Photo 1a, 1b: Polish pottery
Much of my first two weeks are spent on outfitting the apartment and building my daily routine in a foreign country. My first visit to the downtown area is to the pottery shop. Polish pottery is beautiful – check it out online – though fairly expensive if bought by the piece in the US. So, I have been slowly picking up pieces here. I check the pottery shop every couple of weeks.
The shop is fairly small, run by Monika. There are many Polish pottery designs, both traditional and modern, made at the pottery factories in Bolesławiec (pronounced “boleswaviets;” the ł is pronounced as a “w”, the w a “v” and the c a “ts” sound), in the southwestern corner of the country. Monika offers about six of these designs, with many types of dishes in each style. We have picked a traditional design, known as the mosquito pattern, with the standard traditional blue circles, plus green “mosquitos” and brown “pine cones.”
The pictures here show Monika, the display in our style (the picture does not include the top shelf) and a small platter (I bought two).
Photo 2: For Eric
During my Fulbright sabbatical two years ago, I bought a bunch of teapots for gifts to those who have helped from afar. This included a pot for Eric, who helps me with the photo blogs. Eric’s daughter has much enjoyed the teapot, so we will add a couple of cups and saucer this time around. His pot is in a traditional style, though different that the one I collect.
Photo 3: Polish KFC
After about ten days in Poland, I need to get back to my culinary roots, so a visit to a downtown KFC (there are several in Szczecin) is in order. The Polish restaurants are excellent, but always seem to have few diners, as most Poles eat at home. The fast-food restaurants, however, are packed. This picture is the scene in the KFC: There were about 15 people in line or waiting to order when I arrived, still about 15 people when I made my order, and 15 more after I ate and was leaving. Gangbuster business.
Photo 4: Work environment
During my first two weeks, I worked on three manuscripts left over from my Fulbright sabbatical here two years ago. This is my work environment. The books contain much of the literature that I work from. These are volumes from the deep sea drilling programs, which have been coring into the deep ocean since the late 1960s. These volumes, by the way, are from the UMPI library – I picked these up when the library trimmed their collections, these stayed in my office for some years and then I shipped these to Szczecin, as a 1200-pound pallet of books. They get much use here by several people, including me.
Photo 5: Geology Museum
The department here has a geology museum, which is also the site of the Polish Planet Head Day. As any who know me knows, I LOVE (choham) science museums, and have founded one at my home university, though this does not get a lot of visitors of late. The museum in Szczecin had 4000 school children here over the past year. A group or more of students most days. Here is one. This is something of my vision for northern Maine…
Photo 6: First Polish cup of Polish coffee in my Polish apartment
This is my first cup (in my “mosquito” design) of coffee in my apartment. My coffee pot just heats the water, so the coffee is instant. Not great, but starts the day…
Photo 7a,b,c: Polish hamburger joint
Since I left here almost two years ago, a hamburger (or do we call this hamberder now?) shop (sklep) has opened in the neighborhood. Very small – three tables altogether – and packed, mostly by a young crowd. The burger paddies are huge, and the finished burger measured almost six inches (13 cm) across the bun.
I am something of a connoisseur of hamburgers. The burgers in this shop are OK (not one of the best twenty I have ever had, but OK), with a sauce, lettuce and tomato; the pickles are sliced lengthwise. My only criticism is that this is too much in the American style, with cheap cheese and white-bread-buns-that-fall-apart-before-the-burger-is-eaten.
I can honestly say that of the twenty best burgers I have ever had, ALL OF THEM were in Europe. The better burgers have very good meat, good cheese, and a darker grainy bread that holds together well. (A good burger is fairly big, delicious, and can be eaten comfortably with one hand while not losing anything to the plate.)
Photo 8: Pevo
I guess we should also say something about Polish beer (pevo). Here are three bottles that have been residents of my refrigerator. Just so you know, I drink no more than one per night. Most so-called “beer” in the US – I will name no names, but all those that will be advertised during the Super Bowl – are to a real beer what a boxed cookie is to a cheesecake. I guess I am the one asking for mead in the one TV ad. Polish beer is quite good, and the better beers are outstanding.