CURRENT AND FUTURE TRAVELS

My most recent international travel was a  business trip to Poland in May 2008.  We had a work meeting at our office in Katowice, Poland.  This is an industrial city in southern Poland.  I spent the last few days in Crakow, Poland.  Crakow is one of the most significant cities in Poland, (it was about two hours by train from Katowice).  Auschwitz is about 45 minutes from both Katowice and Crakow but I missed that tour due to arriving later than our group.  During my stay, I visited:

-Wieliczka Salt Mine-This was an active salt mine up until about 10 years ago.  Inside, there art sculptors out of salt and even a couple of chapels. 

  The main mine building.

  Inside one of the tunnels.  We went about 300 feet down, the tunnels go down about 1000 feet.  I

  The stairs down to the level where we started our tour, (over 330 steps). 

-Nowa Huta-(Communist Community)-After WWII, Eisenhower, Churchill, and Stalin divided up the Europe, Poland went to the Soviets.  Stalin wanted to show the communist way was superior to capitalism and set out to build a model community.  It was not known why he chose the location on the outskirts of Crakow.  The town included a steel mill, housing, town square, park with lake, transportation system, an entire community with a population of 100,000 people, less a church.  This was built from idle land, nothing existed prior to the construction.  It took ten years to complete.  To populate the city, Stalin promoted Poles from northern Poland to move here, with the offering of this new community, housing, new factory.  This was very enticing for Poles who had just been through WWII and Warsaw and other northern Polish cities were mostly destroyed.  Crakow was mostly untouched and being a highly educated and intellectual population, the locals had no desire to populate the new city, and furthermore, there has always existed a division attitude between the two populations.  The fact that Stalin was able to build this entire city in ten years and relocate 100,000 people to fill it is amazing. 

  The car, an Eastern European, all fiberglass vehicle, true commy car! 

    A typical apartment as it would have looked in the 70's.  The refrigerator was a later addition, earlier units had wall cabinets below the kitchen window that was open to the outside air, providing a natural cooling during the cooler seasons.  This was a two room apartment, (they did not use Western style definitions such as two bedroom), this meant it had a central living room that was used for family and social gatherings during the day and the pull out bed was the parents sleeping unit at night.  The children slept in a small second room.  There was the small kitchen shown in the picture and a bathroom.  The interior walls are built very poorly, obvious not square walls.

  The entrance to the steel mill.  The mill is still open today but only employs a few hundred people. 

       These pictures show the Catholic Church in Nowa Huta.  The original town layout did not include a church, which was in line with Soviet principles.  But, Poland was very dedicated to the Catholic Church that it was decided they needed to allow church to be constructed in the town.  No public funds could be used so the church was built by the locals and materials and contents were donated from donors throughout the world.  The church architecture was to look like Noah's Arch on the roof, (wooden structure at top).  This was to signify the saving of the church from the communists, a modern day Noah's Arch to save their religion. 

The Market Square-Crakow-This square was within the original walled section of the city and dates back to the 13th century and has survived unaltered.  It was one of the largest squares in medieval Europe. 

  The old town hall, built in 1383, this is all that remains of the original structure.  Today it is the history museum. 

  The Church of the Virgin Mary, started in 1350, but was built throughout the 15th century. 

      The Church of St Peter and St. Paul-built in the early 17th century. 

  The church of St. Andrew.

    Royal Arsenal

    Streets off of the square.

-Wawel Hill (Crakow)-Traces of man existing in caves above the Vistula River during the Paleolithic era.  There was also a walled community as early as the 6th century, and a Christian Church in the 9th century. The site today consists of the Renanaissance Castle of Wawel and Catholic Church.   This was the home to Polish royal families.  From 1320 on, all Polish monarchs were crowned in the cathederal, many were buried there. 

    View of river from the castle. 

PAST TRAVELS

I have had the awesome opportunity to travel all over the world.  I have filled up my first passport and had to have pages sewn in.  I have completed one around the world trip, leaving Los Angeles and going east all the way around, stopping in Chicago, Toronto, Europe, Southeast Asia before returning to LA.  I have been to The People's Republic of China, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Germany, Denmark, Holland, and of course my favorite, BRAZIL.  Oh, and I can not take it for granted just because they are close, MEXICO.  

Below is a map of my international travels:

In the US and Canada, I have been to many places, here is a list of some of the cities I have worked in or visited for pleasure:

• San Francisco
• New York
• Seattle
• Portland
• Chicago
• Toronto
• Montreal
• Vancouver
• Alaska
• Miami-Fort Lauderdale
• Dallas
• Austin
• Huntsville, Alabama
• Minneapolis
• Denver
• Salt Lake City
• Washington DC
• Baltimore
• St Louis
• Cincinnati
• Wichita
• Kansas City

My favorite place is Brazil.  My first trip was a job assignment in a suburb of Sao Paulo, the second largest city in the world.  I made about five or six trips to Brazil for work and on my last visit, my return was to be the weekend before Carnival.  I traveled to Rio De Janeiro for Carnival that year.  I have been to five Carnival's including my first one in 1998 and my most recent one this year.   

Asia Travel-I have been to Korea, Japan, China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand, click here. 

Malaysia-Malaysia is a small country on the Malay Penensula, south of Thailand in Southeast Asia.  The far south tip of the Malay Pensensula lies the city-state of Singapore.  I worked in Penang and spent time in Kuala Lumpur, or KL as the locals call it and the capital, home of the worlds tallest buildings, the Petronis Towers in KL.  Click here for pictures and more on Malaysia.

CHICAGO

I have visited Chicago many times over the years for both work and pleasure, (work with Motorola and Shure).  My most recent trip was in April and May of 2005 on a work project for Shure. 

Cubs Game

Carlos Zambrano pitched a complete game and got the win.

Jim Belushi throwing out the first pitch.

Below is a picture of me, Jim Nemeth, (co-worker and friend), and Sammy Vasquez, at the Post Game Show on Addison.

And the only way to get there, by the EL.

And Harry Carey, the most colorful baseball announcer of all time. 

And, the Fire Department next to Wriggleyville.

And, watching the game from the rooftops adjacent to the park. 

Renaissance Hotel-I spent one weekend in the Renaissance Hotel on the Chicago River, just off of State Street.  My two room suite overlooked the Chicago River. 

Below is the "Chicago" Theater that one block from my hotel, located on State Street, near the huge Marshall Field Department Store. 

TORONTO

Austin

Brazil Travels

Under Construction