Poland is the hidden gem of Europe, a beautiful country filled with stately castles, quaint towns, majestic churches, and open, rolling fields of wheat in the countryside.  I hope my webpage will encourage you to travel to Poland. It's a beautiful place.

Hi! In July, 2000, I took an excellent course sponsored by the University of New Hampshire, Interhostel, and the Catholic University of Lublin (Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski). The course title was "Poland: Over 1000 Years of History". It was an outstanding course and a great experience. The photos shown on this website were taken during my trip. We traveled to Lublin, Kraków, Warsaw, and many other cities (as you'll see below). If you are interested in visiting Poland, I would strongly recommend this course or any other course sponsored by Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubleski. I hope you enjoy my website.

Catholic University of Lublin has an interesting history. If you would like to read about the history of Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski or learn about the university's popular Polish language courses, please click on this button

Photos of Places to Visit in Poland

Click here to view a map of Poland

Photos in Lublin

Lublin is a charming city with many historic sites.  Here's the city square in Lublin.

Our group in Lublin

Our group with the Rector of the Catholic University of Lublin who was an assistant to Pope John Paul II when he was at the school. On the left side is Anna, our tour director.

Exterior of Lublin Castle Chapel; the murals inside are stunning.

Two views of Lublin Castle

The interior of Lublin Cathedral where Pope John Paul II served 6:00 am weekday Mass when he was a professor at Catholic University.

The exterior of Lublin Cathedral

Windmill  at  the museum

The "Museum of the Lublin Village" depicts life in rural Poland  in the 16th and 17th centuries. Here's a farm house at the museum.

"Kraków Gate" in downtown Lublin (built in the 13th century and part of the original Lublin city wall and so named because it led to the 13th century trade route  to Krakow)

The Governor of Lublin welcomes our group

Photos in Nałęczow and Kazimierz Dolny

Health spa at Nałęczow; also a source of the top brand of bottled mineral water

Kazimierz Dolny is a quaint and charming town. In the 14th century, it was wealthy merchant city on the Vistula River trade route. Here's a photo of the castle ruins and the Vistula River from the castle tower.

Here's the  town center

Basia & Pawel, our guides

Another view

The castle as seen from the town

Just outside of Kazimierz Dolny, there's a Holocaust memorial made from broken pieces of headstones of Jewish graves that were destroyed by the Nazis during World War II .

Behind the Holocaust memorial are the few headstones from the Jewish cemetery that remain.

Photos in Kozlowka and Sandomierz

Kozlowska is a museum that provides insights as to the manner in which the Polish nobility lived

View of garden

View of garden in rear of palace

Another view of the palace

View from inside

Castle in Sandomierz

Town center of Sandomierz, a wealthy 14th century trade route city

Sandomierz city gate

Photos in Kraków

Kraków is one of the most beautiful cities we saw in Poland.  Within the Krakow city limits, there are over 50 churches. Here's a photo of the most beautiful church in Krakow, the majestic St. Mary's Cathedral.

The covered alter and ceiling inside St. Mary's Cathedral

Here's the cathedral at Wawel Castle

Oldest Jewish cemetery in Kraków; many others were destroyed by the Nazis

Stained glass at the cathedral

Here's one of the oldest synagogues in Kraków; it's now a museum

A note about some photos not shown

Here's the courtyard at prestigious Jagiellonian University where the astronomer Copernicus studied.

We toured a slag recycling plant; it illustrated Poland's economic journey since the fall of Communism.

Photos in Zakopane

Zakopane is a very festive mountain town. Here's the tram to ascend up the mountain.

The tram at the top

Here's the trail on the mountain; the border between Poland and Slovokia cuts through the trail

Another view from the top

A mountain top view

And another mountain top view

Photos in Częstochowa

Częstochowa: interior view

Częstochowa is home of the "Black Madonna" and is considered the spiritual home of Polish Catholics.  Every  August 15th, up to 250,000 Poles gather for Mass in Częstochowa for the Assumption Day holiday. Most them reach Czestochowa by foot, walking in pilgrimages from towns and cities across Poland.

The devotion of the faithful in Częstochowa is very moving; here's a group of pilgrims in the interior courtyard on their way to the Black Madonna

View of a garden

Photos in Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital of Poland.  Here's the Presidential Palace.

Here's a street scene in Warsaw

Frederic Chopin is perhaps the finest composer in Polish history. Here's the Chopin Monument.

The Nazis destroyed much of Warsaw during World War II. The city's reconstruction after the war was amazing. This is one of the oldest structures in Warsaw, part of a 14th century church.

Here's the palace of Jan III Sobieski, one of Poland's national heroes

Another view of the palace

We toured Wieliczka Salt Mine Museum; here's the huge cathedral carved in the mine, 300 feet beneath the surface

Here's a statute of Pope John Paul II carved from salt

The salt mine band

And finally, here are some random photos from the trip. Thanks for visiting!

Wheat fields everywhere

On the road

A quiet Sunday morning in Sandomierz

Outskirts of Krakow

On the road again

Warsaw street scene

American tourist

Kwiaty

Beautiful Poland....piękny widok!

Palace in Warsaw

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