A final message from Dad

A final message from Dad:

"What a wonderful and beautiful Pilgrimage this was! I am sorry to see it come to an end, but thinking about it we can continue to live it everyday! We were very blessed to have Fr. Joe lead our spiritual journey and for Dennis to be our Pilgrimage leader. And what great tour guides throughout our journey!  What also was very special were all of our fellow Pilgrims. They are all beautiful people and we were so blessed to get to know them. I was so happy to share my faith and this Pilgrimage with them all!

Visiting Poland was also special to me, as this is my heritage and I was able to be in areas where my parents were so many years ago. And getting to meet a cousin and his family while we were there was just wonderful. I thank The Lord for blessing us with so many beautiful experiences throughout the Pilgrimage. We learned so much!

But making this trip extra, extra special was being able to share it with my beautiful daughter Lindsay! Spending this special time with her, sharing our Faith and our experiences, and talking with her is something I will treasure all of my life! I appreciate her husband Joe, my wife Marilyn, and my son Justin for encouraging Lindsay to be with me on this Pilgrimage. That was truly a gift for me.

I thank The Lord for keeping us all safe and bringing us all back to our families. I thank Fr. Joe for sending me that invite last Fall. This Pilgrimage will be with me forever!"

#3!

I finally remembered the third thing.  Joe helped me.

Requesting water to drink was a bit humorous at first:

Staff: "What would you like to drink?"

Lindsay: "Water please"

Staff: "Gas or no gas?"



I love sparkling water, but "gas or no gas" gave me a little smile each time!  I think I'm going to start using this one at home!

A few funny anectodes

I should have thought to post these three things as we traveled, but it was difficult to summarize everything at the end of each day.

1. Sleeping arrangements:  Most of the rooms in Europe have 2 twin beds.  Dad and I figured this would work out well.  I should have taken some photos, but the bed situation was humorous.  We always had twin beds, but the proximity of them to one another was interesting!  In Rome and Warsaw, the beds were only about 1" apart.  Not what was expected!  However, as the trip went on, we were happy to find out that in Czestochowa and Krakow the beds were a good foot or two apart.  Amen!

2. Belt: I bought a new, reversible belt for this trip.  I thought I was being smart.  The second day in Rome I decided to reverse my belt.  Instead of reversing, I yanked the hook off and broke the belt.  Why does this matter?  I had purchased a passport holder that was to be hidden inside my pants, hanging off the belt!  Thank goodness Dad brought an extra belt.  I ended up using his for most of the trip.  I finally found a new belt in Krakow!

3. I can't ever remember!  Maybe when Dad reads this he will give me a hint!

Last Day of photos - Sunday

Sunday (as mentioned before) was spent at Auschwitz and Wadowice (the birthplace of JPII)

Entrance into Auschwitz I ("Work makes one free")

Inside Auschwitz I.  This was a former Polish Army barracks, before the Nazis took it over.

Entry to the execution area.  Many prisoners were shot in that courtyard.  The adjacent building was used mostly for torture.  St. Maximillian Kolbe died there.

Shoes found after liberation.  The amount of belongings left was staggering.

Outside the gas chamber and crematorium.

Birkenau

Birkenau - many of the wooden stables were burnt at the end of the war.

church in Wadowice

Town center of Wadowice

"The Pope's Cake" a delightful pastry, famous in this area because JPII enjoyed it!

Pictures from Zakopane

Dad and I made it safely back to the U.S. on Monday evening.  I have a moment now to update a few photos from the last two days.

First, here are the photos from Saturday in Zakopane (in the mountains to the south of Krakow)

outdoor shrine at Our Lady of Fatima

Zakopane

Local sheep's cheese

Potato pancake for lunch

It was unfortunately very rainy in Zakopane.

Here we are with Dad's cousin and his family

The last day in Poland

As you will note, the last few posts have not had pictures.  We have had some pretty long days, late nights and tomorrow (Monday) we have a very early wake up call to get to the airport for our 6:30 am flight to Berlin!  Eeek! 

So this post will also have no pictures.  But I will add them when we get back to the U.S.

Today was our last full day in Poland.  We had two stops – Auschwitz-Birkenau and Wadowice. 

I am extremely thankful for all of the prayers for me and our pilgrim group.  I cannot imagine visiting Auschwitz-Birkenau not on a pilgrimage.  Being a part of a faith-filled group made this sorrowful place more bearable.

We spent almost 3 hours touring.  The majority of the tour was in Auschwitz I – the original part of the concentration camp.  It was built in former Polish Army barracks.  There was an exhibition giving an overview of the camp and process of the Nazis.  I was sad, but ok.  We then went to the part of the camp that was filled with remnants – shoes, combs, pots, pans, suitcases – and the worst, hair.  Many Jews had their hair cut off and it was used to make hair fabric.  It was very sad and sickening to see it all there piled up.

Auschwitz I was not exactly what I expected, look-wise.  We did enter a gas chamber and crematorium.  I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture there.  An uplifting moment was visiting the final cell of St. Maximillian Kolbe.  We laid flowers and prayed.

We took a short bus ride to Birkenau.  Birkenau was part of Auschwitz, but was built later.  It looks much more like what you read in books (like Night, Maus, etc.)  It was much more open and the barracks looked as I expected from those books.

We had lunch, and then headed to Wadowice.  This was a more uplifting stop!  It’s the birth place of Karol Wojtyla.  We had our final mass the church where he was baptized.   A new museum has opened in Wadowice for St. John Paul II right next to the church.  (It was actually his home, until age 18).  The museum has only been open about 3 weeks.  It was beautiful and went from his birth to death.  I was touched by two things especially:

1.   Near the end, there was a beautiful interactive display on JPII’s travels.  I was happy to see a photo from his trip to Japan in 1981 (I think).  He was speaking in Peace Prayer Park – where Joe and I visited.

2.  As a priest, bishop and cardinal, Karol spent a lot of time with young people (teenagers and college- age).  He taught them at university and took many trips into the mountains (Zakopane area) with them.  There was a wall of testimonies near the end that had quotes from the young people he was with.  I didn’t have time on our guided tour to read them all, but the ones I did read were wonderful.  No wonder JPII had such wisdom on relationships, marriage and family.  He truly loved and understand love.

We are headed to the airport early tomorrow.  Please continue to keep us in your prayers, as we all travel home on Monday.  

A second message from Dad!

A second message from Dad!

“Saturday May 3 was a wonderful day with a trip to Zakopane, a city in the mountains of southern Poland.  Lindsay will share more on that.

Saturday evening was very special for Lindsay and me, as we were able to meet for the first time, a Polish cousin and his family and have dinner with them at their beautiful home in Krakow.  His name is Zbigniew Huchla and he is the son of one of my dad’s sisters – Hania.  Also there for dinner, was his wife, daughter, son-in-law and one of his granddaughters. 

He shared with us a family tree on My Heritage.com that he has been working on, and gave us a beautiful Szopka  (a Christmas manger scene) and a hand-carved statue of the Blessed Virgin holding Jesus that he carved out of a Linden tree.  We were so touched!  Lots of wine, ham, soup and bigos were shared around the dinner table with much talk getting to know each other.  What a wonderful evening!  I am thankful that we were able to connect with a part of my Dad’s family and learn more about my Polish heritage.  

Saturday in Zakopane

Since I missed posting on Saturday, it is difficult to think back a day!  We see and travel so much each day, it is sometimes hard to recall!

Saturday we traveled 2 hours by bus to Zakopane.  It a small town in the mountains.  Our first stop was the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima.  Even though that did not occur in Zakopane, the people of Zakopane were very grateful for Our Lady’s intercession when JPII was being attacked.  The shrine is built in thanksgiving.

We had mass there, with another fantastic homily from Father Joe, discussing veneration, pilgrimage and worship.  I think he will be sending his homilies to the group in the future; all of the ones in Poland have been excellent – please let me know if you ‘d like to read it sometime!

We then traveled into the tourist area of Zakopane.  It was unfortunate that it was much colder and rainy this day.  There are many shops, restaurants and things to do – so if it had been sunny, it would have been a really great day.  Dad and I went up the mountain by tram and had lunch there with Fr. Joe, his cousin Randy and our friend Patsy.  Dad and I enjoyed an different potato pancake (more like mashed potato pancake) with mushrooms, cheese and kilbasa on top.  Yum!

We headed back down the mountain (in the rain) to catch the bus back into Krakow.  I found some lovely souvenirs along the way J

Dad will continue this post regarding our evening in Krakow.

Friday in Krakow

Today we started with Mass at Wawel Cathedral, where St. Stanislaus is buried.  This is in the heart of Krakow, very near to the seminary where Karol Wojtyla (Saint John Paul II) attended.  It is also near the castle in Krakow.  At mass, Dad read the first reading and responsorial psalm, as we were at the burial place of his namesake (Stanilaus).   He did a great job and we are all encouraging him to become a lector!

After Mass, we had a tour of the Cathedral.  Before being pope, Karol Wojtyla was the bishop of Krakow and this church was his seat.  It was very beautiful, filled with much Polish history.  I wish I had brought a recording device to tape what our guide, Agnes, shared.  It was too much!

We then began our walking tour of Krakow.  We visited the bishop’s house and the church of St. Francis of Assisi (where Karol attended regularly, as they were across the street from one another).  The architecture in this church reminded me of St. Casimir’s in Cleveland.  They had a beautiful pipe organ in the back of the church, and I was very happy to hear someone practicing during our visit!

When then went into the town square of Old Town Krakow.  Krakow, unlike Warsaw, was untouched by WWII – at least in regards to demolition.  Though the Nazi’s occupied Krakow, they did not bomb anything there, so all of the buildings are original.  It is like “new old town” Warsaw, but much bigger and with a greater sense of history. 

 

St. Mary’s church is in the heart of old town.  A few times a day a trumpeter comes out of the tower to play for all.  We had quite a bit of free time here, so dad and I had a nice afternoon with a new friend, Patsy.  We had a Polish lunch of pierogi’s, kilbasa and sauerkraut.  (I have to ask our tour guide, Agnes, but I am thinking there is a difference in pierogi from north to south.  The Warsaw pierogi’s were great, like Babci’s, thin dough, boiled and fried.  Today’s pierogi in Krakow had a thicker dough and were only boiled.  I am wondering if the “American pierogi” is really a Krakow pierogi.  Babci was from Warsaw, so maybe there is something to that…….)

We did a little shopping, walked all around the square and then met up with our group to head back to the hotel to freshen up.  We returned to old town Krakow for dinner. 

Krakow - Day 1

Today was another fascinating and inspiring day.  We started at the salt mines (Wieliczka) where Saint John Paul II worked when he was a young man during the war.  This was an amazing place.  We went nearly 400 feet below ground.  The salt mines are not in use for salt anymore, just tourism.  We had a history of the mines, as well as saw things like the Cathedral – an area of the mine, literally carved out for Mass.  Beautiful!  (Dad actually has all these pictures.  You had to pay 10 zloty to take photos, so I put my camera away and let Dad take the pictures!)

 We then went to the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy.  This is where St. Faustina lived and died in the early part of the 20^th century.  This shrine has multiple functions – there are still many nuns who live here, there is a “hotel” for pilgrims, a large shrine and still the original chapel with the painting of the Divine Mercy. and her tomb.  I had read about Sr. Faustina and the Divine Mercy prayers – but had not participated in the Divine Mercy.  We said this prayer today at 3pm, in the chapel with the painting with pilgrims from all over the world.  We said it in many languages and it was beautiful.

Dad & Fr. Joe outside the basilica

Pictures were not really allowed in the various chapels, so there are not many to share.



Part of the grounds

Incidentally, you can see the Saint John Paul II basilica from here.  It is a 20-minute walk.  Both of these shrines are built very close to another place JPII worked pre-WWII. 

We had a private mass here, but my favorite part was our tour and witness from Sr. Mary Villaney.  She took us on a short tour, but then sang and spoke with us.  It is hard to put into words what she did for me, and for all the pilgrims, now reflecting late at night.  Her witness of love for Christ and us was very powerful. Sr. Mary also took time to really discuss the Divine Mercy painting.  She gave insight and hope to the trials of our daily life, in turning to Jesus.  She was a great encouragement to all.  Please ask me about it sometime, I would love to share.  For now, I will leave you with the famous words….

Jezu, ufam tobie

Jesus, I trust in You

 

Photos from Czestochowa (Wednesday)

Outside of Jasna Gora.

 

The main basilica at Jasna Gora.  This was stunning.  Like heavenly light!

 

Mass in the Chapel with our Lady.  Fr. Joe was joined by Father Simon (who later gave us a tour of Jasna Gora).  He was very funny; one of his jokes "How do you make holy water?  Boil the hell out of it!"

As mentioned before, we then drove to Krakow and had a surprise visit to the newly built St. John Paul II shrine.

 

And my favorite mosaic (as described in yesterday's blog)

Wednesday in Czestochowa and traveling to Krakow

We started today in Czestochowa.  It is about 2 hours southwest of Warsaw.  The main purpose of this 18-hour stop was to visit Jasna Gora (a church/shrine for Our Lady of Czestochowa).  I had heard of the Black Madonna (Our Lady of Czestochowa), but didn’t really understand what that meant. 

Our Lady of Czestochowa is an icon of Mary and baby Jesus.  It was made by St. Luke on a table that was made by Jesus, when he was doing carpentry.  We first saw Our Lady of Czestochowa while having Mass in the little chapel she is in.  All 40 pilgrims squeezed inside for Mass.  We have a Polish pilgrim, and she read the first reading and the psalm in Polish.

I was ambivalent about going to Czestochowa.  Our Lady is well known and the patroness of Poland.  When I first sat down for Mass and looked up to Our Lady, I was mesmerized.  The painting almost looks like a wood carving.  There is a very decorative overlay to the painting (that has been changed throughout the years) that is very ornate and decorative.  But the face on this painting is just beautiful.  Just like you would envision mother Mary; holding her son close, patiently listening and holding many sorrows in her heart.  It was much more moving than I anticipated to have Mass in her chapel and pray there. 

The main church (Basilika) was also beautiful.  The altar was glorious statues of gold and white depicting the Assumption (Mary rising to heaven).  Everything was so light, so heavenly, really. 

There was also a really beautiful organ in the back of the church!

Dad and I had lunch with Gladys and Lenny today.  Not a fun Polish lunch of pierogis, kilbasa and sauerkraut – we had chicken, carrot salad and carrot cake.  (For our Polish family, I was excited to see “Kompote” on the menu, but it wasn’t a whole fruit salad, it was a fruit drink.  We passed on that.

We then left Czestochowa and headed to Krakow (another 2 hours by bus).  Driving through Poland is very beautiful.  Lots of green grass, rolling hills and often feels of a golden flower.

Upon arriving in Krakow we had a surprise.  We were able to visit the newly built Saint John Paul II shrine.  Most of the church structure is built, but the surrounding area, pilgrim house, etc. are not finished.  We said a rosary in the chapel, where there is a relic from JPII, as well as the “tombstone” from the Vatican.  I use tombstone loosely, as he is still buried in St. Peter’s.  However, in recent months his tomb was moved from the crypt (below) to the main sanctuary at St. Peter’s for all the pilgrims.  What is in Krakow is the tombstone from his grave in the crypt.

We then entered the medium-sized chapel, to view artwork that shows JPII’s pilgrimages.  It was beautiful, but unusual to see a space filled with so many pieces of art about the Pope.

We then went upstairs to the main sanctuary -  WOW!!!  It is nearly finished.  There are stone mosaics throughout the church, depicting events from Jesus’ life and the bible.  And they are HUGE!  I was astounded at the artistry. 

I was especially moved by the central mosaic, behind the altar.  There were three images of Jesus.  The central image was of His birth; Mary holding Jesus and the three wise men worshipping him.  St. John Paul II is near them, with his arm outstretched, showing you the way to Christ.  It was a beautiful image of what the Pope does; lead us to Christ.

We are now at our last hotel for the trip.  Dinner is to be a buffet – I am hoping for sauerkraut, pierogis, kilbasa and sledgie!  (I had sledgie for breakfast in Warsaw, yum!!)

Love to all at home.  Know that you are all in our prayers each and every day.

Photos from Warsaw! (Tuesday)

Tuesday began in Warsaw.   We had a new tour guide, Agneska (Agnes).  Our first stop was the church of Fr. Jerzy Popieluszko, who was violently murdered in 1984.  (A modern day martyr)

 

We then continued on our bus tour of Warsaw.  We drove through the area that was the Jewish ghetto during WWII.  It is now a neighborhood with many apartments and in the middle there is a large memorial to the Jewish people of the area.

This was one of my favorite spots, the memorial statue for Frederic Chopin.  Beautiful park with a striking sculpture.

 

 

Before heading into "old town" Warsaw, we had a stop at the bathroom.  Dad and Fr. Joe found some sort of antique substation control panel.

 

"Old Town" Warsaw.  It is in the location of the old town of Warsaw, but almost all of Warsaw was destroyed during WWII.  This is the "new" old town.  Dad and I had some delicious pierogi's here!

 

I have been trying to get a photo up of St. Maximillian Kolbe's church/center up.  I am having a little trouble with the blogger software.  Will try again soon!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A message from Dad!

“Today was our first full day in Poland.  We spent most of the day visiting sites in Warsaw, including a beautiful memorial to Frederic Chopin. 

It was also a day of reflection and remembrance for me as I realized that with this visit, Lindsay and I are the first of our immediate Szwed family to return to Poland in the last 60+ years.

Being here and experiencing the people and the sites, you are struck by all that happened ot the Polish people (both Christian and Jewish) pre-World War II, during the War, and after.  It caused us to reflect on what Babci and Grandpa Szwed experienced when they were here.  Driving through the countryside, I couldn’t help but think that Babci’s farm was close by.

After leaving Warsaw, we visited the Church and Museum of St. Maximillian Kolbe, a Fransician priest who gave his life at Auschwitz so that another man could live.  Our pilgrimage celebrated his life with a special Mass with Father Joe Bambenek.  He gave a very inspirational and personal homily.  It is a blessing to have him on this trip!

We are now in Czestochowa.  We will visit our Lady of Czestochowa Church and have Mass there before heading to Krakow, Poland’s cultural center.”  

Photo highlights from Monday

A beautiful day at the Catacombs (no photos inside the catacombs), but we were far enough out in the country, it was just so beautiful!

Our brief lunch stop outside the Vatican!

Inside the Vatican on our tour.  Such a lovely Day!!!

Touring the art at the Vatican.  This was the tapestry I spoke about in the earlier post.

Goodbye Roma!

Hello Warsaw!

Much better photos from Canonization Day!

This will be short again, since I have to go to sleep, but the internet is much better here!

Our mini-group, headed to the canonization via the subway.

When we got off the subway, we were at the beautiful Spanish Steps.

Dad and I went up the steps with Fr. Joe and some friends.  When then headed toward the Vatican.  The streets were just beautiful and you could turn around to see the Spanish Steps.

Looking forward and around on this walk, the apartments looked so lovely!

Our position for watching the Canonization.  You really could see through the trees!

We stood by this marker the whole time; afterwards we learned it was some sort of tribute to the great composer, Verdi!

After lunch, we walked to the Castel Sant'Angelo.  Looking from the Castel back to where we were standing,, you can see that Verdi tribute.

Dad and I with Fr. Joe and his cousin Randy at the top of the Spanish Steps.

Monday (Last day in Roma)

Wow! Another day has passed. I am putting down my notes here while flying to Berlin. Our time in Roma is finished. Today was a beautiful day. We began today by packing out of our hotel in Roma – Hotel Eurostars Aeterna. We had breakfast at the hotel – which I didn’t ever describe. It seems that “Italian buffet hotel breakfast” consists of fruit, cereal, eggs, coffee, juice, pastries and many kinds of meat and cheese (Yes, Justin and Joe – you would love it!) Lots of prosciutto, salami and mortedella. I only ate a little of that because you all know how I feel about breakfast at 7 am! We boarded up the bus (with our new driver, Claudio, who by the way was not as gentle on the pedal as Francesco!) and headed to the outer part of Roma. Our first stop of the day was the Catacombs. This was outside the city (for health reasons) and was a very large burial place for ancient Christians. The tombs were prolific. I could hardly believe that they were carved out when they were. So deep into the earth and so many! It was an especially touching place for me to visit, because it was where they found the body of St. Cecilia (my Confirmation name, the patron saint of music). Though her body was also found uncorrupted, we did not see her. There was a replica of a statue of how she was found, in the 1500s I think. After the Catacombs, we returned to the Vatican. We had a tour scheduled in the Vatican museum that would include a tour of the Sistine Chapel (Cappella Sistina). We had a new local guide, Christina, that gave excellent descriptions of the art we were about to see. The first items to view were tapestries from the 1500s. Most were in the time of Pope Urban. I was especially struck by one of the tapestries that depicted Holy Week. For one thing, it was huge – floor to ceiling, and the ceiling had to be 20 ft. There was Palm Sunday, the Last Supper and the betrayal of Jesus. Just stunning art. The Sistine Chapel was breathtaking. We were warned that photos, video and talking were not allowed. When you enter the chapel, you are fist overwhelmed by the number of people standing in this large open space. It’s a rectangle; with paintings on all the walls. Michelangelo’s work beautiful. But what surprised me most, was the size of the paintings on the ceiling. They are huge! When you see a photo in a book, I always thought, oh that painting must be so small. But even as a tiny person standing in the middle of this huge chapel, the art is also huge. The painting of God’s finger reaching out to touch Adam’s is so large. So beautiful. Very much worth seeing if you are in Roma. We then had to exit quickly, as it was 2:30 and we needed to get to the airport for our flight to Berlin. We thanked Christina, took a group picture and headed out. We made it on the airport safely and on time! We checked in and said goodbye and thank you to Tommasso. (Incidently, Dad and I spoke with him earlier and found out he was getting a much needed 6 day break from work! I imagine he’s drinking some vino right now!) So after a mozzarella and prosciutto Panini, two glasses of delightful red Italian wine and a Cassada cake at the Roma Airport, we are on the plane heading to Berlin to get to Warsaw. Upon reflection, Roma was truly wonderful. I wasn’t looking forward to it as much, as I was concerned about the crowds and being exhausted from the canonization. It surpassed my expectations, and I can’t wait to visit Roma again – but without a tour group! They are truly wonderful people to travel with, but I miss Joe and want to have time to sit at a café outside and eat pasta, salami and drink wine! I’ll try to p

Photos 2

A few photos from Day 2 (Basilica day). St. Peter's

St. Paul's Outside the Walls (walls of Rome that is)

St. Mary Major (I think, it took so long to download, I forgot!