Reksio

 Reksio is a Polish children’s cartoon that was made in Bielsko-Biala from 1967 to 1988.  It has over 60 episodes and they are all about his adventures with his other animal friends.  Kids in Poland love Reksio and during my classes if I ever show a dog at least one child will say its Reksio.  On our first full day in Poland Ilona and Magda (two girls from school) walked around the city with us and told us that lots of people take a picture with the statue of Reksio so we went back later and did the same!!!

I have also learned that in Poland children say that dogs say how how instead of woof woof!  Here are some links to several episodes if you want to check them out!  Otherwise typing Reksio into Youtube will get you lots of choices!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbD46vHieEs and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6bGcMZCLkM

We Found a Walnut Tree

While waiting one morning we found that a walnut tree lives near out flat.  We had seen lots of people selling walnuts but I guess I didn’t think anything of it.  When we moved into our flat we found several nutcrackers.  We thought it was a bit strange but put them back into the drawer and I forgot they were even there.  

We broke open some of the walnuts that were on the ground around this tree and some that we picked from the branches but not a single one had a walnut in it.  But it was exciting for awhile.   

Apple Chips

I was on Pintrest and lots of people were talking about how amazing homemade apple chips were.  So we got some apples and decided to try and make them.  Here are the before and after shots!

After TWO HOURS in the oven they were done and the verdict was that we liked them better before they were dried.  Oh well we did take some cool apple star pictures and now we know!

Karkow Part 8 … Before we left

After Shindler’s Factory we were hungry so we went back near the Old Town Square and ate pizza at a cute little Italian restaurant.  It had been raining all day but when we finished eating the rain had finally stopped.

So we went back to the square and took some fun pictures with the umbrella while everything was still wet and shiny!  It was lots of fun.  Then we headed home.  It was a great weekend.  Thanks a lot for taking us Ilona!!! 

Krakow Part 7 … Shindler’s Factory

After the Salt Mine Ilona used her impressive knowledge of the Krakow public transportation system to get us near Shindler’s Factory.  If we didn’t have her I don’t think I would have found it.  We walked down little streets and through a tunnel to get there.  

This museum was set up to take you through Krakow during the time of WWII and the Nazi takeover.  It is like you are moving in time from 1939 to 1945 and it is located in Oskar Shinddler’s former enamel factory.  So his desk and several of his lists were actually there on display.  

Lots of pictures were shown in this contraption.  It was cool because it rotated so you just needed to sit in one spot and watch.  Then you could look above for a bit of information about the pictures.    

Lots of things too look at and read were everywhere in the museum.  One of the most powerful parts of the experience was this hallway.  This is how they symbolized the Nazi takeover of Krakow and to continue you needed to weave through the Nazi flags.  It was uncomfortable to say the least and Kayla and I didn’t even realize that would be how to get to the next room until there was no other way and Ilona told us it probably was. 

There were also lots of letters written by children at the time explaining what was happening from their point of view.  It was amazing to read how much kids knew about what was happening. 

Krakow Part 6 ... Wieliczka Salt Mine

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early and headed off to the Wieliczka Salt Mine.  When we got there we noticed that the tour in English cost a lot more than the Polish version of the tour.  So naturally we took the Polish tour.  It is famous for the ultra deep salt mine that has been in continuous operation for over 700 years.  The mine had nine levels the deepest at 327 meters deep.  For this tour you can visit the first, second, and third floor ranging from 64 meters to 135 meters underground.

There were lots of big, hand carved statues all made out of salt.  The tour guide even told us that we could lick the walls if we wanted to check to make sure it was all salt.  So we did.  Luckily for us Ilona was with and was a trouper and translated a lot of what the tour guide was talking about. 

One chamber of the mine supposedly has health giving properties the can help cure allergies and asthma.  We did our best to breath deep in this chamber.

Then we continued we also saw the Chapel of St Kinga.  This is actually a big church.  It is 54 meters long 18 meters wide and 12 meters tall.  Everything is carved out of salt, including the chandeliers, altarpieces, staircases, floor and carvings. 

There are several underground lakes in this mine whose water contains 320 grams of salt per-litre.  

This mine was pretty cool but after the two hour tour we were all salted out.  We started watching the kids on our tour and the poses they chose for pictures and duplicated them.