Saturday, September 8, 2012

Poland I... cause there will definately be a Poland II in the future.

   Straight from the ride journal on the FrecciaRocca train back to Faenza...

     "...dark patch forests of densely planted log pines, barren till the tops, allowing a foggy view through the undergrowth.  Shadows seem to move as my train wisps by.  My eyes dart and follow dart and follow struggling for focus convinced of all sorts of wild beasts and the occasional bicycle leaned up on nearby tree.  Dairy producing country side emerges; cows, farm house,pastures and grain.  Factories declare themselves abruptly just outside the larger villages, the distance of pipe. steam and cables leading the way on the horizon.  Graffiti gets more colourful, bigger, more intense as I get closer to the city, and shrink on the way out.
     "In Lublin, grey skies blend in with centuries of wood heat and rough plaster.  The tops of buildings sooty, streaks running down from window ledges, the men are working, the women wear pretty colours and you can the stylish influences of the 6 different university campuses.  Posters for concerts, symphonies, art shows and gallery openings suggest Lublin's cosmopolitan spirit and its green parks with shooting spraying fountains hint at financial stability.   Roads paved with new tarmac yield to centuries old cobblestones at the edge of a pedestrian central 'Old Town' where rows of comfy outdoor furniture hides under gigantic awnings advertising one of over 7 locally made beers, a young staff greeting cheerily and offering help in English.  Pints are big, food is hearty, meaty and salty.  Dudes are sturdy, stocky, built strong and trimmed of edifice; short hair, trimmed staches, utilitarian clothes.  Dark haired and light eyed for the overwhelming majority.  Somehow I see my Grandfather's eyes and my Mother's thin lips and pointy chin.  I see Cousin's nose, and a can-do attitude of a nation who has rebuilt itself more than once, a nation confident in itself cause its still here.  A nation confident in its ability to survive and preserve.  Women make eye contact and smile back.  Do THEY see my Grandfather's eyes, my thin lips under trimmed stache and my Mother's pointy chin?  Do I look familiar in my dark hair and light eyes strong shoulders and confident attitude?  Do I look like one of them?  Cause some of them look like one of Me.
     "We walk at dusk in a cemetery full of names I cannot pronounce, and I dream up a story of my Grandfather's grandfather re-arranging the letters of his name, making it look and sound more German to preserve his young family long enough to get them to Amerika, a story not far off from the generation-old insistence that it is Weikel, spelled w-E-I-k-e-l.  And my Grandfather's eyes look back at me.  Was it once Wieckl, or Wieckel, or Wieke£** as I saw from the train window?   I certainly don't remember a tradition of any German foods in my Grandfather's house - but Grandma's bean and ham soup was not far from the traditional stew I had on the last slightly colder day in Lublin, a soup that tasted like 'home' especially with my Grandfather's eyes, my Mother's thin lips and pointy chin staring back at me through light eyes and dark hair in the plaza.
     "Maybe I'm Polish? And for the first time in my adult life I am introduced to the powerful curiosity of wanting to know who my ancestors were.  Where are they from?  And can their stories add depth to mine? 
     "I'll Keep you posted on what I find out."


(**editors note: in Polish there is a L with a slash through the middle of it.  Its pronounced like a W but the closest thing I could find on this euro keyboard was the British Pound sign.)


as soon as I landed...not bad though when you think about it, 1 year, 6 countries, 5 Euros



just enough time in Warsaw to run out and snap a photo of the palace

why fight it...sign under the table on the train


with THICK forests in the background





For Taint-Boy...

this is Four Start bike mechanics...


for Suzie...

Ever wonder what Santa does in the summers...he gets RAD on bikes in Europe.  The founder of the company Rick Price



Its amazing to think that a country that was once a hub of Orthodox Judaism now consumes more pork products than anyplace I have ever imagined.  Tasty!

being in a place where you cant even make sense of a sign made me realize how far Ive come...

tall boys, vodka, thumbs up!  We were told the old town gets rowdy but as we sat and talked and drank  Sara and I only saw one group of arm in arm singing drunks, and it was a group of 60-70 year old's singing some local chant song staggering up the avenue, a huge drunk old man let go of the two women he was escorting long enough to blow Sara a kiss.  Not sure about the college scene there but their parents and grandparents seem fun as shit!

a late night shot of a vending kiosk that seems to sell mostly hair dye.

my 13 hour office Thursday

rendered pork fat with chunks of ham, to put of toast of course...

traditional restaurant with a clever drink menu, I'm having a Welcome to Chata as I type this!

mulled, warm beer drink.

pork ribs (skin on), pork pierogi, pork loin, potato pancakes, lentils, ham, and pickles, "best with a liter of vodka" said the menu - it was called the Hunters Platter and it was AWESOME!

and in case you could not tell from the above photo the only green leafy vegetable was a piece of lettuce, which had a flaming sugar cube in the middle of it omitting a blue flame.

last picture before the camera batter died...the next photo caption contest...

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