Well, we made it to Israel, but boy did we have an adventure getting here! After 3 flights, hours of delay, and a few layovers, we made it here 30 hours later... :)
Our adventure started with the airport shuttle on Thursday morning. Our driver looked like a jockey compared to the size of the van, but he got us to the airport nonetheless...
Airport #1: Salt Lake City (SLC). It was here Karen and Roxy donned their gay apparel... I mean their compression stockings... in the ladies room at the airport. Ahem. Adventure. This is the only proof we'll ever have:
Our plane was delayed in Salt Lake due to weather in Chicago. We were on the runway for nearly an extra 1.5 hours! We made it to Chicago with just enough time to find where we were going. The hardest part of Chicago: Trying convincing Mom I knew what I was doing, and how to read the signs. We took a tram to Terminal 5, the International Terminal, and battled an army of Polish families to get through passport control. Once we made it to our gate, we noticed they were gathering all the families to board first. We snuck around the corned to see what all the fuss was about. Lo and behold, they were not boarding the families. Rather, they were gathering them for what appeared to be story hour before the flight. Ha ha ha ha... Just kidding. It was yet another delay. Turns out we had a 2 hour delay, again due to weather, before we were able to leave Chicago. Mom is on the phone with Dad... Look at that smile! :)
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In Warsaw, we had a 6 hour layover. Instead of wreaking havoc in the airport, we joined a small tour group from... drumroll please... Logan, Utah! We ran into Demarious' neighbors (who mistakingly called her Dimitrius...) and met the majority of their tour group. They were headed to Israel on the same flight as we were, but had arranged for a tour of Warsaw during the layover. They miraculously had 2 available seats on their bus and we were able to join them.
Our first stop was Lazienki Królewskie Park. It is a beautiful park of about 180 acres designed by an Italian landscape architect. It was at one point a communist hunting arena, but has since become a tribute to several famous people, including Frédéric Chopin, a favorite composer of ours. The statue behind us is him underneath a willow tree.
While walking though the park, Mom found a large jasmine plant that Midnight had not destroyed. (*wink *wink) For those unaware, Mom loves Jasmine. She planted one in our front yard. Midnight (our pooch) loves Jasmine too. She would conveniently get off her chain and go roll in the jasmine. Hence, the dead jasmine in our yard.
Anyway, there were jasmine plants everywhere. It was a very smelly park. I caught Mom sniffing the trees multiple times. It was pleasantly entertaining.
Our tour guide was very smart. She told us more about the history of Poland than anyone should ever know about a country they spend 8 hours in. In Poland (brace yourselves, history lesson coming up) after the war, the communists took over. The Republic of Poland was created in 1989. Before then, thinking was discouraged, if not forbidden. The children were taught from early on as much knowledge as possible, but were not allowed to think. Everyone was the same. Differences were few and far between. Even the restroom signs were different. This is a picture of such a sign. The circle means woman, the triangle means man.
This is part of the park. It was the king's summer home, but he only lived there a total of about 8 months. In 1795 he was forced to abdicate the throne, and he fled to Russia. This is his house, though. Don't ask what its called. Our tour guide told us, but it was in Polish. L's sound like W's in Polish. It was a lost cause...
Mom found this statue she liked. She thinks its Greek. We were in Poland. You decide. It kind of looked like Mr. Tumnas in Narnia, holding up a light... ooh, maybe this was Narnia... Anyway, Mom liked it. She's pretty. Here's her picture.
We were able to visit the "Old Warsaw." There is no proof of Warsaw before 1945. Warsaw was blown up and set on fire during WWII. Everything has been rebuilt. This is Old Warsaw, rebuilt.
Here is the main square in Old Warsaw.
More of the wall protecting Old Warsaw. There was an inner wall and an outer wall... but not a ceiling, hence the "blowing up" part of the story.
Legend says there were 2 mermaid sisters who lived in the sea but decided to swim as far as they could up stream. One got tired in Copenhagen, Denmark, and the other got tired in Warsaw. She loved the sandy beaches so much, she decided to stay there. She has a sword and shield to help protect the city,.
While we were in Warsaw, we ran into hundreds of bear statues. They were commissioned by the mayor of Berlin. There is one for every country in the United Nations. An artist was commissioned from each country to paint a bear, and they have been hauled from Berlin to Istanbul, and now they are in Warsaw until the 22nd of June. We found the bear from the USA and took a picture. With gelato. Which Mom loved.
Our last leg of the trip was from Warsaw to Tel Aviv... here we are in the plane, very tired, but thrilled to see what is next!!!
Stay tuned...
