After navigating the S-Bahn from the KaDeWe and retrieving our luggage in the Berlin railroad station with a full minute to spare (I think German punctuality is bred into me!), we entered the Berlin-Warsaw Express train and found a nearly empty compartment. We had a delightful conversation with a business incubator from Berlin who spent a lot of time in Poland (as well as other places around the world), and he gave us some good advice about our travels. Unfortunately, we could not find the restaurant in Poznan that he recommended, but we were able to enjoy our lasagne dinner at an Italian cafe late at night after a very long day (especially for Jerry, who had flown the previous night from Nigeria to London and then into Hamburg!).

Our first breakfast at our hotel in Poland did not look too promising, but I still expected to fill up on pastries the rest of the day, so this light breakfast was just about right. The hotel offered a choice of four meals; ham, soft cheese, and cottage cheese; scrambled eggs, ham, and cottage cheese; sausages and soft cheese; or cottage cheese, cheese, and soft cheese. We both opted for the sausage, and ended up getting warm hot dogs! Bread, butter, and jam were included in all the meals, so we did not go hungry.

Our train to Torun did not leave until about 10 am, so I had the chance to walk around Poznan a bit. Still wonderful weather! I found the town square a few block from our hotel, and thought the buildings were wonderfully colorful and clean - and Poznan is not considered a tourist town.

I expected to find Chopin and Copernicus statues in the big cities, but it looks like they were everywhere in Poland. In this small garden in Poznan, a bust of Chopin sits in front of a large office building.

In Torun, the tourists finally started showing up. The town itself is in the UNESCO World Heritage Site list, and the Copernicus statue here in the main square is a prime meeting place for tour groups as well as for class field trips. Jerry didn't quite blend in with the Polish junior high students.

I've finally reached my goal of visiting the homes of all the major early astronomers! Jerry and I both toured the Copernicus museum, where Copernicus was born and lived his early years. Photos were not allowed inside, and part of the outside facade was undergoing restoration, but I was thrilled to be in Poland and visit this historic site at last.

Torun is not only famous for its astronomical heritage, but is also well-known for its gingerbread, as is Nürnberg in Germany (that German city is where Copernicus' famous book was first published, and is the home of other minor astronomers, so that's on my list to visit, too). I filled up my backpack with gingerbread from this and another similar store. I only found two places that sell the gingerbread in quantity, but that was enough! The flavor is wonderful, and since most variations are covered in chocolate, you can't miss. You can read about the history of Torun's gingerbread here.

The next morning, we caught a train to Warsaw, where we had a few hours to walk around. I did not make it to the Geological Museum; that would have just taken too much time, but we did walk about fifteen minutes to the Holy Cross Church where Chopin's heart is interred in one of the pillars. His body is buried in France, where he spent much of his life, but he wanted his heart to go back to his homeland. He is certainly considered a national hero, on a par with Copernicus. There was a large statue of Copernicus just outside this church! Carol wanted me to visit this place, and I had Jerry pose to help show the scale.

Kebab places were very popular all over Germany and Poland, and Jerry visited quite a few of them. While walking around Warsaw looking for lunch, we spied a line of customers in front a store. Thinking that these people must know a good place, we got closer and found out that it was selling kebabs. Not only that, the window next to it was a separate storefront, also selling kebabs! We chose the one on the right, and the server was very friendly and was excited to talked to us about America while he was preparing our meals. We sat down across the street in the large (and nearly empty) McDonalds outdoor seating area to eat our lunch. (I did eat a snack at a McDonalds in Poland, bringing my country count up to nine. Thai spicy chicken was the McDonalds specialty in Germany and Poland).

From Warsaw to Krakow, the seeing the stunning fall colors from the train window were worth sitting in an aisle seat outside the crowded compartments. I never anticipated that the trees would be in full fall colors, so this was a pleasant surprise.

Before I left San Diego, I had e-mailed the only mineral dealer I could find in Poland (he mainly sells meteorites) to ask about mineral dealers in Torun, Warsaw, or Krakow. He was nice enough to provide me with an address in Krakow that he said was not far from the main market square, and gave me the name of the street and the number, but not the store name. Since Krakow is a big city, I started at the market square and started walking up the street, looking for a mineral dealer, hoping it was within a half-mile. The address numbers did not make any sense, so I walked all the way back to the market square and then started back up the street. I noticed this sign in a window, and even though it was a jewelry store, thought they might be able to identify the dealer in my e-mail. I talked to one of the store's salesladies who spoke English, and showed her my e-mail with the street address. She was puzzled, and didn't think she could help me find the place. Then she asked, "Do I want to buy mineral specimens?" When I replied "yes", she said that they sell them here, in the back room. She apparently did not even recognize her own street address! I was able to purchase a unique specimen of kyanite with a nice calcite association. It turns out that this store was, indeed, not far from the market square - about one small block!

Krakow is much more of a tourist-oriented city, with large groups of people everywhere, horse and carriage drivers lined up for tours, and the main building in the center of the market square, shown here, was nothing but a long row of souvenir shops. I admit that I did buy a few things there, so the selection was actually pretty good.

One of the things I really enjoy when traveling, is going to concerts in the old cathedrals. We arrived in Krakow about 5 pm on the 26th, but I didn't see this until the next day. A Chopin concert in Poland would really have been a special treat, even though piano music is not my favorite. The tickets cost only about $10, and the concert was in honor of the anniversary of the composer's death.

However, I was lucky enough to see this poster just down the street! A concert featuring baroque music in an old church - I had to go, no matter what the cost. I bought tickets as quick as I could, and it was only about $13. A photo and program are shown later.

The main reason for the visit to Krakow was to tour the UNESCO World Heritage site of the Salt Mines in nearby Wieliczka. We scheduled our time for the English tour, and were led by a young guide who spoke very clearly. One of the first statues, made entirely of salt, was, of course, Copernicus.

A number of small rooms have museum-like dioramas to explain the history. This room shows the legend of how the salt mines were discovered centuries ago. Everything is sculpted from solid masses of salt.

The guide was showing us some of the old machinery used to hoist the salt blocks out of the mine, and offered to let anyone work the wood-and-rope pulley system as if they were really well-paid miners. Jerry jumped at the chance, and after a revolution, asked the tour guide for his pay! Everyone laughed, but he walked away empty-handed.

The largest room in the salt mine is available for rental for weddings and other occasions, and is used a few times per month. Almost everything you see is made of salt; the chandeliers, the sculptures, the walls and ceiling, even the floor. We were allowed at a few places (not here) to taste the walls!

Another pleasure of eating in foreign countries, is the different styles. We picked this place to eat our last dinner in Poland. Even though we were not quite sure what we would get, it all sounded pretty good. To get the price in dollars, divide by three - everything was pretty inexpensive. This restaurant was a small chain - there were two of them in the market square of Krakow, so we expected the food to be pretty authentic, eating what the locals were generally eating. The restaurant seemed to be more full than many of the others, but most of them could be tourists.

The last night in Poland, and the classical music concert in the church not far from the market square in old Krakow! I was there 30 minutes before the concert started, and was the second one there, so I sat in the front row. The church was beautifully decorated, and I was absorbed in the music and the setting, one of the best experiences in Europe. The program started with Pachelbel's Canon, followed by Mozart's Divertimento F-major #3, Bach's "Jesu Joy of Man's Desiring" (also chosen by me for my 50th birthday concert in San Diego), Mozart's Concerto for trumpet and orchestra (shown above), a piece by Albinoni, and the finale, Mozart's "Eine kleine Nachtmusik".

We left the next morning for a 12 hour train ride through Berlin to Hannover. Some of the train tracks were being repaired outside of Berlin, so we were about 30 minutes late arriving. Luckily, some kind of soccer tournament was delaying a number of other trains in and out of Berlin, so we were still able to make the connection. It did rain during much of this segment, but by the time we got to our final destination, the rain had stopped.

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