Byliśmy we Wrocławiu a Jędziemy do Rzyma

Just a short entry, as I have to get ready for work soon....

Wrocław was nice last weekend - there's a cool old town hall there and pretty good shopping. The Panorama Racławicka is there - a 3d, 360degree panoramic painting which is quite impressive.

This weekend we're going to Rome :-)

Thank you to all those who remembered my birthday :-)
Two of my classes sang 'Happy Birthday' at me, one of them in Polish and English. I had a busy, but good day, and I will be able to relax more today because I have a bigger break between lesson sessions.

Jutro, jedziemy do Wrocławia

We're going to Wrocław tomorrow morning. I've been allowed use of the school's car for the weekend so we'll be driving to Wrocław, which is a bonus - I'm kind of sick of travelling by train. I haven't been to Wrocław before, so it'll be a new city for me.

I've been told that there's an impressive 360 degree, 3d painting there that depicts a famous battle at some point in Poland's history, as well as a nice old town area and old town square.

On a side note about driving, I have stopped trying to find the gear-stick with my left hand. Mostly. :-)

Blogger lite

My posts might be few and far between for a while because my next few weeks promise to be a bit busy. I'll try and post as much as I can, but I won't have heaps of spare time.

Mum's here in Poland with me for the next 3 weeks or so, and as well as my heavy work schedule, we've planned to do as much travelling as possible, which means I'll be spending as little time here (in my apartment) as possible.

We spent last weekend in Prague, which is a great city. We had a great weekend, and it was interesting to see the city in a different season (I first went there in Summer), and we had great accommodation - private apartment with bathroom, cheap and really close to the centre.

Yesterday we went to Oświęcim-Brzezinka (Auschwitz-Birkenau) so that mum could see the concentration camps there. It was her first visit and my fourth. I didn't really want to go there again, but I think it's an important place to see, and it would be odd to come all the way to this part of Poland from Australia, and go home without seeing it.

Well, I have to head back for my afternoon session of work. I'll try to post soon, but unlike Aggie, I won't forget how to write a post. :-)

Byłem w Lublinie

On Sunday, after staying the night in Zamość, Nicola and I went to Lublin, which is about a 2 hour drive (or perhaps slightly less) from Zamość, in the direction away from the Ukrainian border. Lublin is fantastic.

Lublin has an old town area with some buildings with some really cool, ornate artwork on the facades. The top picture shows the entrance to the castle, which is significant in Poland's history because the treaty between Poland and Lithuania was signed there. The castle has been converted to a museum, so we were able to go in and have a look around. The castle has a chapel which was completely painted inside with religious images, and it's quite a sight. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to take any photos there, so you'll have to follow the link to see some of the interia. The artist or artists must have had a fascination with dwarves, as they feature quite a lot in some of the paintings. For example, in the baptismal painting, there is a dwarf riding a sea-cow, and in another one, there are dwarves in the trees.

It was definitely worth the trip to see Zamość and Lublin (and to pass through Szczebrzeszyn) though the train ride home was long, slow and painful.

Byłem w Zamościu

On Saturday evening, after I went through Szczebrzeszyn with Nicola, we drove on to Zamość, which is a town in the east of Poland, not too far from the border with Ukraine. Zamość is a nice old town with town fantastic town square - it's square! It is 100m x 100m! And it's also beautiful. The town hall is built on the side of the square, rather than in the middle, like many other cities, because the city's builder didn't want it to interrupt his view from the palace. The city was designed and built as a "perfect city" with effective defences and a nice layout. It was one of only three (I think) cities to withstand the Swedes when they were gallavanting around and taking over things.

The buildings around the town square originally had ornate features and decorations like these, but the Russians got rid of them and replaced the facades with boring, plain, art nouveau stylings when they invaded and took over the city in the 1800s. The square is currently being restored to its original glory and this section has already been done. In the next picture, you can see some of the buildings that are still in the form preferred by the Russian occupiers.

W Szczebrzeszynie chrząszcz brzmi w trzcinie!!

I've been to Szczebrzeszyn! The tiny town made famous by the polish tongue-twister. Nicola and I stopped in Szczebrzeszyn on our way to Zamość simply to take photos of us standing next to the sign. We parked, got out of the car, and then were accosted by a scary drunk guy from Szczebrzeszyn, so we got back in the car and drove around the block until he left, then on our second attempt, we managed to quickly take a couple of photos and leave before seeing any other strange drunk potential serial-killers. Yes, that's right, we're both extremely brave people.

Supper

Tonight for supper I had tradition Polish food. I ate vegemite on toast and drank a glass of milo.

It's a good thing I don't equate blog-worth with self-worth.

No, really, this doesn't offend me at all. I don't mind at all that there are people out there with blogs worth several thousand dollars.

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

Torturous times with toe-chilling temperatures

And so it begins. Tomorrow will see the first of my 7am classes at Bumar. Starting at 7am involves leaving home at 6:30am, when the temperature outside is predicted to be something in the low single figures, though, thankfully, still positive. I predict that I shall be a tired, cold and grumpy teacher.

I really don't deserve this sort of crap.

Hidden Doors!

If I ever build a house it's going to have at least one hidden door. My hidden door would have to be a bookcase, or perhaps a swivelling fireplace, because I'm a traditionalist. The biggest decision would be choosing which book or statue should open the door. Should it be a batman-style Shakespeare bust? Or maybe a Dickens? And what should be on the other side of the door?