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Thread: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

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    Default My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    Just home from an absolutely fantastic three week vacation in Germany and Poland. The only bad part was the flying there and back. We had booked with United Airlines from Charleston to Chicago on to Zurich then on to Dresden. We found we were on Swiss Air for the to Zurich portion. No worries, years ago I had flown Swiss Air and found them exceptionally good. The seats were so close my knees were under my chin and the dude in front of me decided to sleep all the way and reclined his chair all the way back. Eight hours of it. The dinner they served was bloody terrible, some sort of stewed curried micro pieces of stringy chicken with noodles, a stale bread roll and two cookies. Changed planes in Zurich, two hour delay, to Austrian Air, a propeller driven plane, but a bit more leg room. Arrived in Dresden to one lost bag. Forty-five minutes or so filling forms. The baggage caught up with us the next day and we have a claim for three hundred dollars for delay of baggage (we took out travel insurance).

    Sadly, about eight years ago our German honorary son and daughter were divorced, but happily they both have found terrific partners, so we have additionally a new son and daughter in law.

    Over the last twenty-six years our German families have visited us almost annually and we have enjoyed hosting them. In Poland we visited my wife's distant cousins, and now bosom family. Her cousin's baby daughter Joasha had a crippled foot and the couldn't get an appointment to see a specialist to start corrective treatment (this was in 1989). We took Stazak, the father, with me and my wife to the U.S. Consulate in Krakow and obtained an appointment with the U.S. under-secretary, who long story short arranged the same day appointment with the top specialist in Krakow. I went to the duty free shop in Krakow, purchased two bottle of scotch and two cartons of cigarettes. We met with the doc, after some pushing and shoving he recommended us to a clinic that made special boots to reform the child's foot. I then gave a "thank you' gift of a bottle and a carton to the doctor and the boss of the clinic to ensure follow-up visits. A bottle of scotch and carton of American cigarettes were equal to his months salary to them when resold on the black market.

    Five years later we returned to Poland to find Joasha not only walking, but dancing for us.

    Every birthday and Christmas, my wife had sent them all money to help them through the lean years moving towards a capitalistic society from the ruin of communism.

    Our arrival and stay in both countries was beyond expectations, though we felt they owed us nothing, It was in there mind a chance to pay us back. We took three thousand dollars with us for spending money and figured if we needed more we could draw on our bank cards...some hopes! We have come home with twenty-seven hundred left. They all, both countries, gave us the time of our lives, we were feted like visiting royalty. Everything was done for us, they absolutely would not let us pay for anything, what we did spend was for souvenirs, families gathered in both countries to meet us and shower us in absolute love and friendship. Wow!

    Then outside to the awaiting hall and great hugs and immediate laughter from our honorary adopted son and family. That evening a big pig-out in the garden, BBQ dinner and a mob of relatives showed up to welcome us and more invites for dinner, supper, coffee and cake etc.

    My son and (hon.) granddaughter live about 130 KL from Dresden in a charming Saxon village. I have mentioned before he has three electric generating windmills and they can be seen from his house. He has a lovely home, however we are spoiled as we have central A.C. as have all shops, buildings etc in South Carolina, and Germany was going through a long and very hot summer. We roasted. We didn't mind during the day, but are used to blankets year around. Sleeping starko is not on, haven't had a sweat of a night since M.N. days in the tropics.

    We traveled around Saxony, just loved the countryside and the old world architecture and historic town squares. The people were very friendly and there was a party in some one's house everyday lots of laughing, jokes, good food and great beer. I'm not much of a beer drinker. I have a couple of bourbons before dinner, but probably between five to six beers a year, when I'm working in the garden or such I'll have one. I think I've drunk ten years of my beer ration up and enjoyed it, real good pilsner.

    One of the high lights was going up to the top of one of my sons windmills. My wife and I were rigged up with safety harness jackets and hard-hats. Up a flight of stairs and into the body of the windmill. There is a two-man elevator that take about six minutes to go to the top. I went first with my son Steffen. Out of the elevator it's climb a ladder, step off on to a girder and cross over to another ladder, hook up and cross over to another girder and step up to a platform unhook and cross to an open a hatch. And there you are...on top of the world, 230 meters up with giant propellers slowly going around and the gorgeous countryside of Saxony. What a thrill it was. Steffen left me there to go down to bring up my wife Jeanmarie, he later said that JM was the first woman to come up. He has a drone which he later activated and took photos of us. I will post later.

    One among many memorable events was a disco and wine fete in a beer garden in the village. Except rain was in the weather forecast. "No worries" they said we have umbrellas. Off we went. And rain it did, but after about a bottle each of wine and plates of sausage and dark bread with umbrellas up who cared.

    Feeling no pain, I got up and danced with my twenty-six year old granddaughter who's not only gorgeous but brainy too, she's an engineer by profession. There's her and I, an eighty year old putting on John Travolta moves, boogieing in the rain, when a guy jumps up from one of the tables and holds an umbrella over our heads as we danced. Word had got around that I was an American and folks were lining up to ask me what part of the States I was from as they either visited the States or went to school there etc.

    Then it was off to spend a week with our honorary adoptive daughter and a repeat of meeting her family and her partners familiy, being shown around their farms and entertained with more parties and pilsner for me and vodka for JM, plus day trips to the mountains and villages, most of the houses either original 1700s on the outside and modernized on the inside.

    It's wonderful that both our son and daughter have found wonderful partners, so there is no problems, we just have picked up two additional friends.

    Steffen and Manja drove us to Stazak and Anna's home in a village outside Krakow, Poland. Stazac had invited them to stay the night as they had planned to stay in a hotel then leave for the Tatra mountains for some hiking in the morning.

    Next it was off to Krakow, Poland

    I have never laughed so much in my life as I have in Poland. Our cousin Stazak is a hell of a character. Twenty years ago when we had last visited, he was director of an agricultural college. A year after we had left he had purchased a building, convert it into a school and opened a private school for continuing adult education, meaning he could educate adults who had dropped out of secondary, or high school, or had finished, went to work and decided to return for further education. All working towards an associate of arts degree and funded by the government. So he is the owner and director.

    He had rented a small tour boat to take us on a sunset cruise on the Vistula which runs through Krakow, It was lovely, a great sunset over the cathedral and Varval Castle, the home of the former kings of Poland.

    There is in Poland a governmental crisis. The party in power is the P.I.S. (Law and Order Party). It was quite clear who Stazak and Anna favored as they had a sign in their home that said
    "Pis Off."

    Poland is 90% Catholic. PIS is against abortion of any kind. Increased aid for having babies. (Anna's neice has four kids and expecting, single, and living of her government check and loves PIS). PIS is planning laws that will soon come into effect that grossly favor employees to ridiculous degrees that any entrepreneur thinking about investing or planning to open a business would be crazy to risk his/her capital.

    Fortunately here in the States we have checks and balances that limit presidential power. The most things Trump can do are controlled by our Constitution. Of all the crazy things he's tried to do he must have Congressional approval which he has not received....Thank God!

    In Poland they too have a constitution. Agricultural areas and a lot of Urban voters are strongly against abortion and for the agenda of PIS and voted in favor of amending the constitution. Which PIS did. So the power of PIS is virtually unlimited. PIS then is an unspeakable subject within the family as half live in an agricultural area and half in urban. The weird thing is it's only a few hours bus ride to Prague, Czech Republic, where abortion is legal and done the same day to the Polish women who want one.

    When I was last in Poland I took a photo of the display in a men's clothing store...three socks, red, blue, and white, that's all.

    They took us to a shopping Mall, there was an Hyper Supermarket, at least five times larger than the largest supermarket I've ever seen in the States.

    Everywhere I looked in Poland was a testimony to the power of freedom over communism. The new cars, the freshly painted houses and buildings, new roads, mechanized farming, peoples cloths. The magic that has been done in twenty odd years! Polish lifestyles is equal to any country I have visited.

    So why are so many in England? I asked this question repeatedly to university students, city dwellers and country folk and the answer was the same. Poland's refusal to accept the Euro as its currency. This makes the purchase of goods from the Euro countries (Germany et al) expensive and local goods very cheap to outsiders. Slovakians for example crowd the local border markets shopping and driving up the prices for the Poles. The same increases are felt by Poles in the cities as outsiders pour in for cheap vacations driving up the prices in restaurants and hotels. Salaries are low in comparison being still in the Zloty instead of Euros. Salaries are four times higher in England, thus a college grad can take a menial job in the UK and double or triple his Polish salary, share accommodations and food with other Poles and save twice as fast as he could back home.

    Jm and I had a great evening with Joasha and five of her university fellow students all in their last year of study. It was really fun, all but one spoke fluent English and the one that couldn't spoke very good German, so it was a mixture of language. The questions and answers were flying fast, as were glasses of rough red wine. What did I think of Trump, They condemned PIS, Why did the US do this and that. What did we think about current life in Poland, right up my and Jm's alley. The consensus was that joining the EU, the investments, loans, and access to markets is what helped in Poland becoming a modern country.

    Then it was off to cousins in the country and a visit to the actual house once where Jm's great-great grandmother lived before she and her new husband walked to Hamburg and a voyage in steerage to the USA.

    Every house had fruit trees, as did Saxony, plus chickens, some cows, some pigs. Fresh fruit, vegetables, eggs, milk. Pork hams, hocks, and ribs would be smoked and neighbors would trade off, so food was plentiful. Relatives crowded in at dinner time, English was minimal but at least one present could speak it, so we managed. Every house had a vodka bottle out and food waiting...Polish food. Most I liked, but some I didn't. Lots of laughing, jokes flying.

    Our principal cousin host and her sister were sixteen and seventeen when we last visited and had taken us hiking in the Tatra mountains, today they are mothers of teenagers, time really flies.

    In both countries I spoke to city dwellers, farmers, and country folk, students, professional people, entrepreneurs, housewives, not one apposed their being in the E.U.. I asked about Britain leaving and most said it was a shame, a couple said Britain would be sorry, all said the E.U. would be stronger with them in rather than out. There was no animosity against Britain for leaving, many said that was Britain's business. Quite few were upset about the cheap flights from Britain that are bringing in drunken rowdies. A couple of weeks ago a group of drunken louts in Poland to celebrate a member's bachelor party in Krakow, staggered along a street yanking off side mirrors off dozens of cars. They were arrested and deported. That behavior does no good for Britain.

    I envy the love and affection showed with one another and compared it to MY family in England (not yours dear reader, mine), no comparison. Always family rows, this one not talking to that one. My last visit in 1998 I wasted holiday time visiting relatives. A typical visit to a cousin. My wife and I was expected. I knocked on the door. A teenager answered the door..."Watcher want then?"
    "We'd like to talk to my cousin Joan."
    "Mum! It's yer cousin."
    "Tell them to Come in."
    "You'd better come in then."

    Joan was working on a weaving loom in the 'front' room. She never got up to kiss or even shake hands. Her husband never looked up from the crossword he was working on. We sat there for two boring hours forcing conversation without so much as a cup of tea. About four-thirty surreptitious peeks at the watch by Joan told us supper was due but didn't include us.

    We stayed the night once at my half brothers flat in London, all we heard was how lucky we were and how hard done by he was, his benefit check hadn't been increased yet since the Conservatives were in power, he'd been on disability since he was twenty-six (fifty then). Drafted as a goalkeeper by Tottenham Spurs he was sent to play in Scotland I think in a lower league to get experience, came home and quit as he missed his mom, joined the RN, got his mom and dad to buy him out as he didn't like it. Anyway I got so fed-up with his moaning about money I offered him fifty pounds for the nights lodgings, he took it and that's the last he saw of me.

    Our flight home was a disaster. Our flight from Krakow to Frankfurt was cancelled and we were re-booked on a flight from Wrokow (a two hour drive from Krakow) departing at 6am, but we must be in the airport two hours before flight time. Cousin Stazak booked and prepaid for two hotel rooms without telling us and drove us the day before our flight to Wrokow and dinner and a pleasant stroll around the cities lovely old Town.

    Next morning its up at 3am after a crappy night. For some reason I had two nose bleeds during the few hours in bed, consequently not much sleep for us

    flight from Wrockow uneventful. From Frankfurt to New Jersey, terrible. The same movie played over. Tight seating, dude in front's seat-back in my lap.

    Arrive dead tired in New Jersey to find New Jersey has undergone massive storms, flooding everywhere. Our flight to Charleston, South Carolina cancelled, all seats sold out for the next two days flights. No point in renting a car to drive, that would also take us two days.

    We had to transfer from the international terminal to the domestic terminal which is about a half mile train ride, except the train is out. it's walking...with our luggage, and it's 93f-32c and sunny. We were panting and sweaty when we arrived at a check-in.

    No flights to South Carolina...Our car was in Charleston, we had prepaid hotel reservations there. The airline clerk took pity on two weary wrinklies and started hunting for ways to get us home...bingo! Six hours later there's a flight to Atlanta, Georgia and just three hours wait for a flight to Charleston.

    We arrived at our hotel 2am, whacked...we'd had five broken hours sleep in seventy odd hours.

    All our future vacations will be by driving within the USA, screw flying.

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    Default Re: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    I visited Romania with my ex-wife, not long after Choucesco(?) fell from power. Her mother had set up a children's home there for the many 'orphans'.

    We travelled by train for around 500 miles for about £3, spotlessly clean and military standard cabin - except the toilet was a hole in the floor at one end of the carriage.

    I was a paramedic at the time and earned more in a day than a consultant cardiologist did in a month there.

    Everyone we met was extremely welcoming and very generous with what little they had, we were told that even though we knew they were very poor we should not refuse anything as that would insult them.

    I experienced their Snapps - twice distilled cider basically! Downed like a shot but from a schooner, it shimmered on the table like petrol does on a hot day, about 30 seconds later went kind of rubbery from the knees up I thought I'd offended them in someway when I sipped it and the host waved his hand at me before showing me that it was to be downed in one.

    Our last night before returning to the UK we stayed with a local lady, our driver insisted on taking us to McDonalds as the locals were so proud it had opened there, I left a 1/2 l carton of Tesco orange juice with her as I didn't want to carry it home, she cried and hugged me like it was gold as she'd not had it for years. The stores were full but no one could afford to buy anything.

    Blacking out the power in the local area is a story for another day...

    I can't remember which airline we flew with but I do remember the touch down at LHR - I think we stopped from 120 to 0 kts in about 50ft!

    Just shows that $/£/€ isn't everything and often family and community is far more valuable.

    SDG
    Last edited by Shaun Gander; 21st August 2018 at 11:20 PM.

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    Default Re: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    Thanks for that Rodders, makes me want never to fly with any USA airline.

    May I suggest you try Japan airlines and go to Japan, no worries there about any such problems as you experienced.
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
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    Default Re: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    Never fly cattle class, that is what it is, I go Business from now, flat bed to sleep on and better service.

    When I came home after my operation in Honolulu the Insurance flew us both home in First class. fantastic.

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    Default Re: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    Quote Originally Posted by Shaun Gander View Post
    I visited Romania with my ex-wife, not long after Choucesco(?) fell from power. Her mother had set up a children's home there for the many 'orphans'.






    Just shows that $/£/€ isn't everything and often family and community is far more valuable.

    SDG
    ha ha I was given some of that firewater in Romania; I had a meeting with a director of Transgaz (Romanian equvalent to Transco, after the meeting he produced a Fanta bottle with a clear, slightly yellowis liquid in it.He explained it was from his country estate and everyone had a nip, ffs nearly blew my head off. He gave it to me on leaving.
    Back home I gave samples to some serious drinkers who could not handle it either, still got some, comes in handy as back up barby lighter (not joking).
    Last edited by Doc Vernon; 22nd August 2018 at 08:43 PM.

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    Default Re: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    Johno,

    I do believe Swiss Air and Austrian Air belong to Switzerland and Austria. The air going waitresses sure had a strange accent for a yank.

    Just pulling your chain mate.

    p.s. On our news today: Airlines have approval to charge a surcharge for coach seats in the forward part of the economy section. What next? a safe take off or landing fee...a refund to your heirs if you crash?
    Last edited by Rodney Mills; 22nd August 2018 at 08:40 PM.

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    Default Re: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    Rodney, our airlines in Canada have been ripping passengers off for some time, $25.00, $30.00 as of tomorrow, for checked baggage, within Canada. you also pay for prime leg room seats up front and seats near the widow escape with extra leg room. In country flights charge for food on board, tea and coffee are free, about twice on a 4 1/2 flight we just did. we also paid $25,00 for preferred seats so we could sit together and not be bumped off in the case of overbooking.

    regards, stan.

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    Default Re: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    Our major airline QUANTAS now chares for economy seats if you want to chose your own.
    If you allow the airline to chose for you then nothing extra.
    Seats by exits have always carried a premium but now $35 just to chose an ordinary one, no thanks will fly with some other airline, Singapore are excellent.

    Little wonder QUANTAS just announced a record profit.
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

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    Default Re: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    Flown once with QANTAS that was enough!
    Singapore,Etihad,Emirates and even British Airways are far better!
    Cheers
    Senior Site Moderator-Member and Friend of this Website

    R697530

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    Default Re: My vacation in Germany and Poland. Wow!

    Quote Originally Posted by Doc Vernon View Post
    Flown once with QANTAS that was enough!
    Singapore,Etihad,Emirates and even British Airways are far better!
    Cheers
    Vernon, I could not agree more.
    Happy daze John in Oz.

    Life is too short to blend in.

    John Strange R737787
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