Polska for my heart!

A few days ago I visited a dear friend in Poland, we had waited 7 years for this re-encounter, now that I´m living in Oslo for a few months was the perfect time, and the airlines contributed to this event. I spent a wonderful week there! In short words I can tell you: Poland is beautiful!!!!!!

We were in Warsaw, Cracow, Fiore, Czestochowa, Wieliczka and Auschwitz. So we had a good enough grasp of the Polish culture. From the very first day, going back to the place of my friends Wojtek and Magda we saw the Palace of Kulture, impossible not to see it, this symbol of the Russian times, visible from nearly every corner of Warsaw has watched the evolution of this country from more than 50 years, no doubt it wakens conflicting feelings among the population reminding them cruel times and history, so the first face that Poland showed to me had a big sign about the celebration of the 20 years from the liberalization from Komunism. (yes, the “K”s are intentional) From that moment I start seeing everything with more curious eyes, poor of my hosts that had to take all my questions…

I founded very interesting to try comparing what I was seeing with Cuba (which I visited in 2007). Possible in a way, they had a very similar Komunist regimes (in the origins and specially when Mother Russia was alive) And it was relatively easy to see patterns, structures, buildings, consequences, pictures and listen to stories and people that made feasible the parallel. But the brightest thing was to imagine that for a moment I was seeing what could be the future of Cuba. That I was seeing a good example of people that work their way out of Komunism to a developing society that already is in very good shape.

With the mix of old buildings and modern architecture, history written on the walls, smelled on the air, trams and views, and felt on the streets and monuments and yet, lots of banks, malls, stores, transportation and a sort of globalization products.

We walked the city of Warsaw feeling all that, seeing the remains of the Jewish Ghetto walls, the insurrection movement monuments and recalling the relevance of John Paul II for the fall of the Komunism. It was touching indeed.

My polish brothers and sisters have many reasons to feel alive and they know it, but the good part is that they feel and are alive. They are people committed to work, not forgetting the importance of solidarity and collective action and never letting hope die, hope on a better future on a higher quality life standard, now possible with political methods more suitable to people.

Somehow (not sure why) I imagine that the polish cuisine was very good, and Magda and the typical polish-food restaurants that we visited prove me right. You most taste it all, but my big 3 recommendations: Bigos, Pierogi and Silecian dumplings with meat.

I don´t really know what to say about Auschwitz. Is a place that still now takes away from people and not only words.

It just shows once again how un-useful is the war, any war. How blindly stupid can the human kind be when driven by hate feelings and using violence. I saw a sign in one of the buildings stating something like: “please remain silent and show respect”, but after entering the blocks, little rooms, hallways, torture rooms, knowing what happen on those streets, floors, chambers and having the image of people taking their last walk towards the execution wall and feeling the wall that took the weight of their bodies after the gunfire... The sign was not needed at all, at least for me.

For the final note I must say that Cracow was also very beautiful, just as Warsaw (I don´t want to raise regional disputes here). The old town is really worth seeing and walking. The jazz in Poland is very promising, if you visit Poland, and I insist: you must, try also to mood some jazz. Of course a saw also some more interesting things, people and places, but these are the main highlights. :)

Also published on:

http://www.mybestjourneys.com/story/2009-06-26/polska-my-heart