We were warned and
sure enough, G. T. Mork met us at our hotel stop in Krakow. Recall
his accident in Daqing China where he received broken ribs, a punctured
lung, a concussion and other aches and pains (5/14/'04). He
was flown home to Minneapolis for a few days, spent some time with
the Mayo Clinic people, healed faster than most people we know
and resumed his trip. He flew to Heidelburg, rented a BMW K75 from
Stefan Knopf and he is back on two wheels.
The weather was more
than kind to us in Krakow, just warm enough with sunshine and mostly
blue skies. My history studies did not serve me well as I would
have written of the town and passed on to Warsaw. What a mistake
that would have been! The city has been under the control of just
about every major power that ever swept through Europe. As the capitol of Poland
for 500 years and through the centuries it has been treated fairly well by conquerors.
Churches, the Wawel Castle and the Florian Gate remain in excellent condition.
The jewel of the town is the Main Market Square which was laid out in 1257 and
remains to this day as a gathering place for all age groups. We dined twice in
the Restaurant Wierzynek opened in 1364 and still a most elegant setting for
good food and wine.
The sobering part of our visit was
a trip out to the town of Oswiecim, site of the Auschwitz and Birkenau
prison camps. I have spent time in the Washington, DC Holocaust
Museum and it is a shocking reminder of what inhumanities man is
capable. At the original prison camp, Auschwitz, the buildings
remain as a huge museum of camp life and the transition to being
a well planned out production line of death. Short on incinerator capacity
the Nazis then planned and built a much more efficient camp at
Birkenau closeby.
The rail sidings, (Shindlers List
?) and barracks stand today as reminders of just how wrong human
thinking can go. When the Russians liberated the camp in 1945 the
four human incinerators were burned and destroyed but the first
one set up in Auschwitz remains. We were all deeply impressed,
(depressed) by what we experienced that day. Everybody in the world
should be subject to the shock of what happened during that period.
It continues in some places in the world today.
Krakow is a place
that I would love to see again, with my wife and with a week to
spare. We all really enjoyed the history and the beauty.
The ride
from Krakow to Brno (Czech Republic) took us through a border crossing
that was an absolute pleasure. After some crossings in the Ukraine-Russian
sector with paper exercises that took three to six hours, this
was a 15 minute monument to what things should be. Thank you European
Union for your intelligent reforms.
The farming countryside of
rolling hills and small neat villages made the 400 km trip go quickly
and we were in Brno, Czech Republic by 2:00 pm. Our dinner in Brno
was extra special and held at the U Kralovny Elisky Restaurant
and Wine Cellars. The restaurant is in an ancient series of brick
vaults where temperatures and storage conditions are ideal for
their selections of Moravian wine. We sampled six vintages, four
whites and two reds and choose a red as our dinner wine. It was
a good choice! Dinner was excellent.
(6/27). Our ride from Brno
to Ceske Budejovice was again through the stunning countryside
of Southern Bohemia. More rolling green hills and very organized
villages put us into town at an early hour. Dr. Allan reported
that he and Helge had seen three deer and that is the first report
of large wildlife since we left Shanghai. I still think that they
have eaten all the deer in Russia.
This town is the home to the
Budvar Brewery, the originator of Budweiser. The town was established
in the 13th century and Budvar (probably) not to long after. The
funny part of the equation is that Budweiser, USA who brews something
just to the right of water tried to stop Budvar from using the
name. They lost the case of course. We being accomplished Cossack
beer drinkers did a major taste test and the USA Budweiser fails miserably. These
are personal opinions of course.
Ceske Budejovice, (say that three
times rapidly after downing three Budvars) is another jewel that
has kept it's 16th century renaissance roots. The town square is
massive and surrounded by small hotels, restaurants, outdoor cafes
and shops. It is, as usual in Europe, a place where everybody gathers.
We stayed in the Hotel Dvorak on the square. This is our last night
on the road for the official tour, -- tomorrow it's on to Munich
and I am starting to have major mixed emotions, -- it can't be over already.
!!
Regards Norm 6/27/'04
Back
to the Beginning of Norm's Adventure
1st
Journal Entry - Beijing China
2nd Journal
Entry - Shenyang China
3rd Journal
Entry - Towards Russia
4th Journal Entry - In Siberia Russia
5th Journal Entry - Continues
through Russia
6th Journal Entry - Marches on through Russia
7th Journal Entry - The Great
Potato Field of Russia
8th Journal Entry - Russia Final (next Poland)
9th Journal Entry - Motorcycle Accident in
Russia
10th Journal Entry - The Crimea - Ukraine
11th Journal Entry - We have Crossed the
Finish Line
12th Journal Entry - Update on injuries
13th Journal Entry - Poland, Czech Rep.
14th Journal Entry - Returning Home
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