The most kick ass flat in Warsaw
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happens to belong to an old, um, dead lady. I was trying to figure out what it was about
J’s place that was so delightful, and in the morning, when I woke up with a
mild headache and phlegm in my throat from breathing in dust all night, I
realized that her flat’s the best museum I’ve been to in all of Poland. There’s at least six decades of history
stored in it. J and her husband were intellectuals
and lived through both world wars as well as the post war years – communism, transition
to democracy and capitalism, renewed purges, all of that. There were hundreds of yellowing books on
psychology and politics and history in Polish, English, and French. Her husband was an author and had his own
shelf of published books. J had a stack
of journals, complete with annotated newspaper clippings and increasingly
shakier, more spider-like handwriting. Photos
everywhere, and a scrapbook that contained pictures of the family dating back
to 1895.
The three omnipresences were God, skiing, and Solidarność
(Solidarity – the anti communist
social movement in the eighties). There
were several photos of J’s husband meeting Jan Paweł II, a bust of a
languishing Christ in the corner. J’s
husband was an athlete, somewhat of an anomaly in the intellectual community,
as his son informed me, and there were skis and ski paraphernalia even in the
bathroom – an old set of skis hanging out next to a red mop and bucket. The memorial for his death was a cross country
ski trip – I think in the Zakopane mountains.
And finally, Solidarity pins, a poster of a Socialist movement anniversary,
a letter from a German writing a book about Communist era social movements.
J died sometime in January, I think. The refrigerator and television had been
unplugged, but a tomato lay rotting on the window sill and unwashed dishes sat in
the sink. When I asked, jokingly, if
there were ghosts in the apartment, her son said, “No,” then his wife said,
“Well, at least, we don’t know yet.” The
ceilings are thin, and the above neighbor’s dog scampers around a lot. When it moves, the sounds seem to be coming
from J’s kitchen.
8 responses to The most kick ass flat in Warsaw
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Julie Schwietert Collazo
West Babylon -
Tim Patterson
South Burlington -
Ben Buscheo
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letie wong
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Lola Akinmade
Bors
Justin said on February 12, 2008
What a cool place to have discovered, Lauren!
Thanks for sharing it with the rest of us.
-Justin
Lola Akinmade said on February 11, 2008
way cool Lauren.
Lauren Lim said on February 11, 2008
Couchsurfing
I know plenty of people in Warsaw but they’re all connected to my University, and I just needed to get out. So of course the person we stayed with had known my boss, Danuta Kuroń (who was also, along with her husband, Jacek Kuroń, a major presence in the anti communist movement), since childhood and we ended up visiting her.
http://www.couchsurfing.com
Tim Patterson said on February 11, 2008
That piece made Best American, didn’t it?
Gorgeous photos, Lauren – and I love the detail of the tomato on the windowsill.
Jacob Bielanski said on February 11, 2008
Absolutely incredible writing and story. What were the circumstances that led you to this place?
[size=11][url=http://www.twistedcompass.com/pnomads][IMG]http://i243.photobucket.com/albums/ff78/olivebeard/PassportStamps-sm.png[/IMG][/url][/size]
Lauren Lim said on February 10, 2008
Thanks for the article! There were several parts where I laughed out loud, but I liked, especially, “When asked, ‘Is it befitting a cardinal to ski?’ [JP II's] reply was, ‘What is unbefitting a cardinal is to ski badly.’” Also, I had no idea that anybody other than one of my students’ grandmothers called the late pope “JP II!”
Laurie Pickard said on February 10, 2008
Very cool. It’s that kind of personal connection, the kind of experiences no guide book can lead you to, that really make travel worthwhile.
Eva Holland said on February 10, 2008
Wow, Lauren. What an amazing find. The history nerd in me gets all anxious and tense just thinking about places like that getting cleared out, without the new residents realizing what an intellectual/cultural goldmine they’re sitting on…
The skiing thing made me think of a great travel story I read awhile back, called “Pope On A Rope Tow” – about JP II’s old skiing habit in Poland. It’s here: http://outside.away.com/outside/adventure/200201/200201fieldnotes.html