Sunday, June 6, 2010

In memory of the plane tragedy


Sunday evening, just as we were heading home along ul. Polna, the police appeared and closed the intersection for a crowd that was heading our way. As they reached the roundabout it was clear that several dignitaries, the local bishop, mayor and other prominent politicians were at the head of the group.


Nearly two months after the tragic plane crash where President Lech Kaczyński, his wife and 95 others died, the three-cities area is still feeling the loss. Several people on the plane that crashed while attempting to land near Katyn, Russia were from the Gdańsk and Sopot area.



Jacek Karnowski, the mayor of Sopot, addressed the approximately 200 people in attendance and explained that the roundabout that we were gathered at was officially being named for Maciej Płażynski, the Speaker of Parliament, who died in the plane crash.

Karnowski told the group that there would be more commemorations later in the month when President Kaczyński and his wife would be honored in further ceremonies.

Saturday, June 5, 2010

3 Siostry



Two blocks from the Baltic Sea, nestled among the narrow streets, lies a cozy little club run by three sisters, Beata Szlapka, Ola Gosk and Natalia Gosk.  This Sopot establishment opened almost exactly one year ago and is aptly named 3 Siostry, Three Sisters.  A comfortable respite from the tourist-filled streets the club offers excellent food, inexpensive drinks, and a fun, quirky atmosphere.


With shoes nailed to the ceiling and an eccentric collection of old chairs arranged around small tables, entering the club feels similar to entering your crazy aunt's living room, bizarre but very cozy.  Natalia commented that the original plan was to carpet the entire ceiling and even nail some furniture to the ceiling, but it quickly became too expensive and impractical. Most of the decorations were donations from friends and patrons, though a few purchases had to be made to achieve the complete feel the sisters wanted.

After Ola left a previous small club partnership, she and Beata teamed up to find property for a new venture.  They found a perfect location on a corner of Bolesława Chobrego and Grunwaldzka, however, it was a bit too large for the two of them to manage on their own. They turned to their youngest sister, Natalia (pictured below), who just graduated from the University of Gdansk and was trying to raise money to go to school to become a Russian translator.  The three sisters do everything for the club -- cooking, cleaning, serving -- by themselves or with a few friends.

They opened their doors on May 29, 2009, and, according to Natalia, have had a pretty successful first year. Simply doing a Google search for "3 Siostry" turns up quite a few review sites that are overflowing with praise. Even their Facebook page boasts over 300 fans, quite a large response for a small local club just starting up.


“These three sisters are really efficient and brave,” patron Krzysztof Filipkowski remarked. "To start a business is no joke.”

Friday, June 4, 2010

Corpus Christi


Corpus Christi is an important event for the people in Poland. For this catholic country the day is an official holiday and most businesses are closed. Throughout the country towns and villages will close roads as processions make the rounds from the local church to temporary shrines that were put up the night before. This procession, in Gdańsk, began around 11a.m. at St. Mary's church. A huge crowd of people followed the procession as it weaved its way through the streets of the Old Town. While they were walking, the people were singing hymns. The priests stopped at the different temporary shrines to pray and parishioners would kneel down when the Holy Host passed by.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Corpus Christi

The Feast of Corpus Christi (Body of Christ) or Boże Ciało is observed on the Thursday after Trinity Sunday in villages, towns and cities all over Poland. It is a national holiday, and virtually the whole town is involved in an organized procession that parades through the streets. A traditional procession leaves the church after mass and continues on the streets with banners and holy pictures. Young girls dressed in their first communion dresses scatter rose and other flower petals on the streets. These petals are for Christ, who is believed by Catholics to walk the streets with the people during the processions. In the central part of the procession is the shrine of The Holy Host. Many people kneel in the street as the shrine passes them. The procession walks around the streets stopping at various temporary shrines to sing hymns and pray. The shrines are decorated with branches from Birch trees, and members of the procession tear off twigs from these shrines for luck and happiness. Many homes display religious icons in their windows and traffic is stopped throughout the city.

High School Life in Poland

The high schools in Poland, although structured differently from those in the U.S., still have similarities: the sights of students frantically completing homework or studying, the social interaction and cliques, and teachers monitoring the hallways.

However, in Poland, at the end of middle school you must  take entrance exams which will determine which high school you will go to. Instead of the "A, B, C, D, and F" grading scale, Polish schools use one through five. Everyday, the class schedule varies and students can be dismissed from classes anywhere from 1 p.m. through 3:30 p.m. The classes taught during any given year include English, Polish, history, religion, and chemistry.
Throughout Poland, English is regularly being taught to students. The class is structured to include and enforce the use of conversational English, meaning that Polish is rarely heard during this period.
On this particular day, preceding the English was Polish. This class is an upper level of Polish literature, similar to the U.S. high school English classes. Polish history is another subject taught in the school systems. Several centuries are covered, including the early kings and ending with modern Polish history.

Malbork Castle






Malbork Castle, located on the bank of the Nogat River in Poland, is the world's largest brick gothic castle.



The castle was built in 1274 by the Teutonic Order, a German-Roman Catholic religious order. It was originally named Marienburg-or "Castle of Mary" in German. The walls around the castle and its numerous subdivisions encase 52 acres.
The castle was home to the Order for almost 200 years. In 1456, during the Thirteen Years' War, the Poles forced the Order out and the castle became part of Royal Prussia. The castle was given to Poland after the signing of the Peace of Torun in 1466.


Combat during WWII destroyed more than half the castle. Restoration has been ongoing since 1962, with successful completion of most of the castle. The main cathedral is the only structure awaiting restoration.

Gdansk Marketplaces

Much like Farmer's Markets held in the U.S., Poland has regular markets held throughout the country where locals can buy and sell goods including, fruits, vegetables, jewelry, clothes, and even furniture. This market, held in the Wrzeszcz district of Gdansk on a Wednesday morning. The markets found in Poland such as this one are known to attract all kinds of people from the young, to the old, families, and some of the poorer members of the community. Polish markets aren't just places to pick up the daily groceries. Many locals purchase clothes, shoes, jewelry, video games, movies, and furniture at these events.

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

Szkola Fotografii: A Tour


Sopockie Szkola Fotografii-WFH is located in Sopot. The two year, four semester photography school boasts a fully equipped dark room, a computer lab, a large, modern studio, and a small but growing library. The school's two director's Jerzy Hejber and Tomasz Maryks employ and work with several others to provide what they call a "multi-stage system of education."

Their system has three stages, the first spanning semester one and two of the program. During this stage students gain the basic theoretical and practical foundations for a career in photography. In the second stage, during the third semester, students build off of what they learned in stage one and, blended with high-skill, specialized lectures, gain intensive practice. The final stage takes place during the fourth and last semester. Here students attend graduate seminars and are required to produce a fourth semester thesis project in order to graduate.
We worked extensively with the school and it's students during our time in Poland. While in Sopot, it also served as a workspace with high speed wireless for our group.
Our first visit of the school, which was later in the evening, found the facilities quiet. The school is located in the mid to upper level of an apartment complex right off one of Sopot's busy streets. You must first ring a buzzer to be let in the building and then ascend several stair cases. Straight ahead, once the door is opened, lies a small room followed by a long hallway. In the room is a large desk for the school's secratery, Natalia Fereniec. Behind it is a smaller second desk and a large format Epson inkjet printer, used for digital prints.
The first door on the right once you enter the hallway brings you into the studios. From the ceiling hang soft boxes and strobes, all which can be maneuvered from a mounted system of rollers. The large, neutral-painted room can also take advantage of natural light from the many windows that remained covered upon our visit. The room has the ability to be sectioned off by a large sliding door and converted into two separate studios. Each of these two rooms also contains two backdrops stands, thus, at maximum capacity, making four studio workspaces.
Continuing down the hallway, the first door on the left provides entrance into a small lounge. Inside is a place to hang your coat, a small sink, and plenty of supplies for making coffee or tea. The second door gives access to a fully workable darkroom. Above the door is a light that is illuminated when someone is working in order to prevent any accidents from happening. The darkroom contains three enlargers as well as a large machine used for developing photographic paper. The third door to the left is the bathroom and the fourth is the computer lab and library. The final door holds the two director's offices.

The school had only recently made the move into the building that we visited. Though we never saw the old facilities, the current location was described as a big improvement. The small school was more than adequate for our uses and became a home away from home, a quiet refuge from the busy streets or rainy days in Sopot.


A look down the school's main hallway (standing from the director's office).

Two American students photographing the school's studio space.
American students taking advantage of the schools high-speed wireless.
Pawel Wyszomirski, an instructor at SSF-WFH, leads American students through a critique of images from a lighting workshop earlier that morning.
Jerzy Hejber shows a project he is working on after giving American visitors a brief tour of the school's facilities.

The Dining Scene

Dining in Poland is itself an experience and offers travelers a different array of cuisine not often found in the U.S. The restaurants in Poland, often fairly quaint and many family-owned, range from traditional Polish to Indian and Thai food. The amount of choices in restaurants in Poland certainly isn't slim. Further, despite the choice in the style of cuisine, each restaurant seems to create it's own unique atmosphere adding to the charm of the establishment. Pirogi, one of the most well-known Polish dishes can be found at many restaurants throughout the country. The dish itself consist of dumplings with a potato and cheese filling and often toped with sautéed onions and/or bits of bacon. Another popular dish in Poland is known as "zapiakanka."











A traditional fast food item, it's simply a piece of bread with cooked onions and mushrooms, melted cheese, and a dill sauce or ketchup on top.


In addition to traditional Polish restaurants, numerous other establishments offer international cuisine. This restaurant in Kraków serves Georgian food, including these meat-filled dumplings. The atmosphere found in restaurants throughout Poland were each unique and provided variety that cannot be found in the U.S.




In the mountains of southern Poland, wild mushrooms are a common side dish. The way the Polish traditionally eat daily is to have a small breakfast, often containing cold-cuts, a larger multi-course lunch, and a smaller dinner. The multi-course lunch often begins with a soup followed by a serving of (occasionally) potatoes and dill (one of the most common herbs used in Polish cooking), and either pork, chicken, or fish. Mushrooms and pickles are often included in this main meal.

Street Performers

Street performers can be found lining the streets of many Polish cities. From guitar players, breakdancers, and human statues to clowns and vampires, performers tried to capitalize on the summer tourist population. Some performed near their homes while others traveled short distances by train to busier and more profitable cities.
What all seemed to have in common was a little creativity and a lot of patience. Some could be found performing throughout the entire day. One guitar player in Sopot was nearly famous to the locals who had seen him performing in the same general area for years. Another spoke English after 3 years in an English prison. He was a native Pole and performed in Sopot for supplemental income.
While some performers seemed to take their time "on stage" lightly, others took their work more seriously. One middle aged man playing accordion and dressed as a clown, would stop and gesture at the hat by his feet if tourists made an attempt to film or photograph his performance before paying.
Street performers, in all their many forms, provide a dynamic and often changing cultural landscape for tourists and locals alike. Whether in the busy streets of Krakow or a quiet alley in Sopot, performers play a lasting role in Polish cultural life.





















The building in the background is called "The Crooked House" and is part of Sopot's eclectic atmosphere.

Lingering Effects of World War II

A picture of Gdansk in 1945 that was hanging in the Golden Gate in Gdansk.
Appropriately enough the first shots of World War II were fired in Poland. While not alone in its devastation by the Second World War, Poland, unfortunately, got some of the worst. Its precarious position between Germany and the Soviet Union proved extremely detrimental. Warsaw was destroyed by Germans coming from the west and Gdansk was destroyed by Soviet soldiers from the east.
Probably the most surprising thing, however, is how that legacy of destruction is still evident in Poland today. There are still many buildings that haven’t been rebuilt and on the ones that have, the new brick is evident next to the old.





















A grain building that was destroyed in the war and never rebuilt.






















A Russian sign letting people know the area was clear of any mines that retreating German forces may have planted.










Destroyed buildings in front of the rebuilt city of Gdansk.
























A crucifix from the chapel in Malbork Castle that was damaged during World War II.






















Renovation efforts in the chapel of the Malbork Castle, most of the other parts of the castle have been rebuilt since being destroyed in the war but the chapel reconstruction is still ongoing.