Crossin' the Border - Part 2 of 2

Lviv has a wild restaurant scene. Our options for lunch included:

-"At the Golden Rose" Galician Jewish Restaurant, where the menus have no prices and the customer has to negotiate their bill. The total paid depends directly on the customer's ability to bargain.

-Trout, Bread, & Wine, where only trout, bread, and wine are sold. The story is that an early city disaster forced a trumpet-player, who made the most delicious Carpathian trout in town, and a clock-maker, who was a wine expert and baked the best bread in the city, to share a house. To supplement their low municipal salaries, they sold trout, bread, and wine in their home's ground floor.

-THE FIRST LVIV GRILL RESTAURANT OF MEAT AND JUSTICE, is said to have been opened by the executioner once executions were discontinued in the city and is decorated with all manners of guillotines and torture devices.

-Lviv Coffee Mining Manufacture can safely claim to have the only underground coffee bean mining (yes, you heard that right) operation, which visitors to this cafe can experience for themselves!

We chose дім легенд / House of Legends, which is the narrow house of the town's old chimney-sweep, with eight differently themed rooms and a car on the roof (because, why not?).

We sat in the Book Room (rumored to have every book every printed about Lviv!) and ate delicious 'banosh' (cheese grits with bacon) and paprika chicken out of tiny hot pots, supplemented with Ukrainian beer.



We followed lunch and sightseeing with a drink in Kryjivka, the Ukrainian Nationalist Bar. It's at a secret address near the Rynok (square) and requires a password ("Slava Ukrayini", Glory to Ukraine, but you didn't hear it from us!). We tried honey vodka and mint vodka paired with honey pickles. 

Before we knew it, it was time to head back to Polska. We located the correct blue and yellow van and, after a longer-than-expected wait, started our slow, erratic chug back to the border. When the driver stopped to let folks off, he would take off again milliseconds after their second foot lifted off the step, door wide open. Even so we were worried we would be late for our train!

When we pulled into the lot it was already dark. We high-tailed it to the guardhouses, where we encountered two relaxed and good-humored guards, who both thought it was hilarious that we spoke Polish. ("Bryan. *nod*. Haircut!" the Polish guard quipped after reviewing B's old passport photo). We were out in no time and were thrilled to be back in Poland (and on time to catch our overnight train, no less!). We hiked our way back towards our pick-up point with Freda and had time to snag kebab before rushing onto the overnight train...

...in which we were the only passengers in the whole train car. We had our very own conductor, who was quite nice, took our orders for hot tea the next morning, and checked on us to make sure we weren't too chilly. Second class service! We woke up to a brilliantly sunny day in Warsaw and wondered, had we actually been in Ukraine the day before, or did we dream it all?

Crossin' the Border - Part 1 of 2

For a myriad of reasons (the most pressing being visa-related), we made a quick trip across the border into Ukraine over the weekend. In the southern U.S. "across the border" likely brings to mind neon cacti, greasy tacos, and cheap margaritas, or for those of us who have frequented I-95 on the stretch between North and South Carolina, a sad, abandoned, politically incorrect rest stop.  For Poland, the comparison is similar in many ways, but better in most of them.

Our destination: Lviv, Ukraine.
Formerly "Lvov", the city was historically part of Poland (and also part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and also part of the Soviet Union - welcome to Eastern Europe!). Thriving as the modern-day cultural capital of Ukraine, the city is filled to the brim with beautiful, Old World architecture and exquisite churches of a wild mix of faiths. The travel websites all said "Go, go, go!" and our friends assured us that it was worthy of more than just the 6 hours we had allotted for our visit. So off we went! Our generous friends (fellow Fulbright family) John and Freda let us crash with them on Friday night in their farmhouse in Przemyśł, a southeastern Polish town close to a border crossing, to ease our passage into Ukraine on Saturday morning. We would not have gotten far (or, more importantly, back) in our adventure without their guidance and travel maps. 

Getting there: First by foot, then by bus. The next morning around 9, Freda dropped us off at the back of a mile-long line of cars waiting to cross at the checkpoint. We started hiking along the side of the highway, walking and walking past passengers sitting on hoods and lighting cigarettes, until we had almost reached the crossing. No, no one else was doing this. At this point we were shouted at by a Polish border guard directing traffic, who motioned us into a parking lot filled with hawkers selling goods out of soggy cardboard boxes and black duffel bags. A couple hundred yards behind them was the entrance to the Polish guardhouse, with only a short line inside. One mildly confused Polish border guard (Two Americans? One visa? Warsaw, eh?) and ten questions later, we sprinted across the barbed-wire trimmed 'no-man's land' and into the Ukranian guardhouse. A slightly more intimidating guard asked us more questions before stamping our passports and waving us through. Ukraine! 

We traded złoty for hryvnia with a middle-aged woman in a verrry unofficial looking closet and wound our way to the yellow and blue bus 70's-style van that goes to Львiв.

We saw a lot of this. Check out those gorgeous square Orthodox churches!

Two bumpy hours later - the bus winding and weaving at the whim of its driver to unmarked stops - we were dropped at the Lviv train station with twenty other passengers. So there is a city here, we thought gratefully. We made it!

Highlights
1) Super Saver: The Hryvnia. Bus ticket ($1.50). Viennese coffee ($1.15). 2L bottle of water ($0.30). And so on. We spent the equivalent of $26 on our entire trip.

2) Communicating: Cyrillic/Polish Hybrid Heaven

 We've heard from reliable sources that the make-up of the Ukrainian language is 60% Polish, 30% Russian, 10% Other. Fantastically for Emily, Ukrainian uses the Cyrillic alphabet. So, Emily read the words, translating into Russian when applicable, and Bryan translated into Polish. We both communicated with the Ukrainians we encountered in Polish, which worked like a charm. In fact, reception of our accented Polish has never been better than when communicating with accented Ukrainian-Polish!
N.B.: Emily was careful not to utter a word in Russian, under any circumstances. Travelers to Ukraine do so at their own peril...

3) Vienna of the East: Opera & Coffee

 Coffee "Surprise" with egg whites! Yum!

Tomorrow we'll finish up our Ukrainian tale with our unique and surprising dining and drinking choices, plus a return to Poland under the cover of darkness! Stay tuned!

19 Kwiecień 1943 / 19 April 1943 - We Remember

Today, April 19, the city of Warsaw commemorates the 73rd anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto uprising.

The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest of all the Jewish ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe during World War II​​.​ ​It was established ​in the fall of 1940, w​hen​ over 400,000 Jews ​were ​​forced to move into an area of ​only ​1.3 sq miles. The wall was typically 9.8 ft​ ​high and topped with barbed wire​, and e​scapees could be shot on sight.​​ ​​

 ​During the next year and a half thousands of Polish Jews were brought into the Ghetto, ​although​ diseases and starvation kept the inhabitants at about the same number. Unemployment was a major problem in the ghetto. Illegal workshops were created to manufacture goods to be sold illegally on the outside and raw goods were smuggled in, often by children.​ ​Smuggling was often the only source of subsistence for Ghetto inhabitants, who would otherwise have died of starvation.

​The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
​On January 18, 1943, the Germans suddenly entered the Warsaw ghetto intent upon a mass deportation. The Germans expected no resistance, but preparations to resist had been going on since the previous autumn. The first instances of Jewish armed resistance began that day, and the Jewish fighters had some success: the expulsion stopped after 4 days and they took control of the Ghetto.

The final battle started on April 19, 1943, when a Nazi force consisting of several thousand troops entered the ghetto. After initial setbacks, the Germans under the field command of Jürgen Stroop systematically burned and blew up the ghetto buildings, rounding up or murdering anybody they could capture. Everyone else was deported to nearby concentration camps. The Warsaw Ghetto was no more.

AKCJA ŻONKILE/ Action: Daffodils
Today nearly 1,000 volunteers at the Polin Jewish History museum in Warsaw and over 100,000 students in other Polish cities are handing out paper daffodils in remembrance of those who were lost. Posters around the city proclaim, "Łączy nas pamięć"/ "We share a memory".

Film Premiere: "There was No Hope"
Additionally the film "There was No Hope" about the Warsaw ghetto uprising in 1943 (Polish language) will premiere today online and at the Polin museum in Warsaw. You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/MI3bEHjhYds. 

Krzyżacki Zamki w Dzin Urodzin Bryana (Teutonic Castles on Bryan's Birthday)!!!! - Day 3

Sadly we checked out of the Castle Hotel at Gniew and headed south along the Vistula River to...

Stop 14: Bydgoszcz
Unfortunately, Emily still had to work on Monday, so I dropped her off at a coffee shop in downtown Bydgoszcz, a bustling medium-sized university city bisected by canals that feed into a major bend in the Vistula River. More on Bydgoszcz later, though, because my castle tour continued solo at...

Stop 15: Bierzgłowo and the Teutonic Castle at Zamek Bierzgłowski
Bierzgłowo was a small village about 30 km east of Bydgoszcz. Driving through, I stopped to take in the beautiful brick gothic church surrounded by a dense cemetery, as well as the picturesque wooden windmill capping the ridge on the other side of a swiftly-moving stream.

Continuing 3 km south from the village I came upon the Castle, once home to a Teutonic Komtur, or regional commander. In this part of Poland, the edge of a high plateau runs parallel to the Vistula River about 10 km north of its banks. Surrounded by trees on its other three sides, the Bierzgłowo Castle sat on this ridge, overlooking the wide plain below and commanding one of the main roads ascending the ridge. The castle was a low L-shaped building with two high walls completing a square courtyard. Several outer buildings masked the main entrance, concealed the deep moat, and made the high castle seem much more extensive than it actually was. Now the building serves as a Diocese Center for Culture and is well maintained. I walked around for a bit and then proceeded up the road to...

Stop 16: Chełmża
The small town of Chełmża, located on the western end of the long, narrow Chełmżyńskie Lake, was one of the administrative seats of the Bishop of Chełmno, as role filled by Dantiscus from 1530 until 1537. It doesn't boast a castle, but it still contains a lively and extensive Old Town, a brick gothic plain church, and a brick gothic cathedral, where Dantiscus himself would have said Mass. It also had a beautiful wooden causeway extending out over the lake. I was amazed at the activity I found in Chełmża on this Monday morning. So many people were out shopping, eating, and loitering on the main market square. It seemed like a very fun place to live, especially for kids, even given its small size. It also provided a decent glimpse into how a small but bustling medieval city would have appeared on a typical week day...so fun!

Stop 17: Teutonic Castle site in Kowalewo Pomorskie
The sizable town of Kowalewo Pomorskie wasn't particularly appealing, but the site of the former castle was impressive. A tall, single, round hill stuck up out of the surrounding plain right in the center of town. While there is very little left of the original castle, a neo-gothic radio tower was built on top of the hill to replace the former castle tower. A few undulations in the terrain revealed the locations of former structures and a single bastion at the base of the hill gave away the former castle's grand size. From Kowalewo I wound my way through open farmland to one of the most impressive castles of the entire trip:

Stop 18: Teutonic Castle in Golub-Dobrzyń
Golub Castle was similar in construction to the Gniew Castle - square pattern, high walls, corner towers, spacious interior courtyard. Golub, however, had been partially rebuilt during the Renaissance with a new stone flourish around its top and a squat tower at the base of one corner. It was an impressive and regal sight, even before taking in the location. But when considering its solitary perch on a high, open promontory overlooking a bend in the Drwęca River and the cozy Old Town hundreds of feet below, Golub Castle was majestic and breathtaking. It commanded steep hills on three sides and was protected by a deep trench on the fourth side. It had 360-degree unimpeded views and was intimidating from any angle. It was glorious to see and was a perfect example of how castles were built to physically and psychologically dominate the landscape and population.

Stop 19: Teutonic Castle Ruins in Wąbrzeźno
This small town on the flat Polish plain was squashed between the end of two lakes. It's castle is only low ruins now, buried in dense woods where the lakes almost meet. Unfortunately, I was running short on time and could not stop, but it was interesting to see from the car how well the Teutonic Knights could take advantage of landscape - building a fortress with two sides naturally defended and squeezing any overland approach into two narrow roadways. Maybe next trip we'll get a closer look! ;)

Stop 20: Teutonic Castle Ruins at Radzyń Chełmiński
Amazingly, the ruins in the next small town were some of the most intact, the most impressive, the most accessible, and seemingly the most forgotten ruins that we encountered on our trip. I was astounded! The former castle sat on an artificial hill surrounded by an artificial moat, rising out of the swampy flood plain formed by several winding streams. The huge, square castle has an intact southern facade, fronted by a wide field that was partially enclosed by a 10-foot tall defensive wall. That field now contains a soccer pitch. While the castle interior was closed, one could walk freely all along the grounds, right up to the walls. The main road encircled the site on three sides, yet no one was walking around enjoying the views! The open expanse surrounding the ruins made their height so much more impressive. If only the interiors had been accessible as well!

Stop 22: Chełmno
The riverside town of Chełmno was another seat of Dantiscus when he served as bishop. It also sits atop a high ridge on the eastern bank of the Vistula River with commanding views of the river, the surrounding territory, and the overland roads. This is one of the most intact medieval towns in Poland, with the entire city wall remaining, 5 different medieval churches inside the walls, an unbelievably beautiful Renaissance Town Hall, an expansive main market square, and quaint cobble-stoned streets. The main church, the brick gothic St. Mary's, was the focal point of the skyline and occupied 4 city blocks. It was gorgeous inside, with brightly-colored arches, frescoes, tall stained glass windows, and ornate Baroque altars. The other medieval churches were also significantly larger than those of other Polish towns owing to the heavy presence of monastic order in Chełmno and its role as a popular stop along the river. In fact, the four main spires of the Old Town could be seen atop the ridge up and down the river for almost 15 km! The huge square was bustling with activity, but most intriguing aspect was the white and blue, square Renaissance Town Hall in its center. This adorable, relatively small-looking structure looked like a royal cupcake rising up out of the stone square, with a tall tower in its center, conservative entrance ways, and just the right amount of delicate decoration around the top - a perfect centerpiece for this beautiful and surprising town. I took off down the hill to cross the Vistula one last time on my way to the last stop of our castle tour...

Stop 23: Teutonic Castle in świecie
świecie lay low on the western bank of the Vistula, directly across from Chełmno, such that the towns spires were still impressive, even from across the wide river. świecie had a large brich gothic church surrounded by a high wall, and a winding Old Town set at the base of a rising ridge. Its castle sat on a former low island, now cut off from the river by shifting banks over the last 700 years. At one point it was the only Teutonic castle completely surrounded by water. A long raised causeway led from the Old Town to the drawbridge that fronted the castle gate. The current structure is a tall rectangular building with an even taller frontal tower, surrounded by a walled courtyard that filled the surface of the low hill. When it was an island, the castle certainly would have been unassailable. It was fascinating to see how in this instance the lower terrain was a distinct advantage, compared to the higher terrain chosen as the site for most of the other castles we visited.

From świecie I drove southward along the river, back to Bydgoszcz to collect Emily after her long day's work. We got dinner at a great Indian restaurant/brew pub on one of the city's developing canals, walked around Old Town for a bit, and then headed back to Warsaw. In a year full of amazing weekends, sights, and experiences, this one certainly stood out. Thanks so much to my incredible wife for one of the best birthday presents I have ever or could ever receive!

Krzyżacki Zamki w Dzin Urodzin Bryana (Teutonic Castles on Bryan's Birthday)!!!! - Day 2

...and off we went early on Sunday morning, heading eastward across the Vistula River to...

Stop 8: Teutonic Castle in Kwidzyn
Kwidzyn is a small city located on a steep ridge on the eastern bank of the Vistula River. It overlooks a wide floodplain and has a clear view of the hills on the opposite side of the river, including Gniew Castle. In Kwidzyn, the huge brick gothic cathedral is located at the peak of the ridge. The 3-sided castle is attached to the rear of the cathedral forming a square courtyard. The castle sits perched on the edge of the steep drop-off, with defensive walls extending along the ridge in both directions and gated entrance ways leading to steep staircases down the hill. Extending from the castle out into the open air is a 50-meter long covered causeway supported by massive arches and leading to a solitary tower. The tower, sitting beyond the defensive walls, once sat alongside a small offshoot of the river. It served as both the latrine and the castle's last defensive holdout. Many Teutonic castles, including at Malbork and Toruń, included this unique architectural feature.

Stop 9: Teutonic Castle at Brodnica
A 90-minute drive brought us southward to Brodnica, a small but curious town on the Drwęca, a small river that ran through several medieval Polish towns before draining into the Vistula at Toruń. The castle at Brodnica is little more than foundations now, but it does include an intact 54-meter tower open for climbing. The castle commanded a sharp bend in the river and from the tower one can see for dozens of miles in every direction. Brodnica also had an original medieval city gate, a medieval brewery, and a cobblestone Old Town with a large triangular market square and narrow, winding streets. Brodnica was particularly important as a medieval crossroads of both water and overland trading routes, particularly in fur, grain, and amber.
Stop 10: Teutonic Castle and Church at Lubawa
Even though we thought the Lubawa castle was only ruins, we had to stop there because Dantiscus had occupied the castle on several occasions during his first tenure as Bishop! But it was great to find that the Polish Ministry of Culture is reconstructing the castle, and the entire lower level is complete already. The square-plan castle had high, thin walls and four corner towers and was surrounded by a wide moat. The brick gothic St. Anne's Church, only a block away at the entrance to Old Town, was gorgeous and imposing from the outside, but unfortunately we could not go inside because there was a wedding taking place. But while walking around the castle, we read one of the informative plaques describing the castle's restoration, and who should we find but one of the inhabitants of the castle - Dantiscus himself!

Stop 11: Teutonic Castle Ruins at Szymbark
Our next stop - Szymbark - was perhaps the smallest village we visited. Well off the main road and in some thick woods, the village abutted a hidden, tree-lined lake and couldn't have had more than 6 houses. The well-preserved castle ruins sat almost at water lever, but the foundations were so tall that the castle seemed to be atop a high hill. A long driveway and artificial ramp led up to the soaring causeway bridge leading to the castle gate. The castle facade was remarkably well preserved for being left to ruin, and it seemed like the entire village was enjoying a Sunday afternoon stroll around the ruins. It was an incredibly peaceful visit and really gave us perspective on some of the different ways that these ruins can blend into the modern landscape, especially in the villages.

Stop 12: Shenanigans at the Teutonic Castle Ruins at Rogóźno
Our late-afternoon stop was definitely our most interesting, even before we consider the actual castle. Rogóźno was almost as small as Szymbark. It was basically a few small tenement buildings along one street, which terminated at a barbed-wire-fenced military installation. in the middle of a forest. To reach the castle we drove through the village and down the narrow dirt road that swung around the outside of the military base. At first we thought the road just ended there, but a group of ragged-looking Polish men emerged from the trees and told us that we could hike around the rest of the base to the castle ruins. So off we went! As we picked our way through the trees and scrub, we could see the ground fall away steeply beside us for almost 200 feet - the castle was perched on the edge of a cliff overlooking a deep gorge that cut through the forest! As we closely traced the base's brick wall, which also appeared to be a former part of the castle, suddenly a depression swung around in front of us and we could see the main part of the castle on a small forested plateau extending out into the gorge. Defensive walls lined both sides of the depression, and pillars of the former causeway extended up out of the slopes. The tall gatehouse tower sat just on the edge of the plateau, and a smaller tower sat closer to the outer edge of the plateau. We scrambled up the slope to the gatehouse and wandered through the ruins, taking in the view of the deep gorge below.
Stop 13: Grudziądz
The last stop of day was a castle town on the high eastern bank of the Vistula River. One of the best preserved medieval towns in Poland, Grudziądz was the capital of the inland grain trade in the medieval and early modern period. Grain from all over the Polish countryside would be brought there and loaded onto ships, sailed up the river to Gdańsk, and exported to Western Europe. To facilitate this trade, huge grain warehouses were erected on the ridge overlooking the river, with extensive tubes to transport the grain down to the boats on the river. These warehouses still form the outer edge of the Old Town and make a striking sight along the riverbank. On the highest peak of the ridge, another 100 feet above the warehouses, once sat the castle-fortress protecting the town. Now only the foundations exist, but they are being excavated and are on public display. A neo-gothic watch tower sits at the highest point and from its summit one sees amazing views up and down the river. After walking around Old Town, we headed back up the river to Gniew for our last night in the Castle Hotel.