well.. let's just say that the stereotype of rude parisians is going to stick with me. All except the waiter at the cafe where Ania and I absolutely HAD to have a croissant and espresso/cuppucino. He was cool. I have a sneaky feeling he wasn't parisian.

..Fancy, Fancy, in Paris Airport Cafe..

Nobody likes a mime

I woke up this morning to the sweet smell of Kielbasa and bread. Ania and her mom are off to the hair dressers and I am hanging out at the the store surfing the internet and doing a little prep for some work I took with me. (yes.. hi.. my name is Mike and I'm a workaholic.. "Hi Mike!") Here's a shot of the store. The security cameras monitors are hanging in front of me but I'm not quite sure what I would do if I saw someone stuff a kielbasa in their pocket.

Ania's Moms store in Piekary, Poland.

These photos are from Ania's Camera, I will post my photos in chunks since I have to process them, etc..
takes more time.

The weather is a bit foggy and wet, but *of course* it was snowing a little today. Because I diddnt bring my snowboard, (they are not forcasting snow) I am 100 percent sure it will dump the whole time. :) That's ok.. theres a good snowboard shop with rentals near the house.

So, right now I am in Piekary, Slaskie Poland. It is a region that used to be German. The history of this part of the world is very intricate and you can see it in the architecture. It's very diverse. It is a region of Poland rich in Coal. There are many coal mines here. The buildings, many of them communist block styles are dark with the coal. It is an industrial region. Like Baltimore. A place with character.

So later today we are going into Katowice city center where I will shoot some photos, eat food, and be glad I'm not in my cube at work..

Sarah Silverman is funny

Does your doog bite?

That.. That.. was a pricelss Steinway..
Not anymore..

Ok. the Pink panther references are going to be very difficult to keep under control. Towmorrow, Ania and I board an Air France flight to Paris. (from there to Poland). I am 100% sure I will slip into inspector Clouseau speak. No wonder they hate us.

So yes.. on our way to Europe again for the holidays. I will be a photographing fool while we're there so check here often for pics and updates.

Have a great Holidays!

My Sisters Kids

Ania and I are getting ready to spend the holidays in Poland again.
I'm looking forward to the down-time.

Here are some pics of my sisters kids I wanted to post for some people that asked.

Also, I made a video/montage of photos for my mom, from the triplets. See it here.