Gdansk and Around

Kay and I passed through Gdansk for the first time about ten years ago on our way north through the Baltic States in an attempt to beat the summer heat further south. On that occasion, we stayed only a couple days to admire the old city and ogle the amber jewelry in the shop windows.

This visit was more comprehensive. During scheduled excursions from our annual two-week literary conference held at a nearby resort on the Baltic Sea, we revisited the beautiful old town’s center, overflowing with summer tourists, and spent some choice hours in two museums that hadn’t existed at the time of our first visit.

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Warsaw in the Fall

November 2-5, 2005. Here are a few words about a four-day trip Kay and I have just taken to Warsaw. It was our first trip to Poland, and we had been told that Warsaw might not have been our best choice as a destination; Krakow is Poland’s big tourist draw. Despite the warning, we loved Warsaw. It’s a modern, dynamic city, one of the fastest growing in all of Europe, yet there is much there that speaks of it’s past. And what a past it’s had! In Warsaw, World War II is not yet a distant memory, and you don’t have to be a history buff to sense the shadows of those dark days that still linger.

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