Our morning tour took us to the mostly empty, concrete Ronald Reagan square, so named since this president told Gorbachev to “ tear down this wall.” Then we continued on to see the technical and engineering university (30,000 student who start Oct. 1), government buildings (some repurposed from German and Russian occupation). Then we headed to the Cathedral Island, which is no longer an Island due to one side being filled in now. We visited St. John Baptist oldest church on isle and walked back along the Oder River to the lovers bridge (no longer allowed to put padlocks on as the weight is too much. They removed 17.5 tons last time). Instead, they put up a lovers’ bench and railing for locks. Of course, the bench has two gnomes, looking lovingly at each other from across the bench back. Then we headed to see the Racławice Panorama, which represents a battle when the peasants rose up along with Polish hero under Kościuszko against the Russians. (See more info at end of post). Then we walked to a park by the panorama building to the Katyn memorial (Tom and I had wandered over the day before as well). The statue shows a mother holding a dead man (hands bound, bullet hole in his head) in a pietá position with the Angel of Death standing over them. This commemorates when the Russians rounded up all the leaders and intelligentsia 22,000), took them to the forest and shot them. It wasn’t revealed what happened to these individuals until the Germans uncovered the mass graves, the people all shot in the back of the head (see more info at end of post) . Madame Marie Curie is mentioned throughout our tour as many streets are named after her. She named the first atomic element she discovered after her home country: Polonium. She is the only person to win two Nobel prizes in two different disciplines, chemistry and physics, so the Poles are rightfully proud. Then Tom Snd I headed for a quick tour of the National museum with Silesian art and other Polish art, as well as European art. The Polish medieval art had a different flavor from other European style of the time. A lot was carved wood with deep relief. We then grabbed a quick bite at an international market (reminded me of Eau Claire market in Calgary) along with a quart of strawberries and got on the bus for the ride to Poznan, claimed to be the birthplace of Polish people. We were told the legend of three brothers, Lech, Czech and Rus, firming the Pioes, Czechs and Russians. We learned the First polish ruler was Mieszko. He was not a king but he is credited with christianizing Poland. His son was the first king. Mieszko Is buried in the cathedral and his face is on the 10 słoti note. Also in Poznań, we sampled the St martin croissants. How they were made: St. Martin’s horse lost his shoe so he thought he could make a croissant in that shape. Very famous but very sweet and filling. Can’t eat much without skipping a meal, according to our guide. Inside is a white poppy seed filling, unlike the filling of povitiça/potiça with dark seeds. We found the croissant heavier than a French one, with very sweet icing. It reminded us more of a bear claw than a traditional croissant. Then we visited the Church of sts. peter and Paul, the oldest in the country. It too is on an island. The remains of the first structure’s foundation along with the original tombs, are in what is now the basement. PopeJohn Paul visited the cathedral island. His name crops up all over Poland and is commemorated on plaques in the places he visited or stayed. The 1st church was built in 10th century: Church destroyed and rebuilt in 11th c, then 17th and then destroyed again in 1945 by Russians. Then we had a two-hour bus ride through an agricultural area —apples main as well as corn and eggs and grain to feed chickens. Finally, we arrived at our hotel. We had an hour and a half of time, so Tom and I went to the Old Zoo, which was a few blocks away. It was pretty run down, and the Arctic foxes lying down panting in the heat. Turtles, a yak, lemur, monkeys, wild boars, birds and ducks, ponies were the extent of what was maintained. Most exhibits seemed abandoned. For dinner, we sampled the local hard cider, a specialty based on vodka From Wikipedia: “The Racławice Panorama (Polish: Panorama Racławicka) is a monumental (15 × 114 meter) cycloramic painting depicting the Battle of Racławice, during the Kościuszko Uprising.[1] It is located in Wrocław, Poland, but was originally in Lviv. The painting is one of only a few preserved relics of a genre of 19th-century mass culture, and the oldest in Poland. The panorama stands in a circular fashion and, with the viewer in the center, presents different scenes at various viewing angles. A special kind of perspective used in the painting and additional effects (lighting, artificial terrain) create a feeling of reality. The idea came from the painter Jan Styka in Lwów (currently known as Lviv) who invited battle-painter Wojciech Kossak to participate in the project. The project was conceived as a patriotic commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the victorious Battle of Racławice, a famous episode of the Kościuszko Insurrection, a heroic but ultimately failed attempt to defend Polish independence. The battle was fought on 4 April 1794 between the insurrectionist force of regulars and peasant volunteers (armed with scythes) under Kościuszko (1746–1817) himself and the Russian army commanded by General Alexander Tormasov.[4] For the nation which had lost its independence, the memory of this victory was important.[5] The General National Exhibition in Lviv, in 1894, offered an excellent opportunity to realize Styka's idea.[6] Canvas, woven to order, was bought in Brussels, the specially built rotunda's iron structure (designed by Ludwik Ramułt) in Vienna. The rotunda, located in Stryjski Park in Lwów, was ready in July 1893. The huge panoramic painting was executed within 9 months, between August 1893 and May 1894. The official opening was on 5 June 1894. Since the very beginning, the Panorama of the Battle of Racławice attracted enormous attention and brought crowds of tourists to Lwów. On average 75 000 viewers visited it every year.[7] Katyn massacre—from In your pocket: Anyone who has an unindoctrinated knowledge of World War II history or who has spent more than 15 minutes in Poland, is probably familiar with the subject of this memorial which remembers the 22,000 Polish military officers, policemen, intelligentsia and POWs murdered by the NKVD on Stalin's orders in 1940. Designed by Warsaw sculptor Tadeusz Tchórzewski, the striking monument depicts the sword-wielding Angel of Death on a high pedestal over the figure of Katyń Pieta - the Matron of the Homeland despairing over the body of a murdered prisoner of war. Symbolic granite walls/graves flank the scene, with the names of the POW camps and places of mass murder inscribed on them. Anguished, terrifying and gruesome in turn, with detail down to the bullethole in the back of the fallen officer's head, this evocative monument was unveiled in 2000 and can be found in the park next to the Racławice Panorama.”
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