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The Food of Poland – Pierogi and So Much More

September 2, 2018

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Location: Poland

We have spent the past two weeks eating our way through Poland. If you had asked me about Polish food before arriving, I would have said “well they eat pierogi and drink vodka!” I think many Americans know only this as well. But as much as I love the pierogi, I have learned all about the food of Poland – pierogi and so much more.

Poland’s tumultuous history is identifiable in their foods (history blog coming soon). Over the millennia the region we know as Poland was controlled by Prussia, Austro-Hungarian Empire, Hapsburg Dynasty, Russia, Sweden, Lithuania, Germany, Soviet Union and others. Watch this short video to understand how fluid the borders of this area have been. It’s fascinating.

Poland’s Changing Borders

So, of course that means for more than two thousand years the region has been influenced by the surrounding kingdoms and countries. But also, and perhaps more importantly, Poland has endured a great deal of economic hardship, which means developing simple foods with simple ingredients seasonally available or what ever is on hand.

And you will see that in the comfort foods of Poland.

Soups and Meats

Zurek Sour Soup. My favorite

In Poznan I had one of my favorite traditionally Polish foods, a soup called zurek. I really need to learn to make this delicious, bright, flavorful soup. Often called Sour Soup because of the fermented rye used, it’s very difficult to describe but definitely not difficult to eat. Want to try it? Check out this recipe.

Duck with beets and dumplings

Soups are very popular in Poland, particularly in the long dark winter, and in addition to zurek we had tomato soup, seafood soup, beet soup (borscht) and another sour soup with fermented rye and dill called zalewajka. I loved that one too. Want to try it? Check out this recipe.

In Poznan and in Wroclaw we also enjoyed wonderfully prepared duck, traditionally served with beets and yeast dumplings. We also had deliciously hand-made sausages and pickles served with mustard. Another favorite was a beetroot and strawberry salad served with warm goat cheese. A remarkable combination of simple ingredients.

Pierogi and Cooking Class

Fresh cured meats with pickles and mustard

We stayed the longest in the remarkable city of Krakow, where we had time to really dive into the culture and food scene. Here is where we ate the most pierogi, taste testing traditional favorites as well as a few new creations. The Pierogi Ruskie is the favorite amongst the Poles, and I have to say that is my favorite too. Simple ingredients of potato, cheese, and onion burst in your mouth, full of home cooked goodness. Another favorite we enjoyed was duck pierogi – a more modern take on

Duck pierogi

the traditional food. We also had mushroom and cabbage, spinach and cheese, blueberry, and raspberry.

So much pierogi so little time!

In Krakow I had a wonderful pleasure of spending half a day with Olga of Urban Adventures in her tiny communist era apartment, where we created some delicious pierogi, learning the nuances of preparation. The dough for pierogi is as simple as pasta dough, just flour, egg, water and a little salt. Hand mixing and hand forming is important to keep it traditional. Pierogi is always boiled, but left over pierogi is often pan-fried the next day for another delicious way to enjoy it. And since you can’t just make a few pierogi, there are always leftovers. There are many ways to enjoy Pierogi. Click on this link for a recipes for several of the most traditional ones, including Ruskie. I have also attached a pdf here with the recipe Olga so kindly provide.Pierogi receipe

Forming the pierogi

While spending the day with Olga we also visited the local Polish market where we learned to order the items we needed – in Polish – while the local merchants smiled and indulged our broken mispronunciation. At the market we also learned not only about fresh meat and produce, but about the many kinds of popular pickles, pastries, cheese and, surprisingly, lard. We ate bacon lard spread like butter

At the market fresh eggs and a polish cheese called Golka

on delicious fresh bread. Who knew that could be so good?

Christmas Traditions

Our visit to Krakow also included spending four hours one evening with Delicious Poland, walking around the city and tasting so many delicious polish specialties. Seriously I thought I was going to explode. If you come to Krakow definitely do a food walking tour – but DO NOT eat lunch before hand. So much delicious food. Here is what we ate:

Pierogi of course, at one of the city’s most loved family owned pierogi restaurants called Przystanek. We learned that sometimes fruit filled pierogi is served as a main dish, and the mushroom and cabbage pierogi is always served on Christmas

Ruskie Pierogi made in cooking class. The most traditional.

Eve.

Christmas Eve is a major holiday and the family gathers to make the pierogi together. A traditional Polish Christmas Eve meal includes 12 courses, symbolizing riches, the 12 apostles and the 12 months of the year. The feast begins with the breaking of a wafer and is followed by; red borscht, mushroom soup, carp, herring, mushroom and cabbage pierogi, sauerkraut, cabbage rolls, kutia (grain and candied fruit mixture), gingerbread, dried fruit compote, poppy seed cake.

Poppyseed Cake

Another wonderful Christmas Eve tradition in Poland is that every table is set with one extra seat. Traditionally set for anyone who may be alone or needing a meal on Christmas Eve.

Walking Food Tour Krakow

Our food tour continued at Zalewajke in the Jewish Quarter, where we enjoyed the zalewajke soup and the borscht (mentioned above). We continued to the Jewish Market square to try a more recent addition to the polish food scene, zapiekanka. This open face sandwich is the favorite fast food in Krakow, developed in the communist era when burgers were not allowed because they were too “American”.

Zapiekanka open face sandwich

Trying local vodka at Hevre (a converted Jewish Prayer Hall) I realized I actually like vodka, if it’s the good stuff! My favorite was the Bison Grass; so subtle and smooth. Next we visited a very popular local brewery called Ursa Major with a woman brew master! Here we enjoyed sausage and cheese with two beers – a no hop(!) summer ale (interesting) and a

Enjoying the Bison Grass Vodka

session IPA. Unlike most places we’ve been, American-style IPAs are very popular here.

So we are thinking we probably just have dessert left but no! We continued on to Kuchina u Doroty where we ate more! Two of my favorites of my time in Poland I had here – a delicious potato pancake covered in goulash called place ziemniaczane z gulaszem (try it) and a cabbage and sausage stew called bigos (try it) . In addition we had golabki (cabbage rolls), beetroot salad, kompot (juice) and racuchy, a fried dough dessert that tasted a lot like french toast, covered with yogurt and fresh berries.

Potato pancake with goulash

About this time Arne plopped me in a wheelbarrow and wheeled me home.

The women in my cooking class.

Our time in Poland has been incredibly delicious and that has been incredibly surprising. Poland is an underrated tourism destination, and now I know the Polish cuisine is also misunderstood and underrated. I will take everything I learned about the food and culture of this incredible country and refer to it often.

And someday, I will return. To eat, to enjoy and to savor all this country has to offer.

Arne enjoying some of the local microbrews

Dziekuje Poland! Fantastyczny!

Note – Traveling and eating in Poland is very inexpensive. Some of our nicest meals with appetizers, main course, dessert, wine and beer only cost around $40. As of this writing the exchange rate is 4 zloty to one USD.

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Food & Drink

My Favorite Cooking Classes Around the World

Fabulous Travel Adventures

June 28, 2019

Laureen

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I don’t take a cooking class in EVERY country, but I’d like to. I love to learn about local cultures through food and I look for that experience when I can find it. In some countries finding a class is difficult or impossible. Other times it just doesn’t fit my schedule. But I always make an effort and when I do attend a class I am never disappointed. Just today I signed up for a cooking class for my upcoming visit to Hong Kong.

I can recommend all of the cooking classes below…many of these I have written blogs about and you can click directly to read those blog entries. I encourage you to consider cooking classes, even if

Cooking in Tuscany

cooking isn’t a big part of your life. Taking a class in a foreign country with local people, often in their homes and with their families, is one of the most rewarding ways to open up the cultural lines of communication all while enjoying a delicious and fun experience. Fabulous!

Tuscany/Italy – My first cooking class took place in Tuscany with a group of friends we were traveling with seven years ago. We learned to make an amazing meal from the owner of the Villa where we were staying. She was a former chef and chocolatier! Our amazing meal included handmade pasta, vegetable terrine, beef loin and lots and lots of wine.

Argentina – We took a very fun cooking class in Buenes Aires during our two day visit prior to getting on a cruise ship. Unfortunately we were so jet-legged the experience is a little bit fuzzy in my memory. The class was

Cooking in South Korea

held in the home of the chef, and there were about 8 people in attendance. We made several different kinds of empanadas, made delicious chimichurri sauce and butter cookies and learned about Matte – the unique and ubiquitous drink of Argentina.

South Korea – in Seoul I spent two full days with a world famous South Korean Chef the Korean Food and Culture Academy and it remains one of my all time favorite experiences. One of the days I was with just one other student. The second day I was with four other students. I learned to cook about a dozen dishes including Kimchee and I have used these recipes over and over

Cooking in Croatia

ever since. Who knew Korean food was so amazing? I didn’t and that is one of the best parts of the experience.

Croatia – I’m a sucker for slow roasted meats and it’s one of the staple foods in many of the East European countries. My experience in Croatia was a mouth watering one, learning the ancient and incredibly delicious process of cooking Peka over an open fire. The lamb dish is spectacularly delicious and a celebratory Croatian speciality.

Guatemala – I loved my full-day private cooking class in Antiqua Guatemala. I had the chef all to myself and an English translator. We made several dishes, enough to feed an army, and I ended up taking all the food home to enjoy another full meal with my husband. Learning

Cooking in Spain

to make the tortillas was a favorite activity, that proved much more difficult that you might expect!

Morocco – In Asilah Morocco we were blessed to have the most wonderful Airbnb that included a daily housekee and full-time cook. What a special treat that was during our ten days in this tiny

Cooking in Thailand

ocean front village. Each day she cooked for us and we watched and learned from her. We also went with her to the market and learned about the local specialities from tagine to couscous.

Thailand – It’s a tough call for me to say which class was my favorite but I would definitely put my two days at the Thai Kitchen Cookery School in Chiang Mai very near the top. It was a comedy of errors how I ended up there, but in hindsight I was so glad I did. I loved the class, the staff and the wonderful foods I enjoyed over my two-days with them.

South Africa – Several of the classes I have taken over the years have been in the personal homes of the chef, bringing me closer to the local

Cooking in Belize

culture in a familiar and family way. In Capetown South Africa my husband and enjoyed a wonderful evening in the home of our Chef who taught us about local cuisine from the African culture with the European influence. We ate Emu for the first time and many other delicious dishes as well as exceptional South African wines with our Chef and her husband.

Vietnam – One of my all time favorite cooking experiences was in Hoi An Vietnam, which coincidentally is also one of my all time favorite cities. I took an all day class at the famous Mrs. Vys Cooking School.

Cooking in South Africa

The class began with a bike ride around the city that included stops at several markets, a beautiful organic community garden and at the home of a bean sprout farmer . I learned so much and enjoyed the bike ride as well. Returning to the school we toured the multiple cooking stations within the school watching the professionals making food beautiful before heading upstairs to the kitchen to tackle our own recipes. I ate so much that day, and learned so much, and highly recommend this place if you are ever in Hoi An. I hope to return some day.

Spain – I loved Barcelona, and especially loved the famous Mercado de la Boqueria for its color and festive atmosphere as well as delicious and fresh food. It was here where my class began, touring, tasting and

Cookin in Poland

purchasing the ingredients before heading upstairs to cook. Our three-hours class included such Catalan specialities as paella, gazpacho and Spanish Tortilla. I have cooked these items many times since.

Poland – Krakow is one of my favorite European cities, under-appreciated by many visitors to Europe.

Cooking in Vietnam

We loved the food of Krakow and did a food walking and drinking tour as well as a pierogi cooking class. My teacher was a young college student who was born and raised in Krakow. We met at the market where she helped us speak Polish to the vendors to acquire the ingredients we needed for our dish. We then proceeded to her tiny, communist era apartment where we maneuvered around her little kitchen learning to make the dough and the stuffing for several different pierogi. It was one of my favorite classes ever.

Belize – Learning about the food and culture of the Garifuna people of Belize, with our two adult sons was a highlight of our family time together in Belize. Cooking outdoors on an open fire with Chef Gloria doing everything from breaking and shredding the coconut to pounding the yams with a wooden mallet made the final delicious dinner all the more satisfying and fun.

So those are some of my favorite cooking class experiences over the past several years. To be sure I will be writing about more wonderful cooking experiences in the future. Because life is fabulous and delicious!

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Adventure Travel -- Inspire

Our Favorite Destinations No One Goes To

Add These to Your Bucket List

March 29, 2019

Laureen

18 Comments

Location: Around the World

We love Paris like everyone else. But really that’s the problem. EVERYONE loves Paris (and London and Rome) and so you find lots of crowds and high cost. In our travels around the world we have really tried to find new places that few tourists go. Often these destinations end up being our most favorite. And the more we travel the more we want to encourage everyone to consider stepping out of their travel comfort zone, and exploring the unknown – the favorite destinations no one goes. Finding your way to the lesser traveled destinations creates less impact on the planet while bringing greater cultural awareness to the traveler. We ask you to consider these options:

Bulgaria

Our Favorite Destinations No One Goes To

Bulgaria

Instead of Croatia consider visiting Bulgaria, one of our favorite countries we have ever been to. Bulgaria has so much to offer, and yet we did not meet a single American during the entire month we were there. We did meet lots of Russians, Germans and some Brits. Bulgaria has a remarkable coastline along the gorgeous Black Sea as well as great mountains for hiking. The food is amazing, the wine is cheap and the 5000 year history is astounding. And the people are so amazing, welcoming and proud. They have endured a great deal in their history, and they have a “come what may” attitude that is infectious. Go visit Bulgaria.

Slovenia

Instead of Italy go to fascinating Slovenia. From Trieste, Italy it’s just a hop across the border to Slovenia, the tiny country once part of Yugoslavia. We have been to Slovenia twice and I suspect we will be there again. Slovenia has a tiny coastline on the Adriatic, and our favorite town of Piran is a perfect place to visit and get some local flavor. But don’t stop there, Slovenia has some of the most beautiful mountain towns and lakes. Much of Slovenia is still agrarian and the people are welcoming and patriotic and friendly. Oh and the seafood. So darn delicious. Go visit Slovenia.

El Salvador

Instead of Mexico go to El Salvador. We just spent two weeks on the Pacific Coast of tiny El Salvador and we absolutely loved it. There are some Americans coming here, but mostly 20-year-old surfers. The media has made us believe El Salvador is a dangerous place, and yet it is no more dangerous than Mexico and Americans flock to Mexico. Come to El Salvador where the water is warm, the people are welcoming, the food is delicious and the history though brutal and bloody – is fascinating. El Salvador will soon come out the shadow of its violent past, so visit before the secret gets out. Go visit El Salvador.

Poland

Instead of Germany go to Poland. Poland is just beginning to step out of the shadow and become a tourist destination. And it should. We fell hard for Poland spending three weeks there last fall. Poland has some of the most astonishing history anywhere in Europe. The food is fantastic. The people are warm and happy to meet you. The historic villages are well-preserved and beautiful. And it is cheap and easy to get to. We loved Krakow as well as all the other places we visited and using the train in Poland was a great way to travel. You really should visit Poland now.

Bangladesh

Instead of India go to Bangladesh. I loved our time in India too, but if you want to push yourself and visit somewhere no tourists go, visit the remarkable, tiny country of Bangladesh. Our short visit to Bangladesh provided us some of the most rewarding moments we have ever had in our travels. It’s difficult to visit Bangladesh without a guide, and we were lucky to find Deshguri, one of the few tour operators in the country. Through Deshguri we able to meet so many Bangladeshi people, who greeted us with more kindness than anywhere we have ever been in the world. We certainly stood out in both crowded Dakar as well as the beautiful villages and countryside, since almost no Western tourists come here. We learned so much during our time in Bangladesh, and left our heart with its beautiful people. A remarkable experience that everyone should have. Visit Bangladesh soon.

Sri Lanka

Instead of Thailand go to Sri Lanka. Thailand is overrun with tourists anymore. So if you are looking for beautiful beaches, mountains and more, visit Sri Lanka instead. The young backpacking set has found Sri Lanka, but few American visitors of the Fab Fifties era are traveling here. Why not? It is amazing. We spent three of our most favorite weeks in Sri Lanka, one of the friendliest countries we have ever visited. The Civil War is over and Sri Lanka is safe and inexpensive. The food is the da bomb. Hiking and history is around every corner and the beaches are incredible. We saw elephants and leopards, monkeys and snakes. Oh my. It’s Sri Lanka for me.

Namibia

Instead of South Africa go to Namibia. Our ten-day tour in Namibia with Wild Wind Safaris will go down in our travels as one of the most remarkable places. This country that nobody has heard of is one of the most beautiful in the world. We had an amazing private guide during our time there, but you can also see the country easily with your own 4×4 vehicle (careful though, there is a high traffic fatality rate in Namibia). Namibia has a gorgeous Atlantic coastline, dry mountainous region that is like a moonscape, and multiple fascinating cultures such as the Himba, Damara and Herero people. And to top it off Etosha National Park – single-handedly the best wildlife viewing we have ever encountered. I absolutely fell in love with Namibia. If you have ever considered a safari in Kenya, Tanzania or South Africa take a moment and research Namibia. You will be so glad you did. Go see Namibia now.

Seychelles

Instead of the Maldives go to the Seychelles. First a word about the Maldives. We loved our time there, and luckily we found a very inexpensive place to stay. But in general the Maldives are expensive and there is no alcohol! So consider the Seychelles instead. A beautiful set of small islands out in the middle of nowhere off of east Africa. We spent a month on the tiny island of Praslin and loved every minute of it. Groceries were expensive and the variety was less than desirable, but the rest of the experience was very positive. The islanders speak French/Creole mix, and the shy people are friendly and religious. If you are looking for a place to kick back and relax with the warmest turquoise waters in the world, visit Seychelles now.

Portugal

Instead of Spain go to Portugal. I hesitated about adding Portugal to this list because Portugal does have a thriving tourism industry. But we met very few Americans while we were there. Perhaps more Americans go to Spain because Spanish is a language more Americans can handle. But during our time in Portugal we had very little difficulty with the Portuguese language. We loved Portugal so much we would consider living there. The food is incredible, the cities are beautiful and the beaches are fantastic. It’s a remarkable place with such a variety of geography. Historically Portugal was once a powerful country of explorers and merchants, colonizers and tyrants but today, this quiet and beautiful country is laid back and relaxed and fun. Visit Portugal.

What is next for us?

We are now into a full-fledged planning phase of our next chapter of the Grand Adventure. We will spend May-September in the USA then depart again. Without really trying, we have noticed

Hard to answer questions to a travel nomad

Portugal

a trend in the countries we are planning to visit next, a trend towards less touristy. A trend towards staying longer in one place. A trend towards trying to make less of an impact and remove ourselves from the fray.

I think this is what we always intended to happen on this journey, but it just took us a while to get there. But when we look back on our favorite places we have been so far, it’s always the places with the road less traveled. It’s always the places with few western tourists. It’s always the places the cruise ships don’t go. The authentic and relatively untouched destinations.

Bangladesh

Our favorite destinations no one goes to. Fabulous.

Note – we have committed to the following destinations from September to January; China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Oman, Kenya and Mauritiaus. Not confirmed but in the works for 2020 are; Zambia, Uganda, Israel, Cyprus, Malta, Albania, Serbia, Macedonia,Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovakia, Belarus, Estonia, Finland and Greenland.

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Inspire

Second Annual My Fab Fifties Life World Travel Awards

And the Winner is…

January 18, 2019

Laureen

18 Comments

Location: Around the World

And the Winner Is…

If you’ve been following My Fab Fifties Life for awhile you will remember our 2017 World Travel Awards from last January. I definitely feel with all of our travels in 2018 (covering 57,000 miles and 26 countries) we are well positioned to bestow the World Travel Awards – our version of the Oscar or the Razzy – on many people, places and travel experiences that have touched us this past year. Just like the famous movie awards, we have seen a world of real life

Australia

drama, fantasy, comedy, mystery, nature and animation. Enough to last a lifetime.

Berlin Germany

This is a long blog. But I believe it offers some valuable travel insight to the world. I hope you will find it informative and entertaining. So in keeping with the time of year for awards, I give to you our picks for World Travel Awards, Best and Worst of 2018 – My Fab Fifties Life.

(For reference – our 2018 countries visited were; India, Bangladesh, Maldives, Singapore, Guam, Australia, Indonesia, Fiji, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, USA, Denmark, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Romania, Greece, Egypt, Jordan, Portugal, Spain, Colombia, Panama, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil.

DESTINATIONS

26 Countries

Australia

Favorite Overall Country – Australia

Australia takes the top award this year edging out a few others (Greece, Poland) but we both agreed. Australia is the best. The only negative about Australia is it’s expensive. But we believe the beauty, culture, nature and environmental awareness helped us choose it as our favorite destination of 2018. We plan to return in 2019.

Favorite City – Sydney and Krakow

Well there it is again – Australia. Sydney Australia and Krakow Poland take our award this year for favorite city, and basically for the same reason. Both offer a variety of cultural, historic and scenic options for visitors. Sydney also has beaches while Krakow has great food.

Most Beautiful City – Singapore

Singapore

Everything you ever heard about Singapore is true – sparkling clean, stunningly beautiful (especially at night), easy to maneuver and very pedestrian friendly, Singapore was our favorite beautiful city of the year.

Cutest Town – Brugge

Brugge Belgium

Singapore might take the big city award but we are more small town folks, and Brugge was a perfect little package of history, beauty, beer, delicious food and very friendly people. We spent four days and could easily have stayed on even longer.

Most Expensive Country – Australia

Australia has so much to offer, but inexpensive it is not.

Least Expensive Country – Indonesia

Mount Batur Bali

With some of the nicest people and most beautiful scenery Indonesia is a bargain, and we loved our time there.

Most Disappointing City – Ubud (Bali Indonesia) Ubud is no longer the sweet little artists/yoga village we all imagine from Eat Pray Love. When I saw the American brand chain stores I was so disappointed (Ralph Lauren, Starbucks, Nike).

ACCOMMODATIONS

29 Airbnbs, 42 hotels, 5 boats

Airbnb Antiparos

Best Airbnb Overall – Antiparos, Greece. We loved our relaxing three weeks in this gorgeous, private, and big airbnb with a stunning view and wonderful host. I hope to return someday. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/20657689

Best Airbnb for Service – Rio de Janeiro. Our short visit to Rio (we really should have stayed longer) was extra special due to the hospitable and generous host at our sweet Airbnb. She was one of the most thoughtful hosts we have ever had. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1149627

Best Airbnb for Authenticity –Santorini

Santorini

Greece. Hands down the most expensive Airbnb we have ever stayed in, and yet it was also incredibly authentic Greek cliffside dwelling with a stunning crater view. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15926564

Most Expensive Airbnb – Santorini $220 a night (see above)

Maldives

Best Value Airbnb – Maldives our tiny room

in a tiny resort on the tiny island of Huraa was $90 a night but included three meals a day for both of us. We loved our relaxing three weeks here. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/4490934

Lombok

Most Rustic Airbnb – Lombok, Indonesia. spending a week in a traditional Javenese cottage far from civilization was a favorite experience. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/15991971

Least Expensive Airbnb – Lombok at only $52 was a bargain and so relaxing (see above)

Most Unique Airbnb – Key West, USA I thought spending four days onboard a 30 foot sailboat would be fun. Not so much. It was definitely unique. And cute. But also uncomfortable.

Favorite Hotel – Puri Lumbung Cottage, Bali this beautiful hotel complex made out of

Puri Lumbung Cottage Bali

traditional rice barns was not only beautiful, but it offered so many activities as part of our package and an incredible view at a bargain price. We loved our time here with our friends John and Carol

Worst Hotel – Singapore. Because Singapore is so expensive we booked this inexpensive $117 hotel and our room was literally a closet in the attic with no windows. It felt like a jail cell.

Friendliest Airbnb Family – Exmouth, Western Australia. We spent ten days in the

Exmouth Australia

tiny Western Australia town of Exmouth and we loved our little Airbnb and the darling family that lived next door. We would love to go back. https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18258544

Worst Hotel Experience – Bucharest Romania. Arriving at our booked and paid-for hotel near the Bucharest Airport, we learned there was a “septic” problem. No room at the inn. Nearly five hours later we finally laid our heads on a FUTON, in a teeny apartment of some guy who wasn’t using it, well away from the airport but grateful to just go to sleep. We had a very early flight and it was not a great way to end our three weeks in Romania.

FOOD

Favorite Country Cuisine – Poland, rich and

Poland

hearty comfort foods make Poland our fav in 2018. But Greece comes in a close second.

Spanish Tapas

Best Meal – Tapas Tour in Sevilla Spain our self guided Tapas Tour in Sevilla’s Triana neighborhood was so delicious and fun. A perfect Spanish memory.

Best Cooking Class – Krakow Poland I really enjoyed learning to make handmade Pierogi in the tiny communist era apartment of our sweet cooking instructor.

Best Beer – Brugge runs away with this

Brugge beer

award, nowhere else even in the running. Brugge is a beer lovers town and we are beer lovers. Our visit to Brugge was memorable for many reasons including the wonderful selection of really outstanding beer.

Best Food Experience/Tour – Brugge wins this one too! We really enjoyed having dinner in the home of a lovely Brugge couple who through the website With Locals offered a home cooked Belgian meal in a typical Belgian home. What a lovely treat.

Port Wine

Best Drinks Tour – Port Tour Porto Portugal. I wasn’t sure I was going to like this tour but it ended up being so wonderful, educational, delicious and fun. I highly recommend this if you are in the beautiful Portuguese city of Porto.

CULTURAL AND NATURAL EXPERIENCES

Guam

Best Sunset – Guam. With Gin and Tonic in hand and enjoying some family time while visiting my niece Bekah and her husband Davy, we enjoyed our favorite sunset of the year on the little Dungcas beach in Guam.

Most Authentic Cultural Experience – Bangladesh Tour. Who goes to Bangladesh? Well just about no one, and it is exactly the

Bangladesh

reason we enjoyed our time there so very much. By far the most authentic and least touristy country we have been to in a long time. The people were so interested and amazed by us and they treated us like celebrities. We loved our time there.

Antiparos

Best Beach – It’s a tie! Antiparos, Greece and Ilha Grande, Brazil both deserve to be winners, even though they were quit different. Antiparos was amazing for the solitude, beauty and spectacular turquoise water. Ilha Grande had such warm water and the beaches were clean and beautiful despite being challenging to get to, we loved exploring the Ilha Grande beaches

Egypt

Best Tour – Memphis Tours Egypt was one of the best tour companies we have ever dealt with providing us incredible detail prior to arriving, and being present and on top of every detail throughout our ten-day visit to Egypt and Jordan. Our guides, drivers, accommodations and everything else were flawless.

Best Driver – Kadek in Bali. I found Kadek on Trip Advisor and he served as our driver for our entire three weeks on the island of Bali. He was a very good driver, spoke great English and in addition to picking us and dropping us at our destination he made sure we saw lots of interesting things along the way. I hope to meet Kadek again some day.

Berlin Germany

Best Free Walking Tour – Berlin Germany. We have done so many free walking tours over the past several years and only once did we NOT like our guide. But the young lady we had in Berlin was hands down one of the most charming, interesting, factual, fun and entertaining humans I have ever met. It made for a most memorable experience and a big tip for her.

Best Tour Guide – Cristian, Santiago Chile. Cristian was our guide on a bus tour we took the day we left our cruise ship and headed to Santiago for our flight. We spent the day touring the wine region of Chile as well as seeing a small authentic rodeo and dancing. Cristian was patient,

India

informative, interesting and entertaining.

Best Bucket List Historic Site – Winner Taj Mahal. Runner-ups The Great Pyramids and Petra. I cried the day I stood in front of the Taj Mahal. It was even more beautiful than I imagined. And lucky for us, we hit it on an unusually clear blue sunny day with hardly any people. Magnificent site to

Cairo

behold. Totally worth it. Of course the Pyramids and Petra are a close second. After seeing these sites your whole life in pictures, it’s surreal to finally see, touch and feel such awesome history and beauty first hand.

Best Snorkeling – Maldives. You might be surprised we aren’t giving this award to The Great Barrier Reef in Australia. Yes that was amazing. But our best one day snorkeling actually took place in the crystal clear

Maldives

blue waters of the Maldives, on a tiny sand island of only about 20 yards wide and 75 yards long. Here we witnessed the most beautiful coral reef I’ve ever seen, and the most amazing variety of fish and sealife.

Best Natural Site – Uluru Australia. It’s a trek to get to Uluru. And like everything in Australia it will be expensive.

Uluru

But standing next that incredible natural phenomenon will be something you will never forget.

Best Manmade Site – Panama Canal Panama. I had no idea how much I was going to enjoy our eleven hour crossing of the amazing Panama Canal. Truly a modern day wonder of the world.

Malaga Cathedral, Spain

Best Cathedral – Malaga Spain. We see a lot of cathedrals. Sometimes individual ones are difficult to remember. Malaga is not one of those. A distinctively beautiful design inside makes it my favorite and most memorable cathedral in 2018.

7 Ladders, Brasov Romania

Best Day Hike – We have a three way tie for this one with 1. Canyon of the Seven Ladders, Brasov Romania 2. Campuhan trail in the rice fields outside of Ubud, Bali. 3. Coogee to Bondi Beach ocean trail Australia. All providing us wonderful days outdoors in three very distinctively different natural settings.

Best Multi-Day Hike – Well, the Camino Portuguese of course!

Most Exhilarating Outdoor Experience – Morning swim Denmark. Even though it was August, jumping into the North Sea before breakfast was an eye-popping way to start your day – and a very Danish thing to do!

Australia

Expensive but Worth it – Climbing the Harbor Bridge Sydney Australia $467. I had to really convince Arne to do this because it was outrageously expensive. But in the end he agreed it was worth it. An impressively well done and safe operation with a spectacular view to boot.

Platypus Australia

Best Wildlife Experience 1. Platypus spotting Australia 2. Aligator Spotting Florida. We love it when we can see wildlife in its natural habitat, untouched by humans. Seeing a wild platypus in Australia was so incredible. I still can hardly believe our luck and timing to spot the elusive and shy creature. On the other hand, seeing literally dozens and dozens of alligators within just a few feet of us as we rode bikes on the Shark Valley trail in the Florida Everglades was one of the strangest experiences of my life.

Auschwitz

Most Moving Experience – Auschwitz, Poland Hands down – seeing and learning about the extermination of Jews in Auschwitz and in Krakow was the most astonishing and moving experience in all of our travels. I tried to put it into perspective in a blog. It was difficult. Some people choose not to visit. For us it was the reason for going to Poland and I believe EVERYONE should go.

Performance, Ubud Bali

Best Performance 1. Bali 2. Sydney 3. Krakow It’s one of our favorite things to do when traveling, attending a local performance. And this past year we saw several remarkable shows including two fascinating and authentic indigenous dance shows in Ubud Bali, a circus/dance show at the Sydney Opera House as well as an outdoor spectacle of La Boheme on Sydney Harbor. In Krakow we enjoyed a piano solo performance of Krakow’s favorite son Chopin and LOVED a string quartet concert inside the tiniest historic chapel.

Best Museum Skagen Denmark A surprising find in this tiny historic seaside town in Northern Denmark, Skagens Museum featured the remarkable art of the amazing talents of the area’s 1800’s artist colony.

Ecuador

Best Cultural Art Experience Ecuador Panama Hat Making in the tiny mountain town of Monticristi a tradition endures where skilled artists produce these works of beauty known as Panama Hats.

Berlin Wall

Best Historical Art Experience Berlin Wall The reason we came to Berlin was to see the iconic wall, which did not disappoint, and the rest of this amazing city made it one of our favorite stops on European adventure.

Count Dracula Romania

Kitsch Award – we make an effort to avoid tourist kitsch, but sometimes we fall for it, as we did in Sighisoara Romania. Touted as the birthplace of Vlad the Impaler (Count Dracula), we paid a couple of dollars to walk into a dark and spooky room where an open coffin waited with the Count himself asleep. Well until he jumped up and scared me to death. LOL.

Least English Spoken – Brazil. Portuguese is the official language of Brazil and we found through out the country even in high tourist areas English is rare. Much like in Portugal and in Spain, there are few fluent English speakers. Even in the airport and on the flights English is unusual.

WEATHER

Hottest Day: Ilha Grande Brazil 95 degrees F and 76 degree dew point. We swooned.

Muxia Spain

Coldest Day: Pontevedra Spain 39 degrees F on our Camino de Santiago we froze and this was the start of my chest cold that lasted 8 weeks.

Wettest Day: Muxia Spain a four day monsoon kept us indoors, stuffing paper towels into the frames of the windows to keep the water from pouring in.

Windiest Day: Antiparos Greece – a rare October cyclone closed down shops, the ferry, and toppled trees.

TRAVEL

30 flights, 8 train rides, lots of small boat rides, one river cruise, two ocean cruises

Smallest Airport – Paros Greece

Worst Flight Experience – Iceland Air lost luggage. It took three days before we saw our luggage again.

Worst Airline – Scoot. Worst flight I can remember in a while from Singapore to Perth. Everything cost extra including baggage, drinks, food and even a blanket.

Train Travel

Best Travel Experience – Europe Train Travel. We had a wonderful experience using the trains from Belgium to Germany to Poland and throughout Andalucia and I would do that again in a minute.

Worst Airport – Manila We had a long layover here and there was nowhere to sit. There was no ATM to get local currency and none of the concessionaires took credit cards. The part of the airport we saw was old and dirty.

Camino de Santiago Portugal

Best Airport – In contrast and like everything else in Singapore, the airport is new, shiny, efficient and beautiful.

Dead Sea Jordan

Worst Security Line – Seattle WA USA. Way to go USA. My flight from Seattle to Nashville was a near disaster when I arrived more than two hours ahead of schedule to find a more than two-hour security line. Seattle’s inability to separate out domestic and international travelers and offer expanded security lanes has made it one of my least favorite airports in the entire world.

Worst Travel Experience – missing our flight in Perth. Expedia took the blame and even gave us a $200 credit for this flight debacle, but it didn’t help our situation as we had to stay an additional day in Perth and did not get to see the town of Alice Springs before heading on to visit Uluru. Hope to see you again someday Alice Springs.

So there you have it. The winner of the Fab Fifties version of the Oscars for 2018. But you do know, the real winner is me. Me and my husband. The luckiest people on the planet. Who needs a little gold statue when you have a Fab Fifties Life?

What a fabulous life it is.

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Europe Travel -- Food & Drink

My Favorite Tapas of Spain

Eating My Way Through Spain

November 16, 2018

Laureen

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Location: Sevilla Spain

It’s no secret I love to eat. Our grand adventure involves a lot of food. Travel is a conduit to cuisines of the world. And I couldn’t love that more.

I’ve been asked often what my favorite cuisine is. It’s a tough question. I love the comfort noodles of Asia, the rich stews and meats of the Balkans, the fresh seafood of the Mediterranean. I adore any

Anchovies

cuisine made with the freshest local produce. And I am also endlessly fascinated with the culture and history behind regional cuisine; pierogi of Poland; khao soi of northern Thailand; peka of Croatia, shopska salad of Bulgaria, tagine of Morocco. These foods are both storyteller and palate dancer.

Shrimp

What could be more fabulous?

Spanish Cuisine

We’ve been in Spain now for more than a month. Last year we spent more than two months in Spain. I have learned to enjoy what is really a simple cuisine here in this country – locally sourced, simply prepared and not overly seasoned. Although the many regions of Spain have their individual specialties, the focus of the overall cuisine of Spain is fresh and seasonal.

Fried sardines

My only complaint about Spain is how late they eat their meals. Breakfast is barely a meal – just coffee and a croissant, maybe a tortilla (here in Spain ‘tortilla’ is an egg and potato dish, aka Spanish omelet) around 10am. Lunch isn’t until 2:00pm and dinner rarely gets started before 9pm. For this American, that is well past my bedtime.

One of the reasons Spain eats so late is because they are in a crazy backwards timezone. Ever since Franco wanted Spain in the same timezone as Germany, Spaniards have lived with a VERY late sunrise and a VERY late sunset. So, they have adjusted their eating habits to accommodate. Unfortunately my internal clock is not so easily adjusted.

So the answer for me, when in Spain, is to live on tapas – the luscious

Stuffed olives

little dishes served all day long. I have become a fan of tapas for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

The Tapa Life

We have enjoyed my favorite tapas of Spain in Madrid, Santiago,Leon and Barcelona. But Sevilla loves its tapas bars (there are no tapas restaurants only bars – tapas are always served with alcohol) and the abundance of options is both fun and a bit overwhelming. In fact many will argue Sevilla is the birthplace of the tapa. We studied up a bit on where to go, what to eat and some history, then we set out on our own little “tapear”, the Spanish word for tapas hopping. Time to find my favorite tapas of Spain.

As we set out on our excursion we were happy to know there really wasn’t anywhere better we could be eating tapas than in Sevilla, and specifically in the historic Triana neighborhood. Myths and legends abound about tapas. One of the most

Cold tomato soup

popular is King Alfonso the 10th, The Wise King of Spain, had once been stricken with a serious illness which only allowed him to take in small portions of food with small amounts of wine. After recovering from his illness, the king issued a decree that no wine should be served at inns unless it was served with food. (credit A Brief History of Tapas, Pita Jungle).

My Favorite Spanish Tapas

We did not have the opportunity to try every kind of tapa Sevilla is famous for, but we indulged in many and here is a list of some of our favorites both from our tour of Triana and our time throughout Spain (see photos and captions of

Pork in whiskey with potata

several throughout this blog); croqueta (very popular bite size fried cheesy nuggets often with jamon but we enjoyed it with duck as well as mint), montadito (tiny bite size jamon and pork sandwich), solomillo al whiskey (pork in whisky sauce), los pajaritos (tiny fried quail), patata (fresh potato chip), tortilla bites (egg and potato omelette), tortillita de camarones (fried shrimp pancake), espinacas con garbanzos (spinach and garbanzo beans), salmorejo (cold tomato soup), stuffed olives, thin sliced jamon iberico de bellota (acorn fed Iberian ham), pancetta frita (fried pork belly), grilled shrimp, boiled shrimp, sardinas ala parilla (grilled sardines), mussels, pulpo (octopus), razor clams, fried calamari, boquerones (anchovies) on toast, sausages and rabo de toros (bull’s tail). And those are just the ones I can remember.

Simple, Cheap & Delicious

It’s a wonderful way to eat. But the great thing is, even if you are only stopping for a glass of wine with a friend, the bar will always set something to nibble in front of you (because the King said so). It will

Grilled sardines and grilled shrimp

probably be a plate of olives, perhaps nuts or sometimes bread with ham and cheese or tortilla. It’s said that the original tapas were probably bread with jamon, which was used to cover your drink (the word tapa means ‘cover’).

Croqueta

Despite the origin of the word, it now describes a cuisine unto its own. Though southern Spain and particularly Andalusia claim it, the popularity of tapas has spread, particularly to South and Central America, Mexico and the United States.

The day of our tapear we ate and drank (both beer and wine) for several hours at six locations. And our total spending for the afternoon? Less

Tiny fried quail

than $50.

We leave Sevilla and head next to Malaga – about 205 km south, on the Mediterranean. We expect to continue our tapas exploration and enjoy

a bounty of fresh goodness from the sea. Fabuloso and delicioso!

Malaga here we come!

Read my blog about food in Barcelona.

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Middle East Travel

The Magical History Tour

A Bucket List After All – Jordan and More

October 19, 2018

Laureen

2 Comments

Location: Jordan & More

The Magical History Tour, what a ride it has been. I never thought of myself as having a bucket list. Mostly because I just want to see EVERYTHING and go EVERYWHERE. But I have realized over the past two months that I do have a bucket list, and I am slowly ticking things off that list, all while adding more to it. And for the past ten weeks the Magical History Tour has taken us away.

We’ve been very lucky to see incredible things in our travels. Unimagineable things. Without even really realizing it we have seen five of the present day Seven Wonders of the World, included on that list was Petra in Jordan where we visited this week.

At Petra

I saw a television program about ten years ago about Jordan and they interviewed Queen Noor standing in front of the incredible Treasury building at Petra. I was smitten and knew I would visit there some day. It was easy to add Jordan to our Egypt itinerary. Now, having been in Jordan, I realize I could have added Egypt to my Jordan itinerary. Jordan is extroardinary. A cradle of ancient, biblical, Roman and natural history. We did not allow enough time to see it all.

During out time in Jordan we visited three main sites, two on my bucket list and one I wasn’t even aware of;

Jerash – I had never heard of and yet we found this amazing ancient provincial Roman city more beautiful, interesting and preserved than Rome itself. Jerash likely dates back to the time of Alexander the Great in the 4th Century BC. It is an immense archeological site with only about 15% excavated. Unfortunately it is not a UNESCO site, despite the antiquity masterpiece that it is. Apparently one of UNESCO’s stipulations was for a music festival that is held here annually to be discontinued because of the damage it causes to the site. Our guide told us that
Jerash

too many pockets are lined as a result of this music festival and the powers that be are not willing to give the festival up. Very sad as this site was truly impressive and needs UNESCO’s preservation assistance.
The Dead Sea – my “no bucket list” bucket list has include floating in the Dead Sea for a long time and here in Jordan we had that opportunity. You can access the Dead Sea from Israel as well as Jordan, and in fact more of the Dead Sea is in Israel. But Jordan has a portion of it at the south end. It is truly amazing how salty it is and how buoyant you are when floating. In fact all you can do is float. You can barely walk or stand and swimming is out of the question because you just flip over and float. It tasted horrible and you certainly don’t want to get it in your eyes. But it was warm, clean, blue and a once in a lifetime event filled with lots of giggles.
Petra – Of course here it is the main reason we came to Jordan to see Petra as part of our Magical History Tour. I can’t possibly do the vast history of Petra justice in this blog, nor were we able to see the entire site (you need two or three days), but in our five-hour visit we did and saw the most amazing highlights. Of course the Treasury (named thus because of
The Dead Sea

the Roman’s using it as such but originally it was a temple), is the most amazing of the antiquities in the site, the best preserved and most beautifully designed. There are several other amazing temples, tombs, palaces and more throughout the 60 square km site. We spent an hour and a half with a guide and then three hours wandering on our own including hiking up high above the Treasury for that iconic photo shot. We did not hike to the Monastery or the sacrificial site. We would have needed much more time than we had. I would love to come back here again some day – it is just so amazing, truly a wonder deserving its Seven Wonders status.

So Jordan was a surprise, and worth the effort to get here. We felt incredibly safe at all times. The people are friendly and helpful and speak excellent English. I am so glad we came.

And with our farewell to Jordan we say farewell to The Magical History Tour that began in August when

Petra

we left the USA. We have covered so much amazing history over the past ten and a half weeks traveling through and exploring eight countries. Highlights of the Magical History Tour have included such bucket list items as;

Northern Denmark – where we learned captivating medieval and WWII history. Read about it here.
Brugge – the beautiful historic town and now one of my favorite medieval villages. Read about it here.
Berlin – the beguilling and resilient city of Berlin and the Cold War era history and Berlin Wall. Read about it here.
All of Poland – incredible medieval and more importantly the World War Two history in this country made it one of my long time bucket list goals and experiencing Auschwitz (Read about it here) will remain with me all my life. Read about Poland here.
Romania Castles – seeing the fortress cities and castles of Romania with their ancient history and stories (Dracula) was a long bucket list destination. Read about it here.
Greece – although we had visited Greece before we had wanted to return for years. I suspect we will visit again too. The ancient Greek history in this country combined with the sheer beauty of the Mediterranean will keep it on our travel destination list for years to come. Read about it here.
Egypt – Of all the places we visited on the Magical History Tour, Egypt was the long-awaited
Jerash

destination for me. And it did not disappoint. Seeing the Valley of the Kings, the Nile River, the Sphinx, the Pyramids and so much more was a bucket list triumph. I loved it all. And perhaps the friendliest people we have met. Read about Cairo here. And about the Nile Cruise here.

The Magical History Tour covered about 10,400 miles including 11 flights, 5 train rides, 12 ferry crossings, 6 airbnb’s, 11 hotels, one river cruise ship, and 72 days. It was educational, insightful, fascinating, delicious and fun. But time to move on.

Now we turn our attention to something new. We will spend the next four weeks and four days in Portugal and Spain. The first half of that time is focused on walking another Camino de Santiago. We start on Sunday to walk 250km to Muxia Spain. The Magical History Tour has kept us so occupied, we don’t really feel prepared either mentally or physically to tackle this next Camino. But nonetheless we will. I’m sure we will fall into the rhythm quickly.

We then spend another two weeks exploring Spain before flying on November 22nd to begin five and a

Cairo

half months in the Americas (Florida, Panama, Columbia, Ecuador, Chile, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Belize, Guatemala, Dominican Republic). I suspect there will be a great deal of magical history there as well.

As always we thank you for your continued support and interest in our travels and My Fab Fifties Life. Watch for posts from Portugal and the Camino coming soon!

And Go. Be. Fabulous.

Read about last year’s Camino adventures here.

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Europe Travel

They March On To Die

My Time in Poland Learning About Hitler’s Extermination of European Jews

September 7, 2018

Laureen

3 Comments

Location: Poland

No, God will not save them. Nor you, friend, nor I.
But let us not flinch, as they march on, to die.

-Wladyslaw Szlengel, Polish Jewish Poet of the Ghetto

Auschwitz famous gate

Why I Came to Poland

For many years I have wanted to come to Poland. My first realization of that desire was when I saw the movie Sophie’s Choice. My god. That movie changed me. I was only twenty-two years old I think. Very naive.

“Is it best to know about a child’s death, even one so horrible, or to know that the child lives but that you will never, never see him again?”
― William Styron, Sophie’s Choice

I don’t remember learning much about World War II or the Holocaust in high school. Was I absent that day? I remember Anne Frank however. We read that in junior high. We discussed it in class, but my memory of it being a bit edited as perhaps they thought we were too young. They were trying to protect us. But who protected Anne? No one.

What is done cannot be undone, but one can prevent it happening again. – Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl

Shoes of the Auschwitz victims

I don’t think you can be too young to hear these stories. How else can the facts sink in, in a way that it becomes a part of our daily conscious where we naturally abhor intolerance and speak out against it? How else can our youth be fully informed, aware and not jaded – as the horrors of that time in history slip farther into the past?

Complacency

WWII had only been over for 15 years when I was born. It’s been longer than that since September 11th happened (17 years). Time is a convenient blanket, smothering the memories and protecting complacency.

Jewish families being herded out of Krakow

Complacency is the world’s evil and our world is full of it today, yesterday and always.

Auschwitz

Human Numbers

I am by no means a WWII or Shoah expert. But I have a place in my heart that aches for what happened here in this beautiful country of Poland that I have fallen in love with these past two weeks. I want to think of what happened here in human faces and real lives, but the numbers haunt me and I need to share;

Three MILLION Jews exterminated in Poland, half of the six million killed in total
Only 10% of Polish Jews survived
Another estimated but undocumented 1.5 million ethnic Poles killed – many for helping, aiding or hiding Jews

Suitcases of victims

Human beings like you and me. People with names. Birthdays. Lives. Goals and dreams. Doctors and lawyers. Teachers and housewives. Students. Rabbis. Men, women, children and entire families. Grandmothers. Beautiful young women. Little boys. For no reason other than hate.

“You kill yourself when you hate. It’s the worst disease in the world.”
― William Schiff

After I saw the movie Sophie’s Choice in 1982 I began to search out books and movies about the topic. Not just about Poland but about the war, and the death camps. As you are aware I read a lot. I have been deeply touched by many books – in fact many recently, that have come out about this topic. Although some of these books and movies are fictional, many are not. And there is so much to learn from both the non-fiction and fiction stories.

Jewish Cemetery Kazimierz (Krakow)

The Nazis

The Nazis invaded Poland in 1939. That first year they stripped Jews of their possessions and their jobs and herded them into walled off ghettos. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest and contained more Jews than in all of France. More than 100,000 people starved to death in the Warsaw ghetto. Many more died of horrible disease such as typhoid, cholera and dysentery because medical care was unavailable. If you haven’t seen the movie The Pianist it’s a must. Haunting story of the Warsaw Ghetto.

“Humanity seems doomed to do more evil than good. The greatest ideal on earth is human love.”
― Wilm Hosenfeld, The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man’s Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45

By 1941 Hitler’s right hand man Himmler began his calculated plan to

Bullet riddled ghetto wall Warsaw

annihilate the Jews of Europe through genocide. Within two years 800,000 people had been shot to death and buried in mass graves.

But it had only started. The 1943 Wannsee Conference launched the final solution of the “Jewish question”. Six death camps began the mass extermination through gas chambers using Zyklon B. Auschwitz-Birkenau was one of these.

From the ghettos in Krakow, Warsaw and around Europe the Jews were loaded on trains – told to take minimum belongings and their valuables for their new life in the East. Thousands would die on the trains, suffocated and

The selection process at Auschwitz on arrival by cattle car

starved. Their valuables? Pilfered and to this day most unaccounted for.

Have you seen the movie The Women in Gold? It addresses the issue of the things the Nazi’s stole from their Jewish victims, particular a painting in this case by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt.

They’ll never admit to what they did, because if they admit to one thing, they’ll have to admit to it all.

– The Women in Gold

Cattle Car that brought victims to Auschwitz

Death Camps

Those who arrived at the death camps were quickly processed through selection. Most were dead within their first few hours at the camp, stripped and taken to the “showers” which of course were not showers. Anyone lame or old or young or unable to work was exterminated immediately. The rest would work to death.

The Paradise of Death

It was like an old religion
Dividing the saved from the damned.
Only that the saved went to hell.
The damned- to the paradise of death – Raquel Angel Nagler

Auschwitz was also home to the notorious Doctor Mengele who did unspeakable things to children, twins and other unusual “specimens” who he used as human guinea pigs for his “research”. Have you read the book Mischling? One of the most astonishing stories I have ever read. Astonishing and sickening.

“The whole world will never look back. And if they do, they’ll probably say that it never really happened.”
― Affinity Konar, Mischling

It’s disgusting to me there are still those who believe it never happened. Same people who think we didn’t land on the moon? Same people who don’t believe in Global Warming?

Idiots. This is fact;

1.5 million Jewish PEOPLE died at Auschwitz; 200,000 of them children

Memorial in Krakow for 65,000 Jews killed from that city

3 million Jewish PEOPLE exterminated in Poland

6 million Jewish PEOPLE murdered in WWII

150,000 Non Jewish Polish PEOPLE died

23,000 Roma Gypsy PEOPLE killed

15,000 Soviet POW PEOPLE killed

25,000 others GONE

Where the death camps were

Ignorance

Before the war began Poland had the largest Jewish Population in Europe. More than 3 million citizens whose ancestors had been in Poland for more than a thousand years. Only 10% of the Polish Jewish population survived WWII and the genocide.

Many ethnic Poles died trying to help the Jews. But others turned against them. It was similar in other countries. While there are many stories of resistance fighters in France and Poland there were other citizens who helped the Nazis. Recently I read the book Sarah’s Key and learned about the French Jewish Roundup in Paris in July 1942. I had never heard of this horrible thing before. Shame on all those whose smugness, prejudice and hate killed so many.

“The truth is harder than ignorance.” – Sarah’s Key

Where they burned the bodies

The thing I keep asking myself is why did we not help them? Where was the United States? Where was the League of Nations? Where was the Catholic Church? As early as 1941 it was common knowledge in the world leaders what was happening. People and governments looked away. Partly because they were afraid, or busy fighting other battles, but this was genocide. Pure and simple. And no one came.

The remains of the incinerators the Nazi’s destroyed at the end of the war

My time in Poland has been both lovely and gut-wrenching. The Poland I see as a visitor is beautiful. But I know, like all nations, there are underlying problems and anti-Semitism is here. As an American I am painfully aware of how ignorance begets hate and intolerance – rampant in my country. In the past, in the present and more likely than not in the future – there will be hate. People who can’t or WON’T tolerate anyone who is different from them.

I don’t believe hate is something you are born with. It is learned. Hate and prejudice is learned. Just like empathy and tolerance is also learned.

Educate Yourself

It brings me back to two things I promote on this blog;

TRAVEL – My message through this blog has always been one of inspiration. And inspiring anyone to pack a bag and go to an unknown place is my greatest goal. You will be changed. You will be full. You will be amazed, what travel can do to your life, your prejudice, your tolerance and your happiness. Just go.

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” – Mark Twain

Those who didn’t die on arrival lived in hell

2. READ – My other message on this blog is to read, read, read. And if you can, learn to read outside your comfort zone. Read history, and fiction and non fiction and more. There is nothing so simple as reading a book that can open your mind to the world outside your door. Just read.

“Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while.” —Malorie Blackman

Poland and Auschwitz are sacrosanct now. Everyone should come here to feel and remember the human lives. The very real human beings who became ashes.

One women.

But of course it’s not possible for everyone. So read. Watch films. Learn. And most importantly, remember. Remember a little girl. An old man. A family. Most importantly remember what we humans have allowed to happen in our recent past. Think about the Holocaust in names and people’s lives rather than numbers and dates. Don’t let that die. Otherwise, nothing was gained and we all are lost.

Books

(This is nowhere near all that is out there. Just some suggestions)

The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas by John Boyne
Mischling by Affinity Konar
Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
Night by Elie Wiesel
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Reader by Bernhard Schlink
Sophie’s Choice by William Styron
Ireana’s Children by Tilar J. Mazzeo
The Zookeeper’s Wife by Diane Ackerman
The Pianist by Wladyslaw Szpilman
Number the Stars by Lois Lowry
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly
Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
Maus by Art Spiegelman
All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Where victims were sent

Movies

Schindler’s List
Sophie’s Choice
The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas
The Hiding Place
The Diary of Anne Frank
The Pianist
Life is Beaiutiful
Son of Saul
Maus
Immortal Bastards
Europa Europa
Au revoir les enfants
The Women in Gold
Fiddler on the Roof (not WWII but spectacular anyway)

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