Day 2—February 25, 2023 Lublin, Poland

Our first full day in Poland was exciting. Neither of us had ever been in Poland, although it was always on the bucket list. Audra was here visiting colleagues and seeing the operations of the relief efforts for the war in Ukraine. I had the whole day to explore Lublin. We started the day with breakfast at the little restaurant below the flat that we were staying in. the restaurant was ParZona. Over the next two days, we would spend time in this little restaurant. They had delicious pastries, by the way.

From breakfast, we parted ways for the day. I started walking towards the downtown area, or Old Town. The first stop was Old Town. This was a great opportunity for some street photography. It was very much what I had envisioned. It was a very old town (hence its name) with old stone buildings that have been there for ions.

One of my stops was at theMuseum of the History of the City of Lublin. I didn’t have a lot of time to explore deeply, but what it was fascinating. There were many groups of school-aged children on tours of this museum for the day. I had to make a coffee stop at White Bear Coffee Lublin.

I met up with Audra and all her colleagues for lunch. We ate at the Arte Del Gusto Ristorante. I was planning to walk from Old Town to the restaurant, but they arrived there quicker than they had planned, so I needed to get there quickly. I ordered a Bolt ride. We were near the Fontanna z Herbern Miasta so I asked to be let out there. I was able to take some photos of the fountain and there were couple of locals who were willing to model for me. Lunch was excellent. After lunch, we went back to the flat to get some rest before adventuring back out later than evening.

One of Audra’s colleagues had told us we needed to try Kago Sushi in Old Town. So, we did. He claimed it was the best sushi in the world. He was an ex-pat from Belarus helping with the mission. I should have thought that one through more clearly. Turns out, this was the ONLY sushi he ever had. It was good, but certainly wouldn’t be classified as the best. We had hot tea, Perla (local bier), sushi, soup, and stir fry. I wouldn’t go back if I had only a limited time in Lublin, but if I were to be there for an extended period of time, I would go back.

After dinner, we walked around and took in the nightlife street scene of Lublin. There is an I ♥️ LUBLIN sign that is illuminated with string lights. There is room for you to pose for photos. There is also a PORTAL. This is a live street view of Vilnius, Lithuania. In Vilnius, they can see the camera that is in Litewski Square. When I first saw it, I wasn’t sure what it was. I kept seeing people on a video screen waving. I first thought it was just a random thing, but the sign describes the scene. It was neat to see people over 400 miles away and two countries away, by way of the crow flies in real-time.

On the way back, we stopped for dessert at ParZona Café. They had sooo many delicious looking desserts. I am a sucker for red velvet cake, but often get let down. Nonetheless, I ordered their red velvet cake. O-M-G!!! It was the best red velvet cake I have ever had!!!! Audra had a Colored Glass. It was basically a hot espresso  with whip cream and with espresso. It was very nice as well.

Day 3—February 26, 2023 Lublin & Warsaw, Poland

On Sunday, we went to church where most of the outreaches were organized. We met Audra’s colleagues for breakfast before heading to the church. Coffee and some of those wonderful pastries were for breakfast.

The church was in a shopping center type building. Being there as part of a delegation, we had a designated place to sit near the front. The service was in Polish, translated to Ukrainian. We had to dial in to a ZOOM so we could hear another translator translate into English. This was a hoot!

Our translator was an ex-pat from Belarus. He defected from Belarus because he did not want to fight in the war with Ukraine. He was a native Belarussian, translating from Polish to English. All my translator friends will confirm that the typical translation session is 30 minutes and they take a break. Unfortunately for him, there was nobody else to translate and give him a break so he translated the whole service. We know it was exhausting for him because we heard him yawn multiple times during the 3-hour church service. We had to use our AirPods to dial in to the Zoom for the translation. About two and a half hours into the service, our AirPods died. We had to finish the service without any translation.

After service, we headed back to the flat to get our luggage. We had to go back to Warsaw. Audra and one of her colleagues were headed north to Gdańsk to meet with a clearing agent on Monday. I had plans to explore Warsaw.

On the way back to Warsaw, we stopped for lunch at Karczma Bida. It was at the Garbów exit on the S17. It was traditional Polish food. It reminded me of Lamberts and Bass Pro Shops. The decor was very rustic. The food was great!

We got checked in the Renaissance Warsaw Airport Hotel. We had dinner at the dining room and then met the colleagues for a drive into Warsaw. They were flying to Gdańsk the next morning for the day so they could meet with a clearing agent about future relief cargo. I was going into Warsaw to explore and photograph on the street.

The plan for the trip was to scout out places I wanted to see the next day. I would be taking an ride into town, but I always like to have an idea where I am going. The city was extraordinary. We saw many historic statures, buildings that very old, while the existing structures were all fairly new (post-1945).

We drove across the bridge of the Vistula River. The river flows towards the Baltic Sea in a north-northwesterly direction through Warsaw. We ventured down close the shoreline to get as close as we could. In hindsight, that was probably not a great idea because it was in flood stage and we almost got stuck in the mud close to the river. However, I feel it was worth the risk because we got to see a magnificent view of the primary cityscape of Warsaw. The backside of Royal Castle in Warsaw was illuminated in support of Ukraine. It was a spectacular side. The photos do not do justice to what we actually saw.

 

After our night tour of Warsaw, we headed back to the hotel for dessert and fine tuning the plan for tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 4—February 27, 2023 Warsaw, Poland

Audra and her colleagues had a 7:00 a.m. flight to Gdańsk for meetings. They would not be back until about 6:00 p.m. I caught a BOLT ride into the city just after 7:30. We had dinner plans with one of the key national leaders in the relief efforts. It was a very fully day for us both.

Gdańsk-ALW

After the meeting, the group went to lunch at a local place that was recommended by the clearing agent. Along the way, they encountered a street performer that was dressed as cupid. He gave is undivided attention to Audra for a while. She said he was a creepy pain in the butt.  Gdańsk is a beautiful port city with a rich history. It is where the Motława River meets the Baltic Sea. It is a charming seaside port that would be a cool place to hang out in for a few days. It’s on the bucket list for next time.

Warsaw-PW

I had the BOLT driver drop me off hear the Castle and I began my self-guided tour there. I covered about seven miles in all. I only had a few hours to explore so I didn’t get to go into any of the museums. The next trip to Warsaw will be for a couple or three days so we can visit some of these historic museums. Warsaw was home to so many historical figures. Frederic Chopin and Marie Curie are just a couple of the many Warsaw citizens who have impacted the world.

If you remember from history, Poland was invaded and occupied by the Nazis, which started World War II, in September 1939. Warsaw was almost complete destroyed. Nearly every building was bombed or severely damaged by tank, mortar, or artillery rounds. Buildings that were already hundreds of years old had to be rebuilt.  The beauty structures in Warsaw today are rebuilt from the ruins of WW2.

My experience in Warsaw was incredible. I was traveling by myself all day. I never felt unsafe at any point on my walk around the city. I cut through a neighborhood that seemed a little sketchy but felt safe all day.

After I arrived downtown, was let off near the Royal Castle. I had a lot of things I wanted to see. so I had to move fast. I encountered a lot of unexpected things along the way. The first stop was at the Church of St. Jospeh of the Visitation.

This is a beautiful structure that was completed in 1765. The original church was made of wood and build in 1651. It was burned by the Swedes in 1656. After a failed attempt of rebuilding, over 29 years, the second building was destroyed by fire as well. In 1728 the third and final structure was started. It took over 35 years to complete the building that stands today. Many buildings in Warsaw were destroyed during WW2, but this church was never damaged once in all the fighting.

There were a lot of cool places and things that I didn’t check out fully, but took photos as I walked from place to place.

I had to end my self-guided city tour so I could get back to the hotel and freshen up for our dinner meeting. We were going to have dinner with a bishop of one of the larger Christian churches in Poland. He was a key leader in the relief effort to Ukraine that Audra was working with. We rode downtown with Audra’s colleagues. We parked just below the Royal Castle and walked to the Old Town Market Place to the restaurant. We ate at Restaracja Bazyliszek. The bishop’s wife ordered beef tartare. She shared with the table with anyone who wanted to try it. Basically, it was her and I sharing it. I had never had it, but I had never had the opportunity to order it. She offered, oh yeah, I trying it! It was tasty! I would order it again.

After dinner, we walked around the marketplace to see the sites. I had seen this earlier in the day, but after dark, it is illuminated beautiful. It is every enchanting.

We had come to the end of our Poland adventure. It was a beautiful country with magnificent scenery and wonderful people. We would love to plan an entire two-week stay in Poland to see the sights in more detail. We headed to the airport for our flight to Frankfurt, then to the train station to travel to Paris for a few days.