DAY 35

Monday 15 August 2011

Photo session for a wedding

After a night of rain, we got ready for our first foray into Krakow. We met our neighbors who also had a VW Westfalia and Ravi and Ina turned out to be our mates for the rest of the day. The expertise Ravi had as the one who fixed their van over many years was very helpful and gave us a newer sense of trust and pride in our vehicle. (Nevertheless we arranged a tune-up for it.) We returned the book to Norma and Howard that gave information about ACSI campsites and told them we might make some music later in the evening. 
We caught the bus with the help of Ina (who grew up in Krakow) and noted that bus drivers in Poland are famous for being grumpy. Luckily we had the correct change, in coins, because that is the only way one can ride, and not even our Polish friend could loosen up the stare-straight- ahead monosyllabic driver.

In town we saw a huge hot air balloon that rose up on a tether for a panoramic view of the city then was pulled down. It was situated on the Vistula River – the largest in Poland. We met up with Ina’s daughter, Nikki and her friend Lizzie, who were both visiting Krakow as well. They asked if we would like to join them for a visit to the oldest cemetery in Krakow, in the area named for King Kazimierz. 

We had an extraordinary experience there. The relatives of Ina were buried in the second oldest cemetery in the Jewish quarter and thanks to Nikki’s diligence with offices of records etc, the coordinates of the site were found and she had been there several times. It was a rare privilege. We sat at the foot of the graves as Ina read the Polish words naming her aunts and uncles, only two of whom escaped extermination at Auschwitz. This, as her family lore tells, was because one sister was very beautiful and was about to be let free by a German guard, when she bravely demanded, "Only if my sister can go too." The gamble paid off and those were the two names that showed death as sometime in the 1980s. Nicole and Dian sang (with their permission) a Hebrew song about brotherhood. After that we walked to the Pierogi Festival in the town square. There were lots of people, stands, beer and live music, and of course the best pierogis.

We tried a riddle that only Lizzie figured out, so her old buddy from grade school days bought her a whipped cream and chocolate waffle as a prize. When 3:00 PM arrived, a trumpeter appeared in the cathedral tower and played an aborted melody, reminding all that once when a trumpeter blew a warning Huns were approaching, an arrow stopped him mid-song.  He waved  to all from his perch, we presume as a sign that he was all right, ending mid-song voluntarily. 

Left: The riddle winner! Right: Ravi and Ina

We walked a bit more and then split off to have a bus ride around the city. Twice. After dinner the new friends including a few new ones gathered at the outdoor kitchen area for a song fest. Ina, Dian and Nicole were the Polish version of The Goils (or the Andrews Sisters). What a wonderful evening of wine and music.

Howard, Lizzie, and Norma

From left to right: Dian, Ina, Nikki, Howard

DAY 34

Sunday 15 August 2011

We had a slow day at Camp Clepardia, and since the next day was a big national religious holiday we were told almost everything would be closed. By early afternoon we decided we should get out and see a little of the city, then got as far as the supermarket and said Uh oh, if we don’t lay in provisions today, we may be caught with nothing but crackers in Krakow. We bought pierogis and eggplant which Dian whipped into a fine dinner, and inspired by Howard and Norma’s good experience of hiring a guide for a city tour, we decided to ask campground employee Kris, who grew up there, if he would give us a tour. Sure, he said, later admitting he had never done that, but we had great confidence.

One must get creative when their computer plug won't stay up on its own (Hint: a car key wedged underneath does quite nicely)

At last! Charles got to play some hoops! Sort of. A couple of local youths were on the courts, and instead of standing afar and salivating, Charles decided to ask if he could join them. They were most generous, being sure that each of the three players got to shoot in turn. He introduced them to the joys of Horse, and 21, and played miserably, oh well. In his defense, the rubber ball weighed about 40 lbs and Tomas and Jeremy both ignored most of the hoop rules about dribbling and traveling. Jenny and Peter showed up with their little rackets to bat a ball back and forth, and Jenny gave Charles a most surprised and jealous look.

DAY 33

Saturday 13 August 2011

We shared a cup of coffee with Alicija. Dian did a “puppet” show for Oscar, her grandson using kitchen ceramics (bulldog, rooster), then we left for the horror of Auschwitz. Guided tours were mandatory, and they lasted four hours. We were fortunate to get Marija, with 20-years experience working at the site, who did tours sporadically. She told us they must go through two years of training before being certified, and then continue their education with lectures by historians, linguists and other scholars. So she knew much more than she could tell us even in four hours, Charles remarked, and she smiled and nodded. She also told us her mother lived within 15 kilometers (nine mi) of the camp during the operations, and Dian asked if the stench of the cremated bodies could be smelled that far out, and she said yes, even further.

The entrance gate sign reads "Work will set you free"

When we got to an area with a memorial with plaques, by language, representing each one spoken by some victims of the camp, an American woman named Adrian had the same idea as Charles and they both marched down the line until finally finding English, on the last plaque out of 20-some. Half the tour was at Auschwitz, the other half at the lesser-known Birkenau, a camp at least five times bigger than Auschwitz, built nearby because the horrific operations increased so dramatically.

One startling moment was when Marija showed us a map of Europe, with lines drawn from every country overrun by the Nazis, from Norway to Greece, with all railway lines leading to Auschwitz. Many did not even survive the cruel 11-day ride from Greece. We also found it interesting what precise scientific investigation has been done to document the facts of the camp, since the Nazi commanders destroyed so many buildings and records as the Allied armies approached, trying to hide from history what had been done there.

Floor in the barracks in Birkenau. Photo by Dian.

Marija also explained that the rules forbade anything but documentaries to be shot there, so even Spielberg’s Schindler’s List had to be filmed in a recreated camp he constructed across the road.

It would be too difficult to try to explain our emotions of that day, but Nicole said, "As I was walking through, I didn’t really feel anything, I was sort of numb, but it hit me later on."

We had a picnic lunch on a stump off the side of the road, near a church where we heard beautiful singing as many were arriving for the service, only to notice it was a radio broadcast. Actually it seemed like a good way for a small church to sound like a bigger one.

We paid our first toll (not our last) on the road into Krakow, five bucks then found Camp Clepardia with the help of Jill, our GPS, and were escorted in by Kris, who bore a resemblance to Muse vocalist-guitarist Matthew Bellamy. Every camp has a personality, we’ve found, and we quickly dubbed Clepardia "Camp Bathrobe".

We met Brit Norma, who with her Welsh husband Howard became our revered travel gurus: they’ve been traveling constantly for three and a half years. They invited us over to their spacious, fully equipped motor home and shared tons of great road advice. Our admiration only increased when we heard they missed the last bus back to camp the night before and walked till 1:30 AM, (and they were pensioner age). Even veterans miss an occasional trick.

We met Germans, Jenny and Peter in the kitchen area (our first chance to cook, with no operational stove in the van. We offered pasta and they provided wine. We observed the merits of sleeping in till noon ("I’m on vacation!" Jenny protested) and going out for nightlife, though we didn’t follow suit. Jenny sympathized that, like Charles, she would love to get her hands on a basketball, especially since there were baskets in the park next door.

Day 32

Friday 12 August 2011

Our One Month Anniversary in Europe!

After four great days in our home of Camp Haller, we said reluctant goodbyes to Budapest, and our delightful neighbors and new friends Paolo and Paola (who, after forcing more espressos on us, presented us with a fantastic departure gift: a gorgeous box set of CDs, with huge book, of the genius pianist Glenn Gould), and we took off for Krakow, Poland. But because we wanted to visit Auschwitz and it was an hour west of Krakow, we decided to head there first. This took us through Slovakia and a tiny piece of Czech Republic, making four countries in one day!

Driving north from Budapest through wooded hills and unending fields of sunflowers, we spotted the bleached ruins of a castle on a rock, and stopped to look. Dian chatted with a woman from the restaurant there, and voila, more magic! She directed us around back in the van and opened the big iron gate so we could drive through for a closer look. We asked some people walking there if they knew the name and age, and we found out Beckov Castle is like most there in the Carpethian Mountains, built by locals in the 12th Century to defend against the invading Mongols, who had never encountered such a defense.

After a close drive by, we discovered the restaurant had Wi-Fi, so we checked for e-mail, and found the worst one yet from Sebastian: his insurance would not cover the accident to our van and he was going to let them scrap it to recover anything, and we would be stuck with the substitute van for the entire year. Dian and Nicole accepted the bad news quite well, Charles had trouble containing his upset.

Slovakia had huge rolling farms, with noticeable logging slashes in the hillsides, and some mining ugliness. It got nicer as we climbed in elevation, to magical, spooky, dense forests in the small piece of Czech Republic we passed through. We reached Poland and stopped at a roadside stand for watermelon, but no luck: she only took zloties. We thought euros were good everywhere in the EU - nope!

It was getting dark and we had no money, no food, and no place to sleep. We had hoped for a rest stop on the freeway, but left the highway long before, and there was nothing suitable on our scenic country drive. We found an open supermarket that took plastic, then Dian started chatting with a group of young locals. She told them we were looking for a place to sleep and after some animated discussion they jumped into their car and led us to a place where the owner, Alicija, let us park in the yard and use the restroom, shower and electricity and even offered to make coffee for us in the morning. A happy ending.

DAY 31

Thursday 11 August 2011


We awoke to a gorgeous day and the fantastic news that Nicole could get into the Sziget Festival at a discount. After catching up on e-mails, blogs and laundry Charles and Nicole left at 3 PM for the island where the music festival was happening. Dian gave a concert at the request of Paulo and Paula (the Milano neighbors) with a promise of homemade risotto and yummy orange peel dessert. At 10:30 as Dian was getting the beds ready, in walked Nicole and Charles with grins a mile wide. It turns out, Nicole was given free entrance and had seen one of her favorite groups, Kasabian.

Sziget is considered one of the best rock fests in Europe. All of Sziget Island, in the Danube in the center of Budapest, is given over to the music for eight days every summer, with almost a dozen stages, art areas, of course lots of food and beverage booths, and large areas for camping. It was a little complicated to get there from our camp, We knew what metro to take but then had to switch to two or three different trams; when we got off the metro we spotted a couple of young women in pink Sziget employee t-shirts and they gave us directions. Aha! We'd been fooled and lost that way too many times, so we decided to just follow them (at a discreet distance), until the flood of young people (not too many people Charles' age at this one) became obvious and we followed that crowd. Leaving was a different story: of course the crowd initially streamed out of one exit toward one transport point, but after that it got confusing because everyone was returning to different places. Amazingly, after an initial error, we corrected and took an alternate route and still got back perfectly. You laugh, but it's a big deal, the difference between arriving back at 10:30 happy to share our experiences, or 1:30 AM, exhausted and frustrated.

Walking across the final bridge (strewn with multi-lingual "Welcome" banners), Charles and Nicole could feel the buzz of excitement. This was a large crowd intent on having a great time, and there were plenty of opportunities for that. Nicole marched in with her "over 18" pass (for alcohol consumption), which had been pressed upon her with no questions asked. So much for that system.

Their very first impression on the grounds was not musical, but playful with some life-size Kinect game that had people jumping to exhaustion. Charles, a map nerd, wanted to study the layout first but Nicole just wanted to go, and explore. After surveying the scene and listening to a few bands, they finally found the area where their new artist buddy, ASquid NamedSebastian, from the camp in Vienna, was doing his thing in a laid back area where his traveling art collective was set up along with local and other artists. It was an interesting place to hang out and get a different experience than watching one band after another. He was kind enough to show his entire sketch book and explain all the plans he had for those many ideas, and appreciated Charles and Nicole's interest. If he can accomplish 1/10th of his ambitions, you will be hearing from him. Nearby we heard a band from Slovakia named Elvis Jackson, pretty interesting for the constant genre and language switches they made, even within each song. Impressive.

Nicole eating one of the GIANT hamburgers being sold at the fest.

The biggest name playing was Prince, two nights before and prices almost doubled that night. That would've been a treat, but we all had seen him in LA not long before, and still remembered that amazing show well. Thursday was the best night because of Kasabian, a band Charles initially "discovered" because he received a review copy of their first album, and who became one of Nicole's favorite bands. Neither of them had seen them live, so expectations were high, and they did not disappoint.

Nicole worked her way to the front of the stage about 20 minutes before showtime, and wound up with about 20,000 fans behind her. She befriended a really nice Bulgarian guy, who confessed to not knowing Kasabian very well; by the end of the show she asked him if he was now a fan and he replied, emphatically, "Very much so!" People near the front were having a really good time, with a mosh pit going (Nicole's first), but weren't going crazy -- when a woman fell, she was immediately picked up by others. Nicole's new friend was well over six feet tall and watched out for his more diminutive buddy.

When the band played songs from a new album that had not been released yet, it seemed like everyone in the crowd knew all the words, and Charles was impressed that Hungarian hacking skills were the equal of their American counterparts but Nicole pointed out she also knew the lyrics, by looking up live versions of the songs on Youtube. Get hip, Dad, there's more than one way to skin a release date. Nicole, Charles and the Bulgarian agreed it was a tremendous performance, and Nicole could hardly wait for their new album "Veloceraptor" to be released Sept. 19. (Cough.... early birthday present.... cough....) They saw a few more bands but that was definitely the highlight. They gave Sziget Fest a hardy thumbs up.

DAY 30

Wednesday 10 August 2011

We got good news! An email from the Sziget fest press office said that Charles was being allowed in after all! Nicole was still a question mark, and we all really wanted her to get to see Kasabian.

Hello Tim!

The Green Danube

Skittles promotional tree

We took the metro to Square of Heroes (Budapest's legendary leaders, national heroes). Strolled around the park, saw modern art installations on the lake (pieces of four checkered cars, floating, a house, so on), picnicked while it was becoming quite windy then took naps. We went to St. Istvan Bazilika and climbed to the top of the tower for a panoramic view of the city. Down on earth we had a coffee and took the bus to the Buda side, to a long area along the Danube with lots of great sights, including the long, stately parliament building across the river on the Pest side. Skittles were being passed out, so with some sugar in our systems we climbed the hill, using a winding series of way too many steps.

Art exhibit on a lake

Fisherman's Bastion

Hearing live music we hurried up to St. Michael's Church square and enjoyed a beer while listening to a hurdy gurdy player, (quite accomplished at 17 but had already been playing for 10 years). We thought of Dian's bro Tim, who works at Hilton HQ, as we checked out a famous one there built around excavated ruins. We walked down the other side of the hill through ruins and bunkers and came upon a huge waterfall statue fountain depicting hunters and their prey then continued to the bottom and caught the bus back to camp.

Back at camp, Nicole and Dian were noodling on the guitar and singing, and were beckoned by our Milano camp neighbor to hear some classical and popular favorites of his on headphones. That turned into an invitation to join them for Paula's homemade spaghetti. Ya don't have to ask us twice, especially since we were still without a working stove or fridge, limiting our menu choices. Good conversation, good wine, new friends.

Paola and Paolo, respectively.

DAY 29

Tuesday 9 August 2011

Stalin's boots

We decided to try the restaurant on the edge of Haller Camp, and it was good and cheap.  We shared one Hungarian omelet and two ham and eggs, the remains of which went on the huge rolls they served and made three tasty sandwiches for lunch. We saw Nadine and asked if she'd like to join us for a day on the town, so off we went for Margaret Island, something she wanted to explore that sounded good to us. We walked the full length and took in all the sights, including the rose garden, the ancient ruins, the petting zoo and the fascinating dancing fountain, synced to classical music and opera. One piece was a cappella, a Hungarian-language opera, Nadine said. It was beautiful.

Despite some kind of serious stomach upset, Nadine soldiered on through a long day and was a master urban navigator, aided by Charles' natural instinct for map and metro interpretation. The next goal, which we really wanted to see and which had eluded Nadine's search earlier was Monument Park, the largest collection (by an enterprising new capitalist) anywhere of massive Communist-era statues which survived the topplings that followed the end of Soviet Communist domination of eastern Europe. As we were walking and trying to figure out how to get there (it's outside of Budapest, and a little obscure), we learned something interesting about Nadine: she's a tour guide at Buchenwald, the preserved Nazi concentration camp near Weimar.

The journey to the park by subway and buses took a good hour and a half, but it was well worth it. We were amazed and amused at these giant statues scattered around a large park. We strolled from Stalin's boots to Lenin's bust and took some photos imitating these ideologically correct figures. Charles' press pass got him in free, so he decided to splurge on a t-shirt you can't get anywhere else, one depicting the great minds of the failed system as a rock band on tour.