Rosz ha-Szana (Rosh Hashanah) at the Kibbutz

Yesterday was the closing of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year.  Here in Warsaw, there happens to be a Jewish 'kibbutz' (kibuc) located on Jazdów called Kibuc Warszawa.  It's in an old 'Finnish' house, as are all houses on Jazdów.  (The Finnish Houses will actually be the topic of another post).  I say "kibbutz" because it's really not an agricultural collective, more of collective 'camp' (that's how I see it, anyway).  The kibbutz is run by ZOOM, the Polish Youth organization.

The Rosh Hashanah celebration was an open invitation to Jews and Gentiles alike.  The whole thing kicked off at sunset around a heavily laden table with food and wine (there was a cash bar too that it was pretty cheap).  One who was 'the Rabbi' gave a lecture about Rosh Hashanah, the Sabbath, and the High Holy Days.  He performed the ceremony and said the proper prayers (he did, however, omit the hand washing).  Few men in the crowd wore their yamulkas (I totally rocked mine as I take advantage of the few opportunities to do so), but enough were able to recite the prayers in Hebrew.  Challah (chalka) was blessed and passed around for all to tear off a chunk.  After the blessings and prayers, we toasted each other with slices of apple and pomegranate for a sweet new year.  The table was then opened up for all to feast.

There was no blowing of the shofars, which disappointed me, because I was looking forward to a good horn-blowing concert.  But, there was an unexpected feast, so I can't complain.

The table with fruit, cakes, hummus, fish, bread, chicken, and much more.

Luckily, it happened during a mild Indian summer.  The night was cool, but not cold, and one warmed up quickly while dancing (though the DJ could have been a little bit better).  A good way to ring in new year.

Pleasant Surprise in the Mail

Recently, I ordered a slew of books of Amazon's UK site, amazon.co.uk.  I picked up three packages today and found a little note on the packing slip.  See below:

Pozdrowienie z Gloucester ;)  (Greetings from Gloucester ;) )

Some poor Polak must be stranded working in a book depository in Gloucester (or just some Brit who knows some Polish).  I can't make out the last little mark, but it seems like it's a winking face.

It really made my day ;-)

Jarmark Warszawa

It seems that Plac Defilad is getting some use this year.  It's usually an eyesore of a parking lot and bus station, but the Fan Zone and now the Jarmark Warszawa (Warsaw Christmas Fair) have actually put it to some use.  Last year, the jarmark was on the south side of the PKiN.  This year, it's a little bigger (still smaller than the one in the Old Town Square), and sports a small bar, a ferris wheel, some other rides, crappy Christmas techno, and the wooden stalls selling gloves, food, scarves, and knickknacks.

The 'Warsaw Eye' and the Palace.

The entrance.

I'll ride this some time and write about the views and whether it was worth it.

 I actually like Christmas markets.  I like buying the overpriced mulled wine (not much mead for sale) and hearty bread with smalec and ogorki kiszone.  The music could be toned down (really, it's terrible.  It's almost offensive how bad it is).
It's worth fifteen minutes to ramble through.

Independence Day

November 11th is Poland's Independence Day, celebrating the reversal of the three partitions of Poland and the return of the Polish State.  It started as a beautiful fall day.  The air was warm, the last of the golden fall was fading, and I ran a 10K.

Early afternoon, I decided to head to the center.  Upon arriving (and exiting the metro) I found the entire center shut down, and battalions upon battalions of riot police cordoning off Aleje Jerozolimskie and the Palac Kultury i Nauki.  There were fleets of police vans and police armored personal carriers with white "gun" turrets on top (I actually think they were non-lethal guns, probably shooting pepper spray or something).  There was a march, a protest, apparently, and things were looking to get hairy.  There were people carrying Polish flags, but also flags I hadn't seen before, and one or two that were most definitely white power neo-nazi type.  I whipped out my cellphone and snapped a few pictures of the police spectacle and went about my business.

Police van after police van driving around.

A wall of riot police marching down Marszalkowska.

The riot police coming into towards Rondo Dmowskiego.

Being in the northern latitudes, the sun sets pretty early in Poland this late in the year.  As the beautiful fall day faded into what would be a fair autumn night, blaring sirens, firecrackers, and loud speakers would fill the air.

I made way down Chmielna, and everything seemed normal.  Parents were strolling down, pushing strollers, couples walked arm-in-arm and went into the many cafes, and bohemes clustered around each other in their shabby clothes.  I exited Chmielna and came on the Nowy Swiat, right as a troop of riot police led a long line of chanting anti-facists.  The protesters waved flags, held banners, and chanted after some lady yelling over a loudspeaker.  They were protesting another protest that was evidently held by fascists.  They started blasting some dance music towards the end of it.  The line of protesters and police (most of whom looked bored) continued on their angry, yelling way, and I headed down to Rondo de Gaulle'a.

I waited at Rondo de Gaulle'a for a bus or tram, or anything to carry me on my way.  Nothing came.  People stood patiently for a bus that never appeared, and the majority of the traffic on the road were police cars flashing their lights.  The sun dipped down below the horizon.  After waiting around and not knowing what the hell was going on (I didn't have any foreknowledge of these marches and protests), I decided to go back to Centrum and go to the metro.

That didn't quite work out as planned.  I found that Aleje Jerozolimskie cordoned off and guarded by barriers and riot police.  The police were letting in people who lived on the street, but everyone else was not allowed.  Saying "Shit!" to myself, I hooked a left (south) and hoped to go around another way.  I hadn't put much thought in walking down the Politechnika, so, I just walked around some side streets and tried to cut back to Marszalkowska…  …and right into a situation that seemed like it was about to explode.  There were explosions (firecrackers, flares, and tear gas).  There were yet more lines of police, and many sketchy looking folks wearing face masks and scarfs.  The ground had some broken glass, as well as shattered paving stones, and the air was thick with tear gas. Someone was angrily yelling over a microphone, and I didn't know if it was someone from the police telling the crowd to disperse, or someone in the march making an angry speech to his followers.  It turned out that it was the latter.  There were also a crapload of people recording everything on their smartphones.  The patriotic music was turned on, and many people standing around starting singing in angry, croaking voices.  The police line made a move and closed in on part of the crowd, so I took it as high time to skedaddle and get out.  I again turned south, and then tried cutting in back to Marszalkowska.

Police barricading a side street.

I walked into a situation very similar to the last one I had left.  Though, I did find the source of the voice endlessly ranting over the loudspeaker (it seemed to becoming from some truck or float or whatnot.  Here, photographers of all sorts were shooting pictures.  There were press photographers wearing ballistic helmets, face masks, and vests that said PRESS on them.  The police stood, blocking off Marszalkowska, but also any side streets.  I finally whipped out my big camera and started taking pictures.  It was more of the same, people shouting, waving flags, menacing the walls of police, etc.  I took pictures until my camera's battery died.  Having enough of the commotion (also, the police started clearing Marszalkowska and started marching down the street), I decided just to walk all the way to Politechnika.  I strode down to Plac Konstitucji, easily leaving the big angry mess behind…

Where paving stones had been dug up to be thrown.

Über-nationalists clamoring around an open bus or truck of some sort,  which was blasting noise.

The police blocking off any way to get in or out.

Damage done by hooligans.

The police clearing the way down Marszalkowski.

Shattered paving stones that had been heaved.

The police clear the way down the street.

And I walked into another goddamn demonstration!  People waving flags, loudspeakers, people yelling and chanting, not so much police though.  Oh, all the kebab places were doing killer business too.  Seriously, I'm talking huge crowds standing outside them (and it was only 5 PM).  I cleared Plac Konstitucji, not even bothering to slow down or care what these people were angry about, and made it to Politechnika.  I loitered around and asked if the buses were coming.  Someone said, yes, one had been by, but they were coming very rarely.  I waited (the roads were empty and silent) and just as I was about to carry on, on comes a full regiment of riot police at the head of some march.  This one had motorcyclists, two armored hussars on horses, and elderly folk dressed as Home Army combatants.  Then, there came the people waving flags, yelling, causing a ruckus.  I vacated the area as quickly as I could, and made my way to Plac Na Rozdrozu.

Would you believe me if I told you there there was another demonstration there?  Because there was.  People waving flags (Polish and otherwise), praying, some loudspeakers blaring some man ranting.  Not even bothering to check this one out, I simply continued on my way and finally cleared all the rabble.

So… my afternoon turned out to not be what I thought it was going to be.  One question (still hasn't been answered) that was hanging around was: why is everyone so angry?  It's supposed to be a joyous holiday of coming together and celebrating all things Polish (at least, that's my ignorant, backwards view of it).

You can read more about what was going on here.  I highly suggested, if simply to see the picture of some poor schmuck about to get his shit fucked up by the police.  Seriously.

Winter's Early Entrance

It's not even November yet, and Warsaw got a healthy dose of winter.  It started out as wet flurries swirling about, but by the end of the day, the fat flakes transformed the whole city into a winter wonderland.  I love snow and I hope this a glimpse of what is to come.  I do have feeling that it will all melt in a few days and turn everything into a slushy, muddy, wet mess.

It's coming down pretty hard.

Early in the storm: snow on the bushes.

It's supposed to snow again on Tuesday.  With the start of the snowing season, it means that Poles can resume their on-going war on tire treads.  But, I am looking forward to sledding and snowball fights.

I haven't seen this in a long time: a tree falling onto a car.  The car escaped relatively unscathed.

New Metro Line Work on Swietokrzyska

Work on the second metro line in Warsaw is well underway.  Swietokrzyska has been closed down and turned into a construction site.  Every so often, they'll also close the Swietokrzyska stop, effectively splitting the metro line into two.  A Z bus is then used to take the long way around the Palac Kultury i Nauki, linking Metro Centrum to Metro Ratusz Arsenal.  It can turn a simple trip to the other side of the city in a 2X long affair.

The construction site at night.

Muzeum Techniki

Until very recently, there was a Museum of Technology in the Palac Kultury i Nauki.  It closed on the 19th of May (the Night of the Museums).  I had never been there, I'm ashamed to say, even though I'm a big technology buff.  So, I decided to hit it up during its last day of operation.
The exterior matches the rest of the PKiN, but has a gigantic propeller and some other technological scraps lying about.  I was kind of excited.  I was anticipating mind-blowing exhibits, the type that would make me giddy to return to school.

The entrance.

It was reasonably priced at 6zl for a bilet ulgowny (reduced-price ticket for students).  The museum itself is worth the 6zl, but it's easy to see why it didn't make enough money to stay open.  The Centrum Kopernik in Powisle is flashy, new, and interactive.  This one is static and badly in need of an update.  That's not to say it was bad, but it wasn't exactly impressive.  It's like an Eyewitness book, but in 3D and worse captions.  They do have a large collection of old phones, sewing machines, computers they probably picked up at some yard sale (or got from school the donated all its moded hardware), and replicas and mockups of various rockets and flying machines.  It was a good two hours burned to wander through a section of the Palac I had never seen (and a reminder that the PKiN is actually pretty friggan huge).  There were some nice exhibits on the iron and coal industries and their histories in Poland.  It does help give a basic idea about how technology has evolved over time (especially in the 20th century).  It did make me feel old being able to point out several devices that I had used in the not-too-distant past (no Apple II though.)  Their display on photography was lacking (there was almost nothing, like four cameras), but they did have a bitchin' Canon XL.

How 'Mary' helped Grandma

The cities that could be broadcasting radio

Strange relics from the '80s and '90s

This was a not a display, but a curators desk (or a 'living' display).  No joke.

Like a VW Bug, only crappier.  There was a joke about crumple zones–zones that crumple up to absorb energy during a collision.  This car's crumple zones are the trunk and the engine bay (notice that the engine is within the passenger compartment).

It's sad to think that a museum like this will close its doors, but I'm honest when I'm saying that it was no great loss.  I'm hoping some other museum will open its doors soon there (it's such a great location). But, more likely, it'll turn into some cafe with a gym attached or a nightclub or something.  The collection can easily be sold on Allegro (Poland's eBay) and reap a tidy little amount of money for people hungering for nostalgia, or other museums of technology in sadder shapes than this one.  I'm comforted that the Centrum Kopernik still has long lines and rave reviews.  It's yet another museum I haven't been to, but I'll make it there, don't worry.

A 'certified' wallet elephant.

Well, that's about it for the Museum of Technology.

Noc Muzeow 2012

May 19th was the much anticipated Noc Museow.  I try to attend every year, and this one was no exception.  There also happened to be Juwenalia for Politechnika, but I chose to attend the 'high culture' option (i.e. go see some museums.)

I am ashamed to admit it, but I have never been to the famed Galeria Zacheta.  It's probably because most of its art is on semi-permanent exhibit at Muzeum Narodowy, but also because I just plain forgot to go.  Anyway, I gripped opportunity by the cojones and decided to visit this esteemed place of art.

It was a beautiful day, and as the sun set into evening, the lines started forming outside the many museums and galleries.  At Zacheta, there was some Wayne's World-looking fellow with a film crew and a pretty girl forcing interviewees to sign release statements walking about and being the area of much entertainment and interest of the crowd.  The crowd flooded in to the beautiful entrance of the gallery, to be welcomed with another crowd of people sitting everywhere.  Apparently, art was off the menu and ambient electronica was on.  The WEF Laptop Orkiestra Powered by Intel® was on the menu and playing up a gentle, soothing storm of bleeps, beeps, static, and thuds.  The Orkiestra was sitting on the upper level balcony at a long table covered with (you guessed it) laptops.  With names like Asdf, Xlorite, and Krzysztof Golinski, they seemed like true 1337s.  There was also a some small projections of shapes, lines, and the like to match the basic feel of the music.

The music wasn't terrible (at least, not in my taste) but I could take much of it, so I tried to find out else the Zacheta had to offer.  As it turned out, not much.  All other parts of the building were blocked off except an area dedicated to a modern art exhibit.  The topic of the exhibit was the Caucuses and the people and culture there.  There were some photos, split-screen video displays, static displays, videos, etc.  It wasn't too inspiring.  Like most modern art, it was both too loud and too quiet and rather slapdash.

I left the Zacheta feeling cheated.  I guess they only roll out the good stuff to paying guests.

Galeria Zacheta with the light display

Some media personality filming outside the Zacheta.  He interviewed a few folks (I was not one of them.) 

Right near the Zacheta is the Holy Trinity Lutheran Church.  They had open doors, lights, and music, the whole shebang.  The music consisted of organ music played on the main organ.  Downstairs the church houses an impressive open gallery (the space is impressive).  They had an exhibit called 'Know Your Brother' (or something to that effect).  A slow, heavy bass beat out with the repeating of "I love you" in different, distorted voices.  Not something I'd expect to hear in a church's basement.  Art students' paintings adorned the walls, ranging from quiet OK to total shit (I'm sorry, but I'd be slapping some Fs on them.)

A respectable portrait

Not my type

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and I'm not one to judge (I've never been good at drawing).  I admire that the church went ahead and displayed this art, and I admire the whole Noc Muzeow concept as well.  I do think, however, that this one was not as successful as other nights.  Better luck next year.

Oh, and: I love you.

The Gallery

Looking for Lost Love

While on my way to the Muzeum Techniki today, I came across this:

Lost love or clever marketing?

It translates to: I am looking for Anna M… The boy from the tram-  danziger@op.pl  bosmanmat@op.pl  Thank you for help.
I'm lost as to if this is a real personals ad or a marketing ploy for some unknown product.  If anyone knows Anna M, let Mr. Bosmanmat from Danzig/Gdansk know ASAP.  He'll thank you for your help.
Also, let me know how it goes.

Noc Muzeów

The brilliant idea of Noc Muzeów (Night of the Museums)  provides an excellent opportunity to get out and take in some serious culture in a light and fun atmosphere.  It's something I've never seen anywhere else, which is a pity, because the whole idea of it is pretty cool.  It's my second time taking part (please see my previous post); however, due to some circumstances I pretty much saw the same exact thing as last year.  Also, my night ended early and tragically sober.
Noc Muzeów helps bring people out and experience their own culture, and gives them a reason to visit museums they normally wouldn't see.  It's before all the tourists come and clog the museums up anyway.  The timing is pretty much perfect: the time before everyone leaves the city for vacation but it's usually warm enough to enjoy a night on the town.  In Warsaw proper (although, the event was held across Poland), they were using it as a push for having Warsaw be the Capital of Culture in 2016.

The line to get into Museum Narodowy.

So, I went to the Museum Narodowy and the Museum Wojska Polskiego.  Bitwa pod Grunwaldem was again not on show, and that kind of sucked.  The line to the National Museum was long, but moved along at a good clip.  I waited in line fifteen minutes.  The Military Museum had some new equipment on show, plus they were letting people climb into the cockpits of various planes and helicopters.

Since my last run-in with the Straz Miejska, I have been awfully wary about drinking in public.  So, I viewed these two museums stone-cold sober.

You could sit in the cockpit of the MiG-29

Polish resistance reenactors.

Plac Zamkowy

The whole experience of Noc Muzeów is a festive one.  There were percussion bands playing on the street; there were people partying hardcore in the trams; there were people singing hymns in front of the presidential palace.

As the night gets longer, so do the lines.  The museums fill up with people and everything moves more slowly.  Most people only see two or three museums tops.  If you went to the Copernicus Center, you probably waited in line for hours upon end and saw only that (I didn't even attempt to do so.)

An old Double-Decker (straight from Londontown).

The An-24.

It's not just museums that were open this night.  Everything from libraries to the National Mint to police stations were open for visits.  The Warsaw University Library did close pretty early, which irked me as I was about to go there.  I can only hope this wildly successful idea is picked up and imitated elsewhere.

At the start of the line.