Update on Cody's Eurotour 2009 (Hinton, War: big house, school, organic)
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I thought this would be the easiest way of updating everyone (who cares, don't feel bad if you don't)
But I'm coming home May 1st now. I was planning on coming home on the 15th of May but I've decided to take an extra summer class this year. The class starts on May 11th so I'll have to come home a little earlier than expected. The trip has been great, I've met so many wonderful people from all over Europe. People I will never forget that is for sure. I've learned a substantial bit about Poland. World history courses never elaborate much more than World War II, but I've learned so much about pre,during,and post WW2 Poland. We are going to travel to Wroclaw (pronounced Rotswav) next week which is about 4-5 hours away by train and is the 3rd largest city in Poland. Krakov was a beautiful city as well, a great way to look back in time with the architecture. I've learned a little of the Polish language..
please - proszę (sounds like prosha)
yes - tak (sounds tog)
center - centrum
piwo - beer (sounds like pivo)
I've learned a lot of other words too ha ha
some pictures of buildings and places around Europe
Last edited by GottaHerdOn; 04-14-2009 at 07:17 PM..
Some of that architecture reminds me of Austria. I guess it came from the same school era. European cities with ultra modern architecture just look hideous to me. Guggenhiem Bilbao Spain... nuff said.
Does this mean you won't get the chance to wander around europe? Get into the country side and don't forget more pics!
Some of that architecture reminds me of Austria. I guess it came from the same school era. European cities with ultra modern architecture just look hideous to me. Guggenhiem Bilbao Spain... nuff said.
Does this mean you won't get the chance to wander around europe? Get into the country side and don't forget more pics!
Yeah, it means I won't be able to wander around as much as I would have liked. I was in the UK for one day, and in Germany for 2 and the rest as been Poland. But I have gotten into the country side somewhat. The deeeeeep country side of Poland is quite depressing actually. We went biking into the woods with my mentor a few weeks ago and we biked to a lake. Beautiful lake, reminded me a lot of Deep Creek Lake area actually. This was probably only 30 miles outside of Warsaw though. So still not too isolated from the city. While we were biking you could see the blight of urban sprawl. However I noticed a lot of houses that obviously had been stopped abruptly. They look like they were maybe 50-60% completed and then the work just stopped. I'm assuming its partly due to the recession. When I asked my mentor she told me it was because the Polish want big houses like Americans but they get too big and cant afford to continue building them. I saw lots of these houses too, that what is crazy.
On the train ride to Krakow though we saw the real interior of the country. It was very, very run down and economically depressed. Much worse than I've seen anywhere in America
I agree with the "ultra" modern designing. Some buildings look really cool, others just look like ant colonies built upwards. Warsaw's city center (centrum) looks just like any city of the same size in Western Europe or America. They were really going through a building boom when the recession hit.
I'll be sure to take/upload more pictures before I leave...
Too bad avg americans can't school themselves equally within their own borders. Our nation has spectacular diversity, but more and more I hear people talking clannish competition. There's something wonderful about every state in our union. Abroad... these alternate versions of civlization made america possible. Gratitude goes a long way. Even what we determine as negative is a gift if we've learned the lesson of what to avoid the easy way.
..What are they doing to include the planet Earth and take care of the needs of humanity...What I'm asking is this....ARE they Saving the Whales...at all?
Is it a 'green country that never burns a lump of coal?
..What are they doing to include the planet Earth and take care of the needs of humanity...What I'm asking is this....ARE they Saving the Whales...at all?
Is it a 'green country that never burns a lump of coal?
It is really not that diverse at all. Occasionally I'll see a black guy, who are usually from Nigeria or some place in Africa. It's nearly uniformly white, with 95% of the people being Catholic. The older generations at least. The youth here mirror the US youth actually in how they're denouncing religion all together.
Poland definitely has us beat on recycling. They have recycling collection bins very easily accessible. All we have to do is walk maybe 100 feet from the front door to recycle. It is practiced by nearly everyone too, which is great. Their cars are smaller, and roads outside of the city are not that great so they travel less and burn less gasoline (petrol as they call it) and use less oil.
Not sure if they're really doing anything about the whales here... My boy friend and I were walking to the market this evening and there was a hedgehog sniffing around the grass... SOOOOO CUTE!!!! about the size of my fist and fuzzy and adorable. Apparently they're equal to squirrels over here in numbers and perceptions. I wanted to catch it and bring it home with me as a pet ha ha. Everyone has a dog here also, which I like. I enjoy seeing people walking their dogs in the evenings. It makes me feel more comfortable with the people. I'm a huge animal love and I prefer to be around people who are kind to animals so its nice to see that.
Overall I would say that it is probably considerably more "green" than the United States. I will give them that. They're also very serious about all of their food being organic. They hate preservatives and chemicals here. So that is good too.
Gave you a point Cody...thanks...remember the pics...they will last a lifetime...
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