As you probably already know, the most direct route to Bogota, Columbia, from BrisVegas, Oz, is through Warsaw, Poland. Yep. For sure. It is an especially advisable route if you go via Singapore, for a four hour pit-stop, then take a comfortable 13 hour trip in cattle-class during which time an announcement goes out over the PA system (just after you have finally managed to get to sleep) that urgent medical assistance is required to attend a person who has intractible vomiting which turns out to be due to a combination from withdrawal of a heroin replacement drug and commencement of an anti-depressant. Fun. But, the fun then really begins when you arrive at Heathrow, London, feeling like a mangled sardine and smelling like one too and having five hours to change airports to Gatwick and then hopping on a flight to Warsaw, Poland.
= WRITE OFF SESSION No. 390.
If you follow our travels over the next few months you´ll become very accustomed to the term "write-off". This is what Dee & I do best. It is the ability to turn any activity which is seemingly a good idea, easily achievable and chilled-out into a chaotic and exhausting escapade which, nevertheless ends up with all and sundry still alive and smiling (the latter may take some months after the event) in the end but thinking "why the hell didn´t we spend an extra $200 and take the direct flight rather than playing ´round half the world in 36 hours".
So, getting back to it, we actually came to Warsaw for a good reason; the wedding of Jakob & Margit. Jakob´s (the Ratzes) and my family shared a house together in Goteborg, Sweden where I grew up until the age of 11. So, really, our families are as good as related. It was great to catch up with them all and for them to meet Dee. After a couple of, how should we put it..., "false starts" in the past, the Ratz brothers (of which there are three; Jakob, Martin and Benji) had unequivocally informed me that I was by no means allowed to bring another woman to Sweden without their prior approval. After five minutes of meeting Dee I recieved their approving nods so it now seems that Dee will not be summarily deported should we rock up to Sweden in the near future. On top of catching up with the Ratzes, Mum and Dad were there which was super since we have hardly seen them in the last year with us living on the West coast and them on the East.
The wedding was amazing; held in a fabulous restuarant in a park in central Warsaw which is usually frequented by more noble guests than ourselves. We got to know Margit, Jakob´s wife, during our stay; what a keeper!! I hope the two of you come visit us in Oz very soon ;-)!!
Warsaw itself was quite an experience. I was there 15 yrs ago when the transition from Communism had just occurred; the place has really transformed since then with BMW´s and Porsche´s on the streets, mobile phones everywhere and an obvious presence of the noveau riche. Communism is now a dirty word and those who opposed the regime are now heroes of the day.
What really struck me this time was how much suffering has been endured here in very recent history. The city was almost completely levelled by the Nazis in 1944 as punishment for the uprising of the people of the city against the occupying force. 250 000 people were killed in the space of only a couple of months. Within decades of the end of the war, the city was almost completely rebuilt albeit with Russian designed concrete montrosities (apart from the Old City which is a replica of the old). Add to this the near 3 million Jews who were murdered in Poland alone and you get the picture of a pretty dark history which took place around only 70 years ago. Being from a Jewish background myself it is a fair bit to absorb but it was a really rewarding experience to walk the streets and talk to mum and her friends who grew up in Warsaw after the war, were involved in political protests against the communist regime as young university students and then had to leave the country (to Sweden) to escape further persecution by the government in 1968. In this year, the government transported pro-government supporters to the site of the protests on the university site to crush the uprising. Much of the goverment´s line was that it was Jewish students who were against the state which raised much anti-semitic sentiment which was never far from the surface amongst much of the Polish population. Many of those protesters became leaders in the post-communist government in 1989; history does an 180 degree turn...
The next stop is Spain for a few days before heading off to Columbia. The next blog will be much more concise, promise... maybe....
Seb.
