Memorial Day Weekend 2013

After a beautiful drive over the coastal range, we arrived at the Tillamook Cheese Factory where we met up with our friends Aaron and Toni. After burgers and (of course!) ice cream, we headed south to Depoe Bay stopping along the way at Netarts to see Lex's Cool Stuff. She a variety of eclectic stuff.

Gdansk, Poland--Last Day

Lisa and David made us a fabulous breakfast of steel cut oats, pumpkin pancakes with different toppings, ham and eggs, and hot chocolate that tasted wonderful and was not as intense as Polish hot chocolate usually is (thin pudding that is very hot and very chocolaty!)  We left soon after breakfast.

We drove to Westerplatte where WWII broke out when the Germans invaded Poland. The Poles put up a good fight, but in the end the Germans succeeded and most of the Poles met the same end as all those oppressed by Hitler.  Once again we questioned how man could treat his fellow men in that way.  

We then drove to the Old Town Square of Gdansk and looked at the amber that was being displayed on Amber Alley. We walked to St. Mary's Church which is the biggest brick church in all of Europe.  Our plan was to walk the 400 steps up to the top, however, it was a holiday and clergy were talking about what the holiday meant and how proud they should be of their history, so the stairway up was closed.  We turned away and found a restaurant so we could warm up with soup and cabbage rolls.

We all wanted to see where David works so we went to Weyerhaeuser.  James and David talked shop--and understood each other.  Lisa and I understood less than 1/10th of it.  We were very impressed with what we saw, the equipment, the machinery, the big vats.  David explained the things he could tell us and we were told if he told us more, he would have to kill us.

We then drove on to Sopot where we walked among throngs of people celebrating the holiday and meandered down to the Baltic Sea. It stretched on and on toward the horizon with just water in sight.  The wind was blowing, it was cold, as was the water. 

Town Hall--clock tower

We returned to Old Town in Gdansk and had dinner at Buddas (East Indian).  It was very good.  This has been an incredible (and very enjoyable) journey.  We have had such a great time with so many wonderful memories.  We are grateful for this time we have had in Europe together.

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Malbork and Gdansk, Poland

We were up bright and early and after a substantial European breakfast, we checked out and headed to the train station by taxi.  When we arrived, we realized we had 15 minutes before the train left and Lisa didn't want to stand around and so she suggested we go see the 'bubble mall'. It is a big mall, but the roof and down toward the door are constructed of curved glass panels so that the whole building looks like it is made of bubbles.  So we headed next door to see it.  The door was open so we headed right in.  By now it was 7:50 AM and we were promptly thrown out, since they were not yet open.  *sigh*  We went back to the train station and boarded the train. 

The next five hours as we headed north to Malbork, we talked, ate, slept, and read.  It was an enjoyable journey.  Lisa decided to stay on the train and head northward to Gdasnk, (She wanted to get to the grocery store because tomorrow is a holiday and everything is closed.) and so we waved goodbye from the platform as the train continued on.  The three of us took a taxi to Malbork Castle where we spent the next four hours.  We have toured a lot of castles on this trip, and other trips to Europe, but we have never been in a castle where we can walk into so many rooms and up so many stairs. We learned so much about life in the 1300's and upward.   It was fantastic!

Malbork Castle was inhabited by Teutonic Knights.  These knights were an appointed group from the Pope sent to Poland to establish order amount the Prussian tribes of Northern Poland.  They have their roots back to the crusades and Jerusalem.  In Poland they became very powerful and assumed control over the region both politically and religiously.  As time went by and their political might increased they also became a powerful military force that controlled the region.  

This castle was taken over during WWII by the Nazi's.  At the end of the war, as the Nazi's carried off the valuable paintings and other artifacts, it was bombed by Russians and allies because they knew the Germans were there.  It was all very beautiful and very interesting.

We hiked up over 250 stairs for a spectacular view of the surrounding countryside.  

The main gate after the drawbridge.  We had to pass through four or five huge doors to get into the castle

Looking out to the inner courtyard.

View of courtyard from the top of the tower 
David on his way down tower steps

Outside Castle

We had dinner inside the castle and then walked back to the train station.  We decided to take an earlier train and were just a little concerned that they might not be happy about i, since our tickets were for the later one. The train we hopped on was a lot older, and definitely not first class; the conductor probably thought we were crazy for being on that train, and looked at our tickets without comment.  

We are in Gdansk, the last of the day is fading into the night sky.  It is cold out, 45 degrees. Our Europe trip is speedily coming to a close.  Tomorrow we see Gdansk and then we fly out early Saturday morning.

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Warsaw, Poland-Day 11

We were up and on our way to the train station by 0930.  With the help of David and the taxi driver we were dropped off on top of the parking garage, rode one of the many elevators downward and were deposited right onto the platform.  Our train was right there and we boarded--rather amazing.

Our train ride was 3 hours and we arrived in Warsaw.  We checked into our hotel and left to see the city.  We walked, took buses, trams and taxis to get to various destinations.

Lazienki Park--with statue of Chopin in background.

City of Warsaw

Old Town Square with Royal Palace on the right

Red brick wall on the far left (in Old Town Square) is part of ruins of wall that surrounded  Warsaw around the 14th Century until it came down sometime in the 17-18th century.

James, Kathleen, Lisa and David in front of Wilanow Castle  where Jan Sobieski  the third lived with his true love Marie until he died in 1696.  It was fun to walk through and see the various rooms and decor of that era.  (Don't worry about the finger of the photographer, visible in the picture - it is still the best of the ones he took!)

We decided to have something different for dinner tonight and enjoyed Japanese food and sushi.  Now we are ready to turn in.  Our room here at the Hilton is on the 25th floor and the bed looks out over an incredible view of the city of Warsaw.  We are getting up early tomorrow to leave by 0730 and head by train toward Gdansk with a stopover in Malbork  (5-hour trip)to see the castle with dinner there and then an additional 1-hr train ride to Gdansk.

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