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.