Maggi's Worldwide Adventure: Trip to my native land, Poland

This past week I had the good fortune to travel to Poland as part of the IGERT program (meaning that the trip was paid for). I spent a full week in Poland, we arrived on Sunday at about 10am and left on Saturday at 10pm. I was really excited about this trip, because I associate most with my Polish heritage since my last name is Polish and my grandpa was Polish. It was a bit of a whirlwind tour, but it was a lot of fun. Since I'm short on time (we're leaving for France tomorrow), this post will probably have more photos and less text.

Four of us decided to start the trip a day early so we could have extra time to explore Wrocław, the first city on our itinerary. We took the overnight train on Saturday to arrive Sunday morning, and it was definitely worth the less-than ideal night of sleep. We dropped our stuff at the Boogie Hostel, and then headed off into town. Our first priority was finding some food for breakfast. We located a nearby cafe that served omelets and toast, which was exactly what we needed. It also gave us a chance to get our bearings in the city. We spent the day searching for the town's gnome population, checking out various churches and bridges (Wrocław is known as the Venice of Poland because it has so many bridges), and enjoying the Fall foliage. We also went to see the Panorama Racławicka, a famous and gigantic painting of an important battle in Poland's history. After a brief meeting with the trip organizers (Piotr and Magda) and the rest of the group that had come in later in the evening, we hit the hay to be well-rested for the first day of work.

First views of Poland

I wasn't lying about the population of gnomes.

Beautiful Fall foliage around the rivers.

Yet another love lock bridge. They're everywhere!

One of many churches.

Fall colors in ivy on the art and history museum.

The museum had spatulas, made me think of my Dad!

The panorama we went to see was massive!

One of the scenes of the panorama telling about a Polish battle.

Market Square in town was bustling on a Sunday afternoon.

On Monday we headed to a local University to be observers of the game. I wrote about our role-playing game in a previous post but this time we got to observe the game being played (and would do so twice more while in Poland). Having played the game already, and knowing some details that would lead to better outcomes, it was somewhat difficult to keep my mouth shut while observing what the participants were doing. But it was also fun to watch because the outcomes were so different from when we played. It was probably hampered a little by the fact that the participants, who speak Polish, were required to speak in English for our benefit. I'm guessing this had at least a minor impact on the results of the game, or at least on our observations of the relational activities.

Getting ready to play the game!

Observing the game being played.

Some night shots of town.

Ilonka and I at the fountain in the square.

On Tuesday we had a free tour of the city before heading off in vans to our next city, Rzeszów (try saying that one!). The road trip lasted about 5 hours if I remember correctly. When we got to
Rzeszów it was pretty late and most of us simply stayed in the hotel and relaxed so we'd be prepared for another game day on Wednesday. In the hotel I actually had one of the most delicious desserts I've had in Europe, it was an apple pie sort of thing, but not pie exactly. Whatever it was I want more.

Foggy morning for the tour.

Europe is beautiful!

Town hall in the square, with the oldest restaurant in Europe
in the basement!

One of the nice buildings (can't remember what it is)...

Lots of gnomes in this town!

Foggy river!

Wednesday we had another full day observing the game. The purpose of having us observe the game is to try to better understand how people communicate in complex systems. Developing an understanding of the system is important when there are many actors and no single actor has complete information. In the real world, this happens frequently, but because humans seem to be so bad at communicating, we need tools to help us understand complex and complicated situations better. For me, playing and observing the game is a good way to learn how to communicate better, not just in work situations, but also in other relational situations.

Observing the game in Rzeszow

Wednesday after playing the game we got straight into the vans and headed for Krakow, our last city. Upon arrival, once again, I was too pooped to go out. I had a shower and went to bed. Our hotel was a little different this time as it was a cross between a hotel and a dorm (at least I think). During breakfast, there was an odd mixture of tourist types (us and older couples) plus local students who couldn't have been past sophomore year. Breakfast the first day was normal, scrambled eggs, but on the second day it was hot dogs! It was fine though, they actually tasted pretty darn good. :)

After playing the game the last time, I had two days to spend in Krakow. The morning of the 18th (and most of the afternoon) was spent on a guided tour of the city. We saw churches, the Wawel Castle, the walls and park that surrounds the inner part of the city, and a lot more. It was really cold and rainy, so we ended up with 5 people left at the end of the tour, but that was fine since we were five of the six staying an extra night. I'll post some photos from the day, and then my next blog post will be about my final day in Poland, part of which was spent on a tour to Auschwitz.

It was a beautiful evening in Krakow

The market area lit up at night.

We went to the Jewish District for dinner on Friday night, the
food was delicious. I had a traditional Jewish pasta meal.

A view of the old town, on a rainy-day tour.

One of the gates leading out of the walled part of the city.

A lot of buildings have "coats of arms" like this one, the animal
depends on who lived in the building or owned the building.

It was chilly!

There is an interesting story behind this knife.
Two brothers were competing to have the tallest
building in Krakow, the younger won, but then he
was murdered (apparently with this knife) by his
older brother. There's more to it than that, but that's
the gist of it.

A cool lion in front of a church (I think it was
a church...?).

The thing hanging behind the big chain, which are both
attached to a church, was used for punishing people.
It was at the perfect height so a person could not stand or sit,
although I was able to stand when I tested it out...