Sports fans beware
There is a 6 hour time difference between Poland and the East Coast so many sporting events do not even start until late in the evening or even early the next morning. Today was the big game - THE IRON BOWL - Auburn vs. Alabama...No. 4 vs. No.1...Good vs. Evil...the game was televised on CBS at 3:30 ET so 9:30 Poland Time. So we knew it would be a late night. Nevertheless, it was 2 AM before the Auburn fans stormed the field on of the wildest finishes to a college football game (Auburn returned an attempted field goal by Alabama, with one second to go in the game, 109 yards to win on the game). Us die-hard Auburn fans that were still up (all the original Clements minus Ellie) could not help but start yelling and jumping up and down. It was a great celebration that I am sure was shared by many around the world...huddled around a computer screen.
Note: our internet was out for most of the first quarter and then blinked on and off through most of the game so patience is a requirement to watch a sporting event here. Thankfully, we had friends back home that sent us updates throughout the game so we could keep up with the happenings.
It seems like the internet is out the worst between mid-afternoon and late evening. It just makes us thankful that much more for what we have back home.
Did I say WAR EAGLE? WAR EAGLE!!
Four Plus Three From Poland - we hope this blog provides good information for other families adopting from Poland. God Bless!
Saturday, November 30, 2013
Friday, November 29, 2013
Going to the movies
The family packed up and headed into Warsaw today. It is the day after Thanksgiving so going to the mall is what we Americans do, right? Since Warsaw does not have an interstate that runs into downtown Warsaw, it took about an hour to get from the house to the mall. The mall was huge!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkadia_(shopping_mall)
Of course, the kids we hungry so we went directly to the food court. So good to see Subway and Burger King in addition to the KFC and McDonalds. Half of our crew went to BK and the other half Subway. After lunch, we went to check out the movie times at the theater located right there at the mall. A couple of things different about movies in Poland:
The family packed up and headed into Warsaw today. It is the day after Thanksgiving so going to the mall is what we Americans do, right? Since Warsaw does not have an interstate that runs into downtown Warsaw, it took about an hour to get from the house to the mall. The mall was huge!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arkadia_(shopping_mall)
Of course, the kids we hungry so we went directly to the food court. So good to see Subway and Burger King in addition to the KFC and McDonalds. Half of our crew went to BK and the other half Subway. After lunch, we went to check out the movie times at the theater located right there at the mall. A couple of things different about movies in Poland:
- Assigned seating in the theater. You get to pick out your seats (row and seat).
- Some movies are actually in English with Polish captions. Catching Fire was in English which Drew Preston and Tucker loved. Frozen was in Polish which Karolina and Peter loved.
- Yes, we still had 30 minutes worth of commercials before the movie started.
- Watching our new kids were the best part of the movie. We saw Frozen in 3D so our kids were amazed at the picture jumping out at them. They kept jumping up trying to touch the picture. Peter never sat back in his seat. He sat on the edge totally in wow mode the entire movie. Karolina had a full grip on my arm.
Priceless Entertainment
For some reason, the light switch is located outside the bathrooms. So I have gotten really good at taking a shower in the dark. It usually starts with our three-year old laughing outside the bathroom and about the time I hear in a cute Polish accent, "I love you daddy!" then click, off go the lights and she runs off. As I continue to shower, I start singing to her "Who turned the lights out - who, who, who?" to the same tune as "Who let the dogs out?" More laughing outside, then the lights come back on for a few seconds and I hear, "I love you daddy!"....click and we start again.
For some reason, the light switch is located outside the bathrooms. So I have gotten really good at taking a shower in the dark. It usually starts with our three-year old laughing outside the bathroom and about the time I hear in a cute Polish accent, "I love you daddy!" then click, off go the lights and she runs off. As I continue to shower, I start singing to her "Who turned the lights out - who, who, who?" to the same tune as "Who let the dogs out?" More laughing outside, then the lights come back on for a few seconds and I hear, "I love you daddy!"....click and we start again.
Things to do in Piaseczno & Warsaw
In Piaseczno: we have found two small children’s play parks
https://maps.google.com/maps/myplaces?ll=52.057471,21.007744&spn=0.000515,0.001206&ctz=-60&t=h&z=20
(there is a park here now – small but close to the house)
In Piaseczno: we have found two small children’s play parks
In Warsaw:
www.hulakula.com.pl
for bowling and rock climbing
www.tecza-skorosze.p
is an indoor play center
http://www.kolorado.com.pl/
is another indoor play center with free wi-fi
http://www.kopernik.org.pl/en/
Science Center Museum
http://www.zoo.waw.pl/ Warsaw Zoo was very good
http://www.warsawtour.pl/en/warsaw-for-everyone/old-town-and-surroundings-2946.html
Old Town & New Town in downtown Warsaw. There was not a lot that our kids found interesting but there are some good restaurants, plenty of neat shops, and even a Subway.
http://www.warsawtour.pl/en/warsaw-for-everyone/old-town-and-surroundings-2946.html
Old Town & New Town in downtown Warsaw. There was not a lot that our kids found interesting but there are some good restaurants, plenty of neat shops, and even a Subway.
Other places to go:
Awesome park (40 min drive) http://www.kompaniazabaw.pl/realizacje/park-skarbkow-grodzisk-mazowiecki-c36.html It has lots of cool kids playground equipment that you would never find in the U.S.
KFC between Piaseczno and Warsaw https://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF-8&q=kfc+piaseczno&fb=1&hq=kfc&hnear=0x47192e390fc40201:0x88c75a9c7e7a1bf5,Piaseczno,+Poland&ei=94GXUsiABLTP4QSj1oCAAw&ved=0CLYBELYD
KFC has free Wi-Fi:)
Thursday, November 28, 2013
Swimming in Poland
Warning! Many pools require men to wear speedos and since my kids love to swim, I decided to take the plunge...just kidding, no way, no how, no amount of money, etc...now that would be a scary sight. So be sure to ask before you go to a pool. While we were in Krakow, we stayed in a hotel that many Americans use in Europe, Novotel. It did allow us to go take a dip with our "regular" swim wear.
Of course, our new kids did not know how to swim but they sure loved the water (can't wait to see them at the lake and beach). So we had our first swim lesson, if you can call it that. We kept them in the shallow end of the pool and every time that Karolina or Peter started to drown, we told them to stand up. Sarah Jane loved to noodle and swimming tube.
Swimming was lots of fun, cheap, and it did wear them all out, somewhat.
Warning! Many pools require men to wear speedos and since my kids love to swim, I decided to take the plunge...just kidding, no way, no how, no amount of money, etc...now that would be a scary sight. So be sure to ask before you go to a pool. While we were in Krakow, we stayed in a hotel that many Americans use in Europe, Novotel. It did allow us to go take a dip with our "regular" swim wear.
Of course, our new kids did not know how to swim but they sure loved the water (can't wait to see them at the lake and beach). So we had our first swim lesson, if you can call it that. We kept them in the shallow end of the pool and every time that Karolina or Peter started to drown, we told them to stand up. Sarah Jane loved to noodle and swimming tube.
Swimming was lots of fun, cheap, and it did wear them all out, somewhat.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Schindler's Factory Museum
After touring the salt mines, we headed to Schindler's Factory (http://www.krakow-info.com/schindler.htm). This is the man the movie Schindler's List was based upon.
It took a while to find it. The GPS kept wanting to take us up the wrong way on a one-way street and we could not find any street signs pointing us in the right direction. We did finally find it but never did find an official parking lot so we just parked on the street. It was a very good museum that taught us all about the German occupation of Poland and how Oskar Schindler saved many Jews from being shipped off to a concentration camp. The museum did a good job of showing how ruthless and terrible these times were while at the same time not being too graphic so our kids could go through the entire museum.
After touring the salt mines, we headed to Schindler's Factory (http://www.krakow-info.com/schindler.htm). This is the man the movie Schindler's List was based upon.
It took a while to find it. The GPS kept wanting to take us up the wrong way on a one-way street and we could not find any street signs pointing us in the right direction. We did finally find it but never did find an official parking lot so we just parked on the street. It was a very good museum that taught us all about the German occupation of Poland and how Oskar Schindler saved many Jews from being shipped off to a concentration camp. The museum did a good job of showing how ruthless and terrible these times were while at the same time not being too graphic so our kids could go through the entire museum.
Sample of what was made at the factory
Tuesday, November 26, 2013
Auschwitz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp
On the way home, we stopped at Auschwitz to tour the concentration camp. I dropped off Robyn and the younger kids (Ellie and new kids) at a mall in the town because the camp is not age appropriate for young kids.
At the Visitor Center, not many directional signs to help you figure out where to go. We first went to the small bookstore that sent us to the ticket office that sent us to the tour office that sent us back to the bookstore. We had arrived after the last English speaking tour had left but we had already planned to just do a self-tour. It just took us a while to figure out to first stop at the bookstore to buy the self-touring guide (in English) and then simply head out to the camp. You do not have to purchase a ticket. It was about 2 PM when we started and the camp closes at dark so we only had about 2 hours to tour which was good since we had half our crew at the mall just hanging out. The pocket guide provided us with directions on where to go. I am sure a guide would have been great but there is so much to read in each building that it paints a good picture of everything.
Thankfully the tour was not too graphic but still very emotional. To see piles of children's shoes, eye glasses, suitcases, etc...and to think that over 1 million people died at this camp alone is hard to put into words. Random thoughts: many pictures of men, women, and even children...Wall of Death where some prisoners shot...so many people piled into bunks and stacked on top of each other...sign at camp entrance "Work Makes You Free" was such a lie...gas chamber and the crematorium.
We then drove about a mile over to the annex of the concentration camp. The building here were mainly built of wood and destroyed at the Germans pulled out of the area at the end of the war. Yet, it was amazing to see how big the complex had been. The train tracks ran right into the middle of the camp. Most people here were off-loaded off the train and sent immediately to the gas chamber. Again, very emotional and hard to understand how the Nazis could be this evil.
So glad that I took our older kids to see first hand such a moving and historical place. I was also glad that we did not take the younger kids.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitz_concentration_camp
On the way home, we stopped at Auschwitz to tour the concentration camp. I dropped off Robyn and the younger kids (Ellie and new kids) at a mall in the town because the camp is not age appropriate for young kids.
At the Visitor Center, not many directional signs to help you figure out where to go. We first went to the small bookstore that sent us to the ticket office that sent us to the tour office that sent us back to the bookstore. We had arrived after the last English speaking tour had left but we had already planned to just do a self-tour. It just took us a while to figure out to first stop at the bookstore to buy the self-touring guide (in English) and then simply head out to the camp. You do not have to purchase a ticket. It was about 2 PM when we started and the camp closes at dark so we only had about 2 hours to tour which was good since we had half our crew at the mall just hanging out. The pocket guide provided us with directions on where to go. I am sure a guide would have been great but there is so much to read in each building that it paints a good picture of everything.
Thankfully the tour was not too graphic but still very emotional. To see piles of children's shoes, eye glasses, suitcases, etc...and to think that over 1 million people died at this camp alone is hard to put into words. Random thoughts: many pictures of men, women, and even children...Wall of Death where some prisoners shot...so many people piled into bunks and stacked on top of each other...sign at camp entrance "Work Makes You Free" was such a lie...gas chamber and the crematorium.
We then drove about a mile over to the annex of the concentration camp. The building here were mainly built of wood and destroyed at the Germans pulled out of the area at the end of the war. Yet, it was amazing to see how big the complex had been. The train tracks ran right into the middle of the camp. Most people here were off-loaded off the train and sent immediately to the gas chamber. Again, very emotional and hard to understand how the Nazis could be this evil.
So glad that I took our older kids to see first hand such a moving and historical place. I was also glad that we did not take the younger kids.
Entrance Sign "Work Makes You Free"
Klement suitcase among the huge pile on display
Hardest display for me to view (baby shoes)
Tucker looking at the Wall of Death -Firing Squad Area
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)