Eastward in August

If I told you there was a place with an incredible art scene, savory food and balmy late summer temps, what bits of the world would come to mind?

...(thinking time)...

I'm guessing you didn't name Poland.

My oil-employed uncle has waxed poetic about Poland for years - The kindest people! The most beautiful architecture! - but I had to see it to believe it. Thus, in mid-August, right before school started, my friend Art Teacher and I took a whirlwind "girl trip" by Student Agency bus through Wroclaw, Torun, Gdansk and Warsaw - and they ended up being some of the best cities I've visited in Europe. It's completely accessible from Prague; if you live in this vicinity, high-tail it Polonia!

Wroclaw - The 2016 European Capital of Culture: 

1 day

Aside from having a gobsmackingly beautiful center the whole place was bedazzled with iron dwarves and wondrous art. We spent most of our time in the ornate Old Town, but wandered over to the Neon Side Gallery for some grit and pierogi. Exhibitions seemed to pop out of the woodwork, like one on 1930s history in the St. Elizabeth Church courtyard or the "Matrimony under Communism" collection at the Pan Tadeusz Museum. I don't think we could've seen more than what we squeezed into 8 hours, and my feet proved it; I had to by a new pair of (leopard print) canvas shoes when the sole started flapping off my boot.

Torun - The birthplace of Copernicus and peddler of gingerbread: 

1 day

This was our quietest stop on the journey, likely because we stuffed ourselves silly at the Manekin creperie and then followed it up with gingerbread and a swing through a wodka bar. We sort of launched our overindulged selves into the cozy streets and let the breeze guide our wandering, which led us to vintage shops, a small Jewish Quarter, the Medieval city walls, the Vistula River and... more gingerbread. 

 

 Gdansk - Europe's best-kept secret, in my opinion: 

2 days

This port city stole my heart with its dazzling Old Town architecture, maritime vibe and bold street art. Everything about this leg of the trip was idyllic, from our Air Bnb host leaving us fresh eggs from her hens in the morning to being swallowed by a raucously joyous St. Dominic's Fair. I'm kicking myself as I write this for not scheduling more time in this Baltic beauty and am trying to recollect the dozens of things we squashed into two days of touring. Here were my favorites, at least:

- St. Peter and Paul's Church, which had been reduced to rubble in WWII

- Cafe Jozef K (named after Kafka's creation) for a hot drink

- The vibrant murals on Communist concrete flats in the Zaspa neighborhood

- Visiting an exhibition at the Academy of Fine Arts

- Strolling along the lovely Motlawa riverwalk

- The Polish Post Office, where postal workers held off invading German SS troups

- Lunching and perusing amber on Mariacka Street

 

Warsaw - A gorgeous and gritty phoenix: 

2 days

The Old Town was systematically obliterated in WWII and we read about its reconstruction at the Historical Museum of Warsaw. It's quaint now, albeit expectedly touristy. We popped into a few churches and dined on our first Polish steak tartar, then accidentally wandered into the glass-and-steel modern part, which may as well have been any American city. 

The next morning brought us to the city's remnants of the horrific Warsaw ghetto - and we found it unsettling that there wasn't more done to commemorate the atrocities that occurred there against the Jewish population. Perhaps we missed something? Then it was on to the massive Palace of Culture and Science, the Soviet Union's gift to the Polish people. It's not a typical tourist stop, but it should be; it's an Art Deco monument full of museums and cafes, a cinema, offices and even a swimming pool. 

Thanks to my dear friend Art Teacher (below) for being a superb travel crony and BW for holding down the fort in Prague so I could traipse East for a while.

Feeling like I have a:

“W zdrowym ciele, zdrowy duch”

Healthy soul in a healthy body

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Peanut butter beer and pop art in MN

Our second home, the Twin Cities of Minnesota, is an accomplished little metropolitan area that I would shower with kisses if I could. Some points of pride:

- Minneapolis and St. Paul have the largest urban sculpture garden in the nation
- Behind Chicago and New York, they hold the third-largest theater market
- No metropolitan area can boast as many Fortune-500 companies
- They have the only full-time chamber orchestra in the country

Etc. etc. These sister cities are an under-the-radar oasis of culture, sport and business in the American Midwest. But I'm going to keep purporting the idea that they're in some cold, remote no-man's land; they don't need to be an LA or an NYC where you pay through the nose for a haircut and can't get a seat at restaurant. 

On our summer trip back to the Twin Cities, we haunted many of our treasured spots, and on one particular night we hit two of the best, with Mom and Pop W...

 

AND

A whole crop of brewpubs and taprooms have sprouted across the Twin Cities, and the Dangerous Man microbrewery is our favorite. Yes, the neighborhood atmosphere is all aw-shucks cozy, but the selling point for us is their incredible Peanut Butter Porter. It's like a dark beer crossed with a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, a lethal combination for my pants size. BW waited in line for an hour one day to buy a growler to share at my sister's wedding, and he relays that it was totally worth it.

Next, we hit the sensational Walker Art Center, one of the top contemporary art museums in the nation. When BW and I started dating, he lived behind the Walker in the servant quarters in an incredible Neo-Mudéjar mansion. I called him one evening and he was headed to the museum, so we chatted while he tried to find my favorite pieces with clues. Si romantique! 

On this particular night, we swung by some of our old stand-bys and then saw the International Pop exhibit, which chronicled the global emergence of Pop art from the 1950s through the 1970s.

You often don't utterly value something until you can't access it anymore. We hope our Twin Cities, with all their art and beer and other wonders, know they're loved.

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In the heart of art (and Havel)

In the late 1990s, former Czech President Václav Havel and his wife rescued a deconsecrated and dilapidated church and transformed it into an international spiritual center called Pražská Křižovatka (Prague Crossroads). According to the Dagmar and Václav Havel Foundation VIZE 97, the concept was:

"to respond to the now widely felt need for open-minded and creative dialogue among people of different faiths, convictions and professions about the present state of our civilisation, the dangers threatening it, and the hopes for the future."

Brilliant! Thus, what a fitting place for a week-long celebration of the arts.

Three phenomenally talented colleagues and I spent months planning and executing an arts week in honor of our school's "Arts for Life" focus this year. The result was four days and nights of stunning exhibitions, workshops, lunchtime concerts and evening performances filled with drama, dance, music, poetry and visual arts (and even some catering by BW!). 

The calm before the storm:

And then the implosion of art:

My heart overflows with thankfulness for the beauty that children can create, for the hope that our future holds. Unlocking and sharing the gifts of so many young people is a tremendous privilege.

...Aaaand, on the topic of arts, our Fall production, "The Government Inspector" by Nikolai Gogol, adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher, is now on Youtube:

The Government Inspector, Act I

The Government Inspector, Act II

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