3 Day Holiday

May in Poland starts with two quick national holidays; May 1 and May 3.

May 1 (May Day) is a holiday in many places around the world. However, in Poland it was the Communist celebration of Labor Day until 1990, with government-endorsed parades, concerts and similar events. My colleagues that are my age, tell me that when they were kids, they remember being made to go to Labor Day parades and having to wave red flags. You could get in trouble for not going.

When Communism fell, the new democratic government decided to keep the holiday, but rename it to something more neutral- simply called “State Holiday”. I heard many people still referring to it as Labor Day, but without the obvious Communistic influences.

The bigger and much older of the two holidays is on May 3rd. That is Constitution Day. Constitution Day began in 1791, when Poland was the second country in the world to sign their own Constitution (The US was first). Unfortunately it did not last long- as the next year Poland was invaded (again) by Catherine The Great’s Army from Russia and ultimately carved up for the next 200 year’s by Russia, Prussia and Austria (called the three partitions). Poland did not geographically exist from 1793 to 1918.

Even during the partitions and during Communism, Constitution Day was held by Poles with national pride (and many times celebrated in secret).

Constitution Day is celebrated by Poles all over the world. Chicago had a big parade today, and Kansas City (who has a moderate sized Polish community) also has a parade (they call it Polski Day). We went to it last year. For those Kansas Citians on this blog- the neighborhood in KCK is at 8th and Vermont (near the old St. Margaret’s Hospital) which used to primarily be a Polish neighborhood. Last year we attended the parade, went to a Polish Mass at St. Joseph-St. Benedict’s Church, and had our first samplings of real Polish food. We will likely be regular attendees in the future.

However, this year we had our own festivities in the homeland. We were invited to our neighbor's house for a BBQ.

Basia and Mariusz made bigos, grilled pork steaks, smoked kielbasa, and Polish Salata (what we yanks call cole slaw). Charles and Karolina did the translation. It was a very nice day, but a tad cool. Mariusz has this really neat hanging BBQ grill, that he said could even hang a wok from. The meats were great. You can see us in their backyard, and our backyard is just behind the wooden fence. Trey had a great time playing with their dog. Their youngest daughter Anita joined us for a while, but she is finishing high school this week and has her final exams.

On the 2nd, although not technically a holiday- most people take it off. This year the 2nd fell on a Sunday- so that made it even easier to relax.

Lisa, I and the two smaller kids went down to Old Town. The former Coal Market (now an open area for events) had several booths set up with vendors and carnival type rides. Trey enjoyed the big slides and Abbie liked the flowers. We walked down the Dulga (Royal Route) through the Old Town. Four weeks ago we could walk down the Dulga and see almost no one. But not only is it a holiday, but spring is coming and so are the tourists. So there are now hundreds walking this area. By June, there will be even many times more people. All the vendors are out selling their amber jewelry and other trinkets of the city. The Fountains are on, people eating outside and the sun is shinning. It was a long winter! Glad to see spring get here.

It is suppose to be cold and rainy tomorrow on Constitution Day. Everything is closed (including grocery stores). So not much to do inside or outside. But looking forward to a day of not doing much.

Happy Constitution Day!

Up and Down the Rhine

After a couple of days in Cologne (by the way, that is where the “perfume type” originated from)- we decided to spend some days going along the Rhine.

A few years ago, I took a train from Strasbourg France through the Rhine Valley, into Koblenz Germany (about an hour south of where we are staying). It made quite an impression on me. It was one of the most spectacular and scenic trips I had ever taken. So, I was excited to see more of the Rhineland. And I knew Frau Lisa would really enjoy it (she also always brings these 4 short people with her at all times- however, I did not catch their names).

The Rhine is pretty neat river. It starts in the Swiss Alps and flows all through western Germany, to the Netherlands and out into the North Sea. The Rhine has great historical significance and is lined with many castles. But you have to take the full class to get all the details and slides.

On Monday we went to Bonn, about 30 minutes south of Cologne along the Rhine.

Bonn is a very nice, smaller city (19th in Germany, vs 4th for Cologne). It was the capital of Germany between WWII and the fall of the wall, when there was such a thing as Western Germany. There is still a President and Chancellor’s residence, and many, many government and UN buildings. Most of the German government did not actually leave Bonn for Berlin until 1998 (it took that many years to physically move the capital). Many government employees still work in Bonn today, but Berlin is unquestionably the capital now.

Bonn would not be one’s normal choice for a capital city, given that much larger cities (Frankfurt and Cologne) were on the West side. Bonn does not even have its own airport. People called it a Capital Village (as opposed to a Capital City). Rumor has it, a politician in the 1940s with some money and political weight was from Bonn and had it placed there.

Of course, Bonn sits right on the Rhine and makes for some beautiful scenery. We had a delightful walk along the old town. We also happened to be there during the annual marathon. So there was lots of activity on the streets. Although that was purely accidental on our parts- we benefited.

Bonn’s most famous citizen was Ludwig Von Beethoven, who was born there in 1770. Everywhere you go, you see “a Beethoven was here”-type sign. Ironically, Beethoven hated Bonn. He could not wait until he became old enough to leave home and move to Vienna. He then returned for 5 years to take care of his sick mother. When she died, he left Bonn again never to return. However, you don’t see that part in any of the city brochures. They just proudly call themselves the home of Beethoven. We saw the house he was born in.

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On Tuesday we went to Dusseldorf, about 40 minutes north of Cologne along the Rhine. Pretty similar travel on a train as we had to Bonn, just going north this time.

We could not tell if were tired of seeing things or if both Bonn and Cologne were greatly superior to Dusseldorf. But we definitely liked Dusseldorf the least of the three Rhineland cities we visited. The Rhine of course was beautiful. Dusseldorf has some great high end shopping areas called the Kö (we are not much into that)- but if you like your expensive brand names, you would have loved several of the streets. Also, the old town (Altstadt) Sorry, is nice.

Heinrich Heine is their most famous resident. Now if his name is a mystery to you- I had to look him up. He is a famous poet. His stuff does rhyme, so he must be good. The main street in town, with the best shops is Heinrich Heine Alle, the University and a couple of other famous buildings are named after him too.

One thing we did notice about Dusseldorf is its great amount of green space and parks.

We learned there is a great competitive atmosphere between Cologne and Dusseldorf. You are warned in the tourist guides not to compare one city to another in pubic (unless you are praising the city you are in over the other). Even the lady who rented us our Cologne apartment commented “people in Dusseldorf are all snobs”, when we told her of our day long outing.

This even comes down to their beer. Now, I have to admit I had to sink pretty far into beer-geekdome for this difference- so I consulted my beer swami- Dr. Martin Stack. Turns the two cities have their own very similar, but separate beer styles. I mentioned the light, hoppy Ale style, called Kolsch, in my last blog. Well the Dusseldorfers (yes, that is what they are called) have their own, Altbier (or just Alt) style. Residents debate for hours if Kolsch or Alt is better. It is against German law for Kolsch to be made in Dusseldorf. I tried two Alts. Not bad.

That said, Germany is one of the three great meccas of beer: Germany, Czech Republic & Belgium. (Sorry, St. Louis is not the fourth). I greatly prefer the Belgiums’. But research is research.

This is our 7th country visited as a family and my 10th since we have been here in September. We have 2 more to go (Sweden and Denmark in May) before we return home.

Finally, although this will be addressed in the next blog from Lisa and I- our last day in Germany was our 19th wedding anniversary. We did something unique.....

Cologne

We had planned to visit the Rhineland of Germany for the past several weeks. Airplane tickets had been purchased. An apartment was found and pre-paid (as usual, I had a hard time finding an apartment for our 6 people). Then came the volcano. Most flights in Poland, Germany, and most of Europe did not move for 7 days. 100,000 flights were canceled during this time. Airspace only started to partially open up the day before our trip- and Poland to Germany had not opened up. As of midnight the night before, they had not made a decision if our flight was going to go. By the time we woke up the morning of- all flights were planning to leave. We decided to get to the airport early- having no idea what to expect. As Lisa mentioned in her blog- the airports (Gdansk and Cologne) looked as it they did on any day. We were quite surprised. I know some of the larger airports had long lines- but fortunately we had a seamless experience.

We flew into Cologne (Koln) Thursday afternoon. First after finding a cab that would fit our family, we headed towards the apartment. Finding a cab for a party of six is one of my most frustrating experiences. I feel we are like a bunch of circus freaks, walking from minivan cab to minivan cab asking if they will take 6 (almost always they say no)- 5 at the most. I finally grabbed a cab steward- who had to call his supervisor to send over a “special” cab to fit us. I am rarely in a good mood by the time we are loaded in the cab and on the way.

Cologne is a great city, I had been to the Rhineland once (but a little further south)- I knew Lisa would love it. Cologne is the 4th largest city in Germany and it is dominated by the Cologne Cathedral. This grandiose building took 600 years to build. For me, an old church fan, this is right up there with Notre Dame and the Vatican. Our apartment is maybe .5 miles from the Cathedral. Cologne is a very old city (3th century AD) founded by the Romans. Every time they try to build a new building and dig the foundation- they run into Roman ruins. Here is a site they are excavating now. It was suppose to be an extension of city hall.

I am trying not to repeat too much of what already placed in Lisa’s blog. As always- she tends to focus on the family activities, while I am usually unaware they are with us- and thus concentrate on the history and culture. So make sure you read http://anamericanhouseholdinpoland.blogspot.com/2010/04/so-far-i-am-loving-germany.html and anamericanhouseholdinpoland.blogspot.com/2010/04/splash-of-cologne.html to get the entire story.

We have been in the Cathedral several times. Once for a long tour. Of course, I purchased a guide and made the family walk with me from fascinating object to fascinating object. Catholic pilgrims have been coming to Cologne for centuries. It holds a special relic, which has been in the Cathedral for several centuries. It is the sarcophagus made of gold that hold the remains of the Three Wise Men (pictured below). The Magi sarcophagus is prominently displayed above the high alter (also quite a sight in its own right). The Catherdal has spectacular stain glass windows and alters all around. On Sunday we attended Mass at the Cathedral. It was the High Mass- which we learned meant: really, really long.

The city skyline is dominated by the Cathedral. It can be seen from most anywhere (and is actually a good landmark when you get lost).  (I did not take this arial shot, just to clarify).

The Cathedral sits on the bank of the Rhine. In addition to old churches, I Iove big ornate bridges. When we were in Budapest, seeing all the bridges were my favorite part. As with Budapest and the Danube, Cologne has many great bridges crossing the Rhine. My favorite is the one right in from of the Cathedral called Hohenzollern bridge. You can walk or bike across it.

The Rhine was a very important part of the battle field during WWII. First, the Germans easily went west into France and Belgium. But as the Allies started to push the Germans back- the Rhine became an important barrier. As the Germans retreated back to the east- they blew up the Hohenzollern bridge (and the others) to slow the allies down. Here is a before and after (1945 and today) of the bridge.

Also, in pursuit of research- they have a special style of beer here called Kolsch. By law, it can only be brewed in and around Cologne. It is a light, hoppy Ale, rather low in alcohol content. Not bad- I have tried about 5 different brands. Uniquely, it is served in very tall, but skinny glass (.2 Litres). One of the major Kolsch breweries is Sion.

On our first night here we saw a good steak house that advertised “American steaks”. It even had US flags all over it. The steaks started at 15 Euros (which is not very cheap). But I miss steak and we decided to try it. Once inside, you find out their menu is for Argentinean steak. Then they give you a menu supplement that indicates if you want to substitute the Argentinean beef with US beef- add an additional 10 Euros per steak.... I stuck with the Argentinean- still better than pork.

Besides walking the city and enjoying the warm air and great shops, we took the kids to the Chocolate museum. It was a great kid friendly place, that is owned by Lindt Chocolates. It shows from the cultivation of the chocolate plant all the way to the packing of fine chocolates.

Lisa and I about got into a fight with one of the museum guides. He was in the same room as we were, giving a loud talk to a group of tourist. I was on the other side of the room explaining something to the kids. He stopped his talk and told me to “keep it down”. I politely told him we paid the same amount of money as everyone else did- and I was just explaining something to my children. He moved the group off in a huff. He was quite rude to me- as he called me out from across a room. I complained to a supervisor (who actually saw the incident).

But that did not stop us from buying good chocolate for all of us. I got a Lindt white chocolate bar, that had white chocolate moose filling. Amazing! I did learn something else. I have had a academic curiosity with coffee industry (like the beer industry). I frequently take my students on a tour of the Roasterie Coffee plant in KC. Knowing little about chocolate- I was surprised to see the similarities in the cultivation, production process and other issues with coffee. Will have to maybe add a little research to that area as well. beer, coffee and chocolate (and of course health care).

Finally, as we are on the Rhine, we spent an hour boat tour just going up and down the river. I am enjoying the fact that the kids are seeing (and riding on) some of the most famous rivers in Europe- so far Danube, Vistula, Rhine.

Of course the food is great. Bratwurst and Currywurst at every meal.

Funeral and Volcano

This has been a somber week of mourning for the Poles. This weekend is the funeral for President, his wife and the other 94 who died in the plane crash last weekend.

Although the country has been in mourning all week (7 days)- life pretty much goes on as normal. The major exception are all the Polish flags with a black ribbon on it. You see these on every house, public building, trams, buses, fences, and many personal cars. Also, you see candles in a white or red vase all over memorial cites (Poles do like their candles).

This weekend, the weekend of the actual funerals, most activities came to a stop.

At 8:56am on Saturday all the church bells and national warning sirens went off for 2 minutes. That is time, a week ago, that the plane went down. I was actually teaching that morning and we stopped for the two minutes. The funerals started at noon on Saturday- and that is when most of the city and country shut down. Our University shut down from noon Saturday through all of Sunday. We end our class at noon anyway, so it was a easy transition for me.

At noon, just as we were finishing class- the church bells and national sirens went off again. This signified that the national service had begun in Warsaw, and they were reading the 96 names of the dead. By then I was downstairs at the University and we had a big screen on where I watched the reading of each name. They read the name, their age and their position. For me, it was eerily similar to the services for 9-11, I remember seeing.

Most countries have had a national tragedy, and Poland has had many tragedies over the centuries. In September 1939, the Nazis invaded from the West and 17 days later Stalin invaded from the East- millions of Poles died at the hands of each. Much of the Holocaust occurred on their soil. Martial law from the Communist was established in 1981 and lasted 18 months. Before that, Poland has been invaded and exploited from almost every major empire that existed in European history. But this is certainly the current generation’s national tragedy- it is like 9-11 is for us Americans.

Now this air tragedy has certainly reinforced why it is a good idea that “important” people never travel on the same airplane. We would never have a single plane loaded with so many dignitaries and officials- due to the one in the million chance something might happen. As we saw- that one in a million chance does happen. I am sure the Poles will drastically change their policy.

The political transition has been quite smooth. Although the President died, most of the other high political leaders were not on the plane. The Prime Minister and higher level members of Parliament did not travel with him (they frankly don’t like him). So the appointment of a new/temporary President was seamless. Also, frankly the President does not do much with the day to day running of the government in the Polish system- that is the job of the Prime Minister.

What was decimated was three other groups. First was the military: 6 of the 7 highest military leaders (equivalent to our Joint Chiefs of Staff) were on the plane. Second was lots of high level cabinet members who were responsible for things like the Central Bank of Poland and also for foreign affairs. Third were the dignitaries. A past President, several symbolic leaders of the Solidarity movement and other people who were very iconic to the Poles. So, although the world news is about the President- to the Poles it is a much larger event.

During my class on Saturday, I spoke to my students (they are mid-20 year old Master’s students). We talked about their reaction. Of course, they were sad and shocked- but they had a very interesting observations about the process of things. They were shocked and “sick” of all the TV coverage this has received. This has been on TV 24/7 pretty much all week, non-stop. They had never seen so much attention paid to one event on TV. That was odd to me, as we are now use to cable TV’s 24/7 coverage of anything semi-important. But we also know the coverage gets ridiculous at a point. This is the first time something occurred in Poland to get that 24/7 cable TV coverage. All my students were sick of it. One commented that when they interviewed a shopkeeper who was the last person to sell something to someone who was on the plane- he finally turned off the TV.

The other thing they commented on was how the world is perceiving Poland. First they thought the heated debates Poles were having about where the President is to be buried was hurtful to the country. He is being buried in the Wawel Castle in Krakow along with Kings and Saints, some think that is inappropriate for a politician to be buried there along with national heroes. They thought the public arguments were petty and embarrassing to Poles. I assured them this debate is getting very little news coverage outside of their country.

With that is the perception of the country itself. They realize most people (like in America) know little about Poland. I even tell them most Americans could not find Poland on a map. However, what people DO know about Poland tends to revolve around WWII, The Holocaust, Communism, etc. They don’t want to be known for their tragedies anymore- but rather their growth and accomplishments. Really, this is the first time Poland has been major international news since 1989. That is not the Poland they want projected to the world.

Saturday was a service in Warsaw for all 96 victims (Warsaw is about 4 hours south of us). They had a big stage and memorial with all of their pictures on it. We will be in Warsaw next month, and we hope it will still be up. It lasted a good part of the afternoon.

Sunday was the State Funeral just for the President and his wife in Krakow (Krakow is about 9 hours south of us). The funeral Mass was said at St. Mary’s Cathedral and then they had a funeral march (about a mile) to Wawel Castle (by the way- Wawel is also the Cathedral where John Paul II was Arch Bishop and Cardinal before he was elevated to Pope). The Sunday service in Krakow was were Obama and the other world leaders were suppose to attend. Only a few world leaders made the trip (mostly ones from neighboring countries that could travel by train or small plane). The Iceland Volcano keep most of the world leaders grounded. We have watched the impressive funeral march from St. Mary’s to the Wawel on TV (my favorite part, along with the reading of the 96 names on Saturday). There are 100,000s of people along the funeral route. We have been to all of these places during our travels.

This brings me to the last part of the blog- the volcano. This Volcano in Iceland has literally shut down all the airspace through out most of Europe. Only the most southern areas such as Spain and Italy are not yet effected. No airport is open though most of the continent. Here is a Satellite photo so you can see just how big the ash cloud is and why is has shut down so much (click on the picture to see the full effect). European airspace is completely closed until at least Monday- and very possibly longer. Just to give an idea- The Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel was coming home from a summit in the US. She was only able to fly as far as Italy. Then, the Chancellor of Germany had to take a bus from Italy back to Berlin.

We have a flight planned to Cologne Germany on Thursday. I give about a 50/50 chance that the airspace will be open by then. The bigger concern of this volcano is the one next to it- which is much, much bigger. It has a tendency to erupt after this one does. Airports from the UK to the Russian border are closed. On the news, it is showing major airport runways being opened to the public to ride bikes and fly kites. Some are taking the opportunity to paint.

The Hague- Finally a Day off

After three days of the hard labor of attending a conference- I “took a day” to relax and walk the city.

As mentioned in my last few posts- my morning was shockingly interrupted by the news of the Polish President. My Facebook (which now has lots of Polish friends and Fulbrighters) was in a major buzz. I called Lisa to check in with her.

After I found out what I was going to learn for now- I headed into the city.

The Hague is a small city that can easily be seen in a couple of days. I hit city center about noon- so it was lunch time. I ate at this fabulous outdoor cafe that was teaming with tourists. No one seemed to mind it was rather chilly. Now, when I typically travel to sea based communities- I am always in search of fish. First, Lisa does not care much for fish and does not make it at home very often. Second, good fish is hard to find in KC. However, Poland is not known for its beef (of which I am). In fact, sadly McDonalds probably has the best beef. Poland is a pork country. So, even though I am on the sea in Holland- I have been in search of good beef. So, I had a nice steak sandwich. (My first day back in the States will be to Gates for lunch. Lisa wants to go to J. Alexanders for dinner).

I visited both the Old Church and the New Church. The New Church is only 450 years old- hence its name. It is famous for the burial place of the Royal House of Orange. William of Orange, I, II, IV, V, etc. Where is the William III?- actually buried in England at Westminster. He smartly married Queen Mary and became King (they are famously known as William and Mary- England’s only co-rulers). It was ironic, as I had just read some stuff on them and their rule in England.

One thing I am always fascinated with in Holland is their use of bikes. Everyone from the youngest boy to the oldest woman rides bikes as private transportation. Also, interesting is the type of bikes they ride. They are not the modern 24 speed or mountain bikes- but rather bikes we would associate with the 1950s and 1960s; even with wicker and wire baskets in the front. There are many more bikes on the road than cars. Men in suits, women in expensive dresses riding from place to place. You actually have to watch out for bikers more than you do cars.

Here is a typical Holland “parking lot”. 

After seeing my churches- I went to the Mauritshuis a small museum with a few Rembrandts and other Dutch artists. However, the most famous painting in this gallery (by far) is the “Girl with the Pearl Earring” by Vermeer. A book and movie was done about this girl and the painting. Lisa read the book- I did not.








I bought her a print of the “The Girl”. I really do not have much of an art lover’s eye- but I do like the Dutch masters and like seeing their work. I think I like their hats. As mentioned in a way earlier blog- The museum in Gdansk has a nice collection from the Dutch Masters including a Rembrandt and Vermeer.

Next to the Mauritshuis is the Parliament Building. Again, it is quite old and ornate- but still active. That said- I have yet to find a Parliament building that rivals the one in Budapest. I walked around this Renaissance era complex and soaked in the history. It sits right on a canal (which Holland has hundreds of them and is part of its charm).

The evening ended with another steak, as I am back to Poland.

This week should be interesting with events. There is a national mourning called for seven days.

The Hague

Hello, I am in The Hague in Holland (Netherlands) for a few days. I had meant to get this out yesterday- but I pushed out my unplanned blog on the President of the Republic of Poland's death instead.

I left on Wednesday morning for a three day conference on European Health Policy. It took two taxis, two planes, and one train trip to get here- but I made it. Only after all those journeys, and I was two miles from my hotel did my phone ring. It was Lisa telling me she had an allergic reaction to something, her tongue was swollen and had moderate difficulty breathing. Our neighbors were taking her to the ER. Talk about feeling helpless.... If you have not read about her adventure-

http://anamericanhouseholdinpoland.blogspot.com/2010/04/unexpected-medical-tourism.html

Thank God all was ok and at worse, she got a shot in “the ass,” and a nice look at the Polish health care system. And thank God for Charles, Basia and Mariusz, our neighbors and landlords!

With that good news, I was able to get back to my business.

This is my second trip to Holland /Netherlands (I am never sure what to call it) in less than a year. Last May, I was in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. Now I am at The Hague (the capital “T” in The is part of the name; like The Ohio State). Here, it is called Den Hagg. It is the seat of government. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands lives and works in The Hague. The Hague is the second UN city after New York.

Holland and Belgium are quickly becoming one of my favorite parts of Europe. Unlike Poland which is huge- you can travel from city to city and back and forth between the two countries in an hour or less. Maybe this a good place for my next sabbatical..... I am sure Lisa would love to work on her Dutch. But first, I have to get her on another international flight. I think if I can find Scottie and have her beamed between the US and EU, I might have better luck with getting her on more of these trips.

Now Holland is an interesting place. Rotterdam is a beautiful sea port (one of the deepest in the world). Those gigantic ocean ships navigate the waters and dock here. Last spring I spent a day on a tour boat just floating around this amazing sea port and looking at the size of these ships. (Many of them are even too wide to fit through the Panama canal). Amsterdam of course, is great, too. The home of Heineken, over-the-counter marijuana shops (called Coffee Houses), and open prostitution (The Red Light District). For those who like their vices- Amsterdam is a mecca.

Now, just when you think Holland is a permanent frat party- you go 30 minutes south from Amsterdam to The Hague. The Hague is the serious place. It is the home to all the international courts that prosecute war criminals, genocidal war lords, and the like (The Peace Palace). “Alleged” criminal leaders from Serbia, Rwanda and West Africa are all here being tried for the systematic murder of tens of thousands of people, and accused of either profiteering or genocide. A little more on that later.

The purpose of this conference I was attending was to bring together health services researchers and policy makers from across Europe and dialogue. Not surprisingly, researchers and politicians rarely understand each other. About 250 of the aforementioned people were here from almost every country in the EU. I was one of three from Poland.

During the course of the discussions- the recent US health care legislation process came up many times (and not in a good way- more in a mocking way). Frankly, as I have traveled Europe this year and people find out I am 1.) an American and 2.) Doing health services research- the people usually pose the same “what in the hell are you people doing over there” question (it is just said more professionally- but their point is clear). I sit and try very hard to explain this ideological debate we have in the US and all sides. I have yet to make a single person understand....

The conference was just ok- but I am glad I went. I met some people, learned a few things. On Friday afternoon I had some time available and decided to see a little bit the of the city.

I was hoping to catch a tour of the Peace Palace at 3pm. I left the conference at 2pm and ran down there. Unfortunately they were booked. The Peace Palace is one of the most famous buildings in The Hague. It is where many of the courts are held for the war criminals. Some of the worst dictators of the second half of the 20th Century have been tried there.

As with most cities- locals tend to have no idea where their most famous sites are located (can you give someone directions to the Truman House in KC or Arthur Bryants?). I had walked to the general area of the Peace Palace- but was lost in the surrounding neighborhoods. I asked a twenty-something man if he knew where it was. He said yes- and told me to keep walking straight (south) and I would see it. After a half mile I was just deeper into neighborhoods- so I asked a forty something women if she knew where the Peace Palace was. She said sure. I had to go around the corner and get on the bus and take it several stops and I would see it (taking me much further east). She was rather confident, but I was not. As she disappeared, I asked a third guy drinking a beer on his patio. Again he said sure, just go back straight (north), turn left and you will see it. For whatever reason the guy with the beer’s answer felt the best- so I basically went back to where I started. I found the Peace Palace about 1 block from the first guy I had ask (but in the opposite direction he told me).

The Peace Palace is a grand old building that has heard some of the worst atrocities committed in the past 50 years. It is part of the United Nations.

I did find it odd that they had a souvenir store in front. I did not know if to expect little Slobodan Milosevic dolls in handcuffs or a commemorative plate of an African war-lord being interrogated.... But it was mostly UN stuff. Radovan Karadic is current the high profile case on trial now. He is another Serbian leader who is accused of leading the massacre of 8,000 men and boys (all the men and boys in the entire city) in Srebrenica in Bosina. Also Charles Taylor (Liberia) is on trial for his atrocities in West Africa during his pursuit of blood diamonds.

In front of the Peace Palace is the ubiquitous WWII memorial. As I have traveled from one side of Europe to another, east, west and north and south- everyone has a memorial to the dead and destruction of the war. It really starts to sink in the scale of this war and devastation. Really, very little of Europe was untouched.




Also, in front of the Peace Palace is a rock garden with a rock representing the 192 countries that participate in the UN court. It is symbol of peace. Of course, the US has one of the bigger rocks....

Finally, The Hague sits right on the sea. I ended my week with a stroll along the boardwalk and ate at a restaurant literally on the beach. As it was about 7pm- I saw the sun setting over the sea. Not a bad way to end a Friday.

More on Saturday and the rest of my trip in the next blog.

A Reflection on the Polish President

I am in Holland for a few days and awoke to the news that the President of our temporary country was killed in the plane crash this morning, along with several cabinet members and dignitaries.

Now, I realize most people could not pick Lech Kaczynski’s name off a list, but he has been involved in Polish Politics for 30 years. He earned his PhD in Gdansk.

He was an advisor to Lech Walesa during the Solidarity strikes and a member Solidarity movement in the 80s and 90s. He was even jailed during martial law for his political activity. He was Vice Chairman of the Solidarity Party and a major player in Lech Walesa’s Presidential cabinet in the early 1990s.

He broke ties with Walesa several years ago. He and his twin brother formed their own political party- Law and Justice in 2001. He was elected President in 2005, and for two years his twin brother served as Prime Minister.

Law and Justice is known as a rather far right wing party with close ties to the Catholic Church. Their approval ratings have been down in the last year or two, and he was not expected to be re-elected in the next Presidential election. These days his main political rival is the current Prime Minister- Donald Tusk (also from Gdansk). Tusk is part of the center-right party, Civic Party. They currently control much of parliament.

Ironically, Kaczynsk and his delegation were on their way to the Katyn Forest on the Russian border. It is the 70th anniversary of one (of many) of Poland’s tragedies.

Most people know that the Nazi’s invaded Poland from the west in 1939. However, Stalin took advantage of the weakened Army and invaded Poland from the east a few weeks later. In April of 1940, the Russian army had gathered 22,000 Poles from the army and political prisoners- marched them into the Katyn forest and executed them by shooting them in the head. Hundreds per day for several weeks. They were all buried in mass graves in the Katyn forest.

Poland has multiple memorials with the simple word “Katyn” inscribed on it. Double ironically, it was the Nazi’s who found the mass graves on their march to Moscow in 1943. At the time, they tried to paint the Russians and Stalin as mass murderers in the press and expressed their disgust. Russia did not even fully claim responsibility for Katyn until the 1990s, and it is still a sore subject between the two countries.

I bring up this history as it is playing a major part in the discussion (and already conspiracies) of the death of President Kaczynski. As both the leaders of Poland and Russia were to be at the Katyn ceremony- it was to represent a softening of relationships between the countries.

To add more controversy- as this occurred on Russian soil- Russia has named Vladamir Putin as chief investigator (he is not all that popular in Poland either). I found these interesting comments by Polish citizens on the internet- http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8612920.stm

Per the Polish Constitution, the leader of the lower House is now President- and he is required to call a new election to be held within 60 days.

It will be interesting to see the activities that occur over the next week. As far as I know, this is the first modern leader to die/be killed in Poland.