Poland 2016 (including Berlin)

June 6, 2016 - Berlin

I spent the day in Potsdam.  I visited the New Palace, built by King Frederick II.  The audio tour was very informative.  I then walked for miles in the gardens and reached the Sanssouci Palace, summer home of Frederick the Great, king of Prussia.  Both were quite impressive.

New Palace

University

New Palace

Sanssouci Palace

Holocaust Memorial in Berlin

Where the wall was

I had dinner with my friends Dirk and Kristof.

June 7, 2016 - Berlin to Gdansk, Poland

Well it was a travelers nightmare today.  I got an email, in German, telling me something about my reservation.  So I went to the station early and found out my train was leaving from another station.  When I got there, there were further changes.  I had to take a local train to Frankfort and hopefully join my original train.  At least I had my own cabin for six for the long ride to Gdansk.  We arrived at 9:15 pm, an hour late.  I almost did not get off the train, since I thought I took it to the last stop, NOT!

June 8, 2016 - Gdansk, Poland

I spent the morning walking almost every street of the old town.  Gdansk is a beautiful town.  In the afternoon I took a local train to Sopot.  It is the seaside partner to Gdansk.  The train ride was about $1.25, for the same distance as from Millburn to NYC.  How much is that ride?

So far food has been my favorite activity in Poland.  I love the fish soup.  All three recipes were different and all delicious.  It reminds me of the clam chowder served at my grandparents seafood restaurant.

Walking to the old town

Gdansk Old Town

Kayakers

Marketplace in Gdansk

Inside the marketplace

Water taxis?

Sopot Beach

Sopot, Poland

June 9, 2016 - Gdansk to Krakow

The first class train ride was 5 1/2 hours, but extremely comfortable.  They even offered complimentary freshly made meals.  And to top it off, I got a 30% senior discount.  All this for about $52, much less then the rest of Europe.

Main Square in Krakow

June 10, 2016 – Krakow, Poland

This is my second visit to Krakow and after an hour it remains one of my favorite cities in the world.  The Germans did not destroy the city during WWII.  It has the same charm it had 100s or 1000s of years ago.  And the food is fantastic.  Their version of the fish soup is much closer to what my grandmother made.

I took two walking tours of the city.  The first was the Jewish tour, which started at the Old Synagogue.  I was unable to visit this site last time, because the area wasn’t safe.  Now it is loaded with many tourist attractions and restaurants.  Estee Lauder’s house was in this area.  We saw many temples, some of which are still being used.

We crossed the river to the Jewish Ghetto.  Most of the houses were replaced by modern buildings.  Our tour ended at Schlinder’s Factory, the man given credit for saving 1100 Jews.  But the story was he saved them for personal financial reasons.  He didn’t have to pay them.

The Old Synagogue in Krakow

Fence around a park

Inside another Synagogue

Outdoor Marketplace in Krakow

Balcony used in filming Schindler's List

Bridge to Jewish Ghetto

Square where most Jews were deported from

Interesting reflection from glass building

The wall surrounding the Jewish Ghetto

Some of Schindler's List Survivors

Schindler's Factory

Bread

Just outside the wall

Main Cathedral in Krakow

Castle in Krakow

June 11, 2016 – Krakow to Warsaw

Another travel day, but not as long, only 3 hours.

June 12, 2016 – Warsaw, Poland

I again took two walking tours.  The first was of the Old Town.  Warsaw was 90% destroyed during the war, but the main town square was rebuilt exactly as it was.  It took the communists only eight years to rebuild it.  Most of the other modern buildings in Warsaw look like your typical communist building, square and plain.

Memorial to Warsaw Resistence

Marking the wall surrounding the Jewish Ghetto in Warsaw

The Mermaid of Warsaw

Rebuild main square

Palace

Modern stadium in Warsaw

Is it raining?

Communist buildings and artificial palm tree

Hotel used during communism.  Every room was bugged.

June 13-14, 2016 - Traveling home

It was along trip and involved four flights, but I made it home safe and sound.

Italy 2016

Milan, Verona and Uniworld River Cruise in Venice

This adventure included four days in Milan, a river cruise from Venice, a few days in Berlin and traveling around Poland by train.  You will have to read the second posting for Berlin and Poland.

May 24, 2016

As usual the start of the trip means many hours in airports and lounges.  American is refurbishing the old USAirways lounge in Orlando, but not until later this year.

So after flying to JFK, and flying to Milan, I had to endure almost 90 minutes on a bus to reach the city.  Luckily my room was available for a much needed nap.

Refreshed, I walked to the Duomo, a magnificent cathedral and walked through the original Galleria, according to Eric.  I had great pizza and beer for lunch, but my dinner of pasta, veal and wine was outstanding.  I will definitely go back.

The weather in Milan was perfect, in the mid 70s and bright sunshine.

May 25 - 29, 2016 - Milan, Italy

Milan is a beautiful city.  I expected an industrial city, but the city center was built for tourists.  My first day was relaxing, recovering from jet lag.  I walked to the main square and had my first glimpse of the amazing cathedral.  I also walked through the original Galleria.

Selfie at Milan Duomo

The original Galleria

Milan Train Station

As usual I was attracted to the train station.  After lunch, pizza of course, I walked to the castle and grounds.

The Castle

On the third day I switched hotels, joining my tour.  I didn't realize the soccer world cup finals were being held in Milan.  The city was electric with fans from two Madrid teams chanting morning, noon and night.  I actually got a good picture of the world cup trophy.  One evening I went to the main square to join the festivities.

The World Cup

The Galleria at Night

During our city tour we visited the inside of the white marble cathedral.  That was my one church for the day.  In the afternoon we visited the restored Last Supper fresco. 

The Last Supper

May 29, 2016 - Milan to Verona to Venice

We traveled by coach to Verona for the day.  The highlight was Juliet's balcony.  When we got to the Colosseum the clouds opened up.  We made it to the bus soaked to the skin.

Romeo looking for Juliet

Rain at the Colosseum

That afternoon we had a great lunch at a beautiful vineyard.  The Amarone was great, as was the food.

After a few more hours on the coach we reached Venice and the Uniworld River Countess.

May 30, 2016 - Venice

Today we had a walking tour to discover Venice.  The highlight was a visit to the Doge' s Palace.  We took back roads back to our river boat.

Clock in Doge's Palace

That afternoon I took my own walk all over Venice.

One of the most characteristic features of the Venetian gondola is its front ornament, called ferro ("iron" in Italian). This comb-shaped piece of metal serves as counterweight to the gondolier who stands at the rear, but it has also a decorative and symbolic purpose: the overall shape of the ferro is an "S", representing the shape of the Grand Canal, the main waterway of the city; each of the six teeth of the front part of the comb represents a sestiere (the sestieri are Venice's six quarters), while the little arch above them refers to the Rialto bridge; the back-facing tooth represents the Giudecca Canal.

Is he on his cell phone?

Will I ever take out my paints again?

Piazza San Marco

The Grand Canal

More Gondolas

Tell the truth

May 31, 2013 - Chioggia and Padua, Italy

Today we sailed to Chioggia and then took an excursion to Padua.  For those of you who have seen the musical Pippin, that is where he went to school.

One of the main squares in Padua

We ended the tour with the famous coffee with mint at the Café Pedrocchi.

June 1, 2016 - Bologna, Italy

We started the tour walking around the city of pasta.  The highlight was a pasta making demonstration which I participated in.  For lunch we had pasta with Bolognese sauce.  You cannot have this sauce with spaghetti.

Pasta, pasta everywhere

Fresh veggies

Me making pasta - YUM

The professional making pasta

June 2, 2016 - Chioggia, Italy

Today was market day in Chioggia and the street was packed with vendors of every ilk.  I walked half the market then opted for side streets.

For lunch we had amazing mussels.

We took a scenic tour by boat of this charming fishing village.

The weekly street market

On our scenic boat tour

Mussels growing

June 3, 2016 - Torcello and Burano, Italy

Today we took a private boat to the islands of Torcello and Burano.

I skipped the basilica in Torcello and walked around the small island.  We then transferred to the colorful island of Burano.  We ended the tour in a special local vineyard where the bottles are Murano glass and the labels gold leaf.

Colorful Burano

That evening we had a private tour of St. Mark's Basilica.  It definitely counts as ten churches.

June 4, 2016 - Venice

Today we joined the chef for a tour of the local markets.

Spices for pasta sauce

That afternoon I took another walk along the Venetian canals.

Police boat

Fire boat

Morning downpour

We said our goodbyes at the farewell reception and dinner.