Exploring the Klodzko Valley

The fine weather continues with cloudless skies, cool mornings and hot sunny afternoons. Yesterday we took what must be one of the most charming train rides, over the mountains from Duszniki to Kudowa. Our little train had only three cars and a locomotive, and worked very hard to get up over the pass to the other side of the Stolowe Mountains.

Once there, we hired a car to go up to the Bledne Skaly, or labyrinth cliffs, a stone plateau at the summit of one mountain, which is criss-crossed by deep crevasses of 3 or 4 metres. You walk along the bottom of the crevasses on a marked trail, and often have to squeeze through exremely narrow passages, or get down on all fours to crawl through low overhangs.

Later, we visited the chapel of skulls in Czermna, an ossuary filled with skulls and bones from the victims of the plagues of the 17th and 18th centuries, and of the Swedish and Austrian wars. The morbid display consisted of a small chapel with walls and ceilings stacked with skulls, and a cellar filled with more bones.

Later we took the waters at the Kudowa spa, and returned to Duszniki by bus.

Today we are going to visit the museum of paper making here in Duszniki, and then the town of Klodzko with its medieval stone bridge.

Young Eagles' Reunion

Good news!  Our two backpacks and the snowshoes for Ela arrived on Saturday by van from Wroclaw.  This made it easier for me to enjoy the ceremonies that we had come to participate in, the unveiling of a monument to commemorate the school and orphanage run by the Brothers of the Christian Schools in Duszniki Zdroj between 1945-1949.  My father Czeslaw was on of the guests of honour, along with Brother Stanislaw, who was one of the original brothers to make the trek from Czestochowa in 1945 to the "wild west" of Lower Silesia.

 

There were about 80 alumni present.  A brass band marched us from the Chopin Manor were the speeches were made to the site of the monument.  The following day there was a special mass in the Franciscan monastery for everyone.  The alums were mostly from Poland, with some from Canada, USA and Spain.  It was interesting to meet them and hear their stories.  The brothers seem to have done a good job in educating these poor victims of WWII, as many of them went on to become doctors, lawyers, sea captains, priests, industrialists and other useful professions.  One priest said that his education began with one of the brothers teaching him how to hold a knife and fork.  I came away with a new appreciation for the idea of "educating the whole person" rather than just instilling knowledge and critical thinking. 

 

Today we are taking the train from Dusniki to Kudowa Zdroj to visit the Chapel of Skulls and the labyrinth in the Stolowe Mountains.  It is one of the most spectacular train trips in Poland, and it's a warm sunny day, so off we go!

Houston, We Have a Problem

I'm glad to report that we arrived safely at our destination, Duszniki Zdroj, last night.  Unfortunately, NONE of our checked luggage arrived with us.  My suspicion is that Air Canada misplaced it as soon as we checked in at Ottawa, but there's no proof, because despite all the wonderful techology available to us, none of the computer databases have any trace of our luggage. 

 

Of course, we have all the essentials, like money, passport, tickets, and a few other things like medicine, tooth brushes, address books and so on.  Also a change of underwear, socks, extra shirt and pair of pants, and a sweater.  We can survive on this for a while, of course, but it means we are kind of stuck here waiting to hear from the airlines, because they can't very well track us all over Poland, can they?  So, it seems we will sit and wait.

 

Fortunately, this is a pretty nice little spa town, and we have a whole regime of massages and baths planned out for us.  There are always the mountains all around to go hiking in (wish I had my hiking boots), and food is no problem.  The weather is warm and sunny, so apart from the anxiety about the possible loss of a lot of really neat stuff, we're doing OK.

 

We'll keep you posted.

Baladi

Had a hallmark Father's Day! Didn't get a card, but the belly dancing more than compensated. Gatineau, June 19, 2005.

Watch this space

Next Wednesday we leave for Wrocław and Duszniki Zdrój.  There may not be any new photos for a while, but if time permits, I'll send news to this blog by email.  Stay tuned.

 

 

So Long, Marie-Anne

Anna pointing out her neighbourhood, the Plateau. The B.A. coursework at McGill is done, and a job waits back in Ottawa. So, after four years of hard work and extreme partying, with the greatest reluctance, it is time to leave Montreal, at least for now. Mont Royal, June 6, 2005.



4407 Coloniale

The "For Rent" sign is already up.

I Love You Too, Brother

Trailers of Sturgeon County

Ed's 47th birthday treat for himself, a 16' four wheel 2-ton trailer. He says that the first thing he's going to haul with it is the pile of junk that's been accumulating beside the driveway. Next he hopes to find a nice old John Deere tractor or an antique truck if he can get a good deal on it. Sturgeon County, June 4, 2005.