My View, the Cemetery and the Lublin Castle

 Pictured right and below are the views from the balcony in my room.  What floor am I on you ask, well that's a good question.  It depends.

I would say I am on the 3rd floor, however in Poland the ground floor is 0, and what the US refers to 2nd floor is actually 1st floor in Poland.  So if I were in the US I would be on the 3rd floor, however in Poland I am on the 2nd floor.  Regardless of the floor, its a great view!




Sunday morning, though I am not Catholic, I attended church at St John the Baptist Catholic Church with one of my IBM teammates, Angela.  The service of course was all in Polish, but I was able to follow along in the English version of the service with some help from my guide.

 The images of the church exterior above and interior to the right are compliments of the internet.  Unfortunately the pictures do not capture the magnificence.

Lunch was at a buffet style restaurant.  I ordered the chicken and chicken liver with potatoes (two wallops) spinach and tomato soup. Very good.
And I can see after just 2 days I will need to continue to document all the good  food I am eating so I have plenty of evidence why I am 20 lbs heavier when I return home.

After lunch we headed out for a much needed walk.  We headed toward a large cemetery not far from our hotel. 

We came upon these large tombstones and large helmet looking monument below.  The tombstones were surprisingly bare compared to the smattering of flowers and candles on nearly every other tombstone in the cemetery. 

Upon closer look these were the tombstones of Russian soldiers who fought in World War II.

Then it was on to the Old City and to see the castle.  I will not leave you waiting, the picture below is the spectacular view from the top of the 3 story Romanesque donjon.

 The original castle was built out of wood in the 12th century.  In around the 14th century the brick donjon was constructed.  In the 1820s the front of the castle was constructed in a Neo -Gothic style and the castle was turned into a prison for the next 128 years.  During World War II a Nazi prison was located at the Castle.

View of the donjon from the castle courtyard

The steps leading to the top of the Tower

Hey Will, some of the rooms in the Tower reminded me of some of the rooms I have seen you explore in Minecraft.

Spectactular 360 degree views from the top of the Tower