I said goodbye to German today feeling I'd really gotten to see so much and several different regions, each with it's own personality and it was great to end the German visit in Berlin. From my window this morning I took a picture of the little backyard gardens that each residential building has, so nice.
I took the M85 bus around the corner from my hotel at 8:31am and by 9:00am I was safely at the train station and glad I left extra time before my 9:37am train to Poland because the bus couldn't get close to the train station entrance and left us about a block away. I did get some better pictures of the Parliament building in daylight but still a little blurry from the bus window. I picked up a tuna sandwich and snack and went off to find my train at gate 12.We left pretty much on time and I had a whole 6 person berth to myself for 80 percent of the trip which was nice although the two adorable Chinese boys who were allowed by their parents to run up and down the corridors yelling did distract me a little but then when they would reach my berth window and smiled I couldn't help but be glad they were enjoying themselves.
I listened to the remainder of a mystery story I downloaded from the NY public library as I enjoyed the scenery as we whooshed by. After that book was done I started the other book I had downloaded in anticipation of this 5 and half hour train ride (but mind you it was direct and made very few stops so it was really a great trip despite the hours) which was rather emotional. I had seen the book on the library's website and thought it just might be to heavy and emotional for a train trip but then felt guilty since I've been hearing about the horrors of the Holocaust and the Cold War throughout all my travels in Europe and I really should take some time to hear about it all from a survivor and this book, "A Century of Wisdom, Lessons from the Life of Alice Herz-Sommer, The Worlds Oldest Living Holocaust Survivor" written by Caroline Stoessinger who had done interviews with Ms. Herz-Sommer when she was 108 years old in 2011. I looked her up online to see if she is still living and she is currently 109. What interested me about the book was that it talked about how through everything she retained her positive outlook on life and her natural-born optimism has never left her.
What made me finally decide to download the book and listen to it as I left Berlin was it just seemed fitting since my Uncle Victor, my grandmother's younger brother, was captured by the Nazi's when he was going through Switzerland to go back to Italy where he lived and this was after Italy was no longer cooperating with Germany and my uncle Joe, the baby of grandmother's siblings told us only after my uncle Victor had passed (he never talked about his experiences at least not to me, my sister, mother and maybe not even his sister, my grandmother,) that when my uncle Victor was in Switzerland he saw the Nazis in the distance as did a Swiss Postman who was near him and the Postman tried to save my uncle by taking off his uniform and having my uncle put it on but it was too late the Nazi's had already spotted him. He was sent to a work camp my uncle Joe said outside of Berlin, but I don't know the name. Because uncle Victor was a tailor by training he was put to work with other men in the work camp to make uniforms. Uncle Joe told us that they were given a loaf of bread a day to share between 10 men and that my uncle came out of the camp at the end of the war weighing just 85 pounds. The picture above is of my grandmother and her two baby brothers and my grandfather who is sitting back behind my grandmother. Great picture, right?!!! Uncle Victor is in the middle and uncle Joe on the end.
I felt when I saw that this book was available for download that it would be could to hear and maybe even heard when passing the town he was kept captive in. I actually didn't begin the book until we had already reached Poland but I did think of my uncle as we passed the German countryside and wondered if this was the place he endured so much pain and suffering.
And since it was a very bleak and snowy day my mind was much more susceptible to a dark mood anyway so listening to the book was a good thing. It's a very interesting, touching and actually very inspiring story of an amazing women. Here is a little bit I found online about her life and the picture to the right showing her joy for life. And, it turns out she's from Prague so I'll listen to the rest of the book when I leave on Thursday and take my over 7 hour train ride to Prague her beloved city which may have been a place of sever heartache for her but clearly this 109 year old women still loves her birth city very much. "Alice Herz was born in Prague, Austria-Hungary, along with her twin sister Mariana, to Friedrich and Sofie Herz; he was a merchant and her mother was highly educated and moved in circles of well-known writers. Herz-Sommer's older sister Irma taught her how to play piano, which she studied diligently. She also studied under Vaclav Stepan, and at the Prague German Conservatory of Music. She had begun giving concerts and making a name for herself before the Germans took over her city. She married businessman and amateur musician Leopold Sommer in 1931; the couple had a son, Raphael, who died in 2001.[2] After the invasion of Czechoslovakia, most of her family and friends emigrated to Palestine via Romania, including Max Brod and brother-in-law Felix Weltsch, but Herz-Sommer stayed in Prague to care for her ill mother, who was one of the first to be sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp. In July 1943, she, her husband, and their six-year-old son Raphael were sent to Theresienstadt concentration camp. She played more than 100 concerts in the camp along with other musicians. Leopold Sommer was later sent to Auschwitz. Although he survived the camp, he died at Dachau in 1944. After the Soviet liberation of Theresienstadt in 1945, Herz-Sommer and Raphael returned to Pragueand in March 1949 emigrated to Israel to be reunited with her family. She lived in Israel and worked as a music teacher in Jerusalemuntil emigrating to London in 1986. Raphael Sommer, her only child, was an accomplished cellist and conductor. He died in 2001 and is survived by his widow and two sons. At 109 years old, Alice lives close to her family in London, with visits almost daily from her closest friends, her grandson Ariel Sommer, and step-daughter Genevieve Sommer.
I got into Warsaw around 3:30pm and immediately despite the still gloomy sky and the light snow fall, I felt lighter and happier. I think I am very much a city girl no matter where I go. Seeing the bland, dull, uninspired architecture that is central in all the small Polish country towns we passed and also the many large warehouses, factories and old apartment buildings that have been clearly left empty since the end of the Cold War and are now dark, falling down reminders of the sadness, horror and isolation this country and it's people endured. I took a picture at the boarder crossing where they stopped the train and two army officials came on and checked passports, not mine of course because I must look so harmless as I never get chosen for these random checks. The picture shows a small red brick building and a large sign next to it in Polish. No, I have no idea what it says.The trip did provided me with some wonderful shots of a river I think still in German with a large bridge in the background and these strange circular ice formations flowing quickly and whirling around rapidly as they made their way down the river. And just a few feet from the river were two men, you can see their figures in the picture as they did some ice fishing. I wonder what kind of fish they caught, brave souls.
I also, much to my happiness, saw two foxes, yes foxes, one who even glanced back at me (okay at the passing train) but still in my direction, 50 or so deer in random fields throughout the trip and a large rabbit just sitting staring at us as if he just couldn't imagine why were needed to make so much noise. I love wildlife and really you had to see the big smile on my face when I saw that first fox, that just doesn't happen very often.But Warsaw even with all the slush and filthy snow is magnificent. It's a truly bustling city and the train station is crazed with travelers like a smaller Penn Station in New York. I felt energized right away and despite having to drag my suitcase up and down a few flights of stairs until I figured out how to get across the main street which was the side where my hotel was on. It turns out there is a passageway when you come up from your train and then an escalator that leads up to the huge complex of buildings and the posh Marriott hotel where I stopped and got a map and some directions from the very helpful Concierge.
I was in my hotel lobby about 10 minutes later not much worse for ware and traveling slowly down the cobbled-stoned streets because of slush and snow. The Hotel Rialto is incredible in a word! It's amazing really and it took me so long to pick a hotel for this part of the trip. There were several with very discounted prices but some had pools and this one had a sauna, steam room and some were closer and some farther away from the station and after a few days of reading reviews and doing research I settled on this one mostly because of the picture of the steam room in gorgeous blue titles and I really needed some sauna/steam room time after walking around cold Berlin for a few days. Anyway the hotel far exceeded my expectations and my room is so beautiful with light walls and dark wood accents and a bathroom that most any women would be thrilled to have at home. I took two pictures of it, it's so great. I guess because it's winter and a very slow tourist time and this isn't really a business hotel being that it's in a residential neighborhood, that's why it was offered so inexpensively and also there is no breakfast but I really don't care about that, I still have crackers left over from Berlin and that's perfect for me for breakfast.
Anyway, I left the hotel after settling in and seeing the terrycloth bathrobe they lend you and the slippers they give you both to be used when visiting the spa. I knew it was to early to go up and do the spa because I wouldn't leave it again so I went off to get familiar with my temporary neighborhood and it's lovely with large, gorgeous pre-war buildings and some wonderful modern ones as well that compliment the old nicely.
I found myself a few blocks away when I saw in a large room on the first floor of an office building a white room with bright pink accents and horrible florescent light. I peered in for a moment because I saw people eating and at first thought it must be a soup kitchen it's so casual and that lighting so unflattering and almost institutional like but then I saw people of all types and walks of life enjoying their meals. I walked a bit further and read the posted menu which was translated into English and saw that they had real Polish home cooking and that all these locals come here because it's so inexpensive. I have to tell you what I ate and you'll never believe it for the price. I had a perfectly cooked kielbasa (Polish sausage) a plate full of dumplings with butter and bacon (strange I know but they looked so good) and a plate of this white cabbage mixture. It was so filling and so delicious and it really is prepared by a bunch (maybe 5) rather robust older Polish women who are behind this window cut out of the wall and very low, oddly enough and they take the receipt once you've paid for your items and they being to prepare your fresh meal unless you order soup which is ready instantaneously The soup looked amazing, I'll hopefully have that tomorrow. Anyway, the place was busy with in restaurant diners and take out people and all varying ages, this one women in her 80's I'd say came in walking with her cane and dressed in a lovely long black coat and hat (keep in mind it's snowing and slippery out there) and she ordered the soup and ate it in a few minutes and then was off again. She never even took time to take off her coat. This very sweet 20-something young lady helped me because I had paid and then went and found a table and got ready to wait for my order and one of those robust Polish women was saying something to me an I just looked like a deer in headlights when the young women explained in English that the women is waiting for my slip of paper so they can work on my order. I complied and with in 10 minutes I had my dishes and was happily enjoying great home cooking Polish style.
Now what did all this cost you are thinking, well it cost, I did the conversion calculation when I got back. It cost just under $4.00. Yes, under 4 US dollars. Incredible. And let me tell you that Kielbasa was perfect with just the right amount of snap when you cut into it. I would have liked some spicy mustard to go with it but other than that it was perfect.
There were two men, one sitting and singing to himself and another who came in and just stood near the door to warm up. I couldn't tell if they were homeless and hungry so I asked the nice young women and she said they both have mental problems but that they know everyone here at the restaurant and come in everyday and that they are not homeless and not hungry that I guess they are provided for they just like to come to the restaurant and hang out. I couldn't understand why everyone walked by them like they were just part of the fixtures but I guess in a way they are they hang out there. But I was glad to hear they had places to live and food to eat. It was really upsetting me as I enjoyed my yummy food to know they weren't being fed but she assured me they are taken care of and it's fine. I did like that the restaurant let's them stay there and just be as I know most places in New York would have turned them away. They clearly have a heart here and I guess I always imagined they did because the Polish friends I have are all wonderful, giving people.
And as a side note and my mom will appreciate this, I was eating my kielbasa and thinking of my Uncle Bobby's mother Ida who used to make it and her warm, loving kitchen we would all sit in and enjoy her food and lots of laughter. My how time flies by but just one taste of good home cooking brings back lots of great memories. The picture to the right is of my, my sister Jean Marie, Uncle Bobby, Ida and her husband. Goodness it was a long time ago, I must have been about 16 and thin enough to get away with horizontal multi-colored stripes. Okay maybe I didn't exactly get away with it but I don't look s bad and everyone else looks great so I just had to include it. I'm so glad the 70 plus hours I spent scanning in all the pictures me and my mom had in over 25 or 30 photo albums has been useful.
So I got back to my hotel after walking a bit to digest and see more of the neighborhood and then picked up some water and a snack at the convenience store around the corner from my hotel and then changed into a bathing suit and headed up to the 6th floor spa for the best part of the day. The spa was dark and I had to turn on all the lights, start up the sauna and steam room from the electric panels but it was fine with me. The spa is open 6:30am - 10:30pm but everything is not left on since it doesn't get much use. Why, I don't know but one of the reviews I read online said the gym was always quiet when he was up there. Anyway, it took only about 10 minutes for the sauna to get really hot and the steam room to fill up and I was as happy a pig in mud. I probably spent about an hour up there going in and out of the hot to the cool shower, which like the one in my room is one of those rain simulation showers, fabulous!!! I would also cool down by going into the gym area where there are 4 exercise machines, a sitting area and water fountain and the best part huge picture windows over looking the city which is mainly comprised of low buildings so you can so all the beautiful snow-covered roofs and landmarks in the distance.
I finished by shutting everything off again, cleaning up my towels and heading back to my room to take a relaxing bubble bath in the huge claw-footed tub. And as I relaxed I listened to more of Alice's story from the book on tape.
And now I'm doing my blog and then I'll read something happier like my well-worn, and much loved edition of Jane Austen's "Persuasion" which I take with me along with her "Pride & Prejudice" whenever I travel.
