My trip to Costa Rica involved an early morning flight from Toronto, so I decided to stay at an airport hotel the night before. Good thing I did – for the second time this year, my transportation from Kingston to Toronto was stopped. Last time, my train couldn’t proceed beyond Belleville because of an accident on the tracks. This time, my bus broke down and limped as far as Colborne. We waited at the “Big Apple” complex in Colborne for about 2 hours before we were rescued by another bus. While my plans ultimately weren’t impacted, some other people on the bus were really scrambling to get to Toronto. Some of them hired a cab to drive all the way there…about a 2 hour journey.
Fortunately, my trip to Costa Rica was nowhere near as eventful. I was a little concerned that I only had 67 minutes between flights in Panama City, but the flight from Toronto arrived quite early and I was even able to catch up on some e-mail between flights.
One thing is clear: both Panama and Costa Rica are considerably warmer than Canada. It was quite cool when I left Toronto but it is definitely t-shirt/shorts weather now.
View from my hotel room in Costa Rica
I have once again joined a tour group for this trip. As travel planning fatigue was beginning to set in when I was scheduling my October travel, I was ready to let somebody else take control for this one. I met my group Saturday evening and it looks like I’ve been fortunate again. There are only 7 of us in the group and, though we are from 4 different countries, we seem to get along well and have a number of shared interests/perspectives.
For dinner, we went to a typical “soda” (see photo of our group at the top of this post). A soda is simply a local restaurant featuring Costa Rican food and is usually very reasonably priced. I had arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) along with a fresh carrot-orange juice. Including tax and tip, it was about US$8.00. I also really liked the chilero sauce…it was a perfect combination of heat and flavour. A bottle of this wondrous condiment apparently shows up on the table of almost every Costa Rican restaurant, so I will be able to do a brief and intense survey of the various brands while I’m here!
Arroz con pollo – the dark dish is a black bean paste
As much as I enjoyed dinner in San José, the real trip (and the real photography) begins tomorrow. Most tourists, myself included, are here for the natural beauty of Costa Rica…so tomorrow we head out for La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano. We’ll be there for a couple of days, although at this point I don’t think I’ll be able to take part in some of the more “adrenalized” activities. I recently aggravated a shoulder injury and I’ll have to be careful with it. That’s OK – even if I can’t zipline this time, there are still plenty of great things to see on foot.
The K&P Trail follows the railbed of the old Kingston & Pembroke Railway. Informally known as the “Kick & Push” Railway, this rail route from Kingston to Renfrew (it never reached Pembroke) played an important role in opening up the hinterland north of Kingston in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It then declined until the tracks were removed in the 1980s, with passenger service ending some time before that.
Part of a bridge (from 1927) on the K&P Trail, just north of Kingston
Extensive local efforts have now resulted in the redevelopment of parts of the railbed for recreational purposes: walking and biking in the warmer months, skiing and snowmobiling in the winter months. While I never had the chance to ride the actual railway, I have always been interested in this relic from a bygone age. One reason is that we often rented a cottage on Eagle Lake in the 1970s and the drive to the cottage closely mirrored the K&P route. However, I’m generally intrigued by small local railways: I’ve always enjoyed riding the tiny but still-in-service rail line from Spiez to Zweisimmen in the valley of my Swiss ancestors.
View from the K&P Trail
With the K&P Trail now open for walking from Kingston to just north of Verona, it is possible to get a feel for what riding the actual K&P might have been like. My wife and I are gradually walking the line: we have already walked from Kingston to Hartington (and back). It can get a little warm during the summer months but it’s much more enjoyable now that the weather has cooled off a little bit. As a bonus, the trail is never very challenging because railway lines were built as level as possible.
A rare lengthy incline on the K&P Trail
For our most recent hike on the K&P Trail, we revisited a (relatively) steeper section just north of the urban portion of Kingston. All of the photos in today’s post are from the portion just east of the intersection of Bur Brook Road and Cordukes Road.
When we start walking north from Hartington to Verona, we will see the transition from a primarily farming environment to the rocks and lakes of the Canadian Shield. It must have been extraordinarily difficult to build the railway through the rocky sections using the technology of the 1800s; in fact, many workers died in the process.
View of a nearby farm from the K&P Trail
Once we’ve finished the K&P Trail, we will probably try to see some of the Cataraqui Trail too. It also follows a former rail line: it is currently developed for walking between Strathcona (near Napanee) and Smiths Falls. Because most of the Cataraqui Trail is relatively far from our home in Kingston, we might travel it by bike or (in winter) on cross-country skis.
Another view from the K&P Trail
And the “Big Reveal”? Although I wrote this blog entry in Kingston, I will probably have already arrived in Costa Rica (via Panama) by the time you read this. Upon arrival in San Jose, I will be joining a group tour focusing on the natural highlights of Costa Rica. As always with group tours, it is unclear whether I will have the opportunity to blog in “real time”. If I don’t have that opportunity, I will definitely report on the Costa Rican adventure once I’m back in Canada!
I’m sitting in my living room, listening to one of my recent vinyl acquisitions, After staying in so many different hotels and B&Bs this year, I am definitely appreciating the comforts of home more. However, I have learned quite a bit along the way about European accommodation; today’s post gathers a little bit of that acquired knowledge.
When travelling alone, I generally prefer B&Bs to hotels. There is more of a personal touch in a B&B and that can be helpful when you don’t know anybody…especially if the local language is an unfamiliar one. Most B&B owners will speak at least one other major European language in addition to their own. Hostels are another good option when travelling solo, although one needs to do a bit more research on these. Some hostels heavily favour a partying demographic, while others are much more inclusive.
Beach restaurant on Schiermonnikoog (Friesland, the Netherlands)
Often, however, it is necessary to stay in a hotel when travelling alone. One of the fun things about solo European travel is the occasional great hotel deal you can find. While North American hotels charge a solo traveller almost as much as two people sharing a room, a number of European hotels charge solo travellers little more than one-half the two person rate. Some business-oriented hotels drop their rates even more on weekends. Admittedly, the rooms can be on the small side and the bed is generally only a single bed, but otherwise you get all of the amenities of the hotel…including breakfast! As a result, my bargain single room at the 4-star Hotel City Central in Vienna came with a huge and luxurious all-you can-eat buffet breakfast (including some very posh warm food) that I could only begin to sample. It was a perfect way to begin a very long day of travel back to Kingston.
The village of Schiermonnikoog (Friesland, the Netherlands)
As the year progresses, I am paying a lot more attention to formerly inconsequential details when choosing a place to stay. I am always trying to stay within my budget, of course, and I do check to see if a place has attracted a lot of bad reviews. However, there are some things that warrant an extra Euro or two. Here are the three main things I’ve been looking for:
1. Reliable WiFi. The blog obviously requires it, but for me it is even more important to stay in touch with my wife when I am on the road. Skype (or FaceTime, in our case) is a godsend for solo travel.
A quiet moment at low tide on Schiermonnikoog (Friesland, the Netherlands)
2. Easily accessible from major rail stations. Taxis are a budget killer and hauling luggage gets very old towards the end of a trip. Local public transit can also play tricks on you when you’ve just arrived in a new city. If the train station isn’t right downtown, I’d rather stay near the station…commuting downtown is a lot easier without the backpack.
3. Early check-in, especially on the day of arrival overseas. Most flights from North America to Europe arrive between 5:00 and 8:00 a.m. local time. I generally don’t get enough sleep on overnight flights and the last thing I want to do upon arrival is to carry my luggage around for 8-10 hours until it is time to check in. Most places will at least let you drop off your luggage if you arrive early…but that is only a partial solution to the exhaustion I usually feel by late morning on the day of arrival.
Damp Dutch dogs drinking by the desolate dunes (Schiermonnikoog, Friesland, the Netherlands)
All of today’s photos are from the Frisian island of Schiermonnikoog. Stay tuned – on Saturday I will be arriving in a brand new country that has very little in common with the Netherlands!
One of the attractions of living in Kingston is that it is relatively close to three major Canadian cities: Toronto, Ottawa and Montréal. Any of these can be reached by car or train in less than 3 hours…a short commute by Canadian standards. My wife and I often spend a weekend in one of them: sometimes the “anchor” is a music or sports event, but sometimes we just feel like visiting a bigger city and don’t have any scheduled events lined up.
Every one of my trips so far this year has been through Toronto, so I jumped at the opportunity to spend some time in Montréal. This was a weekday trip, as I needed to renew my Swiss passport and the consulate’s hours are somewhat limited. In fact, it was an overnight trip because I had an early morning appointment at the consulate. I’m not complaining: Montréal is a great place to visit!
One of the big attractions in Montréal is the food. Kingston has quite a good variety of dining options for a city of its size, but it cannot compare to what’s available in Montréal. Upon arrival on Tuesday, I had lunch at a vegetarian restaurant called Lola Rosa in the McGill University district. I’m not strictly vegetarian but I like to visit good vegetarian restaurants. This one was above average – the presentation of the food was especially good. I had a vegetarian chili; apparently, the beans were soaked in red wine before cooking.
A bad photo: an out-of-focus and slanted shot of the top part of my hotel (with bonus foliage and sun glare) on rue Stanley in Montreal
Montréal also has an excellent vinyl record store. It’s called Aux 33 Tours and I visit it whenever I can. As I’ve mentioned before in this blog, visiting independent record stores helps me to see urban neighbourhoods that are off the usual tourist trail. After a couple of hours (!) in the record store and a long walk to and from the Plateau Mont-Royal district, I was ready for a substantial dinner.
Dinner certainly was substantial. I met a friend for dinner and we went to Le Nil Bleu for Ethiopian cuisine. Whenever I can introduce friends to Ethiopian food, I do. What can be more fun than eating spicy and colourful food with your hands? We ordered the “tasting menu” in order to sample a wide variety of dishes. This particular restaurant was located on rue St.-Denis and was a cut above the usual in terms of comfort and variety. While it didn’t quite match the awesomeness and good value of Winnipeg’s Massawa restaurant (still my favourite Ethiopian/Eritrean restaurant), it was a very satisfying and tasty meal.
The main course of our “Tasting Menu” at Le Nil Bleu
After “taking care of business” at the Swiss consulate (see picture at top of this post), I did some more shopping and decided to let fate decide where I would eat. A couple of years ago, my wife and I enjoyed a great brunch at La Petite Ardoise restaurant in the Mile End district. Alas, it was closed for renovations this time. The next place to catch my eye was a humble Venezuelan place called Bocadillo at the corner of boulevard St.-Laurent and avenue du Mont-Royal. I had Venezuelan-style pulled pork (made with passion fruit) and it was very good.
Pulled Pork – Venezuelan style!
While this trip was mostly about music and food, there really is a lot to see in Montréal. Unfortunately, you aren’t going to see much of it in this posting because I forgot my camera. I packed “without a list” this time because it was such a short trip…and somehow I overlooked the camera. I had an iPod with me, but it is designed for “selfies” rather than traditional photography. I did my best with it but the picture quality isn’t quite up to this blog’s usual standards. I think I’ll need to visit Montréal again soon in order to properly chronicle the city!
I’m back in Kingston for a few weeks and it seems like a good time to reflect a little bit on this year’s itinerary.
I’ve visited a total of 18 countries so far this year, even though I resolved at the beginning of the year that I wouldn’t be engaging in “checklist” tourism. The number of countries visited is, I think, an unavoidable consequence of catching up on my overflowing European bucket list. While I had not intended to visit so often, I have already been to Europe five times since the beginning of March!
Hiking trail to Germany (near Vianden, Luxembourg)
Looking back at some of my early posts, I see that I spent some time discussing Saskatchewan. It remains the only province/territory in Canada that I have never visited. However, I also vowed that any trip to Saskatchewan this year would need to have an “independent’ justification…and not be a destination simply because I hadn’t been there yet. Time is running out for a visit but it is still a possibility that cannot be completely dismissed.
The Hotel Victor Hugo (my hotel in Vianden, Luxembourg)
Other than a quick trip next week to one of my favourite Canadian cities, however, there are currently only two more trips in the works. In the second week of October, thanks to my very positive experience in Peru, I will be joining another group tour. I’m not going to give many clues about this one, other than to say that it involves a country I’ve never visited before and it is *not* a European trip. I don’t anticipate saying much more about this trip until approximately October 11, when I quickly post on Facebook that I have arrived in that country’s capital city!
Evening on the Grote Markt (Delft. the Netherlands)
My final planned trip of the year will be in late November. While I’m undertaking it on my own, it will have some parallels with my recent hockey tour because there will be a strong “experiential” element to it. I don’t think the itinerary will surprise anybody who knows me well; perhaps the biggest surprise will be that I haven’t been on such a trip before!
The historic heart of The Hague, the Netherlands
There is at least one destination on my initial plan that I definitely won’t be visiting this year. I had intended to visit Ukraine but it has remained unstable throughout the year and unfortunately I don’t think it would be prudent to push ahead with a visit there.
Downtown Maassluis, the Netherlands
The Ukraine situation wasn’t the only one to affect my planning. Earlier this year, I had also been concerned about the situation in Bosnia & Herzegovina. Not because of the events of the 1990s, but because of a series of anti-corruption demonstrations that seemed to be getting a little out of control and were threatening to turn into something quite violent. I had bought my ticket prior to the demonstrations so I did a lot of research before departure in order to satisfy myself that there was no heightened risk to me as a tourist. From understanding the history of a country to being aware of current safety threats, it takes a lot of reading to be an informed and effective traveler!
Today’s blog photos are all from the first half of my August trip. Stay tuned for an account of my upcoming Canadian city escape!
On most of my trips to Europe, I try to disappear into the crowd and am probably not easily identifiable as coming from Canada (or perhaps anywhere in particular). Generally, the only people who know I’m Canadian are hotel proprietors…for whom Canadians are not too much of a novelty. As a result, I don’t hear too much about Canada from the perspective of Europeans outside the tourist industry.
My hockey tour of Eastern Europe* was different. Not only was I travelling with a lot of other Canadians, we were unequivocally members of “Team Canada” and made no attempt to hide it. The fact that we were Canadian hockey players was, in fact, a big part of this tour.
Looking intense against our very strong Czech opponents in Prague
As Canadians, we tend to fret about our performance at international hockey events. We greatly enjoyed our Olympic successes at both Vancouver and Sochi but have also had a number of recent disappointments. If this tour was any indication, however, other hockey nations still have an immense amount of respect for Canadian hockey. Some of them found it hard to believe that not all Canadian hockey players were world-class! As I mentioned in my “Hockey Night in Budapest” post, the minor hockey program in Budapest was even named after Canada and had a maple leaf logo. The local kids watching our game gave us high-fives as we left the ice.
On the shore of the Danube in Budapest, Hungary
While the hockey perceptions were not completely unexpected, the non-hockey perceptions of Canada came as more of a surprise. After all, these countries were on the other side of the Cold War (at the political leadership level, at least).
We constantly heard positive references to our country from the people we met. But there were also reminders that this part of the world has had a long-standing respect for Canada. In the otherwise miserable environment of Auschwitz, we learned that the concentration camp area used to sort the belongings of prisoners had been named “Canada”. This was because Canada was seen, even then, as a land of wealth and prosperity.
View of the Buda Castle (Budapest, Hungary)
At the Wawel castle in Krakow, we saw a commemorative plaque with respect to the castle treasures. The plaque acknowledged Canada’s storage of the treasures during the Second World War: this saved them from being looted by the Nazis during the occupation. The plaque also acknowledged that Canada returned the treasures to the castle too!
Many people originally from this part of Europe escaped oppressive totalitarian regimes for a new life in Canada. These ranged from the famous (the hockey-playing Stastny brothers, for example) to the not-so-famous…but Canada’s acceptance of them has never been forgotten by the immigrants or their family members who stayed behind.
Off the tourist trail in Budapest, Hungary
This ties in with one of the most obvious benefits of travel: no matter how wonderful your trip is, you also appreciate what a good life you have back home. Of course, there are aspects of life in Canada that can be frustrating at times and there are certainly things we could learn from other countries. On the balance, however, Canada is a pretty good place to call home…and the rest of the world recognizes it too.
At the top of the Buda Castle complex (Budapest, Hungary)
*-I learned on this trip that Czechs, Slovaks, Poles and Hungarians often think of themselves as Central Europeans rather than Eastern Europeans.
Our visit to Bratislava was extremely short. We arrived on the afternoon of September 10, had a pre-game meal, played the game (see my post on “A Great Game in Bratislava” for details), and celebrated the victory afterwards. We only had a couple of hours on the morning of September 11 to explore the city before heading to Budapest.
It was necessary to take a cab from our hotel to the old town. It was strange to ask the cab driver to take us downtown…but not to any particular place. We didn’t really know where to start and we certainly hadn’t done any research. This went totally against my usual “informed travel” approach but the clock was ticking and we wanted to see part of the city before moving on. We were eventually let off at the edge of a pedestrian-only district that seemed close enough to the old town.
A rainy morning in downtown Bratislava
The plan was simple: walk around the oldest parts and make sure we found a cab back by 11:00 a.m. The old town of Bratislava is relatively compact (especially if you are not entirely sure where it is) so after about 20 minutes we decided to climb a large hill and visit the castle overlooking the city. Climbing up was no problem and we were able to wander around the castle complex for a while.
Part of Bratislava Castle
We decided to descend the castle hill on the other side. Surely there would be a second way down? Alas, we encountered one dead-end after another and the timing situation was becoming more urgent. Finally, we managed to find our way out…but were amazed at how few taxis were roaming Bratislava on this increasingly rainy morning. Just as the situation became critical (and drenched), we found a taxi stand and rushed back to our hotel. Yes, this probably could have been avoided with a little research, or even a map. Intuition is great…when it works.
Changing of the Guard in front of the Presidential Palace – Buda Castle (Budapest, Hungary)
We had more time in Budapest. Our hockey game (see “Hockey Night in Budapest” post) took place shortly after arrival on the 11th but we had all of September 12 to ourselves. I made sure I had a map before setting out; even though I had been here for 3 days in 1991, I was taking no chances. I also was expecting a lot of changes, as 1991 was still very early in Hungary’s evolution from a one-party system. I can still recall seeing eastbound trains loaded with Soviet tanks: it was the winding-up of an empire.
Parliament Building in Budapest, Hungary
The main tourist areas had certainly been developed in the intervening 23 years: it was as if a thick layer of dust had been blown off the downtown area. The views along the Danube (see photo at top of this post) were also as spectacular as ever; it was not hard to see that Budapest flourished during the glory years of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. But when I wandered into the less-touristed areas, it looked like the city was still recovering from those 40 years of post-war stagnation.
Fun in downtown Budapest
Our group reconvened that evening for a final dinner. Our Hungarian hockey hosts recommended a French-influenced restaurant some distance west of downtown. I think the best description would be “rustic elegance”: it reminded me of the upscale cellar restaurants you often find in the German-speaking countries. Although rather expensive, I couldn’t find fault with the food or the very professional service. Even so, it would be difficult to eat like this on a regular basis.
My main course at dinner: goose breast with caramelized apple and bliny
When we returned to the hotel, the adrenaline had finally subsided and I was completely drained. This didn’t really come as a surprise: in barely a week, we had played 10 games in 4 countries and also managed to incorporate a lot of sightseeing. It had been an awesome trip with many special experiences…but I was also ready to return home and slow things down a little bit.
Coming up: some more photos of Budapest and some thoughts on Canada’s image abroad.
While interest in hockey is surging in Hungary, it has not historically been a hockey power. There are still only a couple of thousand registered players and, since 1939, it has been in the top group at the world championships only once. As a result, we had the rare opportunity to experience “grass roots” hockey in Budapest.
Ice is at a premium here, as demand exceeds supply. The only venue available was a relatively temporary facility – the ice was hard and fast but there were no facilities in the arena itself (see photo at top of this post). The dressing rooms were located in a nearby building that appeared to be built in support of the surrounding track, tennis and soccer facilities. To get to the arena, we had to walk down a sidewalk and over a bridge. The route was padded so it was really no problem.
Happy to be playing hockey in Hungary!
Once again, the welcome was warm. All sorts of beverages were laid out for us in the dressing room and you could tell that the Hungarians were thrilled to have us there. The arena was even named after Canada and the minor hockey program featured “Canada – Hungary” uniforms.
Our opponents (Szigeti Bikák Old Boys) wore Hungarian national team jerseys and warmed up with intensity. Their top defenceman (#4) looked like he had played hockey at a very high level in the past. As in Bratislava, the national anthems were played before the game began. It was a bittersweet moment, as it was great to wear the Team Canada uniform and hear the national anthem one more time…but we also knew that this was the last game on our hockey tour.
Preparing for a key faceoff outside the Hungarian blue line.
Alas, any sentimental thoughts were quickly forgotten once the puck was dropped. Hungary clearly wanted to put up a strong performance and they were playing with much more determination than the last couple of teams we faced. Just because the arena was named after Canada didn’t mean that Hungary wanted us to win! As facilities are limited, I also suspect that anybody who plays hockey in Hungary must necessarily be very serious about it.
The goals went back and forth all night. While Team Canada had a full line-up for this final game, almost everybody was nursing an injury of some sort. As a result, when Hungary took a 5-4 lead into the final minutes of the game, it looked like our flawless post-Czech Republic record was in jeopardy.
Oh no! Time to backcheck!
Of course, Canadians don’t like to quit either and we were determined to get the tying goal. And so, with only 50 seconds left, we gained control of the puck in the Hungarian end. The puck was passed to one of our injured defencemen who, due to injury, had been having trouble putting any weight on one of his skates. While it must have been very painful for him, he took a quick snapshot from the point and found the top corner of the Hungarian net. Goal!
The final seconds of regulation time failed to produce a winner. It was decided that the tie would be broken by penalty shots. This sounded good for our injured players, but there was another problem. Our goalie, having been such a pillar of strength throughout the tour, was suffering from a groin injury and found it hard to move from side to side (or even to stand up, once he was down on the ice). You could see him struggle to lift himself up after every save.
The play is whistled down after the Hungarian goalkeeper caught my shot from the left wing
After the initial three shooters for each team, the score was still tied. However, our fourth shooter scored and the Hungarians now had to score or lose the game. The Hungarian shooter tried to deke our goalie but failed to lift the puck above our goalkeeper’s outstretched leg. Victory for Canada!
There was nothing left in the tank. The hockey portion of our tour was amazing but I don’t think we could have played another game. I think we were all glad that no hockey had been scheduled for our final full day in Budapest.
Both teams met afterwards at a nearby restaurant for an all-you-can-eat buffet. As it was now past 10:00 p.m. and I hadn’t eaten since the early afternoon, I was quite happy to “eat all I could”. There were some speeches and it was clear that each team had a great amount of respect for the other. Like every other country on this tour, Hungary showed that Canada occupies a special place in the hockey world. Hockey can be a fast and tough game but it is still possible to play with respect and dignity. There is definitely something to be said for hockey diplomacy!
The massive hilltop Wawel Castle in Krakow is a common destination for tourists in Poland. It was originally built in the 14th century and was repeatedly expanded over the years as it hosted a long succession of Polish rulers. Because of our extremely tight schedule, it was not possible to visit the entire complex or even all parts of the buildings that we did visit. However, we did at least get a flavour of Polish history and the vast area covered by Poland and Lithuania in the past.
Part of the Wawel Castle complex (Krakow, Poland)
Time constraints also forced us to eat on the run…but, in this case, we happily stumbled upon a take-out restaurant that served up the kind of Polish specialties that I had been hoping to find. The sausage looked tempting but I opted for bigos (a tasty cabbage-based hunter’s stew with all kinds of interesting ingredients) instead.
Bigos in Krakow, Poland
From Poland, we moved on to Bratislava, Slovakia. I think the hockey game in Bratislava was probably my favourite of the tour, with the Budapest game (details in a future post) being an extremely close second. Some of our players had played the Slovak team last year at a tournament in Germany but were soundly defeated and it was apparently quite discouraging. This year’s game was only a friendly match but some of our players were very motivated to improve on the outcome from last year.
Even without that backdrop, however, this game was still something special. We were playing at Bratislava’s impressive Zimný štadión Ondreja Nepelu, also known as the Slovnaft Arena (see photo at top of this posting). It was completely rebuilt for the 2011 IIHF World Championships and accommodates more than 10,000 spectators. It is state-of-the-art in every respect and is the home arena of HK Slovan Bratislava, who play in the KHL (the second best hockey league in the world).
Our hotel in Tychy, Poland
We arrived at the player entrance and were astonished by the spacious and extensively equipped dressing rooms. Our hosts also provided us with plenty of beverages and souvenirs. On the Olympic-sized ice, the game was preceded by the Canadian and Slovakian national anthems. It was really special to hear “O Canada” while wearing a Team Canada jersey – even though this technically wasn’t a national team, we did have players from B.C. to Newfoundland on our roster. I now have some idea what it must feel like to appear for Canada at the Olympics or World Championships. With music blaring between whistles and a high-tech LED scoreboard, we really felt like we were in “the big time”.
While it is hard to pinpoint the exact reason, I think I played my best game of the tour in Bratislava. The wide-open ice, the “spectacle”, the emotion of this long-awaited rematch…everything seemed to feel right. Time seemed to slow down just a little bit and I felt like I was in total control of my game. Maybe, in some parallel universe, this was where I was meant to play hockey?
Nearing the top of Wawel Hill and the entrance to Wawel Castle (Krakow, Poland)
There were also some interesting Slovak touches to the game: everybody who scored was immediately and ceremoniously rewarded with a shot of a blueberry beverage of unknown local origin. As the game went on, the “rewards” were expanded to players who earned assists or just looked like they might need a “reward”. Another great thing about the game is that I don’t recall any cheapshots or animosity between the teams. Everybody did their best but it wasn’t at the expense of anybody else.
As for the result: Bratislava looked formidable in the warm-up and two players in particular (#66 and #69) were clearly very strong. We scored a couple of early goals but Bratislava roared back and the situation began to look dire as several of our players succumbed to (accidental) injuries. It seemed like just a matter of time before Bratislava’s star players would “turn it up a notch” and ensure victory for the Slovak team. We rose to the challenge, however, and eventually prevailed by an 8-5 margin. More so than in any previous game, we seemed to really click as a team. It also didn’t hurt that our goalkeeper continued his run of stellar games!
The bus that took us around Eastern Europe
After the game, we didn’t feel like leaving the ice. We wanted the moment to last just a little bit longer! As the arena staff wasn’t too pushy about us leaving the ice, we took lots of team pictures to commemorate the game. I hope to be able to share some of these in a future post.
While this was a great night, there is still much more to come. Future posts will include a little bit about Bratislava itself…and the exciting end of the tour in Budapest, Hungary!
On September 9, we went to the Auschwitz concentration camps from World War II. Auschwitz is the German name for the Polish town of Oświęcim; the town still exists a short distance from the camps. We visited the two main sites: Auschwitz I and the much larger Auschwitz II (Birkenau). There was also a smaller Auschwitz III and some satellite camps nearby.
This was a very difficult experience. At first it looks almost pastoral and the barbed wire isn’t even that conspicuous. But once the story starts rolling, you quickly get a very sick feeling in your stomach. The feeling doesn’t let up either: as bad as Auschwitz I was, Auschwitz II-Birkenau took the horror to an even higher level.
Watchtower and barbed-wire electric fence at Auschwitz I.
The Nazis cleared out all local residents in an area of 40 square kilometers around the camps. This made it possible to carry on atrocities without local knowledge. There was all kinds of misinformation: the sign above the entrance to Auschwitz I says Arbeit macht frei, which can be translated as “work will set you free”. This was only the beginning of the massive deception.
It is impossible to capture the overwhelming evil in a single blog posting and I am concerned that this brief narrative will not paint a complete picture. However, I still think it is important to describe some of what I saw.
Execution wall at Auschwitz I. About 5,000 people were executed here.
80% of people who arrived at Auschwitz (primarily Jews, but also including other groups who were unacceptable to the Nazis) by train were immediately sent to “showers”…which turned out to gas chambers that would kill them within minutes of entering. They had no idea what was coming: people brought their most valuable possessions to the camp and expected to be getting a job the next day. The remainder were put to hard labour without sufficient food and most died a horrible death through starvation, disease, medical experiments or execution.
It is estimated that 1.1 million people were killed at Auschwitz. The actual number is impossible to confirm because so many were killed upon arrival. During mid-1944, at Auschwitz alone, the Nazis were killing in excess of 5,000 people every single day. The sites were designed for utmost efficiency: the gas chambers were right beside the crematoria.
Our group enters a gas chamber/crematorium. Out of respect to those who perished here, no photos can be taken inside.
We actually walked through the gas chambers and crematorium at Auschwitz I where thousands and thousands of people were murdered. It is very difficult to put into words what it felt like to be in that place. If you can imagine the most haunted building and the most sickening feeling you can remember, and then wonder what could possibly have motivated people to be so evil and commit such heinous acts of mass murder…that combination would begin to describe what we all felt.
Auschwitz was not the only concentration camp. When you include the other Nazi camps, the numbers (it is estimated that 6 million Jews were murdered by the Nazis) are even more incomprehensible. It was a continent-wide assembly line of death.
A tiny fraction of the shoes taken from children who were murdered at Auschwitz I
We walked by some “inventories”: huge displays of property confiscated from the camp residents that had not yet been put to use by the Nazis by 1945. The sheer volume was astonishing but the worst was the hair: the Nazis sheared the residents and used all of the hair to make garments and other “knits”. We saw a display case that was about 40 metres long, several metres high and several metres deep…still filled with human hair that had not yet been converted to another use before the camp was finally liberated.
The railway line leading into Auschwitz II (Birkenau)
We also saw the main “receiving centre” at Birkenau (see photo at the top of this posting). Here, new arrivals by train would be assessed in a split second by a Nazi doctor. If he pointed left (which happened almost all of the time, especially if you were a child, female, elderly, or disabled), you would be dead that day. If he pointed right, you were deemed fit for labour…but you would almost certainly die within weeks or months. Death could come from starvation, execution, gassing, disease, or even the rats who infested the lower bunks.
Miserable housing at Birkenau: 5 people per bed, in this totally uninsulated and vermin-infested horse barn.
There is so much more that could be said. So much humiliation and inhumanity…and that was for those who survived the initial culling. In addition, the survivors would smell the furnaces from the crematoria that were burning each and every day. I won’t discuss the medical experiments that were performed on the camp residents. I think the only thing that saved me from being physically ill was the fact that we did not see the video that most people watch upon arrival at Auschwitz. It contains footage taken by the Red Army when Auschwitz was liberated in early 1945. I have seen snippets of this footage in the past and the condition of the surviving prisoners is extremely disturbing.
Exterior of the building shown in the previous photo (Auschwitz II – Birkenau)
If you have the opportunity to visit a concentration camp like Auschwitz, you should give it serious consideration even though it is by no means “enjoyable”. It will have a profound effect on you and it will be impossible to view the world in quite the same way afterwards.
