Poland

Kristen was in Poland the summer of 2019 to take classes at Nicolas Copernicus University and attend the Torun Astrophysics, Spectroscopy, and Quantum Physics Conference. Yes, that sounds crazy scientific and Poland has some serious credentials when it comes to science, but they also know how to have fun. The night before a canoe trip, Kristen mentioned to one of her classmates that she was excited to be going canoeing on her birthday. Early the next morning, the young woman visited a bakery and managed to hide a cake throughout the trip to surprise Kristen at the pierogi dinner which followed. Kristen appreciates the kindness she was shown in Poland as well as the excellent scientific education.

Let’s start with a few scientists and some history on our way to the fun and touristy things for Poland. For the scientists:

· Copernicus is well cited, but I hadn’t spent a lot of time with him, so I was happy to learn more about his work here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDg5G7_uZ80

· It’s easier to find works on Marie Curie. I’ve read several through the years. I think one of them was Radioactive by Lauren Redniss. It is now a movie on Amazon Prime.

· New for me this week was learning about Stan Ulam as I watched the movie Adventures of a Mathematician on Kanopy.

Poland’s history has been impacted by their geography. When you don’t have many mountains to act as fences, it’s easy for your neighbors to cross your borders. Twentieth century history shows some of these boundary violations. I especially appreciated these works based on true stories:

· The Endless Steppe by Esther Hautzig is a young adult autobiography that tells how her family was forced to work in Siberia through the years of World War II. It reminds me of my Polish friend Lillian who told me that her grandmother was forced to work on the trans-Siberian railroad.

· The Zookeeper's Wife, currently on Netflix, is based on the true story of Antonina Żabińska, who saved the lives of 300 Jews endangered by the Nazi occupation of Poland.

· The Pianist shows pianist and composer Władysław Szpilman’s story of survival: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLSNh-LwJrI

· The Volunteer by Jack Fairweather is the fascinating inside story of Polish resistance fighter Witold Pilecki. He purposely was captured so he could report to the Allies on activity at Auschwitz. I learned so much and appreciated his extreme bravery both in remaining through the camp’s tenure and in that after dealing with the Nazi threat, he continued to fight against Soviet occupation.

To look at Poland under Communism, I read Rise Let Us Be On Our Way by Pope John Paul II. It wasn’t what I expected. There were many devotional thoughts, perhaps to allow people to think of higher things than Stalinist Poland. The story of Jerzy Popieluszko, an activist priest, was more what I expected. It is found in Messenger of the Truth: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VrMDIHvi5o

After these serious subjects, I’m happy to remind myself of the fun in Poland, starting with the food. Several years ago, Joanie invited a group of us over for rosol (soup), kapusta (mushrooms, cabbage, onions, & sauerkraut), potato onion pierogi, Polish noodles, pickled beets, cucumber salad, and cottage cheese pancakes, which can be an entree or one can add brown sugar and sour cream for dessert. I made Polish cream cake and was surprised at how such a simple recipe could be so delicious: https://www.thespruceeats.com/polish-papal-cream-cake-recipe-1136954

The same group of fun women added Cathy when we ate at the Polka Polish Restaurant in Glendale recently. The meal started with an unusual and delicious pickle soup, followed by a salad, and then homemade pierogi (I had mushroom and sauerkraut; Joanie had potato, cheese and jalapeno; Gladys had potato and onion). We also had cabbage rolls (Erika’s favorite), chicken schnitzel, and hunter stew. Desert was cherry crepes that they served dramatically with live flames. Everything was beautiful and delicious. Here are more Polish recipes: https://www.tasteofhome.com/collection/old-world-polish-recipes-worth-trying-today/

If you watched The Witcher on Netflix (my husband watched straight through and I saw parts), then you have seen the work of Polish fantasy writer Andrzej Sapkowski. Going further back, Polish Fairy Tales by A. J. Gliński are new to me, including a different frog princess story than the one I grew up on: https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/36668. For a modern fairy tale, I watched the romance movie Squared Love on Netflix.

I love piano music, so these classical pieces by Frederic Chopin are some of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wygy721nzRc. The University of Southern California has a Polish Music Center to explore more composers and performers: https://polishmusic.usc.edu/

Another thing to do in California to experience Poland is the Harvest Festival at the John Paul II Polish Center in Yorba Linda. The next one is September 17, 2022.

If you are thinking of visiting Poland, see Rick Steves' Eastern Europe, Poland for some options: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show/poland-rediscovered

Kristen could give you some hints on what to wear. She knew in advance that Poland is a modest Catholic country, so she packed her long Bermuda shorts and capris. She soon found that every woman around her wore skirts, and looked both beautiful and comfortable. Just last week when I was with her, Kristen wore her navy blue and white print Jersey knit skirt with a handkerchief hem that she found in Poland. She tells me that it’s great for traveling in Europe to go into churches on hot days.

Here are a few more places to explore in Poland: https://www.thecrazytourist.com/15-best-places-to-visit-in-poland/ and I would love to go! I look forward to that time when we can travel broadly again. In the meantime, I’m hoping we all survive, thrive, recognize our mutual humanity, learn to deal with our conflicts, and allow peace, health, and safety to flourish in Poland and throughout the world.

Photo credit: Anna Gru https://unsplash.com/photos/3NX0wWBRRgg