Poland in Video, by j

Alright, here is the last bits of my trip to Poland!

For last Christmas my lovely sisters bought me a Flip Camera!

I took it with me to Poland and took some pretty amazing videos.

Check ’em out:

Dear summer…(by, m)

…welcome back.

I’m a chef (basically), by m

Look at me cook!

something with meat

p.s., my new blackberry takes decent pics, no?

I Can’t Stand Drew, by j

Dear M,

Were you being ironic with the D.B. quote you posted?  Surely that quote was not supposed to make me fall in love with the fake flower child?  Was it?

Case in point:

“Every morning I stay in bed for ten minutes to ponder my place in the universe. Then I wash my face and check my karma.”

Because you can’t check your karma with a dirty face.  Of course.

“If I die before my cat, I want a little of my ashes put in his food so I can live inside him.”

Oooookay.

“I pray to be like the ocean, with soft currents, maybe waves at times. More and more, I want the consistency rather than the highs and the lows.”

You want to be consistent like a giant body of water?  What?

“I think that it’s great to have fashion and philanthropy sort of intertwined, because people care about fashion. So when you combine the two, it makes it fun.”

Because poverty is fun, Drew?

“When I lay my head on the pillow at night I can say I was a decent person today. That’s when I feel beautiful.”

And when I slather on the CoverGirl.

“Daisies are like sunshine to the ground.”

Wow.

“I want people to love me, but it’s not going to hurt me if they don’t.”

Glad to hear it.

I rest my case.

 

I Love Drew, by m

Dear J,

Please stop hating!!  I love Drew Barrymore.  I know sometimes she talks in a stupid voice [see: Ever After].  I get that most of her early fame is largely due to her lineage.  So, while I understand celebrity hatred (blechhhh Kirsten Dunst), I have taken the liberty of posting an inspirational quote from Drew, followed by stunning photos.

Marie Claire Magazine- [to Drew] How were your 30s different than your 20s?

DB- So different! […] This is the time in life where you take everything stored in your piggy bank — where you traveled the world, studied art, music, and different cultures –and smash it on the floor to see what the fuck is in there. So that’s what these years are about for me — realizing that, and that I don’t know shit about how to make a relationship work — I’m totally in the dark. And I’m surprised. I didn’t know this was what my 30s were going to be like.

Roller Derby or How Some Fierce Womyn Roller Skate in Fishnets and Underpants, by j

Last night my friend Alison and I went to the Forest City Roller Derby to watch the Thames Fatales take on the Nickel City Knockouts from Buffalo.  I’ve never been to a roller derby, but a strange fascination began when I saw the film, “Whip It”.  Now the fact that I actually liked a Drew Barrymore film enough to check out the event that inspired it is impressive.  (Sidebar: I loathe Drew Barrymore)

I heard about the roller derby last fall and almost had my dad and uncle convinced to go.  And then we found out that it fell on the same day as a UWO football game.  Goddammit.  So we had to go and sit in the rain and watch football.  I now know that this was the wrong decision.  And I firmly believe that my dad would have had a much better time at the derby.

At first glance the the roller derby can be semi violent…to the uniformed.  What I’ve learned that it’s more aggression, than violence.  And speed (which seemed that most of the injuries happened from the combo of speed, excitement and collisions).  Lots of speed.  However throughout the night it was clear that the derby “girls” from London and Buffalo acted like good friends who were about to hip check each other over and over again.  It was nice.

Couple that with the fact that the evening could be described as a family event.  There were TONS of kids there.  TONS.  When I saw that kids under 10 were free, I thought…maybe I wouldn’t take my 9 year old here…but afterwards I totally would.  The derby players were friendly, spoke with everyone in the stands, took photos with everyone who asked and joked around with the crowd.  The huge crowd (my mathematical eye would say there were well over 500 people there).  At intermission the players threw down dozens of hula hoops and a wave of kids ran on and starting hula hooping for 20 minutes.  Hilarious!

It was an awesome crowd as well.  Lots of folks were very polite and were clearly getting into the game (I’m sure that the next time I as well get into more…it is slightly confusing the first time).  I saw lots of tattoos, horned rimmed glasses and womyn taking charge and having an awesome time.

The roller derby season is pretty long, they began in April and go until October.  However the Thames Fatales won’t be back in London until October 1st (anyone busy?  ‘Cause I sure as heck ain’t gonna be at no football game).  Fantastical time.

I can definitely get why the roller derby is beginning to become more and more popular.  The excitement of the sport, the awesomeness of seeing womyn being celebrated in playing an aggressive sport…but then ending it with good natured hugs, congrats and check ins with their bruised counter parts.

AND it was fantastical to see all different kinds of womyn on the track.  They definitely had some skinny minnies (to go super fast), but they also had some gorgeous thicker womyn skating around the track knocking the skinny women down.  Made my heart smile.

And their names are effing cool…

The Thames Fatales:

Anya Face, Mirambo, Killson, Back Alley Sally, Dollface Massacre, Annie Takers, Jemecide, None Ya Biz, Slacker Smacker, Sufferjet (my fave), Piepshow, Freez’er Burn, and Bad Pitt (their coach!).

(Sidebar: My derby name would be “Jane Ire”)

The players weren’t the only ones with cool names…the refs were awesome too.  Here is my favourite:

Loves.

Had we watched this prior to going there, Alison, we would have had way fewer confused glances.

And here’s a video that I took of our Thames Fatales killing it.

Final score?  Thames Fatales 170, Knockouts 90.

Boo Ya.

The Jammers

You know how you go to events and the paramedics are there and never really needed? They were totally needed here. Many times. Woman down.

The Blockers.

 

Checking the gear...they tug on pads and helmets. I found out that there were very good reasons to do this.

 

Prepare to Drool, by j

 

Ok, so now for the good stuff.

One of the important reasons why I was so stoked to visit Poland was that I knew (I knew) that the food was going to be a) cheap b) effing delicious.

I was not disappointed.

So here is the food I ate while travelling in Poland.   Yum.

Oh, and I never want to see another pierogi again.

Pierogies stuffed with mushrooms and saurkraut

 

Vodka and Tonic

 

Weiner Schnitzel (ok, this was in Germany)

 

"Meat" Pierogies, baked.

 

Apple and Cinnamon Pierogies at a Pierogarnia that is subsidized by MONKS! (cost $4!)

 

A Polish Doughnut, a paczek, filled with rose petal jam.

 

Breakfast in Krakow, sausage, cheese and pickles!

 

Dense, fresh Polish bread, cherry preserves and some emmental cheese

 

Sernik - Polish cheesecake covered in bittersweet chocolate

 

Goulash with Potato Pancakes

 

Cabbage Rolls!

 

Bijos - Sausage cooked in saurkraut, cabbage, onions and mushrooms! My favourite.

 

Authentic Potato Latkes at "Ariel"

 

Another Vodka and Tonic!

 

Matzo Ball Soup at "Ariel"

 

Turkey grilled with almonds and raisin with potato latkes

 

Smalec - Lard fried, cooled, sprinkled with sea salt and eaten with rye bread (yummy!)

 

Smalec and a pink beer! Beer mixed with raspberry juice, quite nice!

 

And yes...I had creme brulee in Poland (at an Italian restaurant...Italian food in Poland is KING!). The creme brulee was one of the thickest and creamiest custard I've ever had. However the sugar top was crap (very thin) and they sprinkled icing sugar on it...bizarro. 3/5

Auschwitz, by j

One of the stops on my Poland tour was a mandatory (for me) stop at Auschwitz – Birkenau.

I was prepared for a very moving and emotional experience.  It was definitely very interesting and very moving, and an experience I won’t forget for a long time.

Here are some of the pictures that I took at Auschwitz –

Arrival Description

 

Zyclon B Canisters - The Gas Used in the Gas Chambers

 

Pictures of Women Who Stayed at Auschwitz...the pictures included the date they arrived at the camp and the day that they died. Most did not survive past three months.

 

Block 11 - Where Nazis kept the Jewish "criminals". Records showed that they youngest prisoner here was a 7 year old boy. His crime: stealing a scrap of bread.

 

 

Remembrance Wall in Auschwitz in Block 11. Was used as a firing wall.Exhaustion Chamber.

 

 

 

Birkenau - Unbelievably massive.

 

Women's Barracks at Birkenau

 

 

 

 

 

Birkenau - Gate to Hell

#5, a song that reminds you of someone, by a

Many would think that Queen’s anthem, Bohemian Rhapsody, is merely a tune to be sung at the top of one’s drunken lungs (exhibit a: Toronto’s The Madison this past weekend), and while this song certainly brings out the Canadian Idol in everyone, it always, always, always reminds me of ma mere, who knows every single word and always sings them in dramatic fashion. I first associated mom with this song when I was watching Wayne’s World and the scene came up in which they were listening to this song in the car:

I was so confused when mom started jamming, only to realize that Bohemian Rhapsody was in fact, a classic song. And trust my mother to know all the classics (flash back to 2000 and “American Woman” came on the radio, this version sung by Lenny Kravitz. Stunned silence filled the car as she sang all the words…to a Lenny Kravitz song? What was happening? Of course it was a cover by The Guess Who).

Now whenever I hear Bohemian Rhapsody, I think of my mom and her cool taste in tunes (Pat Metheny excluded).

Krakow, You’re So Adorable I Want to Squeeze Your Cheeks! by j

After a few days in Warsaw we made our way to Krakow, the previous capital of Poland (like a million years ago).  We traveled to Poland by train.  The train station in Warsaw is a scary looking building meant to intimidate and frighten.  So imagine my surprise of getting off the train in Krakow to be met by old buildings with balconies, trees and greenery and a sense of “Old World” Europe that was much more authentic than Warsaw’s attempts.

Krakow is not a big city, but what it lacks in actual size in makes up for in cuteness.  Krakow is like the younger, cooler, hipper sister of Warsaw who acts all superior when asked where their government buildings are or where their edifices are that are younger than 150 years old.

Krakow was amazing, and we weren’t the only ones who thought so.  It was covered with much more English speaking folks from the world than Warsaw.  The weather was even different.  Where Warsaw had some pretty epic pathetic fallacy.  Krakow was sunny, bright, colourful and hot as hell (love it).

So here are a collection of the Krakow pics, enjoy!

Cloth Hall - The "Oldest Shopping Mall In The World"

 

Market Square!

 

Huts on Market Square

 

The Pugetow Palace (our hotel!)

 

Amber Stall in Cloth HallFlorianska StreetKrakow Loves JPII As Well

 

 

Yummy Meat Hut in Market

 

Salt Mine Just Outside of Krakow, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

 

JP II Statue...in Salt.

 

Oscar Schindler's Office

 

Remuh Cemetary in Krakow, the oldest Jewish Cemetary in the City

 

Salt Mine's Underground Cathedral...largest in the world! You can get married 140 meters underground!

 

Wawel Castle in Krakow

 

St. Mary's Church in Market Square