hertha

Tag: Poland

  • Soviet Architecture in Relief

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    Soviet Architecture in Relief

    Warsaw is another European city devastated–turned to rubble–during the second war. With a pre-war population of 1.5 million; 30,000 remained at the end.   Images for Warsaw 1945 offers some sense.   The old city was rebuilt remarkably well.  Other parts were replaced with an architecture reflecting the message and concepts of the conquering heroes; the Soviets. Honest…

  • Old Glass

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    Old Glass

    We climbed the Tower on the grounds of Wawel Castle.  The glass in many of the tower windows, I assume, was very old and had deformed with age.  It provided an artistic view of the outside.

  • Did My Ancestors Have to Deal with Pigeons?

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    Did My Ancestors Have to Deal with Pigeons?

    In Krakow, many of the window sills where lined with wire spikes.  A mechanism to prevent pigeons from landing.  It worked very well. As descendants of the Rock Dove, an attraction to tall buildings and the nooks and crannies of window wells probably reflects an inherent preference for cliffs or buildings as a surrogate.  Pigeons make…

  • Breakfast

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    Breakfast

    Our first breakfast in Poland was in a little café a couple of blocks from our hotel. Posted on the wall was the menu.  My first impression was of the strangely accented characters and irregular strings of consonants.  I now understood how my wife felt trying to read German street names.  My concern elevated; what do…

  • Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines

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    Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines

    Just outside Krakow are the Wieliczka and Bochnia Royal Salt Mines, a World Heritage Site.  To quote UNESCO: data-animation-override>“The deposit of rock salt in Wieliczka and Bochnia has been mined since the 13th century. This major industrial undertaking has royal status and is the oldest of its type in Europe. The site is a serial property…