We have just spent two days in Wroclaw. Now if you want to say wro – claw like it is written, like I did for a few months in the holiday planning, you would be very wrong 🙂 in Poland w is pronounced like a v, l is like a w, and c is like a ts, z is like a sh, and other letters are pronounced differently as well. So if you say Votswav it would be more accurate, although still not correct! Here’s just a few photos of this very picturesque city…
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The Wedding!
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Less than a month!
Here I am sitting at my laptop when I have so many other things I should be doing! Time is running out and I am beginning to feel the panic! But I wanted to share all the happenings with you…. my reader 🙂
On the 19th of August, Robin and I will be flying over to Wroclaw, Poland. My sister, her partner and her daughter are also coming with us. We are all going to my second son C2 and D2’s wedding! Now isn’t that something to get excited about! Checkout their wedding plans…
And even more exciting news…. Eldest son C1 and grand daughter G3 are coming to the wedding as well… from Sydney! G3 is going to be a little flower girl. And wait… there’s more… Youngest son C4 and daughter in law D3 are also coming from Sydney. Nearly a family reunion! I can’t wait!
After the wedding we will be travelling to Prague for three days and then onto Budapest. We are going on another ‘Insight Vacations’ tour! Yay! I am sooooo spoilt…..and don’t I know it! This time it is the tour called ‘Treasures of the Balkans’. We travel from Budapest to Bucharest! I will be regularly putting posts on my blog and uploading photos when I can 🙂 Here is the tour…
and the details a little clearer…
And the day to day travel and sights to see…
Sorry the printing isn’t that easy to read 🙁 But do you think a wedding and a tour are enough to get excited about? Well there’s more!
At 10.52pm on the 21st of April little 3.3 kg G7 was born. Our third grand child to be born this year. G5 on the 4th of February, G6 on the 18th of March and then G7 on the 21st of April. Look at this gorgeous little girl…
Now isn’t G7 a wonderful addition to our family! We now have seven grand children. Four girls and three boys! I have had quite a few cuddles with G5 and G6 but have yet to cuddle G7. Roll on August the 19th!
Now after the wedding and the tour, Robin, Judy, Len and Teresa are flying back to New Zealand via Hong Kong. I will be doing something very different. I will be flying to London. Yes London. I am going to be G7’s Nanny until Christmas time, when C2, D2, G7 and myself will be flying to Sydney to celebrate Christmas with family there. Robin and C6 will fly from New Zealand to join us (Joanna has to work).
So I am going to get plenty of G7 cuddles. Will be missing the other grand children cuddles and my other children/adults/husband/friends, but what an opportunity! I feel like I am the luckiest person alive…. and I am very thankful.
Watch out people… this blog is going to have so many updates over the next six months.
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Dachau
Leaving Munich we travelled firstly to Dachau. Another visit to a concentration camp!
Opened in 1933 by Heinrich Himmler, its purpose was enlarged to include forced labour, and eventually, the imprisonment of Jews, ordinary German and Austrian criminals, and eventually foreign nationals from countries which Germany occupied or invaded. It was finally liberated in 1945.
Dachau was the first of the Nazi concentration camps opened in Germany, intended to hold political prisoners. It is located on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory near the medieval town of Dachau, about 16 km (9.9 mi) northwest of Munich in the state of Bavaria, in southern Germany. The Concentration Camp at Dachau was opened 22 March 1933, with the arrival of about 200 prisoners. The camp could hold up to 5,000 people, and described it as “the first concentration camp for political prisoners”
The prisoners of Dachau concentration camp originally were to serve as forced labor for a munition factory, and to expand the camp. It was used as a training center for SS guards and was a model for other concentration camps. The camp was about 990 feet wide and 1,980 feet long (300 × 600 m) in rectangular shape. The camp entrance was secured by a large iron gate that had the inscription: “Arbeit macht frei” (“Work makes you free”). As of 1938, the procedure for new arrivals occurred at the Schubraum, where prisoners were to hand over their clothing and possessions.
After 1942, the number of prisoners regularly held at the camp continued to exceed 12,000.
The Dachau Concentration camp was heavily defended and secured to ensure that no prisoners escaped. A ten-foot-wide (3 m) area of ground called “the neutral zone” was around each camp building. This was to mark where prisoners were not to trespass. A four-foot-deep and eight-foot-broad (1.2 × 2.4 m) ditch lay behind the “neutral-zone.” The whole camp was surrounded by electrically charged barbed wire and a wall. On the west side of the wire was a deep canal filled with water, which was connected with the river Amper.
In the post-war years it served to hold SS soldiers awaiting trial, after 1948, it held ethnic Germans who had been expelled from Eastern Europe and were awaiting resettlement, and also was used for a time as a United States military base during the occupation. It was finally closed for use in 1960. Several memorials have been installed there, and the site is open for visitors.
Visiting the camp brings to reality the attrocities that were performed against the jewish people during the time they were imprisioned there…and at many other camps as well…like Auswich, where we visited last year in Krakow, Poland. It is a sad reminder of just how cruel human beings can be. My heart grieves for all those lives lost completely unnecessarily. And at the way they died. So very sad!
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Last days in Poland and Germany
Well the 10 days with Daniel and Marysia went way too fast. Before I knew it we were back at Windlesham and packing for our holiday North! But we had an amazing time and have fabulous memories of our holiday. And….boy did we travel some miles! Have a look on a map and see just how far it is from Windlesham (near Windsor), England to Poznan in Poland! We went there and back in 10 days!!! Below are the last few photos of those days 🙂
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Marysias parents place in Poland
Marysias parents are lovely and their home is amazing! They made us feel so welcome! We visited 2 castles (or palaces) near their home. One by car and the other we biked 8kms to and then 8kms back home. What a laugh! I loved it and am determined to buy myself a bike when I get back home. Robin and I, or Judy and I can bike our walkway every week! We need to get fit and lose all this extra weight we have put on! We were at Marysias place when they had a party to celebrate 35 years of marriage. It was a suprise party and was a fabulous evening! We also visited Poznan and walked through the town square, wher Marysia spent most of her university time. She loves Poznan and it brought back many happy memories for her 🙂
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AUSCHWITZ!!!!!
You have to see this place to believe it! And then you probably won’t want to ever go there again. I can’t believe that humans could be so cruel and inhumane to other humans! We did the tour of the camp in the town where horrific things were done and then the Consentration Camp hidden away from public eye…the place where so many people were killed and tortured and lived in disgusting conditions! People arrived here in train carriages..thinking they were being relocated to a ‘better place’ only to be immediately separated from loved ones, elderly people sorted out along with the sick and handicapped, and then the women and children. Most of the latter were gased and cremated straight away. It is so horrible to think about! But it is now history and we must never forget these dreadful things that were done and never let them ever happen again!
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Dresden and Krakow
We wandered the streets of Dresden and saw some amazing buildings. We also caught the ferry and viewed the castles and houses along the river bank. We took the car to the other side of the river and went to a castle that had a winery. It was so picturesque and relaxing so we brought pizza and a wine for lunch and just sat and watched the world go by for awhile. In the evening we found a lovely restaurant and enjoyed a lovely meal together. In Krakow we did the communist car tour. What fun! I have loaded a photo of the car we travelled in! We sampled Polish dumplings and looked at typical Polish homes and way of life during communist times. We also saw the steel mill and how huge it was! We visited the underground salt mines! They are well worth the visit. Words can’t really describe how amazing they are! Unfortunately the photos didn’t turn out too well in the darkened rooms. I think Judy’s photos turned out better so I will try and get some of her photos. You can look them up on the internet and see the photos they have online and they are definitely better than our photos. Nothing like seeing them in real life though. We had to walk down 54 flights of steps (not big flights) but quite a walk. Caught a lift back up though…thank goodness. We also ate really well in Krakow too. So much good food. I am sure I have already put on heaps of weight! But what a fabulous time we are having!