The Pilgrims Must Have a Spawn Point

  Chris and I had the bright idea that perhaps we shouldn’t keep burning the candle at both ends so we slept in till a healthy 8:30 and didn’t go out for our coffee until 10. Today we went to Wawel Castle and Cathedral. Various assorted famous Polish people are buried here and those who aren’t have a plaque. Chopin had the bad sense to be buried in France

instead. The Wawel Cathedral was absolutely beautiful inside. Front and center were the remains of St. Stanislaus-which I did take a picture of and then got yelled at profously for. Turns out once I stopped staring at the ceiling the “No Pictures” signs were everywhere. So I suppose I gave a bad name to Americans. There were about six queen Jadwigas which must be a very popular name in Poland and the chapel for the saint Jadwiga. The kinds on the other hand, had names that ended in the great, the bashful, and my personal favorite, the short. In more modern times this has been the resting place for a famous Polish revolutionary, artists, and the President of Poland. Chris is a wealth of information on these people and I now know more Polish history than I ever thought I would. 

I think it should also be the resting place for anyone who has a bell from the bell tower fall on them. The largest bell–all the way on the very top mind you weighed over 2000 lbs and

rang an F# tone. It takes 12 people to ring it and we unfortunately were not aloud too. The bell tower itself had a beautiful view of Krakow and when you could duck into an alcove outside of the lines of tourists very peaceful. Pictures were aloud here but not smoking which is a mystery considering we were climbing up a wooden tower. 

After the Cathedral we went to the Cathedral Museum. Can you guess who it was named after? It was the JPII museum! Inside were his papal garments and papal shoes–yes he had special shoes with his crest on them. There were Chausibles, Chalices, and Monstrances dating make almost a thousand years. Furthermore, there were various bishop miters. None of these looked comfortable, some were literally made out of woven metal and had the appearance of steel wool. It is a very comforting thing however to see it going back so far. By the time we left this museum the entire courtyard of the castle was crawling with tourists, but when we went to the next museum the Karol Wojtiyla museum (which for those of you who don’t know was JPII’s name before he became Pope) we were the only people there.

The people running it literally had to turn on the lights and music in the museum. 

This museum had a lot more artwork in it and its a very fun game to play guess the saint by the horrible way they died. While this was Karol Wojtiyla museum the entire bottom floor including the walls were devoted to Benedict the XVI. However, upstairs there was a room that JPII lived in while on sabbatical and also not the pope. We also got to see his typewriter, the original copy of an encyclical, and a napkin ring he was bequeathed which is by far one of the weirdest gifts I have observed. 

Finally, I had had enough of looking at paintings which Chris says doesn’t bode well for Rome but ah well and we left the museum. Milk Bar’s are Poland’s equivalent of fast food and so we tried one out. It was designed like a cafeteria but instead of the food being layed out in tins it came out of the kitchen fresh but in a continuous flow. I branched out from Pierogi yet again and ate Potato Pancakes which were to die for and left me feeling like I might need a food coma. This was a less touristy place and my Polish today consisted of pointing at items and being far too nervous to pronounce a word with 12 consonants in a row in it. (This is a slight exageration)

After lunch because it’s Chris and I we had to go for a bikeride. Immediately after

getting on the bike I half crashed and now have a massive bruise on my knee. This means it really was a normal bikeride for us. There were so many people on the riverside trail biking or walking that it was a very careful game of don’t hit the child or the happy couple. The lighting was wonderful and the Vistula is very picturesque. I took things at a leisurely pace while I could sense Chris’s heart rate elevate everytime a biker went by who was actively training and therefore passed us. The eventual end of the trail led to a Benedictine Monestary. We had excellent luck and made it just in time for Latin Vespers which the monks sang. It is a weird sensation to go to something so solemn in sweat soaked clothes. Chris fell through on this one and couldn’t find the right version of vespers but the Polish Church lady right in front of us was very helpful. She didn’t speak any English we didn’t speak any Polish but she shared her Chant hymnal with us and pointed along to where we were at. She must have kids or something. 

Then after watching the river we biked back in I kid you not the golden glow of evening. I made a forced stop to go sit along the river and smell the trees because the apple trees just happened to be in full bloom (Max remember to take Becky on that date I planned for you). There were also quite a few less people on the trail at this time in the evening which made it easier to enjoy the scenery.

 We had another fancy dinner last night this time in a square and tried our Vodka in tea-which I liked but Chris as a purist thought was mixing things that are better seperate. The important thing that happened is when they brought us the tea the teapot was ontop of the mug. Chris and I at first could not figure out for the life us could not figure out where the cup might be. However, because I have a college degree I figured it out. I had Pork stuffed with sheep

cheese which was like a Pierogi with an outisde of meat instead of dough so it was still me branching out. We finished out last night with an espresso-No milked coffee after Lunch or some such think and a walk through the plaza all lit up and filled with people everywhere mostly wandering. We played another one of my favorite games which is “Happy Couple or Not.” This game is very simple you look at the couples on Park benches or walking around and guess whether they are happy or not. As Chris said-”The Night is Young. The people are also Young.” The main plaza at night however, is a truly wonderful thing. 

This morning we decided that on Divine Mercy Sunday we should visit the Divine Mercy Shrine for mass. There were Police and EMT’s everywhere but when we arrived there weren’t too many people they were either in the earlier mass or as we discovered in line to see the tomb of St. Faustina. This was amazing and there was the second original of the Divine Mercy Image-the original is in Lithuania for some reason. It was probably one of the most incredible things ever to see. It was also amazing to see just how many people were there

today. (Of course I’m going to Rome today so it might just be preparing me for that.  The organ music was beautiful and I assume the homily was well done. If I had to guess it was about mercy. Communion the Polish church ladies were very aggressive and I got hit with a cane a few times as I went up so I guess extra penitential. 

On our way out of the shrine people were coming in for the main mass of the day and it was a flood. The mass was to be said outside and the grass was already mostly filled despite it being a half an hour before the next service. It was like swimming up stream in rapids to get out of there and when we finally made it to the tram assuming we were going to be safe the door opened and more pilgrims flooded out. All in all I can definitely recommend not going to the main mass. 

We escaped back to Krakow got the quintessential Rose donut and left Poland. (Hopefully someday to return)

My flight to Rome was smooth sailing at first. I napped-the French lady next to me made sure to grab me chocolate and water from the flight attendants, the seats are really comfortable in Munich, and the airport is very easy to find your way in. (Which by the way the Krakow is not. You have to go through the stores on your way out so you pretty much end up having to buy duty free goods-I wasn’t caught but Chris was.) Everything like I said was going great, until I got on my flight to Rome. First they didn’t have a ground crew cause they were short staffed. This was fine enough. However, when they showed up and unplugged the plane-cause apparently you do that, the auxiliary engine didn’t kick on and the plane died. (Thankfully, we were not in the air.) They tried starting the auxiliary engine a few times and after an hour decided a work around. Apparently you just need the auxiliary engine to start the main engine so they drove over a portable starter and started the left and right engine separately. Two hours after our flight was supposed to leave our engines were working-minus the auxiliary engine. 

The unfortunate part is when we got to Rome they had to figure out how to turn the Engine off because apparently the Auxiliary engine also does that. What this meant for me is instead of arriving in Rome in early evening it was dark by the time I got there. 

I feigned confidence and hopped onto the first train I found. This was a little more difficult than it should have been as I’m pretty sure the signs for the train went in several circles until miraculously you arrive at the station. I got on the train with a bunch of Italians who decided that they were going to work on their Spanish and one older Italian who kept trying to joke with me but took a while to get that my Italian is limited to Gratze and Per Favore. The Italians who were working on their Spanish on the other hand, caused me a great deal of trouble as they kept switching back and forth. The experience from my perspective was like a radio that keeps coming in and out of tune but when it’s out of tune you can still hear it the meaning is just all garbled. Just when I couldn’t be confused enough at one of the stops an Anime convention had been being held and so the train was suddenly flooded with Italian speaking, Genshin Impact and Zelda characters. 

I hopped off the station in hopes of finding my tram connection and ticket. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a ticket no matter how hard I looked and as the station cleared out it felt like a place I didn’t want to be alone. A poorly lit station at night surrounded by people in cosplay isn’t too bad once they leave though it gets a little worse.  I did the only obvious thing to do. I jumped on a tram without paying and then stood by the exit the entire time in case a ticket man came along and I had to make a hasty retreat. (I think this for me was more nerve racking than spending the night in the woods) I would have googled how to get a ticket but my phone was at 2% and I needed directions above all else. I figure if this goes on my criminal record it’ll say something like Stupido Americano. 

I made it to the place I was staying and was so used to the push doors in Poland that I kept trying to Push the door even after I heard it Unlock. I genuinely think a sister had to push it ajar for me to figure it out. I ended up missing dinner tonight which was sad but granola bars and chocolate while washing your clothes in a sink isn’t a bad way to spend an evening. I’m very excited to start my Rome expedition tomorrow! (With a fully charged phone) 

Quote of the Post: “You’re an Idiot and I have a College Degree!” 

Song of the Post: Regina Caeli-The monks sang it during Vespers