המסע המופלא

I'm still in Stockholm, currently at the home of my mother's cousin. Yesterday I went to the modern art museum, and Wednesday evening I went to the Stockholm theatre and saw "The tchechov garden" which was quite amusing and thougt arising as well.
Bt the way, I'm currently trying a new mail account as I had problems with my current account. You may still write to my former e-mail address, but I would prefer if you write to the new one.

I was asked to clarify the photos. So here are some explanations. I identified each photo with the last digits of its file name:
17 - I in the castle in Malbourk
20 - The castle in Malbourk and the river Nogat
37 - I in a park in Gdansk
53 - The river Parcenta and me near Białogard (pronounced Biaougard)
59 - I in the Baltic see (it's cold, but I'm still smiling...) on the shore of Kołobrzeg (pr. kowobjeg)

And now to a short poem in Hebrew I though of yesterday:

ערום

פנים חרושי קמטים ניבטים אלי
מן המראה.
ערום
ערום
נשקף מן העיניים.
ובפנים -
אש קודחת
קוץ בתחת
חיים שלמים חולפים.

// posted by Ariel @ 20:19 |

Well, now I'm in my uncles home at Stockholm. I came here yesterday by train, which was very succesful, for reasons I'll soon explain. Just to correct my previous post: At the end I took the ferry from Poland to Copenhagen, I figured out it would be nearer to Höganäs.
Anyhow, as I was sitting on the train to Stockholm I took out my spanish learning book. Suprisingly, the girl who sat by me asked me: "Are you studying hebrew?". I corrected here error and we began chatting. It turned out she was jewish, and so has visited Israel and knew some hebrew (and coincidentally, also spoke polish, as her parents came from poland...). So she gave me some tips about Stockholm's night life, and even invited me to Shabat's dinner at her home.
Today I tried out "Stockholm's falafel king". It certainly met my standards, though he hasn't any amba or kharif.

And now, a new and exciting feuture on my blog: I added a link on the right to my Photo Album. Currently there are some photos from Poland. If it succeeds, I might consider adding some porno pics of myself, so please comment... (just kidding, anyway, you'll be warned first... :)

// posted by Ariel @ 20:44 |

So now is my last day in Poland (for this time). This evening I'm taking the ferry from Swinoujscie to Ystad. It was really a very intersting trip. Most of the time we were visiting places around Białogard. The scenery here is very green and peaceful.
On Wednesday we went to Gdańsk - first we visited a medival castle in Malbourk (dates back to 1270), which supposedly is the biggest brick castle in the world. Indeed, it was very impressive.
After that, we visited the concentration camp of Stuthof. Coincidently, a group of swedish and polish school-children were visiting there too, with a English speaking guide, so I could ask him questions. Only some barracks were left there (which had in them a museum) and the gas chambre and the crematorium, but still it was quite horrible to see. The guide explained that the crematorium could burn 150 bodies a day, but it wasn't enough, so there was also an outdoor fire to burn more bodies. 65,000 people were murdered there, he said, half of them jews. Later my father told me that actually my grandfather Leon was there for a period of some months, but luckily he survived.
At the end of day we visited Gdańsk itself. It is a vert fine city with high and colorful facades. We ended out trip there in a visit to Westerplatte, which apparantly was the Polish and later German headquarters, and today serves as a memorial for the war.
Yesterday we went to Kołobrzeg, which is a tourist city on the shore of the Baltic see (not soo many tourists now, they come in the summer). I entered shortly into the see (legs only :) and it was really cold... Also there was a sad reminder of the war - a monument to the jewish graveyard and community of the city, which was destroyed by the Nazis.
My host were really nice, and we managed to communicate quite well although we didn't have a common language (the key to succes is a good lexicon...).

// posted by Ariel @ 12:37 |

So, currently I'm in Poland in Złocieniec at a friend the family in whose house I stay (who are in their turn the family of the ozeret of my grandmother...) Anyhow, I was suposed to get to Poland on Monday morning, but the person who was supposed to take me couldn't come, so the family of which I told you came and took me from Hoganas. We took the fey over the Baltic (which included a sauna) to Germany, and in the end we arrived at Białogard, where they live. It was a very long journy of over 12 hours... Today after some delays due to mechanical problems in tha car (siton, you are needed) we took a tour at the region. There is really great landscape here and a lot of lakes, and finally we arrived to the friends (actually, the guy who was suposed to come and take me) who have internet... There is a little language barrier here, as my hosts can't speak English and I can't speak Polish, but till now it's OK, somehow...

// posted by Ariel @ 19:03 |

Now I am in Höganäs, where my grandmother lives. It's in Southern Sweden, and at last I can enjoy free internet, at the library.
However, there is not to much new to tell. I came here yesterday. I landed in Copenhagen internation airport at the morning. Then I took the train to Elsinore (Hälsingör) and from there I took the ferry (origanally named Hamlet) to Hälsingborg in the Swedish side of the sea, where I took the bus to Höganäs. Yeah, it's not really facsinating - but as I wrote, the internet here is free. On the boat I enjoyed the view, and delisicous swedish candies ("got & blandat" and "billar" for those of us who understand).

// posted by Ariel @ 17:29 |

Here I am in the airport, almost some hours of uncomftorable sleep on the floor of the almost deserted airport (and it is very uncomfortable). On the way here I began chatting with a girl who sat near me in the train. It turned out she is a (learning) ski monitor and that her father is one of the trainors of the french national ski team... I took her mail, just in case Ill want to get a good place in one of the winter olympiads...
Which remainds me of another story: On Saturday evening my brother and I went to a Disco in Tignes (the Melting Point, formaly known as the sub-zero, which actually means they went up some degrees). Anyhow, at 2:30 I began being tired, but my brother wanted to stay a bit more, so I took a tour around the place. I began speaking with some girl, and the conversation began like this:
¨Tu es francaise?
¨non, je suis libanaise
For the non-french speaking, it turned out she was from Lebanon but studies in the USA, and was in Tignes with some friends. The friends were very nice, they even gave me champagne (yeah, of course I told I was from Israel).
Well, that`s for now... I have a plane to catch.

// posted by Ariel @ 06:52 |

The ski vacation is over. Today was a really splendid day. Tomorow morning I take the flight from Geneve to Copenhagen. I took with me a honey from the hotel (as Liran advised...).

// posted by Ariel @ 16:33 |

Well, Im in France now. The flight was OK, and I had an intereting one day in Paris. Unfortunately, I lost my camera in the train to Bourg St. Moris (Merde...) so there will be no photos in the time being... Now Im in Tignes, a ski resort, with my family, but the internet connection is really expensive, so Ill tell more in another opertunity.

// posted by Ariel @ 18:37 |