Stephen Murray graduated from UCLA with a Master's of Science degree in mechanical engineering in June of 2013. He turned 30 this month and has no job, no leads, no apartment, no girlfriend, no prospects, and no fear.
Monday, September 30, 2013
Author's note
This trip would not have been possible without the encouragement and excited cajoling from friends and family. Especially from Elizabeth L. and Kristin K. Dan had encouraged me to look at trips from Con Tiki and after seeing how many cities they hit in a two to three week period, I nearly gave up my plans. I thought "look at all this, traveling, rooms, food, clubs... How am I going to make this work if I want to leave in 1.5 weeks?!" But then, the traveling website http://www.travelindependent.info sent to me by Elizabeth was really the final push I needed to buy my ticket. The Mark Twain quote about regrets 20 years in the future really got to me, really hit home. Elizabeth sent the same quote to me in a Facebook message, and I knew it was meant to be!
Leaving
Well, I'm leaving. I'm on four hours of sleep and probably not enough food. I feel surprised it's over so soon. I feel almost sad. I think of myself even just month ago and know I've come very far and feel very different. I don't exactly know how to explain it, and this is possibly the post that leaves me struggling for words the most. I think I learned that traveling is not scary, and new cities aren't as intimating as they seem. I also understand a bit better the plight of immigrants because I can't read anything and can't talk to everyone. I definitely lost some self confidence when at this disadvantage. It was also interesting to be without my cell phone for any place except a stationary wifi location. A few times I had to just say "Ok, meet here at" whatever time and it felt almost helpless. What if plans changed? No way to reach the party you're meeting.
Even as the pilot is telling us about the route, I still can't believe it. I guess I'm a bit surprised everything worked out almost exactly as planned. I didn't book any rooms (except the first night in Norway), I booked no other travel, I easily and awesomely attended two amazing concerts, and I met up with Emil. It was a resounding success and I had so few hiccups. I had to buy a new day pack and new shoes, but all of my gear and planning was sufficient. Despite feeling not confident during language barriers, I feel more confident about my life back home. And honestly, it's weird when I remember I have a home. I have a place where I can read, write, and speak the language totally and completely. Wow, was I really that thrown off by only one month of hearing and seeing English only as a fluke occurrence? Apparently. How much weirder will it be in places like Japan where I myself stick out?
But perhaps I'm also hesitant to go to California with no future plans. It's nice to not have to rush back to a job I dislike, but it's also intimating to have to start major pieces of my life over again. When you travel, it's all about just getting to that next place or finding some cheap food. Pretty easy compared to looking for a fulfilling job. I suppose part of me is proud of myself for wanting to be a stable member of society and not just a bum traveling everywhere he can get his dirty boots on. I like to think my passion in life is personal growth, and learning and doing new things is the constant challenge that motivates me.
I learned that you have to do something if you want to do it even a little bit. Fear of change and the unknown is super powerful, but by pushing through it, you become so much more alive and powerful yourself. This month has defined a part of me, but I learned lessons and don't want to get too cocky. I'm going to list just a few practical lessons.
1. Pay very close attention to footwear. Madelyn told me bringing just Converse was a bad idea and it was. I think next time, I'll bring excellent, good looking walking shoes and a sandal that fastens securely to my foot. That way, if the regular shoes get soaked, the sandals will be serviceable as walking shoes the next day.
2. Planning is more important than I thought. I got stonewalled on the hostels in Sweden. Hostels are cheap, just book them and cancel if you really must have a super flexible attitude.
3. Make sure to know exactly how to get to your next spot without the use of your phone. Take screen shots of your phone's map or take pictures.
4. Guidebooks are very helpful. They always tell you about arrival and "don't miss" sights. I felt like I saw everything I needed and more in Warsaw because I had no guidebook to go on.
Really though, things went well. I'm so fortunate and grateful for the experience. I think I kind of already had a good ending message and then I added in some practicalities. Go read the part about pushing through fear again!
Can't believe I'm leaving.
Even as the pilot is telling us about the route, I still can't believe it. I guess I'm a bit surprised everything worked out almost exactly as planned. I didn't book any rooms (except the first night in Norway), I booked no other travel, I easily and awesomely attended two amazing concerts, and I met up with Emil. It was a resounding success and I had so few hiccups. I had to buy a new day pack and new shoes, but all of my gear and planning was sufficient. Despite feeling not confident during language barriers, I feel more confident about my life back home. And honestly, it's weird when I remember I have a home. I have a place where I can read, write, and speak the language totally and completely. Wow, was I really that thrown off by only one month of hearing and seeing English only as a fluke occurrence? Apparently. How much weirder will it be in places like Japan where I myself stick out?
But perhaps I'm also hesitant to go to California with no future plans. It's nice to not have to rush back to a job I dislike, but it's also intimating to have to start major pieces of my life over again. When you travel, it's all about just getting to that next place or finding some cheap food. Pretty easy compared to looking for a fulfilling job. I suppose part of me is proud of myself for wanting to be a stable member of society and not just a bum traveling everywhere he can get his dirty boots on. I like to think my passion in life is personal growth, and learning and doing new things is the constant challenge that motivates me.
I learned that you have to do something if you want to do it even a little bit. Fear of change and the unknown is super powerful, but by pushing through it, you become so much more alive and powerful yourself. This month has defined a part of me, but I learned lessons and don't want to get too cocky. I'm going to list just a few practical lessons.
1. Pay very close attention to footwear. Madelyn told me bringing just Converse was a bad idea and it was. I think next time, I'll bring excellent, good looking walking shoes and a sandal that fastens securely to my foot. That way, if the regular shoes get soaked, the sandals will be serviceable as walking shoes the next day.
2. Planning is more important than I thought. I got stonewalled on the hostels in Sweden. Hostels are cheap, just book them and cancel if you really must have a super flexible attitude.
3. Make sure to know exactly how to get to your next spot without the use of your phone. Take screen shots of your phone's map or take pictures.
4. Guidebooks are very helpful. They always tell you about arrival and "don't miss" sights. I felt like I saw everything I needed and more in Warsaw because I had no guidebook to go on.
Really though, things went well. I'm so fortunate and grateful for the experience. I think I kind of already had a good ending message and then I added in some practicalities. Go read the part about pushing through fear again!
Can't believe I'm leaving.
Burn Selector Festival
Burn Selector Festival... Was... Awesome. Absolutely brilliant. I was a bit distracted during the day (Sept 6) because I wanted to try to get a look at Warsaw's sights, pack for my trip, and figure out my route to the airport. Therefore, it didn't really sink in that I was going to see The Knife until about 40 minutes before their show!
I took the tram to this horse race track on the south part of town. The tram took a looooong time. Probably a good 35 minutes. I saw a guy show his girlfriend their Burn Selector tickets, so I knew who to follow. The walk from the tram was very far! We went around and over a freeway. There were NO signs there or in the main part of Warsaw for the festival. There were a bunch of us from the tram going though, so it was easy. The walk into the actual festival gates was SO long, too! Only blinding lights every 50 meters to indicate something was happening.
I got a sweet one day wristband that I'm still wearing from some guys who were super excited I I from Los Angeles. One guy even put on a Latino accent to say "Los Anhelis". They asked who I was here for. My answer was The Knife of course, but it should have been The Knife and James Blake.
I have never been to an outdoor music festival, but this one felt huge and proper. I'm sure it pales in comparison to bigger name fests, but it was a sight to see. A big huge half circle tent held a bunch of food trucks and other corporate booths. There were TONS of tables in there, and they were really decked out in big state fair style. After that, they had a really neat model for their logo seen below.
If you look closely, you'll see it's composed of cans. I believe they are the energy drink "Burn" that the festival is named for.
I arrived at the main "Cyan Stage" just as James Blake was starting. I only know two of his songs and like them, but never really followed him. Mistake! I was blown away by his performance. To sum it up crudely, there were three main types of songs he played. The first is him singing with fairly minimalistic musical backing. He had a keyboard (and I'm sure synth), the guy in the middle was on drums, and the guy on my left had guitar and synth. His voice is so good. So good. Probably falsetto and so smooth and delicate and atmospheric that it really is just an instrument for most songs, not a focal point. The accompanying music is terrific. The drums are wonderful because they are so loud and powerful and tight. Mostly because they are electric, but live electric drums are really something to see. I loved the tight "tack!" of the snare hit. "Limit to your love" was simply marvelous and nearly blew my face right off of my face. It's hard to imagine louder bass and if you've heard the song, you know that when the bass kicks in, it's very powerful. Well, imagine that bass at a level that shakes your pants and shirt and hair. Yes. Brilliant.
The second type of song he did were almost dance club style songs. It's quite unfair to use that description, but they are even more danceable and he repeats only a few phrases for the entire track. I LOVED it. The songs don't do a house type buildup and drop, but have heavy beats that are rhythmic and so fun to follow. I had no idea he had songs of the type, and it was probably the best surprise of his show. The lights above their heads went crazy, the scene went crazy, I went crazy! But the band was cool and calm just like always.
The third type of song was only for maybe 3 tracks. It was just James and his keyboard under the multiple light spot light. Very good and emotional. I was so glad I saw his set and am now kicking myself for not enjoying his music sooner. Well, it won't happen again!
Finally, it was time for The Knife. Wait, was I actually about to see The Knife? Yes! Unbelievably yes. After loving them for probably close to 6 years, I would finally see them live. They are a private band and don't tour much. I got a great spot because of the changing of the crowds after Blake.
We first a slightly high than normal man's voice. He said a few lines and maybe thanked us for waiting. Then he made a good reveal, something like, "Let me just step up here so I can see you!" and we saw his long "beautiful" wig, his very heavily made up face complete with glitter, heavy eyeliner and blush, his big bushy beard, and his outfit that would make Cher embarrassed. He was skinny and had a calf length blue silk robe on. He had a pink top on and short silver glittering shorts on. I believe he had on matching blue tights. He was here with the Knife and to warm us up because they like when we dance and move! The warm up was so long, I'm not sure I'll remember it all. But he first made us say "Self consciousness is the illusion that I am doing this alone!" So then he moved into the warmup, always shouting encouragingly at us in his highish voice. Deep breaths, arms up, arms pumping, leg dips. Then we got into some bouncing. He made us bounce in our knees, then the pelvis so all the guys balls would bounce, then the chest so all the girls' tits would bounce. Then up to the face so we could now work our senses. He said we have to be aware of the world around us so "Open your eyes!" He made us turn to the person next to us and say "I see you!" and then the other side. Not enough people around me were participating for my taste. Here was this hilariously dressed man shouting warm up instructions at The Knife's concert at they seemed "too cool" to do it. Whatever. We did the same thing with "I hear you!" and "I feel you!" When I touched the girl next to me on the shoulder she got super creeper out and laughed to her friend. It hurt my feelings but whatever, they were the ones not fully opening themselves to the experience. I felt better when the big eastern European looking guy put his arm around my shoulder on the sway or dance together part. We held hands in the air as instructed when the jump dancing came. It was cool to see everyone jumping at once almost in union. He said the show was about rejecting things we don't support, so we put our arms at chest level and pushed forward shouting "No! No! No! No!" rhythmically. Then he said it's also about accepting things, so we put our arms up and shouted "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" He divided us down the middle (conveniently where the big cable cover was) and made us face each other. The left side shouted "No!" and pushed forward. My side shouted "Yes!" with our arms up. I was glad to be on the yes side and loved seeing the people next to me shouting in my direction. It's rare you see everyone's face lit up at a concert. It was so funny to do all these warm ups to the beat at a concert when elbow room is so tight. Oh, that reminds me that we shouted at the stage, sound booth, and our elbows as they were up "What's up, stage/sound booth/elbows?!" We did some cool down and he made us shout "I move to be moved!" because The Knife does the shows to be moved by us, too. He finally introduced The Knife after thanking us. Here he is, looks like I butchered some of the details. Probably should rewrite it, but I've spoken.
They came out in CLASSIC Knife fashion. Classic. Heavy fog and low, blue light. Each musician or dancer moved out in a shimmering dark blue robe with hood, of course. I believe there was some special light to accent the bright colors of their orange shoes and the small parts of paint on the instruments. I will most certainly fall short to accurately describe the instruments. But, gotta try! The items were covered with black sheets and we're slowly unveiled. There was a multi colored electric harp on the top right of the stage. The middle was dominated by a... a I don't know what. It was probably about 7 feet long and was maybe 8 inches thick. It seemed to be an elongated pyramid shape, though. It had black electronic pads on the side. When someone finally started playing, it became clear that it was a lay down electric bass of sort. The song they played was "A Cherry On Top" which is very fitting to the creepy, slow presence they had. The electric bass was so killer and you could feel every scrape of the bow. The harp was fun to watch because the strings were multi colored and moved dramatically when plucked. When they finally revealed all the performers, the beat to Raging Lung started (I believe) and the ones seemingly without instruments produced big, brightly glowing shakers. One was a big orange rock. One was a big yellow mallet that had a crude, rock shaped head. Karen held a yellow cylinder and a blue ring as she serenaded us with the lyrics to Raging Lung. Yes, yes, it was awesome. The bass was SO loud, probably to a fault in some songs since it was so overpowering. I was glad I had my earplugs because I saw a few people manually plugging their ears. I had trouble believing I was watching Karen sing live. Her eyeshadow spilled way over on her face and was blue and black with glitter. She leaned up to the mic and looked super cool with her dark blue hood on. I wish I got a close up of the screen that showed her head back singing. Below you can see the bass, the harp, Karen right in front of the harp, and the big bells and oversized wind chimes.
I don't exactly remember the order of songs (I'm sure I can look it up), but I think it might have been "Without you my life would be boring". It was just the song played over the speakers but the dancers made it fun. They were doing a lot of forward and back stepping and leaning back and forward. Most of the time they were facing the left or right, not us head on. A lot of arms in and out and turns, too. Nothing special, but I liked it.
After a few songs, Karen came out into the lights with a huge, screeching "Waaaaaaaar-saaaaaaaaw-vaaaaaa!" with her head back in triumph and conquest. It was one of my favorite parts of the show, haha. Then she said "You turn me on!" and flicked her tongue in and out with a big pedo grin. She dedicated "Got 2 let u" to everyone who was ready to say no the traditional patriarchal societal norms. She spat huge war cries of "Fuck sexism! Fuck homophobia! Fuck racism!" It was awesome to see the song live because it's not on the Shaking the Habitual album for which the show was named. For this song, they had a TV flipped on its side in a decorative frame to look like a fancy painting. When Karen's brother sings on the song, the TV turned on and it had Karen dressed up like a male professor singing her brother's part. I think it was a challenge to genders, but it looked funny. She hella got down to that song, too. She was flying across the stage and, at parts, dropped to her knees and really shook her torso with like a "come on, what do you got?!" look. I think you can kinda see the TV and Karen to the right of it in this picture.
Another highlight was the dance performance to One Hit. The dancers acted out a majority of the lyrics described in the song. The line about pornogrophy was memorable a woman got bent way back on her back and someone was held above her close to her privates, looking eager. The part with "one hit, one kiss" got a punch in the arm followed by one person holding another in a dip while a third leaned in for a kiss. I believe they did something fairly simple for the "family latrine" line. Oh man, I love that line. My favorite part was probably the line about "spending time with my family" because the whole dance cast posed (probably close to ten) for a picture and then sneered and changed when "like the Corlionis!" came (not sure of the spelling, but the family name from the Godfather).
The general style remained fairly constant through the show. There were songs with blue loose outfits with not super professional but super fun choreography. There were songs of creepily dressed performers such as the previously mentioned "Cherry on top" and "Raging Lung" . They were dressed similarly for "Full of Fire" but the lights were red all around. Karen was far in the background singing for the highly cheered song. The most interesting part was the fact that the dancers stood still for at least half of the 9 minute song. I recorded a video of some of the song. The lights were bright red and white and were going nuts. I looooved it. That song is so heavy and it was bad ass to hear it forcing itself on me with live vocals (hard to tell they were live tho, so consistent). I saw one guy squinting away from the shock of the lights and I thought, "Let it in, man! Be it! Dance it!" as I rocked out.
There was one song that I didn't quite recognize that had Karen on the electric bass and vocals and just one guy on a super catchy triangle. I wish I would have got a video of the triangle. I'm sure I can find the studio song. That song lead into a break with just the triangle and 4 dancers swinging lit up tubes to create a wacky sound.
I believe there was only a dance performance to "Tooth for an Eye" and it was in the blue clothing style. Except for just a few breaks for a thanks or talking, the show was seamless. One track smoothly ran into another, and before I knew it, "Stay out here" was going with two singers who were not Karen. I didn't see her brother so I'm not sure he was at the show. The song was creepily well done as expected. The dancers almost praised the singers like a Native American rain dance. This is a good picture where the brightest lights showed the male and female singer.
It was hard to tell the cast apart at times, but I believe both singers were seen dancing many times before. They both had bowlish cut blonde hair and the girl smiled a lot when dancing.
"Stay out here" slowly turned to something that evoked a reaction from the crowd and a small light of recollection from me. The bass was SO booming that it took me until Karen's vocals to realize it was "Silent Shout"! Awesome! I did NOT expect that, one of my favorite songs from the album of the same name. The lights were white and crazy above their heads during the instrumental parts that we totally moved to. It was kiiiiiiller. When they broke it down for the vocals, Karen stood in front of the only lit center light that kept changing colors. It was an awesome contrast.
I *think* the show ended with "Silent Shout" but the crowd stayed FOREVER cheering for more. It was really impressive, I've never seen a crowd stay so long. The lights partially came up, the big screens ran the standard line up slides, and the crew started taking everything down. Nonetheless, the crowd went NUTS when the big storage trunks were brought out for the electric bass.
It was a terrific show. Most of the songs were awesome performances from "Shaking the Habitual" and the few classics were so surprising and appreciated. I heard mixed reviews about the show (one commentator even saying it looked like performers were not trying at times) but I loved the experience. It was all the more fun with the wacky warm up and the surprise of seeing The Knife given my earlier distractions.
I needed to catch a cab back to my Platinum Residence. It was difficult. There was a huge cab line, but all of them seemed to be taken though empty. I moved to the main street (out of the turn in to the festival) but still saw cabbies waving people away. I crossed under the freeway and saw a huge group of people waiting at a bus stop. Maybe there was a bus coming, but I didn't know a thing about it. I considered walking. It had been a LONG tram ride, but surely I could walk it in two hours, right? Never mind the fact that it was already about 2:15 am. I walked back under the bridge and saw a guy at the very end of the line with no one really around him. He waved to a cab, it pulled up, then he hugged his friend and sent him off in the cab. He tried for one himself and succeeded after only two attempts. "Alright!" I thought. Just gotta be aggressive. Be-e aggressive. So I got one quick and even though he spoke only slightly more English than I spoke of Polish, it was a pleasant ride back and I thanked GOD I didn't walk. It would have been a horrible end to a wonderful night.
I took the tram to this horse race track on the south part of town. The tram took a looooong time. Probably a good 35 minutes. I saw a guy show his girlfriend their Burn Selector tickets, so I knew who to follow. The walk from the tram was very far! We went around and over a freeway. There were NO signs there or in the main part of Warsaw for the festival. There were a bunch of us from the tram going though, so it was easy. The walk into the actual festival gates was SO long, too! Only blinding lights every 50 meters to indicate something was happening.
I got a sweet one day wristband that I'm still wearing from some guys who were super excited I I from Los Angeles. One guy even put on a Latino accent to say "Los Anhelis". They asked who I was here for. My answer was The Knife of course, but it should have been The Knife and James Blake.
I have never been to an outdoor music festival, but this one felt huge and proper. I'm sure it pales in comparison to bigger name fests, but it was a sight to see. A big huge half circle tent held a bunch of food trucks and other corporate booths. There were TONS of tables in there, and they were really decked out in big state fair style. After that, they had a really neat model for their logo seen below.
If you look closely, you'll see it's composed of cans. I believe they are the energy drink "Burn" that the festival is named for.
I arrived at the main "Cyan Stage" just as James Blake was starting. I only know two of his songs and like them, but never really followed him. Mistake! I was blown away by his performance. To sum it up crudely, there were three main types of songs he played. The first is him singing with fairly minimalistic musical backing. He had a keyboard (and I'm sure synth), the guy in the middle was on drums, and the guy on my left had guitar and synth. His voice is so good. So good. Probably falsetto and so smooth and delicate and atmospheric that it really is just an instrument for most songs, not a focal point. The accompanying music is terrific. The drums are wonderful because they are so loud and powerful and tight. Mostly because they are electric, but live electric drums are really something to see. I loved the tight "tack!" of the snare hit. "Limit to your love" was simply marvelous and nearly blew my face right off of my face. It's hard to imagine louder bass and if you've heard the song, you know that when the bass kicks in, it's very powerful. Well, imagine that bass at a level that shakes your pants and shirt and hair. Yes. Brilliant.
The second type of song he did were almost dance club style songs. It's quite unfair to use that description, but they are even more danceable and he repeats only a few phrases for the entire track. I LOVED it. The songs don't do a house type buildup and drop, but have heavy beats that are rhythmic and so fun to follow. I had no idea he had songs of the type, and it was probably the best surprise of his show. The lights above their heads went crazy, the scene went crazy, I went crazy! But the band was cool and calm just like always.
The third type of song was only for maybe 3 tracks. It was just James and his keyboard under the multiple light spot light. Very good and emotional. I was so glad I saw his set and am now kicking myself for not enjoying his music sooner. Well, it won't happen again!
Finally, it was time for The Knife. Wait, was I actually about to see The Knife? Yes! Unbelievably yes. After loving them for probably close to 6 years, I would finally see them live. They are a private band and don't tour much. I got a great spot because of the changing of the crowds after Blake.
We first a slightly high than normal man's voice. He said a few lines and maybe thanked us for waiting. Then he made a good reveal, something like, "Let me just step up here so I can see you!" and we saw his long "beautiful" wig, his very heavily made up face complete with glitter, heavy eyeliner and blush, his big bushy beard, and his outfit that would make Cher embarrassed. He was skinny and had a calf length blue silk robe on. He had a pink top on and short silver glittering shorts on. I believe he had on matching blue tights. He was here with the Knife and to warm us up because they like when we dance and move! The warm up was so long, I'm not sure I'll remember it all. But he first made us say "Self consciousness is the illusion that I am doing this alone!" So then he moved into the warmup, always shouting encouragingly at us in his highish voice. Deep breaths, arms up, arms pumping, leg dips. Then we got into some bouncing. He made us bounce in our knees, then the pelvis so all the guys balls would bounce, then the chest so all the girls' tits would bounce. Then up to the face so we could now work our senses. He said we have to be aware of the world around us so "Open your eyes!" He made us turn to the person next to us and say "I see you!" and then the other side. Not enough people around me were participating for my taste. Here was this hilariously dressed man shouting warm up instructions at The Knife's concert at they seemed "too cool" to do it. Whatever. We did the same thing with "I hear you!" and "I feel you!" When I touched the girl next to me on the shoulder she got super creeper out and laughed to her friend. It hurt my feelings but whatever, they were the ones not fully opening themselves to the experience. I felt better when the big eastern European looking guy put his arm around my shoulder on the sway or dance together part. We held hands in the air as instructed when the jump dancing came. It was cool to see everyone jumping at once almost in union. He said the show was about rejecting things we don't support, so we put our arms at chest level and pushed forward shouting "No! No! No! No!" rhythmically. Then he said it's also about accepting things, so we put our arms up and shouted "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" He divided us down the middle (conveniently where the big cable cover was) and made us face each other. The left side shouted "No!" and pushed forward. My side shouted "Yes!" with our arms up. I was glad to be on the yes side and loved seeing the people next to me shouting in my direction. It's rare you see everyone's face lit up at a concert. It was so funny to do all these warm ups to the beat at a concert when elbow room is so tight. Oh, that reminds me that we shouted at the stage, sound booth, and our elbows as they were up "What's up, stage/sound booth/elbows?!" We did some cool down and he made us shout "I move to be moved!" because The Knife does the shows to be moved by us, too. He finally introduced The Knife after thanking us. Here he is, looks like I butchered some of the details. Probably should rewrite it, but I've spoken.
They came out in CLASSIC Knife fashion. Classic. Heavy fog and low, blue light. Each musician or dancer moved out in a shimmering dark blue robe with hood, of course. I believe there was some special light to accent the bright colors of their orange shoes and the small parts of paint on the instruments. I will most certainly fall short to accurately describe the instruments. But, gotta try! The items were covered with black sheets and we're slowly unveiled. There was a multi colored electric harp on the top right of the stage. The middle was dominated by a... a I don't know what. It was probably about 7 feet long and was maybe 8 inches thick. It seemed to be an elongated pyramid shape, though. It had black electronic pads on the side. When someone finally started playing, it became clear that it was a lay down electric bass of sort. The song they played was "A Cherry On Top" which is very fitting to the creepy, slow presence they had. The electric bass was so killer and you could feel every scrape of the bow. The harp was fun to watch because the strings were multi colored and moved dramatically when plucked. When they finally revealed all the performers, the beat to Raging Lung started (I believe) and the ones seemingly without instruments produced big, brightly glowing shakers. One was a big orange rock. One was a big yellow mallet that had a crude, rock shaped head. Karen held a yellow cylinder and a blue ring as she serenaded us with the lyrics to Raging Lung. Yes, yes, it was awesome. The bass was SO loud, probably to a fault in some songs since it was so overpowering. I was glad I had my earplugs because I saw a few people manually plugging their ears. I had trouble believing I was watching Karen sing live. Her eyeshadow spilled way over on her face and was blue and black with glitter. She leaned up to the mic and looked super cool with her dark blue hood on. I wish I got a close up of the screen that showed her head back singing. Below you can see the bass, the harp, Karen right in front of the harp, and the big bells and oversized wind chimes.
I don't exactly remember the order of songs (I'm sure I can look it up), but I think it might have been "Without you my life would be boring". It was just the song played over the speakers but the dancers made it fun. They were doing a lot of forward and back stepping and leaning back and forward. Most of the time they were facing the left or right, not us head on. A lot of arms in and out and turns, too. Nothing special, but I liked it.
After a few songs, Karen came out into the lights with a huge, screeching "Waaaaaaaar-saaaaaaaaw-vaaaaaa!" with her head back in triumph and conquest. It was one of my favorite parts of the show, haha. Then she said "You turn me on!" and flicked her tongue in and out with a big pedo grin. She dedicated "Got 2 let u" to everyone who was ready to say no the traditional patriarchal societal norms. She spat huge war cries of "Fuck sexism! Fuck homophobia! Fuck racism!" It was awesome to see the song live because it's not on the Shaking the Habitual album for which the show was named. For this song, they had a TV flipped on its side in a decorative frame to look like a fancy painting. When Karen's brother sings on the song, the TV turned on and it had Karen dressed up like a male professor singing her brother's part. I think it was a challenge to genders, but it looked funny. She hella got down to that song, too. She was flying across the stage and, at parts, dropped to her knees and really shook her torso with like a "come on, what do you got?!" look. I think you can kinda see the TV and Karen to the right of it in this picture.
Another highlight was the dance performance to One Hit. The dancers acted out a majority of the lyrics described in the song. The line about pornogrophy was memorable a woman got bent way back on her back and someone was held above her close to her privates, looking eager. The part with "one hit, one kiss" got a punch in the arm followed by one person holding another in a dip while a third leaned in for a kiss. I believe they did something fairly simple for the "family latrine" line. Oh man, I love that line. My favorite part was probably the line about "spending time with my family" because the whole dance cast posed (probably close to ten) for a picture and then sneered and changed when "like the Corlionis!" came (not sure of the spelling, but the family name from the Godfather).
The general style remained fairly constant through the show. There were songs with blue loose outfits with not super professional but super fun choreography. There were songs of creepily dressed performers such as the previously mentioned "Cherry on top" and "Raging Lung" . They were dressed similarly for "Full of Fire" but the lights were red all around. Karen was far in the background singing for the highly cheered song. The most interesting part was the fact that the dancers stood still for at least half of the 9 minute song. I recorded a video of some of the song. The lights were bright red and white and were going nuts. I looooved it. That song is so heavy and it was bad ass to hear it forcing itself on me with live vocals (hard to tell they were live tho, so consistent). I saw one guy squinting away from the shock of the lights and I thought, "Let it in, man! Be it! Dance it!" as I rocked out.
There was one song that I didn't quite recognize that had Karen on the electric bass and vocals and just one guy on a super catchy triangle. I wish I would have got a video of the triangle. I'm sure I can find the studio song. That song lead into a break with just the triangle and 4 dancers swinging lit up tubes to create a wacky sound.
I believe there was only a dance performance to "Tooth for an Eye" and it was in the blue clothing style. Except for just a few breaks for a thanks or talking, the show was seamless. One track smoothly ran into another, and before I knew it, "Stay out here" was going with two singers who were not Karen. I didn't see her brother so I'm not sure he was at the show. The song was creepily well done as expected. The dancers almost praised the singers like a Native American rain dance. This is a good picture where the brightest lights showed the male and female singer.
It was hard to tell the cast apart at times, but I believe both singers were seen dancing many times before. They both had bowlish cut blonde hair and the girl smiled a lot when dancing.
"Stay out here" slowly turned to something that evoked a reaction from the crowd and a small light of recollection from me. The bass was SO booming that it took me until Karen's vocals to realize it was "Silent Shout"! Awesome! I did NOT expect that, one of my favorite songs from the album of the same name. The lights were white and crazy above their heads during the instrumental parts that we totally moved to. It was kiiiiiiller. When they broke it down for the vocals, Karen stood in front of the only lit center light that kept changing colors. It was an awesome contrast.
I *think* the show ended with "Silent Shout" but the crowd stayed FOREVER cheering for more. It was really impressive, I've never seen a crowd stay so long. The lights partially came up, the big screens ran the standard line up slides, and the crew started taking everything down. Nonetheless, the crowd went NUTS when the big storage trunks were brought out for the electric bass.
It was a terrific show. Most of the songs were awesome performances from "Shaking the Habitual" and the few classics were so surprising and appreciated. I heard mixed reviews about the show (one commentator even saying it looked like performers were not trying at times) but I loved the experience. It was all the more fun with the wacky warm up and the surprise of seeing The Knife given my earlier distractions.
I needed to catch a cab back to my Platinum Residence. It was difficult. There was a huge cab line, but all of them seemed to be taken though empty. I moved to the main street (out of the turn in to the festival) but still saw cabbies waving people away. I crossed under the freeway and saw a huge group of people waiting at a bus stop. Maybe there was a bus coming, but I didn't know a thing about it. I considered walking. It had been a LONG tram ride, but surely I could walk it in two hours, right? Never mind the fact that it was already about 2:15 am. I walked back under the bridge and saw a guy at the very end of the line with no one really around him. He waved to a cab, it pulled up, then he hugged his friend and sent him off in the cab. He tried for one himself and succeeded after only two attempts. "Alright!" I thought. Just gotta be aggressive. Be-e aggressive. So I got one quick and even though he spoke only slightly more English than I spoke of Polish, it was a pleasant ride back and I thanked GOD I didn't walk. It would have been a horrible end to a wonderful night.
Friday September 6, Warsaw
On Friday I woke up late... uuuuh yeah! I took the elevators down to the front desk. The elevators were neat. You push the floor button before you enter the elevator. Then, the display in the hallway tells you which elevator (labeled A through D) is yours. I bet it was quicker because the system can determine the fastest way to service everyone. I had the hotel put the extra breakfast on my account. It was just a coupon that I took to a place right next to the pizza place in the adjacent mall. The breakfast was tiny, maybe 2 eggs, a croissant, more bread, tea and freshly squeezed orange juice. Man, that oj was terrific, and I got it the next day without the overpriced, fancy breakfast.
I went back to the counter and a short girl with short reddish hair and a good, full figure helped me figure out how to get to the Burn Selector Festival that night. She first had me take three different trains/trams, but then she revised it to just one super long tram ride with a short walk to get to that specific tram. I got a map from her and directions for a good city sights to explore before the show.
I set out walking to the "old town". I noticed that in all the places I walked, there were huge buildings and TONS of construction everywhere. The city felt very modern and in progress. This all served as evidence of how Emil told me that the city of Warsaw was completely leveled in World War 2. He said about 2% of the city was left in ruins and the rest was completely bombed out. I believe it. Everything I saw looked new and not like the old cities of Krakow or Tallin. It was interesting and a little sad to know I couldn't experience the city in its pre-war state.
On the way to the "old town", I stopped in a nice park. I found the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I think it's a tribute to the fallen in WW2, but I'm no history expert. The park was pretty. Here is the park.
And here is the Tomb (of course, under construction).
I walked by a stage where three people were reading a play or a script. There were cameras, and it looked pretty official. It was probably only a little before noon and the crowd was wimpy, though. I walked a bit more and stopped to blog a bit on a bench. A non-bum looking guy came up to me and said a bunch of stuff in Polish. I gave him my dumb look and he said, "Oh, it's okay, I can speak English, too!" He asked for "a couple Polish bucks to get something to eat." I didn't want to give him money so I told him I was a tourist and only had cards. He went on for a bit telling me about he was in America for something like ten years. He was in Detroit I think and he talked about the Lions and maybe a couple of baseball teams. He said he loved it there but got deported because he wasn't legal. I think he said his brother was still there. He said thanks and "peace out, homie! Hahha!" as he left. Then when he was walking away, he just kept saying "Goddamn America! I love fucking America! Fucking Americans!" and laughing. It was hard to tell if he was super mad and mocking me or just bummed that he wasn't there anymore.
After the park, I made it to the "old town". It was clearly built to look like an old town, but all looked very new and pretty with again a lot of construction. It was pretty, but a bit plain with nothing huge and awe inspiring dominating the skyline. Here are a few shots.
Of course, the last picture shows that some construction was going on in one of the tourist restaurant filled squares.
After the "old town", I went to the Audio Visual Water Fountain. It was a big Vegas type water show that I think was coordinated to an app or video that you had to download on your personal device. It was neat to watch the water, but I missed plenty of the experience. Here's the fountain (ignore my finger in the foreground of the shot).
It was time for lunch. I left old town and walked towards the hotel. I found a Thai food place and thought, hey, haven't had that in a LONG time. The little Thai lady knew plenty of heavily accented English, so the transaction was easy. The food was pretty good, but talking to her was most memorable. She asked where I was from and about my travels. She said Warsaw and Poland is nothing special. She had been there 15 years and thought the people were too closed minded. She said they don't like to travel or try new things and again that Poland was nothing special. Perhaps she was just bummed business was slow, hahah. Whatever it was, she was eager to tell me that there are better places to see, and that made me laugh and appreciate her honest opinion. It was also funny to see this small Thai woman speak Polish with young lady customers. You just always assume Asian immigrants only have to learn English, but no, it depends where they go (duh). It's just funny to see them in another language. Hahah, but I suppose that was just "nothing special, nothing special" with a frown and a head shake.
I walked back to the hotel but stopped for ice cream at a cafe. It was the only time when there was a complete language breakdown. I greeted the grandmother looking woman in Polish, but that was it from there. I spoke English and it practically turned her mute, haha. I pointed to the strawberry, and she put one scoop in a nice waffle cone. Then she looked at me and held up one or two fingers? It was funny because she was holding the cone and holding fingers up awkwardly. I said, "Oh yeah, okay, I'll have two" and she didn't understand so I just said yes and nodded a bunch. She put another scoop in, and I think I only knew the price from the readout on the cash register. I probably said "djzin koo-yay" and happily left. It was funny because it took me until my last full day on the trip to totally not be able to verbally communicate with someone.
I walked back toward the hotel and figured out my routes for later that night to Burn Selector and for the next day's ride to the airport. I was really glad I did a walk through of both those trips.
When I got back to the hotel, I went to the grocery store in the mall. I got a bunch of sausage and eggs and some dumplings since the hotel had a fully equipped kitchen. I was proud of myself for saying hello and thank you in Polish when paying for the groceries. I saw the readout on the cash register and was able to pay without dumbly holding out my money... "how much do you need?"
I cooked up all the sausages in a pan on the stove and that was probably a mistake. What I didn't know was that there sausages have very thick, airtight casings. I was unable to flip them (other than by moving the pan around) because I couldn't find the silverware drawer. I called down to the front desk and they said it was in a hidden drawer. They couldn't help me find it, so they were going to send someone up. It took quite a while for the guy to come up, so I let the sausages cook. I was watching some really great news network (maybe called RT News?) and then BAM! (I can't stress the loud sound enough) a sausage exploded all over the stove and under the cabinets. The casing had popped, and it was super dramatic. I should have cut them into coins or just boiled the entire links as the directions and the hosts in Krakow did. Finally, the guy came up and showed me where the silverware drawer was. Right above the microwave that was inside a lower cabinet. Man, I felt dumb because I was sure I checked everywhere. The guy was in and out and I'm sure was used to showing this hidden drawer.
I cooked up all the eggs and sausages and lots of dumplings so I could eat a cheap, big, protein packed meal before going out. I saved half the eggs and sausage for breakfast the next day. I got dressed, made sure I had my map, put on a little bit of men's perfume and I was out the door to...!
I went back to the counter and a short girl with short reddish hair and a good, full figure helped me figure out how to get to the Burn Selector Festival that night. She first had me take three different trains/trams, but then she revised it to just one super long tram ride with a short walk to get to that specific tram. I got a map from her and directions for a good city sights to explore before the show.
I set out walking to the "old town". I noticed that in all the places I walked, there were huge buildings and TONS of construction everywhere. The city felt very modern and in progress. This all served as evidence of how Emil told me that the city of Warsaw was completely leveled in World War 2. He said about 2% of the city was left in ruins and the rest was completely bombed out. I believe it. Everything I saw looked new and not like the old cities of Krakow or Tallin. It was interesting and a little sad to know I couldn't experience the city in its pre-war state.
On the way to the "old town", I stopped in a nice park. I found the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I think it's a tribute to the fallen in WW2, but I'm no history expert. The park was pretty. Here is the park.
And here is the Tomb (of course, under construction).
I walked by a stage where three people were reading a play or a script. There were cameras, and it looked pretty official. It was probably only a little before noon and the crowd was wimpy, though. I walked a bit more and stopped to blog a bit on a bench. A non-bum looking guy came up to me and said a bunch of stuff in Polish. I gave him my dumb look and he said, "Oh, it's okay, I can speak English, too!" He asked for "a couple Polish bucks to get something to eat." I didn't want to give him money so I told him I was a tourist and only had cards. He went on for a bit telling me about he was in America for something like ten years. He was in Detroit I think and he talked about the Lions and maybe a couple of baseball teams. He said he loved it there but got deported because he wasn't legal. I think he said his brother was still there. He said thanks and "peace out, homie! Hahha!" as he left. Then when he was walking away, he just kept saying "Goddamn America! I love fucking America! Fucking Americans!" and laughing. It was hard to tell if he was super mad and mocking me or just bummed that he wasn't there anymore.
After the park, I made it to the "old town". It was clearly built to look like an old town, but all looked very new and pretty with again a lot of construction. It was pretty, but a bit plain with nothing huge and awe inspiring dominating the skyline. Here are a few shots.
Of course, the last picture shows that some construction was going on in one of the tourist restaurant filled squares.
After the "old town", I went to the Audio Visual Water Fountain. It was a big Vegas type water show that I think was coordinated to an app or video that you had to download on your personal device. It was neat to watch the water, but I missed plenty of the experience. Here's the fountain (ignore my finger in the foreground of the shot).
It was time for lunch. I left old town and walked towards the hotel. I found a Thai food place and thought, hey, haven't had that in a LONG time. The little Thai lady knew plenty of heavily accented English, so the transaction was easy. The food was pretty good, but talking to her was most memorable. She asked where I was from and about my travels. She said Warsaw and Poland is nothing special. She had been there 15 years and thought the people were too closed minded. She said they don't like to travel or try new things and again that Poland was nothing special. Perhaps she was just bummed business was slow, hahah. Whatever it was, she was eager to tell me that there are better places to see, and that made me laugh and appreciate her honest opinion. It was also funny to see this small Thai woman speak Polish with young lady customers. You just always assume Asian immigrants only have to learn English, but no, it depends where they go (duh). It's just funny to see them in another language. Hahah, but I suppose that was just "nothing special, nothing special" with a frown and a head shake.
I walked back to the hotel but stopped for ice cream at a cafe. It was the only time when there was a complete language breakdown. I greeted the grandmother looking woman in Polish, but that was it from there. I spoke English and it practically turned her mute, haha. I pointed to the strawberry, and she put one scoop in a nice waffle cone. Then she looked at me and held up one or two fingers? It was funny because she was holding the cone and holding fingers up awkwardly. I said, "Oh yeah, okay, I'll have two" and she didn't understand so I just said yes and nodded a bunch. She put another scoop in, and I think I only knew the price from the readout on the cash register. I probably said "djzin koo-yay" and happily left. It was funny because it took me until my last full day on the trip to totally not be able to verbally communicate with someone.
I walked back toward the hotel and figured out my routes for later that night to Burn Selector and for the next day's ride to the airport. I was really glad I did a walk through of both those trips.
When I got back to the hotel, I went to the grocery store in the mall. I got a bunch of sausage and eggs and some dumplings since the hotel had a fully equipped kitchen. I was proud of myself for saying hello and thank you in Polish when paying for the groceries. I saw the readout on the cash register and was able to pay without dumbly holding out my money... "how much do you need?"
I cooked up all the sausages in a pan on the stove and that was probably a mistake. What I didn't know was that there sausages have very thick, airtight casings. I was unable to flip them (other than by moving the pan around) because I couldn't find the silverware drawer. I called down to the front desk and they said it was in a hidden drawer. They couldn't help me find it, so they were going to send someone up. It took quite a while for the guy to come up, so I let the sausages cook. I was watching some really great news network (maybe called RT News?) and then BAM! (I can't stress the loud sound enough) a sausage exploded all over the stove and under the cabinets. The casing had popped, and it was super dramatic. I should have cut them into coins or just boiled the entire links as the directions and the hosts in Krakow did. Finally, the guy came up and showed me where the silverware drawer was. Right above the microwave that was inside a lower cabinet. Man, I felt dumb because I was sure I checked everywhere. The guy was in and out and I'm sure was used to showing this hidden drawer.
I cooked up all the eggs and sausages and lots of dumplings so I could eat a cheap, big, protein packed meal before going out. I saved half the eggs and sausage for breakfast the next day. I got dressed, made sure I had my map, put on a little bit of men's perfume and I was out the door to...!
Monday, September 23, 2013
Thursday September 5, Krakow, Czestochowa and Warsaw
On Thursday, I very difficultly decided it was time to leave my Converse behind. They had seen 7 countries minimum (including the country in which they were made (certainly not the USA) and of course USA where I wore them) and had served me well, but they were just too beat up and had been giving me hot spots where I had heavily worn down the soles. Fair well, friends.
We were up early to visit the Sisters of Divine Mercy center. It was only about a block from our hotel, but we had to carry our bags there of course. I believe Sister Faustia lived there and is buried there. We went inside the Basilica and I snuck a few photos by positioning myself behind a pillar so the security guard couldn't see me.
It was large and beautiful. There were probably 8 confessionals and they weren't very private. You just had to talk quietly to the priest. That's okay, though, I don't speak Polish.
Next we went up the tower of the Basilica and had a great view of the surroundings.
Here you can see that they are building Pope John Paul II's Basilica just across the way.
After the Basilica, we went below it to see the various chapels. There were about 6 different chapels with different art styles and focuses. It was really neat to see this variety because they are right next to each other.
We said goodbye to Krakow and took another hot bus ride this time to Czestochowa. I don't know much of the history, but apparently when the Swedes invaded in the early 1700s they managed to capture everything in the city except for the castle/monastery despite heavy attacks. It helped inspire the people to take back the city. This monastery houses the very old, famous icon called the Black Madonna. The history of it is contested, but in the 1430s when the Hussites invaded, the slashed the painting on Mary's cheek twice. No matter how the tried, the painting could not be removed from the site and was left in Poland. The slashes still remain on the painting today. It is a pilgrimage site for many Poles in the summer. I asked Emil if we were cheating by taking a bus and then waking the 25 minutes to the monastery. He said plenty of people bus in, but he has in fact made the pilgrimage. We had another tasty Polish lunch in the cafeteria. A skinny, messy looking lady was going around all the tables asking people for what I thought was food. When she got to us, Emil told me she was asking for money. Yeah, probably not going to happen in a cafeteria despite the religious significance.
The grounds were very pretty and all of course devoted to mysteries of the rosary and stations of the cross. We went inside and were lucky enough to see the icon uncovered. Apparently it is usually covered throughout the day. There were TONS of people there and the chapel was lined with old crutches and canes and rosaries from people I assumed had been healed by this experience. There were quite a few families (or maybe just moms) with their loud, mentally challenged children hoping for a blessing. Emil and I stood in line to process around the image and behind it. It is tradition to walk on your knees and it hurt a lot, but I enjoyed it because I knew so many had done just this before me. Here is the crowd around the icon followed by my best picture of it.
We then went to the Basilica there and it was much more lavish but was way more empty.
Next we went up the tower, and this picture shows all the seating on the lawn for the masses held from the balcony. Also, you can see the long street leading to the monastery that is the final stretch for the pilgrims.
Up at the top of the tower, people had carved various things in the old bricks and I really like the way it all looked despite the fact that it was essentially just graffiti.
Here is the tower from the outside. We only went about 2/3 of the way up as the rest is reserved for the bell tower and such.
We walked around the edges of the maybe 35 foot wall and saw each of the stations of the cross. They were tucked away in the trees. Emil kept talking about the Swedes storming these very walls and it was neat to walk this path.
We walked back to the train station were we had stored our bags, I said a hurried goodbye to Emil as his train was leaving and boom... I was alone in Poland. My train to Warsaw was late on track 2, but it seemed there were two track 2's. I asked the conductor of the train that pulled in on time into the other track 2 if this was the correct train to Warsaw. Through very broken English he said over a huge handlebar mustache "20 ... minutes ... more..." Ah ok, yes, just as the sign said, my train was 20 minutes late. When it arrived, I found I was in the car that had two rows of seats in each cabin facing each other. There was only one girl in the cabin and she was sitting in my window seat. I let her stay there, I didn't care. I was just happy to be on the right train going to Warsaw... my final destination.
I asked her about getting to Warsaw and her English was fairly broken and heavily accented, but I understood her. She was super trendy and slim with short blonde hair under a Michael Jackson black hat. She never took off her big black sunglasses. She had a bunch of bracelets and jewelry and was reading a magazine like Cosmopolitan. It was in Polish, though. I blogged for a little while and just enjoyed being on an old school train. Again, the countryside was beautiful and serene. Finally after one announcement, I ask her what they said and she described to me that I needed to go the second Warsaw stop. There was Warsaw east and then my stop, Warsaw central. I said they talk so quickly and she said "Yes, yes!" and then imitated the announcement with a flurry of Polish. It was funny. So we got to talking and she goes to school somewhere in the east as a dietitian. I didn't fully understand why she was going back because her English wasn't great. She was stumble for words and get pretty embarrassed and it was super cute. I think she was going back to visit her family and have some work service stamped off for her program. But the way she was talking made it seem like she was kinda just going to phone it in and get a stamp for not doing much. She asked about my travels and I gave her a very short explanation. She said her sister was always asking her to travel, but she had so little money because "I need to stop buying this and this" as she pointed to her bracelets and jewelry and laughed. I laughed a lot because it's super funny to hear someone in a hella thick accent tease themselves. She started packing up all her shopping bags and stuff before any announcement was made. She told me she gets very nervous that she's going to miss her stop or not make the doors before they close. I reassured her that she has plenty of time, but she was still a little nervous. Finally, her stop came, she nicely said goodbye and good travels and left the cabin. I didn't see her down on the train station, but I was sure she got off. A bit later though, I heard someone running down the car and ZOOM! she went by holding her hat running and smiling. I laughed because sure enough, she had gone the wrong way and stayed on the train longer than she wanted. She made it off and everything was fine, but it cracked me up to see her running past the cabin she had left a minute before.
I stupidly forgot to write down the name of my hotel for the night in Warsaw, so I had to seek out a quick sandwich shop that had wifi. It took me probably an hour to walk to the hotel because I kept getting turned around and mixed up and lost. When I finally got to the hotel, I was shocked. It was the nicest place I stayed in the whole trip. It was called the Platinum Residence and it seemed like it was meant for longer term business travelers. It had a little hallway table, a living room with a sofa and a chair, a kitchen table, a fridge and stove and microwave, a big balcony and a separate bedroom. It was crazy for just over $60 a night! That was a heck of a deal.
I went down to a pizza place that was in the mall next to the hotel (the hotel had two towers and this mall was between them). I was eating my fried egg and sausage pizza when these two incredibly drunk, super slutty looking girls came in with slightly older, fatter, nearly sober guys. One girl knocked over this big planter and the plant and dirt went all over the floor. The other girl had huge heels on and her shorts were so short I was looking at the bottom of her small butt. They wandered around for a bit and then went back out the way they came. The one that knocked the planter over was staggering so bad that she did the classic drunk girl thing and knelt down by another planter. It was funny and embarrassing and I was REALLY hoping for a nice big puke, but I didn't get it. Her friend helped her up. I considered the possibility they were working girls. I ended up staying up too late watching TV, but it was a busy day and I was glad I didn't need to be up early on Friday.
We were up early to visit the Sisters of Divine Mercy center. It was only about a block from our hotel, but we had to carry our bags there of course. I believe Sister Faustia lived there and is buried there. We went inside the Basilica and I snuck a few photos by positioning myself behind a pillar so the security guard couldn't see me.
It was large and beautiful. There were probably 8 confessionals and they weren't very private. You just had to talk quietly to the priest. That's okay, though, I don't speak Polish.
Next we went up the tower of the Basilica and had a great view of the surroundings.
Here you can see that they are building Pope John Paul II's Basilica just across the way.
After the Basilica, we went below it to see the various chapels. There were about 6 different chapels with different art styles and focuses. It was really neat to see this variety because they are right next to each other.
We said goodbye to Krakow and took another hot bus ride this time to Czestochowa. I don't know much of the history, but apparently when the Swedes invaded in the early 1700s they managed to capture everything in the city except for the castle/monastery despite heavy attacks. It helped inspire the people to take back the city. This monastery houses the very old, famous icon called the Black Madonna. The history of it is contested, but in the 1430s when the Hussites invaded, the slashed the painting on Mary's cheek twice. No matter how the tried, the painting could not be removed from the site and was left in Poland. The slashes still remain on the painting today. It is a pilgrimage site for many Poles in the summer. I asked Emil if we were cheating by taking a bus and then waking the 25 minutes to the monastery. He said plenty of people bus in, but he has in fact made the pilgrimage. We had another tasty Polish lunch in the cafeteria. A skinny, messy looking lady was going around all the tables asking people for what I thought was food. When she got to us, Emil told me she was asking for money. Yeah, probably not going to happen in a cafeteria despite the religious significance.
The grounds were very pretty and all of course devoted to mysteries of the rosary and stations of the cross. We went inside and were lucky enough to see the icon uncovered. Apparently it is usually covered throughout the day. There were TONS of people there and the chapel was lined with old crutches and canes and rosaries from people I assumed had been healed by this experience. There were quite a few families (or maybe just moms) with their loud, mentally challenged children hoping for a blessing. Emil and I stood in line to process around the image and behind it. It is tradition to walk on your knees and it hurt a lot, but I enjoyed it because I knew so many had done just this before me. Here is the crowd around the icon followed by my best picture of it.
We then went to the Basilica there and it was much more lavish but was way more empty.
Next we went up the tower, and this picture shows all the seating on the lawn for the masses held from the balcony. Also, you can see the long street leading to the monastery that is the final stretch for the pilgrims.
Up at the top of the tower, people had carved various things in the old bricks and I really like the way it all looked despite the fact that it was essentially just graffiti.
Here is the tower from the outside. We only went about 2/3 of the way up as the rest is reserved for the bell tower and such.
We walked around the edges of the maybe 35 foot wall and saw each of the stations of the cross. They were tucked away in the trees. Emil kept talking about the Swedes storming these very walls and it was neat to walk this path.
We walked back to the train station were we had stored our bags, I said a hurried goodbye to Emil as his train was leaving and boom... I was alone in Poland. My train to Warsaw was late on track 2, but it seemed there were two track 2's. I asked the conductor of the train that pulled in on time into the other track 2 if this was the correct train to Warsaw. Through very broken English he said over a huge handlebar mustache "20 ... minutes ... more..." Ah ok, yes, just as the sign said, my train was 20 minutes late. When it arrived, I found I was in the car that had two rows of seats in each cabin facing each other. There was only one girl in the cabin and she was sitting in my window seat. I let her stay there, I didn't care. I was just happy to be on the right train going to Warsaw... my final destination.
I asked her about getting to Warsaw and her English was fairly broken and heavily accented, but I understood her. She was super trendy and slim with short blonde hair under a Michael Jackson black hat. She never took off her big black sunglasses. She had a bunch of bracelets and jewelry and was reading a magazine like Cosmopolitan. It was in Polish, though. I blogged for a little while and just enjoyed being on an old school train. Again, the countryside was beautiful and serene. Finally after one announcement, I ask her what they said and she described to me that I needed to go the second Warsaw stop. There was Warsaw east and then my stop, Warsaw central. I said they talk so quickly and she said "Yes, yes!" and then imitated the announcement with a flurry of Polish. It was funny. So we got to talking and she goes to school somewhere in the east as a dietitian. I didn't fully understand why she was going back because her English wasn't great. She was stumble for words and get pretty embarrassed and it was super cute. I think she was going back to visit her family and have some work service stamped off for her program. But the way she was talking made it seem like she was kinda just going to phone it in and get a stamp for not doing much. She asked about my travels and I gave her a very short explanation. She said her sister was always asking her to travel, but she had so little money because "I need to stop buying this and this" as she pointed to her bracelets and jewelry and laughed. I laughed a lot because it's super funny to hear someone in a hella thick accent tease themselves. She started packing up all her shopping bags and stuff before any announcement was made. She told me she gets very nervous that she's going to miss her stop or not make the doors before they close. I reassured her that she has plenty of time, but she was still a little nervous. Finally, her stop came, she nicely said goodbye and good travels and left the cabin. I didn't see her down on the train station, but I was sure she got off. A bit later though, I heard someone running down the car and ZOOM! she went by holding her hat running and smiling. I laughed because sure enough, she had gone the wrong way and stayed on the train longer than she wanted. She made it off and everything was fine, but it cracked me up to see her running past the cabin she had left a minute before.
I stupidly forgot to write down the name of my hotel for the night in Warsaw, so I had to seek out a quick sandwich shop that had wifi. It took me probably an hour to walk to the hotel because I kept getting turned around and mixed up and lost. When I finally got to the hotel, I was shocked. It was the nicest place I stayed in the whole trip. It was called the Platinum Residence and it seemed like it was meant for longer term business travelers. It had a little hallway table, a living room with a sofa and a chair, a kitchen table, a fridge and stove and microwave, a big balcony and a separate bedroom. It was crazy for just over $60 a night! That was a heck of a deal.
I went down to a pizza place that was in the mall next to the hotel (the hotel had two towers and this mall was between them). I was eating my fried egg and sausage pizza when these two incredibly drunk, super slutty looking girls came in with slightly older, fatter, nearly sober guys. One girl knocked over this big planter and the plant and dirt went all over the floor. The other girl had huge heels on and her shorts were so short I was looking at the bottom of her small butt. They wandered around for a bit and then went back out the way they came. The one that knocked the planter over was staggering so bad that she did the classic drunk girl thing and knelt down by another planter. It was funny and embarrassing and I was REALLY hoping for a nice big puke, but I didn't get it. Her friend helped her up. I considered the possibility they were working girls. I ended up staying up too late watching TV, but it was a busy day and I was glad I didn't need to be up early on Friday.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Wednesday September 4, Krakow
On Wednesday, we again woke up early and had a big breakfast. The owners were both there setting stuff out. The husband was a nice guy that always wore this soccer sweater and had nice glasses on. Emil liked talking to him because of his recommendations on the trains and schedules and said he was a bit more easy going than his wife. Apparently she was really concerned about the spotty internet and other small problems. The husband was cool because he liked to say the English names for the things he was laying out and offering me for breakfast. He would go, "How many sausages? One? Two? Three?" Of course I had three.
We then took a bus to ... uh ... I don't remember the town name (if Emil is reading maybe he can comment with the town name!), but it was in the south and in the valley of a beautiful mountain range. The town was very tourist oriented. Many cheesy shops and restaurants that looked alike. Here is a picture of the main tourist street.
picuture 0
Apparently this town is known for its cheese. There were countless carts and booths with vendors selling cheese. But man, it looked super weird. It looked like a toy corn on the cob but not bright yellow. It looked more like gouda colored. As we walked to the tram up the mountain, EVERY female cheese seller in "Cheese Alley" accosted us with "Gentlemen! Would you like to try some cheese?" and Emil got super self conscious and annoyed about the ladies saying the exact same thing to us. But we laughed about it and I reminded him of it through the day asking "Gentlemen! Would you like some cheese?!"
We first ate lunch being constantly bothered by some bee or hornet or wasp or yellow jacket. Very annoying little buggers but they were ALL over this town. Reminded me of Alaska, I think they were the same type of insect. They look kinda scary, but just crave food. For an appetizer, I had a piece of this famous cheese with bacon on top and cranberries on the side. Wow, it's BETTER than it sounds. Sooooo good, pops. Here it is... wish I had it now!
picture 1
For my main course (shockingly no soup!), I had a sausage plate. It is pictured below.
picture 2
The leftmost sausage was a traditional polish kielbasa. Excellent. Better than one I had earlier as an appetizer at another dinner. The middle sausage was a black pudding sausage. That's code for blood sausage. It was pretty good, but had a looser consistency. The rightmost sausage was a lamb sausage. Definitely good, but the kielbasa was probably best. Fortunately, they threw another piece of bacon above those for good measure! Also, here is Emil with his beet soup and meat pastry.
picture 3
We bought the tram tickets so we didn't have to hike up the mountain, and I was immediately glad for it. It was a much longer distance than I would have liked to hike after eating a huge lunch on a warm day. Here are a few shots from the top looking north I believe.
pictures
We just hung out, looking. We even played the "what does that cloud look like?" game for a bit. We identified the three clouds in the sky and were bummed there were no more. We saw a pretty blonde girl by herself and kept checking to make sure she was still hanging out on the grass. It is rare to see pretty girls sight-seeing by themselves!
I tried a Polish beer and liked it. Then I saw that other people were getting a red drink. Apparently it's common to put a shot of raspberry or ginger syrup in these Polish beers to give them a little something different. For my next beer a bit later in the day, I tried the ginger syrup. Oh my! It was very tasty! I wish we had that custom in the States. I saw an abandoned raspberry beer with probably 15 drowned yellow jackets it. Those little bastards just don't know when to stop.
It was super chill just walking the path along the top of the mountain. There are cheesy trinket shops and tons of gypsy music stalls selling tables full of totally indistinguishable CDs. Emil got a dessert that I'm having trouble describing. It's a centimeter thick ribbon of dough a bit denser and slightly less sweep than a donut wrapped around a mandrel. The flavoring of chocolate and nuts or cinnamon is applied and then the mandrel is removed leaving you a sweet treat to unspin. It was huge. Emil got chocolate and nuts and we didn't even finish it.
Another running joke of the day came from reading the menu at lunch (that I already talked about). A traditional dish exclusive to this region was what the menu called in English a "pork knuckle". Emil said I should try it for dinner, so the whole day we kept talking about me getting my "moose knuckle". Hahaha, I joked about ordering it saying "Yes, I'd like the moose knuckle in my mouth, please." It was hilarious to see a fit guy in super short shorts sporting his moose knuckle after the menu had been read. This picture is on Facebook, but I'll include it here. It's me with my moose knuckle and happy.
I had every reason to look pleased; it was a great meal. The moose, I mean pork really feel off the bone. Emil probably had dumplings. Man, those Polish dumplings are good too. At that restaurant, we saw a couple probably my age or a bit older get "into" their table which was a converted sled that we smartly passed over. Emil laughed because he heard the slightly overweight guy say in Polish, "I'm too old for this."
The bus ride back to the hotel in Krakow was nice. It had internet, and we got to spread out. Actually, we never had to sit right next to each other which was nice because the buses were tight and usually hot. The sun set as we went through the small town. It was amazing to see how many stories the houses were. I counted five stories on many houses. They look (obviously) so different than what I'm used to. Their roofs are very sharply angled and their windows are large giving them a classic look. Everyone dried their clothes outside naturally, and we saw almost every chimney issuing smoke. That was a fun day because we just CHILLED OUT and ate and walked and talked atop the mountain.
We then took a bus to ... uh ... I don't remember the town name (if Emil is reading maybe he can comment with the town name!), but it was in the south and in the valley of a beautiful mountain range. The town was very tourist oriented. Many cheesy shops and restaurants that looked alike. Here is a picture of the main tourist street.
picuture 0
Apparently this town is known for its cheese. There were countless carts and booths with vendors selling cheese. But man, it looked super weird. It looked like a toy corn on the cob but not bright yellow. It looked more like gouda colored. As we walked to the tram up the mountain, EVERY female cheese seller in "Cheese Alley" accosted us with "Gentlemen! Would you like to try some cheese?" and Emil got super self conscious and annoyed about the ladies saying the exact same thing to us. But we laughed about it and I reminded him of it through the day asking "Gentlemen! Would you like some cheese?!"
We first ate lunch being constantly bothered by some bee or hornet or wasp or yellow jacket. Very annoying little buggers but they were ALL over this town. Reminded me of Alaska, I think they were the same type of insect. They look kinda scary, but just crave food. For an appetizer, I had a piece of this famous cheese with bacon on top and cranberries on the side. Wow, it's BETTER than it sounds. Sooooo good, pops. Here it is... wish I had it now!
picture 1
For my main course (shockingly no soup!), I had a sausage plate. It is pictured below.
picture 2
The leftmost sausage was a traditional polish kielbasa. Excellent. Better than one I had earlier as an appetizer at another dinner. The middle sausage was a black pudding sausage. That's code for blood sausage. It was pretty good, but had a looser consistency. The rightmost sausage was a lamb sausage. Definitely good, but the kielbasa was probably best. Fortunately, they threw another piece of bacon above those for good measure! Also, here is Emil with his beet soup and meat pastry.
picture 3
We bought the tram tickets so we didn't have to hike up the mountain, and I was immediately glad for it. It was a much longer distance than I would have liked to hike after eating a huge lunch on a warm day. Here are a few shots from the top looking north I believe.
pictures
We just hung out, looking. We even played the "what does that cloud look like?" game for a bit. We identified the three clouds in the sky and were bummed there were no more. We saw a pretty blonde girl by herself and kept checking to make sure she was still hanging out on the grass. It is rare to see pretty girls sight-seeing by themselves!
I tried a Polish beer and liked it. Then I saw that other people were getting a red drink. Apparently it's common to put a shot of raspberry or ginger syrup in these Polish beers to give them a little something different. For my next beer a bit later in the day, I tried the ginger syrup. Oh my! It was very tasty! I wish we had that custom in the States. I saw an abandoned raspberry beer with probably 15 drowned yellow jackets it. Those little bastards just don't know when to stop.
It was super chill just walking the path along the top of the mountain. There are cheesy trinket shops and tons of gypsy music stalls selling tables full of totally indistinguishable CDs. Emil got a dessert that I'm having trouble describing. It's a centimeter thick ribbon of dough a bit denser and slightly less sweep than a donut wrapped around a mandrel. The flavoring of chocolate and nuts or cinnamon is applied and then the mandrel is removed leaving you a sweet treat to unspin. It was huge. Emil got chocolate and nuts and we didn't even finish it.
Another running joke of the day came from reading the menu at lunch (that I already talked about). A traditional dish exclusive to this region was what the menu called in English a "pork knuckle". Emil said I should try it for dinner, so the whole day we kept talking about me getting my "moose knuckle". Hahaha, I joked about ordering it saying "Yes, I'd like the moose knuckle in my mouth, please." It was hilarious to see a fit guy in super short shorts sporting his moose knuckle after the menu had been read. This picture is on Facebook, but I'll include it here. It's me with my moose knuckle and happy.
I had every reason to look pleased; it was a great meal. The moose, I mean pork really feel off the bone. Emil probably had dumplings. Man, those Polish dumplings are good too. At that restaurant, we saw a couple probably my age or a bit older get "into" their table which was a converted sled that we smartly passed over. Emil laughed because he heard the slightly overweight guy say in Polish, "I'm too old for this."
The bus ride back to the hotel in Krakow was nice. It had internet, and we got to spread out. Actually, we never had to sit right next to each other which was nice because the buses were tight and usually hot. The sun set as we went through the small town. It was amazing to see how many stories the houses were. I counted five stories on many houses. They look (obviously) so different than what I'm used to. Their roofs are very sharply angled and their windows are large giving them a classic look. Everyone dried their clothes outside naturally, and we saw almost every chimney issuing smoke. That was a fun day because we just CHILLED OUT and ate and walked and talked atop the mountain.
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