For The Love of Travel

Golub Dobrzyn castle – a 4 winged conventional Teutonic castle built at the turn of the 13th and 14thC, in a Gothic Renaissance style. Many a war with different ownerships over 300+ years, but between 1611—1625, the castle was in a time of magnificence under the Polish Swedish princess Anna Wazowna. Pity that there’s no English translation of exhibits. You rely on there being no Polish tourist group going through, for the young woman to give you a translation. Whattttt??? Really bizarre.

Anyway, I know enough Polish to understand that the Teutonic order was a Catholic Order founded 1190, to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to the Holy Land  and to establish hospitals. The Teutonic Knights served as a military order to protect Christians in the Holy Land and the Baltics through the Middle Ages.  Check out the 18thC Bar (dark black-arched building), the only kind of building in town – literally 4 x 4 metres.

I discovered that George Sand was a lover of Chopin! Had no idea. Those intellectuals!!! Chopin visited Szafarnia, staying with his friend Juliusz in the summers of 1824 and 1825, as an adolescent.  He was introduced to the history of folklore, listened to peasant girl songs and wrote down melodies. He started composing masurska’s soon after. BTW, Chopin loved Torun’s gingerbread! Gorgeous property to wander around, beautiful lake.

Torun is one of the oldest cities in Poland, having been established in 1233 by the Teutonic Knights. Over centuries, it was home for people of diverse backgrounds and religions. Throughout different periods of time, the city was part of Prussia, Poland and Germany. Prior to WW1, the city was located in the Prussian region of the German empire. After Poland declared independence in 1918,Torun was incorporated into Polish territory. It escaped any destruction in WW2, so all the landmarks are the real deal.

Its famous for its gingerbread ( I went to the Gingerbread Museum and baked with about another 40 people) and as the birthplace of Polish astronomer, Nicholas Copernicus! 

Drove past an amazingly hip complex and found Loft 79 (and John Lennon) as a part of that…gallery, restaurant…reminded me of Brunswick!

Torun Cathedral was incredible…the interior is so richly decorated.. beautiful leadlight, baroque design, and lots of architecture styles I couldn’t name…

Got a cold people…just this visit today…..

The Saxon Garden is a 15.5 hectare public garden in central Warsaw facing Pilsudski Sq. More about Józef Piłsudski later..(#)

It is the oldest public park in the city. Founded in the late 17thC, it was opened to the public in 1727 as one of the first publicly accessible parks in the world. Before Versailles and Sissingham even!  This beautiful city-centred park was laid out by King Augustus 11 Mocny (The Strong) as a royal garden.

Initially a Baroque French-style park, in the 19thC it was turned into a Romantic English landscape park. Partially destroyed during and after the Warsaw Uprising, it was partially reconstructed after WW2.

The park has it all – shade trees, walkways, ponds, sculptures and a fountain designed by Marconi in 1855.  The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier can be found at the edge of the park.  On the park grounds, is a statue of Stefan Starzynski, the city’s mayor during World War II who died in the Dachau concentration camp. More about Stefan later (##)….

My Father’s and uncle’s apartment buildings on Krolewska (Queen St) faced onto the park in the early 20thC. Would have been a stylish area to live in. Now selling @ 30,000-50,000 zloty or $11,000-$18,000 AUS per sq metre for land price!!!

(#) Józef Piłsudski,  5 /12/1867 – 12/5/1935,  was a  Polish statesman; he was Chief of Staff (1918–22).  From mid-World War I he had a major influence in Poland’s politics, and was an important figure on the European political scene. He was the person most responsible for the creation of the Second Polish Republic in 1918, 123 years after it had been taken over by Russia, Austria and Prussia. 

Piłsudski believed in a multicultural Poland – a home of nations, recognizing numerous ethnic and religious nationalities and finally existing in strong historical alliance with independent states of Lithuania and Ukraine.  Early in his political career, Piłsudski became a leader of the Polish Socialist Party.   In 1923, with the government dominated by his opponents, he withdrew from active politics. Three years later, he returned to power with the May 1926 coup d’etat and became, in practice a military dictator of Poland. From then until his death in 1935, he concerned himself primarily with military and foreign affairs.

Between 1945 and 1989, Piłsudski’s person and his record were one of the multiple topics forbidden by the Polish communist regime.

(##) Stefan Starzyński : In the early 1930s Warsaw had a huge hole in its budget. The city’s development had been halted by a lack of funds while the population continued to grow rapidly. On August 1, 1934, Starzyński was chosen to become the president of Warsaw, and was given special powers. Local authorities were disbanded and Starzyński became responsible only to the central government.   Starzyński initiated a plan for fast-track reform of the financial system. The money saved thanks to these reforms was reinvested in public works that reduced unemployment. In 1934 he was chosen as a president of Warsaw for a four-year term. On December 18, 1938 he was elected in democratic elections for his second term. Starzyński held his office until WW2 broke out.  During his presidency:

(1) Paved all the major roads out of Warsaw;

(2) 44 schools were opened;

(3) National Museum was built;

(4) 2 major parks were opened to the public (one of them is now a National Reserve); planting trees and flowers along the main streets;

(5) construction of the Warsaw Metro started.

These actions earned him the nickname “President of the suburbs”.