Poland Travel: Będzin Castle

Last weekend, we visited family in Tychy, Silesian Voivodeship. On Saturday, our son was feeling better, so we visited the Bison Reserve and Będzin Castle. We didn't go inside the castle to see the museum, only walked around the building. I didn't think there was much to see, as we have already visited a few castles before. I also wanted to see the Błędów Desert, but my husband thought there was nothing to see, so we went straight back to my aunt's place. The afternoon weather wasn't getting any better, and it started to snow later on. Their apartment is quite small, so it felt uncomfortable to stay inside for so long. On Sunday, we returned to my father's place. Once again, the road was nothing but a huge mess. I also checked out some other places to visit, but the ticket prices were really high. Sometimes it costs 150 NTD just for a parking place, and even more than that for tickets to some attractions. Traveling as a family in Poland seems to be quite expensive.

Będzin Castle

The Będzin Castle dates back to the 14th century and was preceded by a wooden fortification that was built in the 11th century. It played an important role as a fortification in the Kingdom of Poland and later in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth.

The village of Będzin originated in the 9th century, and the local wooden fort, which records show existed as early as the 11th century, was destroyed during the Tatar invasion in 1241 but was subsequently rebuilt.

The castle consists of two towers, a cylindrical one and a square one, with smaller buildings attached to them. It had three layers of walls and was connected to the city walls, parts of which have survived to this day.

During the reign of Casimir III the Great, the castle was upgraded from a wooden fortress to a stone one, and the stone fort became operational as early as 1348. The growing trading village of Bytom was granted Magdeburg Law city rights shortly thereafter, in 1358.

The castle served as a military outpost on the southwestern border of the Kingdom of Poland (later the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth). It was the westernmost fortification and was intended to defend against any invasion from Bohemian or Silesian lands into Lesser Poland. In 1364, the castle was visited by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. In 1588, Maximilian III, Archduke of Austria, was held prisoner here after his defeat in the War of the Polish Succession.

The castle fell into disrepair in the late 16th century. The fire of 1616 and damage during The Deluge in 1657 further contributed to its destruction. The fortress was periodically repaired, but due to changes in the borders and relations between Poland and its neighbors, it lost much of its importance. After the partitions of Poland, Będzin came under Prussian control, and the castle became the property of the Hohenzollern family. In 1807, the nearby lands were transferred to the Duchy of Warsaw, and in 1815, to Congress Poland. In 1825, the castle was in a state of disrepair, and when a piece of stone crushed a passerby, the demolition of the castle was ordered. However, before it could be started, the castle was declared a monument. In the 1830s, the castle was purchased by Count Edward Raczyński and partially rebuilt, with a Protestant church temporarily housed inside. After Raczyński's death in 1845, plans to open an academy or a hospital there were abandoned, and the castle once again fell into disrepair. It wasn't until the times of the People's Republic of Poland that the castle was rebuilt, and a museum was opened there from 1952 to 1956.

See also: Pszczyna Bison Reserve

 

Address:

Zamkowa 1, 42-500 Będzin, Poland 

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Poland Travel: Pszczyna Bison Reserve

The day before yesterday, we once again visited my aunt who lives nearby. This time, my cousin also came to see us. After returning home and having lunch, our son went to sleep. We thought he was just tired, but he woke up with a fever. We bought some medicine from the drugstore, which helped a little. We hope he will get well soon.

Later in the evening, my uncle (whom we saw just yesterday) came because he found out that he will be going to work in Germany this Sunday.

Yesterday morning, our son still had a fever, but we still wanted to visit another family that lives 300 km away. It was a little over a 4.5-hour drive, and nearly half of the way we could see road construction on both sides. There was only one accessible lane, and part of the highway was blocked due to six bridges being destroyed. Luckily, it was Friday morning, otherwise, there could have been heavy traffic on the weekend. Adrian slept most of the time, and his fever decreased. The weather wasn't good anymore, so we gave up on visiting any other places and instead stayed at the family's home. I wanted to visit Auschwitz, but it seemed more difficult. I checked the tickets a day earlier, and there was already nothing available in English. Additionally, it seems that visiting this place takes around six hours, which is too long with a kid and in this weather.

The whole afternoon, we only stayed at the family's home. The weather on Saturday was no better. Bored of staying home, we decided to go out and visited the Bison Reserve in Pszczyna.

The history of bisons in Pszczyna goes back to 1865. At that time, four bisons were transported to Silesia with a freight train from Bialowieza Forest as a gift from the Russian tsar to the prince of Pszczyna, John Henry IX Hochberg. Both of them were avid hunters, and for this purpose, they brought the bisons to Pszczyna. In return, the prince gifted a herd of 20 deer. By the beginning of the 20th century, the bison herd had grown to 74 individuals, and before World War II, the bisons from Pszczyna contributed to the restoration of the Bialowieza herd, which was almost extinct at that time. When the restoration efforts began in 1929, the herd in Pszczyna had only seven individuals left as the rest did not survive World War I and the Silesian Uprisings. In 1948, the Directorate of State Forests decided to establish a nature reserve of 700 hectares, where the bisons have been staying to the present day. Currently, there are 31 animals living in the reserve.

See also: Będzin Castle

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AMWF Couple: First days in Poland

It was the second time we brought our son Adrian to Poland, and the journey was very long, taking nearly 30 hours. We had our flight the day after the presidential election in Taiwan. In the morning, my husband felt sick and weak, so he bought some medicine before our travel. We finished packing and left home at 3 p.m. to go to the HSR (High-Speed Rail) station. 

Since we live in the north of Tainan, we had to go to Chiayi. We tried to book tickets in advance, but they were all sold out. We had no choice but to buy tickets there and wait. My husband thought it could take a very long time to wait, so instead of taking the train around 7-8 p.m., we arrived at 4 p.m. Fortunately, the first train after we arrived still had some available space, but we had to stand all the way. 

Due to my husband's illness, I was carrying our son, two luggages, and two backpacks. I had to stand for 1.5 hours from Chiayi to Taoyuan, which was really tiring, but we still had plenty of time before our flight. Taoyuan was much colder than Tainan. We left home wearing short sleeves and suddenly had to wear winter jackets there. 

We received a message that scared us, stating that our flight was delayed. My husband misunderstood and thought it was delayed from midnight to 6 a.m. the next day. Fortunately, it was only a 10-minute difference. After 9 hours since leaving home, we finally boarded our flight to Vienna. 

Our seats were somewhere in the middle, not in the front like last time. It was uncomfortable with a kid. Luckily, he slept for about 9 hours, but the remaining 4 hours were not very good. 

He doesn't like sitting for long, and there was no space for him to stand in front of the chair because the person in front always kept the chair reclined. I understand that people want to sit comfortably, but if someone behind you has a kid, maybe they should give us a little more space. 

Towards the end of the flight, he was crying a lot and pushing the chair to create some space. Finally, we arrived, but there was very little time between our flights. It was already 6:30 a.m. when we arrived in Austria, and we had only half an hour to rush through the airport to catch our plane to Poland. We waited onboard, and the plane was delayed for half an hour due to the cleaning of all the airplanes. It was our first time seeing airplanes being washed. 

After a little over 1 hour, we finally arrived in Poland. I could only contact my family from time to time using Wi-Fi, so at least they knew I was safe. We still had to wait 2 hours for our rental car, and the road to my hometown took 2 hours, so we finally arrived at 1 p.m. In total, it took 29 hours from leaving our home to arriving in my hometown. 

Before and during the flight, we didn't feel very excited about traveling, but after finally arriving, we all felt better. My father took the day off to welcome us home and cooked lunch. I haven't felt so happy eating food in a long time. I have already gotten used to Taiwanese food, but there are always some flavors I will miss. After lunch, we still had time to go to the cemetery. It's quite cold in Poland, with only 2 degrees Celsius. We planned to visit my aunt, who lives only half a kilometer away from my home, but the travel and jet lag made us feel exhausted. We tried to wait a little longer and went to sleep at 7 p.m.

    

   

The next day was better. Unlike last time, it was a sunny day with a blue sky. We took Adrian for a walk, and he could play with the dog, Futrzak. There is also a cat here, but he is so scared of us that we barely see him. Towards the end of the day, it got better, and I could even pet him, but he would still bite and scratch me. However, he is still afraid whenever he sees the kid screaming.

We also visited two aunts, and finally, I could have a lot of conversations. In so many months in Taiwan, I barely had someone to talk to, so finally, I felt really happy. The first aunt, Ewa, made us lunch, and we stayed there for half a day. There are plenty of toys left from my cousin's kids, which kept Adrian busy. Actually, no, he was more interested in my aunt's cookware than those toys. We also needed to go to town, which is only a 10-minute drive from their place. We left Adrian there, and to our surprise, he didn't even notice when we left. Later, we picked up my uncle from work. It was 4 p.m., and it was already getting dark, so we drove back home soon after.

Another aunt, Monika, gave our son a nice toy that can speak Polish to help him learn. One of my cousins stayed in his room and didn't want to come out to see us, while another cousin was back home with his girlfriend. He told me a lot of things that other family members had been hiding because they didn't want to make me feel bad.

On the third day, the weather was nice, so we went to visit another uncle. His place had changed a lot since the last time. Also, my grandfather's sister was there. I barely remembered her. I learned that she travels to Norway a lot because her daughter got married there. She is 90 years old but looks really well, and unlike other family members, she is not afraid to travel to other countries.

To my surprise, there are still some flowers blooming despite the cold weather. Actually, compared to the north of Taiwan, the weather here feels better. It's cold but not as windy. Although it's a huge difference compared to Tainan, where we currently live. We left for the airport wearing short sleeves, but in Taoyuan, it felt freezing, so we had to wear winter jackets.

Probably due to the time difference, our son often cries every day. We also have problems feeding him as most of the time he refuses to eat, except for candies, which I have to hide from him.

I feel like packing to go back home will be difficult. We have already accumulated so many clothes for the kids, and my family said to bring toys as well. I also want to buy some food that I cannot find in Taiwan. I don't like sending things by post because it takes 4 months to receive them all.

I hope the weather will remain good throughout our stay. There are still more places to visit and more family members to see.

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Taichung Travel: Rainbow Village

Before my husband's year-end party began, we made a quick stop at Rainbow Village. Earlier today, we also visited Sun Moon Lake. We only had a few minutes to walk around Rainbow Village, so I rushed to take some pictures.

Rainbow Village (彩虹眷村)

Mr. Huang Yongfu, affectionately known as Grandpa Rainbow, was born in Taishan County, Guangdong Province in 1924. His father, Mr. Huang Pingqi, held the position of village head and had a talent for writing and painting. Grandpa Huang was one of four brothers and two sisters. From a young age, he practiced martial arts and excelled in attacking the Seven Star Drums. He left home to join the anti-Japanese forces, including the 100,000 Youth and the 100,000 Troops. After the war, he moved to Hong Kong, but struggled to find satisfying work. He took odd jobs and later, with the civil war ensuing, he moved to Hainan Island to join the army once again. Eventually, he relocated from Hainan Island to Taiwan, settling in Pingtung County.

In Taiwan, Grandpa Huang served in the air force base and later participated in the 823 Artillery Battle, where he sustained an injury to his left shoulder. After being wounded, he was sent to Taichung for treatment and then stationed at the Pinglin Army Recruit Training Center, where he served as a squad leader and handled paperwork.

Upon retiring at the age of 55, Grandpa Huang worked as a guard in the Taichung Industrial Zone for many years. He later transferred to Taichung Lingdong University of Science and Technology, where he continued to work as a guard. During this time, whether at the factory or the school, he faithfully fulfilled his duties and responsibilities.

Around 30 years ago, Grandpa Huang, sponsored by his younger brother Huang Konghui, used his own savings to purchase a house in what is now known as Rainbow Village.

In 2010, Grandpa Huang learned that his village was slated for demolition. Feeling unburdened by worry, he spontaneously picked up his brush and started painting on the walls and ground. Soon, professors and students from Lingdong University of Science and Technology discovered that Grandpa's paintings were childlike, clever, cute, and playful. The expressions and eyes in his artwork brought joy to people's hearts. Some even compared him to Hayao Miyazaki, the famous Japanese manga artist, and believed that Grandpa's paintings had healing properties that could make people happy and bring comfort. His use of brilliant colors showcased his natural talent as a painter.

Over the past three years, more than 20 television stations from Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Japan, and mainland China have interviewed and reported on Grandpa Huang, creating albums and documentaries about Rainbow Village. The Qianlong Special Exhibition at the Palace Museum also recognized Grandpa Huang as the number one figure in Taiwan. Today, Grandpa Huang is a well-known amateur painter, and a renowned French amateur art website dedicated 12 sections to introduce Rainbow Village and Grandpa Rainbow last year.

See also: Tai'an Cherry Blossom

Address:

408台中市南屯區春安路56巷25號彩虹眷村

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Nantou Travel: Sun Moon Lake - Ita Thao

We visited Sun Moon Lake once again, this time during the winter season in the middle of January, just before going to Poland. My husband had to attend a company event there, and since there was also a Year End Party in Taichung that evening, our son and I went along with him. I didn't really have to be there, but I felt it would be too difficult for me to travel from Shanhua (Tainan) to Taichung all by myself. The activity planned for them was biking around the lake, but it was challenging with a child. So in the end, we rented a scooter and followed them around. Spring season was starting to show, with some cherry trees and trumpet trees in bloom. We also had the opportunity to see some bald cypress trees.

Along the way, we passed by Ita Thao village and stopped to find some millet wine, which my husband wanted to bring to Poland. After trying the wine, I found the taste to be really unpleasant. It tasted like vinegar to me. However, the millet wine popsicles were much better. They had a nice balance of sweet and sour flavors. We also tried some aboriginal dishes, although I'm not sure of their names. One of them was sticky rice in tubes, which I had tried before and wasn't a fan of.

I also got a chance to ride a bike for several kilometers, as one of my husband's coworkers was experiencing some pain. It was quite fun, but I didn't want to ride for another 15 km to the end, so we decided to tow him with the scooter. It was a crazy idea, but luckily we arrived safely at the Shuishe Visitor Center. My husband wasn't the only one who didn't join the bike ride; some people definitely don't enjoy that kind of activity.

The Year End Party was nice as well, although my friend wasn't able to attend. She didn't even know about the event because her husband was working that day. It seems not everyone was able to leave their jobs on time to join. It's a pity because we don't have many opportunities to meet up.

See also: Sun Moon Lake

Sun Moon Lake (日月潭) 

Sun Moon Lake is located in the mountains of Yuchi Township, Nantou County. It's the second largest lake in Taiwan and the largest semi-natural lake and power generation reservoir. The lake covers an area of 17 km2 and has a maximum depth of 30 meters and a maximum width of 4 kilometers.

The name "Sun Moon Lake" was first mentioned in 1821 in the "Haihai Diary" by Cao Shigui. In English literature, it was commonly referred to as "Lake Candidius." The name was officially given in 1873 by missionaries who came to teach the Thao people in the Sun Moon Lake area. Sun Moon Lake is one of the eight scenic spots in Taiwan, designated in 1970, and the Sun Moon Lake National Scenic Area was established in 2010.

The lake holds significant cultural and historical importance for the indigenous people of Taiwan. In the middle of the lake, there is a small island called Lalu, which served as an ancient settlement of the Thao tribe. The island was previously known as "Guanghua Island." In 1978, a Matchmaker Pavilion was built on the island, where visitors would come to worship the Matchmaker God and seek blessings for their marriages. According to legend, the Thao ancestors discovered the lake while chasing a rare white deer. The beauty and abundance of fish in the lake prompted the Thao people to resettle in the area. On Lalu Island, there is also a marble statue of the white deer.

Another tourist village you can visit is Ita Thao, located on the southeast shore of Sun Moon Lake. It is the end point of the Sun Moon Lake Mass Swim event. In Ita Thao, you'll find numerous food stalls and a night market. Some popular aboriginal dishes here include boar meat (山豬肉), sticky rice in bamboo tubes (竹筒飯), and millet wine (小米酒).

Address:

555南投縣魚池鄉文化街127號2樓伊達邵遊客中心

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