we're back again... |
...this time staying in an apartment in this historic building |
though there are many such buildings to choose from here |
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Krakow has many monuments to famous Poles... |
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...in all branches of human endeavor |
right off, we head for the archives... |
...again looking for info on Marla's great-great-aunts |
the records lead us to a school where one of the sisters taught |
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and Marla can walk the same halls where she once did |
here's a building which housed a business owned by a friend's family |
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well, we weren't expecting this! |
a guided tour of Kazimierz by our friends Witek, Ania, and Zuza |
kerosene lamps at this hostel recall their invention by Ignacy Lukasiewicz |
the Corpus Christi church |
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it's an entire art history course on one wall |
a nautical theme in the pulpit design |
best to avoid the temptations of the deep... |
now we're out on plac Wolnica |
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a separate city in the 14th-c., Kazimierz is now part of Krakow |
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hmm... where to eat lunch? |
we decide to head across the Wisla to the Podgorze district |
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and then back again to Kazimierz |
now we're at the St. Stanislaus Church at Skalka... |
...also known as the Church on the Rock |
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many famous Poles are remembered here... |
...quite a few of whom are entombed in the crypt below |
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out in the light again, here's part of the ancient Kazimierz city wall |
down by the river, a strange rabbit and friends |
Wawel castle seen from the riverside walk |
heading toward old town |
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these two seem concerned about the building's structural integrity |
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the Saint Andrew church |
(Krakow has over 100 active churches) |
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the gardens of the archeology museum |
here's the church of St. Francis of Assisi... |
...brilliantly decorated by Stanislaw Wyspianski |
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although the previous painters weren't bad either |
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in a branch of the national art museum, at the Cloth Hall |
the Temptation of St. Anthony, by Lucjan Wendrychowski |
a self-portrait by Anna Belinska-Bohdanowiczowa |
on the old market square |
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there are historic traces everywhere in town |
there's that dang rabbit again |
we are with Witek and Ania again, now in Nowa Huta |
the town was buit by the Soviets as a model city, to support the giant new steel mill |
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it's a landmark of Socialist Realism |
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the existing layout and building blocks closely follow the long-term design plan |
the tram to the former steel works |
we take a short trip out to 14th-c. Niepolomice |
the town still has a lovely central park... |
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...and a preserve of historic buildings |
the castle has been converted into an art museum |
what the castle looked like before rehabilitation |
it's good to have an art historian with us! |
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some interesting older houses in town... |
...one of which is now a bakery |
Ania knows where the town's Jewish cemetery is... |
...though the associated community is gone |
back in Kazimierz, we meet Scottish documentary filmmakers at the Galicia Jewish Museum... |
...and visit a photo exhibit on the work of Ze'ev Aleksandrowicz |
it covers his shots of Krakow and Palestine from the 1930s |
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Marla gives a lecture at this museum soon after... |
...and a week later at the Krakow JCC... |
...gives another lecture on a related topic |
it's May 3rd - Constitution Day! |
now we're visiting the main building of the National Museum in Krakow |
there's an exhibit on the work of pop artist Lucjan Mianowski |
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elsewhere in the museum, artifacts from past centuries... |
...including a curious back-to-back double violin... |
...and a nice collection of door hardware |
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the museum also has a large collection of Judaica |
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and old photos of synagogues now inactive or lost |
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back in the main modern art section, large stained-glass designs by Jozef Mehoffer |
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and Wyspianski's design for glass at the Wawel cathedral, based on the legend of Princess Wanda |
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it's a nice day for a walk in the Planty Park around the old town |
a tribute to harmonious relations with Lithuania |
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here's the Palace of Art... |
...itself a fine example of the Secessionist style |
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inside, a series of temporary exhibits |
this one on the photography of architecture |
we seem to have a bit of art on exhibit at the back of our apartment building also |
on another nice day, we head off with friend Alex for a walk along the Wisla |
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and a dinner among friends visiting from L'viv |
the market square at night |
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again with Alex, we return to the Podgorze area to see the Ghetto Monument |
and to visit the historical museum at Schindler's factory |
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the main exhibit focuses on Krakow under the WWII occupation |
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Germans toppling the Mickiewicz monument in the market square |
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building the ghetto wall |
a wartime city map is on the ceiling; there's our apartment building |
and a familiar photo is in the rotating display |
next door, the Krakow modern art museum |
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the current exhibits include sports-themed art |
these players each wear a jersey with a quote from a modern artist |
no comments, please |
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again! |
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walking the streets of Podgorze |
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here's the early 20th-c. St. Jozef church |
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and the well-named Chapel on the Rock |
this poor woman spent most of the day modeling for cameras |
now we're deep under the old town market square... |
...visiting the remains of a much-older cloth hall |
archaeologists have uncovered nearly-intact streets from the 14th-c... |
as well as an easily-recognizable early version of what's overhead today |
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quite a few cultural artifacts have been found as well |
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along with a few former inhabitants |
the museum is spectacular... |
...but the effort to create it no less stunning |
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here's the house museum of Jozef Mehoffer |
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his former house is filled with his designs and completed pieces |
along with much of his furnishings |
designs for stained glass... |
and examples of smaller (room-sized) works |
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the house is accompanied by a pleasant garden |
today there is a children's concert |
now we are visiting the Museum of Municipal Engineering! |
there's a good display of the tram system over the years |
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some sights in the historical items... |
...are easily recognized today |
besides the trams, there's further transportation displays (here, the Warszawa 200, from 1957) |
a good display on the history of the Fiat manufactured in Poland... |
...including these little gems |
the door to this oddity is in front |
the start of the Polish motorcycle industry |
elsewhere the museum has an amazing collection of printing machines... |
...including this music printer |
now, which tram takes us home? |
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we pay another visit to the new Jewish cemetery... |
...to consider ideas for projects elsewhere |
then on the street again to view the temporary art exhibits |
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here's another, at the Ethnographic Museum |
a remarkable collection by the American photographer Sally Mann |
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her show is called "The Family... |
...and the Land" |
the Euro 2012 football matches are starting; we have to rig a better TV antenna |
this little one was born while we were living here; she'll still be here when we come back! |