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My Pictures

Updated 11/13/02

 

(Updated 11/13/02) Jelenia Gora:  Visited on November 9th-11th.  Located in the Southwest of Poland, about 50 km from the Czech Republic border.  I saw my first Polish snow here.  But the scenery certainly made up for the sub-zero temperatures!  If I look dorky in some of these pictures, it's because I was trying to.






































 

(Updated 10/26/02) Baltic Sea Coast:  Visited on October 12th.  It was really cold on this day but still the beach brought warm thoughts to my mind.  It was too cold to take a walk but there are rocky cliffs along the coastline which are supposed to be really beautiful.  I have a video if you are interested.

My Pictures





 

(Updated 10/26/02) Hel:  Visited on October 12th.  Dorota sent me to Hel.  It was really cold!  I have a video of this experience and the only sound you can hear is all the wind blowing by.  It gives me shivers just thinking about it.  Nevertheless, this quaint coast town was really beautiful.








 

(Updated 10/26/02) Malbork:  Visited on October 12th.  This is a famous Polish castle with hundreds of years of history behind it.  Me, Dorota, and Adam took a brisk 5 minute tour from the outside because it was so cold.  Unfortunately the lighting was bad due to the weather.  I hope to visit this place again; it's about 3 hours from Bydgoszcz.


 


(Updated 10/26/02) Warsaw:  Visited on October 19th.  There is this cultural tower that was given as a gift from Russia.  On the top, there are really great views of the city.  Also, there is a movie theatre on the bottom level; how appropriate.  We also went to the "old" town of Warsaw.  This was rebuilt after WWII because Warsaw was almost completely destroyed.  Of course, it was rebuilt in the same traditional style.  The picture of the sign says something along the lines of:  "Don't join the European Union".  Most people seem to be in favor of the Union, but some people fear that some elements of Polish society and culture will eventually be destroyed as a result of assimilation.



















 


(Updated 10/26/02) Miscellaneous:  Check out the "restaurant".

 

 







 

(Updated 10/26/02)  Bydgoszcz:  This is the city where I work.  It is relatively small on the Polish map of "hotspots" (maybe "coldspots" is a more appropriate term).  Anyways,  the population is at least a few hundred thousand (composed of mostly Poles; I am the only dark person that I have seen in all of Bydgoszcz and all of Poland!  I'm not kidding about that.).   The town is pretty well spread out; about the size of Tucson let's say.  Like most Polish towns, it has a town center which has unique buildings, lots of shops, and plenty of pubs (and 3 McDonald restaurants that I have yet to eat in).  You will see a few pictures of animals below; those are from the zoo.  There are also pictures of some of my close friends who came to visit our lab in Arizona last year (Iwona, Gosia, Jacek).  Lastly, because I was missing Arizona, I took some sunset pictures too!  Videos available through email.

 

 

(Updated 10/26/02)  Gdansk:  Visited on September 9th and October 11th-12th.  This is a major city in the North, right next to the Baltic Sea.  One of history's most important events happened here in 1980, at the Gdansk shipyard.  Led by Lech Walesa, shipyard workers went on strike to demand better working conditions and wages.  The revolt was a major stand to the communistic government and led the way for Poland and other neighboring countries to eventually declare freedom from communism.  I went here with Christophe and Jakob, some co-worker friends.  There are pictures of the town center (the statue of the Roman God, Neptune, is a symbol of Gdansk), churches, the city, the Baltic Sea, various exhibits from the Gdansk Shipyard Museum (including communist propaganda posters...email me if you want translations), and a historic building which in fact is just a supermarket (try to guess which one it is).

 

































































 

Wieliczka:  Visited on September 20th.  This is an active underground salt mine near Krakow.  There are more than 300 km of tunnels.  It has quite a bit of history behind it as well.  But, it's not your typical mine.  How many mines have chapels, exhibits, and restaurants?  For more information, read the journal entry for September 20th.

 

 

 Aushwitz:  Visted on September 21st.  We've all read the books and seen the movies.  But being there in person is an unparalled experience.  These pictures are from 2 of the 3 camps and a museum.  Make sure to read the pictures of signs and quotes. Please read the journal entry for September 21st for more information. 

 




















































 

 Krakow:  Visited September 20th-22nd.  This is a famous city that has the most tourists I have seen out of all the places I have visited.  Most of these pictures are taken from the old town center where you can find beautiful buildings, churches, and monuments.  One of these monuments is known as "Wawel Hill"; it used to be a home to Polish princes and kings and a dragon! 

 

Somewhere Near Znin:  Visited on September 15th. A very small town close to Bydgoszcz in which there is a private palace that is open for public viewing. Luckily, we came at the right time to also see a singing concert by some very talented Polish singers. 

 

 

Biskupin:  Visited on September 15th.  The location of a yearly festival that is intended to give a background of the Polish medieval era with crafts, handiwork, exhibitions, and presentations.  I went with some other students who work in the lab and my supervisor, Elwira.  I got the chance to try on some chain mail and also to row a relatively large replica of an ancient boat.  Videos of the voyage (avi format) are available upon request through email.

 

 

Elwira's Socialist Garden (Bydgoszcz):  My supervisor over here, Elwira, has a really nice garden.  Although these plots of land were originally given to the people so that they could grow their own food during the socialist period, they are now just private gardens which you can rent for about $50 a year.  I have seen everything from vegetables to fruits to roses to pigeon breeding in these gardens.  It is quite a refreshing site in the midst of the surrounding city.  The reason for the visit was the fact that my source sugar beet plants were being grown here; nevertheless, it was a great opportunity for pictures!

 

 

Co- "work"ers:  Some of you may be wondering what work, if any, I'm doing here if I have already spent so much time travelling around.  Here are the basics.  In our lab in Tucson, one of the things we study is gene expression in plants.  I am here in Poland to complete an initial project which will allow us to study the gene expression of Sugar Beet, a plant which provides about 50% of the world's sucrose supply.  If you are really interested in knowing what exactly I am doing, feel free to ask via email. I will be adding some more pictures of co-workers later on.

 
 

Torun:  Visited on August 31st.  Another small town near Bydgoszcz.  It has a very charming town center.  Torun is famous, however, for being the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus, the astronomer who proposed in 1513 that the sun, not the earth, is the center of our galaxy.  The aerial shots of the town are in fact taken from the top of the tower where Copernicus would go to view the stars. Videos available upon request.