Aspirations, Meet Reality
The Conclusion of Spirited Travelers, Part Two
Hello, Friend ~ I’m Scott and welcome to your 5-Minute Vacation for Nov. 2nd. I share these snippets of our travels in the hope that my photos and stories will allow you to “get away from it all,” if only for a moment. Thanks for welcoming me into your inbox today.
This is the second part of the Spirited Travelers finale. Today, I’ll reflect on what did happen. In upcoming postcards, I’ll share some lessons learned, some favorite memories, and conclude with what’s next.
If you missed the previous 5-Minute Vacation, you can find it here.
The beginning of November finds Poles in the local cemeteries instead of recovering from the sugar high of an American-style trick-or-treat Halloween. On Nov. 1st, All Saints’ Day, and Nov. 2nd, All Souls’ Day, Polish families decorate the graves of their dearly departed and celebrate their families, past and present. Słupsk cemetery, Nov. 2, 2018.
In my previous postcard, I talked about our aspirations for our time in Europe, which were:
to travel widely throughout Europe;
to share our adventures through a travel blog;
to learn some Polish and German; and
to bring Riesy (our dog) along whenever possible
Now that the suitcases are unpacked and we’ve settled down in our new house, looking back, how did our aspirations fare against reality?
Happily – and most importantly – we more than met our goal of traveling widely throughout Europe. We followed our interests in food, wine, architecture, history, and art to the obvious spots (Italy, France, and Spain) and also to unexpected treasures (Albania, the Baltic countries, Bulgaria, and Romania), places we had imagined as still locked behind the Iron Curtain.
Our greatest unexpected treasure was our time in Poland. The country is rich in culture, history, and beauty. Malbork Castle, the largest brick castle in the world, is an example. Malbork Castle, April 28, 2018.
The Baltic countries were a delight. How could you not love places where everything’s pickled, Art Nouveau architecture flourished, WWI zeppelin hangars host a bustling market, and a Soviet-era hotel offers a tour highlighting the tools used to spy on Western guests? An Art Nouveau facade in Riga, Latvia, Dec. 4, 2017.
We never expected to visit Albania, long Europe’s most isolated country. I had read that the countryside was dotted with pillboxes, like this one, but I was still surprised to see that they were real. Albania, Sept. 4, 2023.
Romania, once another of Europe’s isolated countries, has embraced tourism. Bran, Romania, Nov. 25, 2023.
I’m sometimes asked if I have a favorite (or two or three) of all the places we visited. That’s a difficult question to answer because each destination had its own charms, and we’re glad we visited them all. Yet, there were places we returned to again and again (looking at you, Venice, Dresden, Cologne, and Paris) because they found a special place in our hearts.
My first visit to Venice coincided with the worst flooding in over 50 years. Wading through knee-deep water with my suitcase balanced on my head like a mountain-climbing sherpa while searching for my hotel didn’t stop me from falling for La Serenissima. I returned twice more to savor the light and the magic of the city. Venice, Nov. 17, 2019.
Our travels ensured the realization of my second goal, this blog. What began as a way to share our adventures with family and friends turned into our personal archive, our souvenir book. By keeping trip notes and sharing our travel stories, we’ve helped ourselves retain the details and flavors of each journey. Without our notes and this blog, I’m sure all our travel memories would eventually dissolve into a singular blob of an unrecognizable place.
This travel blog went through three iterations. The first was an email with a link to a post on my website, a format that allowed me to write long stories and share oodles of photos. While fun, such ambitious productions quickly became too much work for me, and probably a bit much for you, the reader, to enjoy in one sitting.
The second iteration was simpler. I shortened the travel stories into 5-Minute Vacations, a format that could be sent via Mailchimp with no link required. While this was easier for both the reader and me, Mailchimp’s barely-existent archive system prevented any deep search into previous travel stories.
For the third and final iteration, I moved to Substack. It’s easier to use than Mailchimp, and its fantastic archive system makes it easy to find old stories.
If you ever go to Paris, be sure to see the Eiffel Tower sparkle. To make that experience even better, share it with friends on an evening river cruise. Paris, July 5, 2018.
And what of our hopes of becoming conversational in Polish?
When we first arrived in Słupsk, we took weekly Polish lessons. Unfortunately, after three months, we declined to continue with that class. I searched for other options, but the only other class was a two-hour drive away.
Instead, I learned “on the job” while shopping for groceries, ordering pizza, making doctor’s appointments, etc. ~ all the essential tasks for day-to-day living. I eventually obtained a rudimentary level of language skill I called “self-defense Polish.”
Learning a new language is difficult. Every phrase, every word, that would come effortlessly in your maternal language comes instead only after stuttering, stumbling, and saying the wrong thing at least half the time. It’s a lesson in humility. I came to think of learning “on the job” as my daily slice of humble pie.
While I never even came within waving distance of fluency, I did learn enough to get by. And, despite my mangling their language, everyone I spoke with was kind and gracious. The Poles are proud of their language, and I believe they appreciated my effort to learn it.
What about our aspiration to learn some German?
In Germany, most people spoke English well. While this made life easier for us, it also removed the need to learn the language.
Therefore, I’d say that we were not successful with our language goals. However, the part of Texas where we’ve settled drew immigrants from Poland and Germany in the 19th century, and those roots can still be seen in the shops and churches in the area. Perhaps I’ll get another crack at learning these languages.
Our first face-to-face with Cologne’s Cathedral was when we exited the train tunnel in front of it. As we climbed the exit stairs, the 157.4-meter (515-feet) behemoth stretched above us, like a dagger piercing the sky. The cathedral was as awesome (in the original sense of the word) when we visited a second and third time. And yes, we climbed all 533 steps up the narrow, spiral staircase to the top of the left tower. Cologne, Dec. 17, 2023.
Finally, what about traveling with Riesy? That’s a story in itself, so keep an eye on your inbox in two weeks.
Until then,
Cheers!
As I read, and bathed in your photos, I was thinking, “Wow! Scott and Rosemary sure have a handle on embracing the art of living!” 💜