More Warsaw....

Here's the breakdown from yesterday (the very abbreviated version):
I spent all day walking around Warsaw, went up to the "Old Town" and "New Town" squares, saw the tomb of the unknown soldier, walked through at least 3 of the numerous (and huge!) parks in the city (every city could learn something from the Varsovians), ate the most delicious and heavy lunch - goulash in a giant potato pancake thing topped with sour cream and green onions accompanied by a beer - went to an awesome art exhibit and to the Palace of Culture. The Palace of Culture is actually a Communist skyscraper, which was cool to see, and I'm sure my friend Ben McGreevy would like to know I visited. It was a great day, and was only dampened slightly by a little rain and thunder in the late afternoon, which passed quickly. However, we've been having some interesting weather here, for sure! Can't wait to post the video we took when we got stuck in a bar because of the storm the day before yesterday.

Last night I had the luck and privilege of attending an amazing concert. It was an event to give an award named after and dedicated to a woman (forgetting her name just now) who worked with the Home Army (a resistance group in WWII Poland) to save Jewish children from perishing in the Holocaust. The award is given to an outstanding educator every year, as the woman the award is named after believed that education was a key component to changing the world. The concert featured traditional Jewish music and Cantorers (sp?) and was such an incredible experience. Just thinking about it right now gives me goosebumps. It took place in the National Opera House downtown Warsaw as well, which was a fantastic experience for me. Tons of Jewish people came in from the U.S. and Israel to winess this prestigious event, and the former presient of Poland, the current president's wife and twin brother, and the last remaining member of the underground group to save the Jewish children during WWII attended. Candace managed to snag us some tickets (she was kind enough to have me tag along) to this invitation only event and I got to sit up in the U.S. Embassy's private box - way cool! I'm seriously racking my brain for ways that I might be able to thank her for this amazing stay in such a beautiful city. She really has been a tremendous host. I am so lucky to have such wonderful and gracious people in my life.

This trip has been full of some of the most fabulous experiences in my life, and I still have a week left. Tomorrow I will catch the 11:35am train to Berlin and then will head to Hamburg on Saturday to wrap up this European Experience. 6 weeks has gone by so fast!