Poland
1985 photo
I passed through Poland by train on my 13-week Melbourne - Bangkok - Hong Kong - Taipei - Japan -
Trans Siberian Railway - Poland - Germany - Holland - UK - Athens - Israel - Egypt - Western Europe - Singapore - Melbourne trip.
After leaving Moscow we arrived at Brest on the Polish border the next morning.
The carriage was jacked up and the bogies changed from the wider Russian gauge to the narrower Polish (and European) one.
Russian customs officers checked our books and Polish officers got on and checked our passports.
Passing through Warsaw in 1985.
The Polish countryside.
We eventually arrived at the East German border at Frankfurt on Oder and had our passports stamped by East German officers.
2002 Photos
With an around the world air ticket, we flew out of Melbourne on the 10th of May to Vancouver in Western Canada.
Next flight to Calgary then we flew over the North Pole to Frankfurt in Germany
where we went on a Trafalgar Highlights of New Europe tour.
(Frankfurt to Berlin, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, The Czech Republic and Rothenburg before returning to Frankfurt.)
After this tour we flew to Istanbul in Turkey and went on a Trafalgar tour of Turkey.
Then to Singapore via Dubai and back to Melbourne after 54 days.
Poznan
The ornate Renaissance façade of the Poznan town hall. It is in the main square.
Once the capital of Poland, Poznan was our lunch stop after we crossed into Poland from Germany.
The town square was an important feature of all of the Polish cities that we visited.
Warsaw
The Chopin monument in the Lazienki Gardens in Warsaw.
Young Chopin is sitting next to a tree listening to the music that comes from the tree.
It was melted down during WW2 but, it has like most of Warsaw, been rebuilt.
Chopin died in 1839 in Paris aged 39. His heart is buried in a Warsaw church.
A small palace in Warsaw.
Margaret went to an excellent private Chopin recital here.
She said "…hearing Chopin in a salon as it was meant to be played was mind blowing."
She loved it.
A Warsaw "skyscraper".
A memorial in the former Jewish ghetto area in Warsaw.
The Royal Castle in Warsaw.
It has been rebuilt with private donations after being totally destroyed during WW2.
Polish kings were elected. The last king reined from 1764 until 1794 when Poland became part of Russia.
Czestochowa is a city in southern Poland, known for the famous Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra.
The monastery is the home of the Black Madonna painting,The Black Madonna, once thought to be painted by St. Luke.
The city has for centuries attracted pilgrims from all corners of the globe.
In 1917 the Black Madonna was crowned the Queen of Poland.
Krakow
Krakowis the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland.
Wawel hill in Krakow is topped by a castle and cathedral first started in 1127.
Krakow's symbol is a dragon, hence the gargoyles on the buildings are dragons.
Polish kings were crowned in the cathedral when Krakow was the Polish capital.
In the middle of Krakow's market square is the 16th century Renaissance Cloth Hall.
It is an elegant version of the Victoria Market in Melbourne.
St. Mary's Church on the corner of the square has a live trumpeter who plays on the hour from the top window and then waves to the crowd.
This square is the largest in Europe.
The Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow in Poland.
We only saw 1.5km about 1% of the 150 km of drives.
They have been in operation for over 700 years. The first sculpture was of Copernicus. The salt is a grey colour.
There were large caverns inside - chapels, canteens and souvenir shops.
Auchwitz Concentration Camp.
1.5 million people perished here. 90% were Jewish.
The gate has the ironic inscription Arbeit Macht Frei over it. It means Work Makes You Free.
The camp ran from 1940 until 1945 when it was liberated by the Russians. It was a Polish army camp beforehand.
The bricks for the buildings came from demolished villages for kilometres around Auchwitz.
Birkenau Concentration Camp, about 3km from Auchwitz.
This was where most of the extermination of the victims took place. The camp could hold 200,000 inmates.
Storks nesting at the Poland/Slovakia border.
Our 2002 trip continued through Slovakia to Hungary. Then to Austria, The Czech Republic and Rothenburg before returning to Frankfurt.
After this tour we flew to Istanbul in Turkey and went on a Trafalgar tour of Turkey.
Lastly to Singapore via Dubai and back to Melbourne after 54 days.
|
Trips to Poland
1. 1985 - I first passed through Poland by train from Russia, on the way to Europe.2. 2002 - We visited Poland during our Eastern European tour on our second around-the-world trip. |
1985 photo
I passed through Poland by train on my 13-week Melbourne - Bangkok - Hong Kong - Taipei - Japan -
Trans Siberian Railway - Poland - Germany - Holland - UK - Athens - Israel - Egypt - Western Europe - Singapore - Melbourne trip.
After leaving Moscow we arrived at Brest on the Polish border the next morning.
The carriage was jacked up and the bogies changed from the wider Russian gauge to the narrower Polish (and European) one.
Russian customs officers checked our books and Polish officers got on and checked our passports.
Passing through Warsaw in 1985.
The Polish countryside.
We eventually arrived at the East German border at Frankfurt on Oder and had our passports stamped by East German officers.
2002 Photos
With an around the world air ticket, we flew out of Melbourne on the 10th of May to Vancouver in Western Canada.
Next flight to Calgary then we flew over the North Pole to Frankfurt in Germany
where we went on a Trafalgar Highlights of New Europe tour.
(Frankfurt to Berlin, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Austria, The Czech Republic and Rothenburg before returning to Frankfurt.)
After this tour we flew to Istanbul in Turkey and went on a Trafalgar tour of Turkey.
Then to Singapore via Dubai and back to Melbourne after 54 days.
Poznan
The ornate Renaissance façade of the Poznan town hall. It is in the main square.
Once the capital of Poland, Poznan was our lunch stop after we crossed into Poland from Germany.
The town square was an important feature of all of the Polish cities that we visited.
Warsaw
The Chopin monument in the Lazienki Gardens in Warsaw.
Young Chopin is sitting next to a tree listening to the music that comes from the tree.
It was melted down during WW2 but, it has like most of Warsaw, been rebuilt.
Chopin died in 1839 in Paris aged 39. His heart is buried in a Warsaw church.
A small palace in Warsaw.
Margaret went to an excellent private Chopin recital here.
She said "…hearing Chopin in a salon as it was meant to be played was mind blowing."
She loved it.
A Warsaw "skyscraper".
A memorial in the former Jewish ghetto area in Warsaw.
The Royal Castle in Warsaw.
It has been rebuilt with private donations after being totally destroyed during WW2.
Polish kings were elected. The last king reined from 1764 until 1794 when Poland became part of Russia.
Czestochowa is a city in southern Poland, known for the famous Pauline monastery of Jasna Góra.
The monastery is the home of the Black Madonna painting,The Black Madonna, once thought to be painted by St. Luke.
The city has for centuries attracted pilgrims from all corners of the globe.
In 1917 the Black Madonna was crowned the Queen of Poland.
Krakow
Krakowis the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland.
Wawel hill in Krakow is topped by a castle and cathedral first started in 1127.
Krakow's symbol is a dragon, hence the gargoyles on the buildings are dragons.
Polish kings were crowned in the cathedral when Krakow was the Polish capital.
In the middle of Krakow's market square is the 16th century Renaissance Cloth Hall.
It is an elegant version of the Victoria Market in Melbourne.
St. Mary's Church on the corner of the square has a live trumpeter who plays on the hour from the top window and then waves to the crowd.
This square is the largest in Europe.
The Wieliczka Salt Mine near Krakow in Poland.
We only saw 1.5km about 1% of the 150 km of drives.
They have been in operation for over 700 years. The first sculpture was of Copernicus. The salt is a grey colour.
There were large caverns inside - chapels, canteens and souvenir shops.
Auchwitz Concentration Camp.
1.5 million people perished here. 90% were Jewish.
The gate has the ironic inscription Arbeit Macht Frei over it. It means Work Makes You Free.
The camp ran from 1940 until 1945 when it was liberated by the Russians. It was a Polish army camp beforehand.
The bricks for the buildings came from demolished villages for kilometres around Auchwitz.
Birkenau Concentration Camp, about 3km from Auchwitz.
This was where most of the extermination of the victims took place. The camp could hold 200,000 inmates.
Storks nesting at the Poland/Slovakia border.
Our 2002 trip continued through Slovakia to Hungary. Then to Austria, The Czech Republic and Rothenburg before returning to Frankfurt.
After this tour we flew to Istanbul in Turkey and went on a Trafalgar tour of Turkey.
Lastly to Singapore via Dubai and back to Melbourne after 54 days.
