Throughout Poland
.. Pope John Paul II ..
is seen in a variety of ways and places
.. Pope John Paul II ..
is seen in a variety of ways and places
His early years as
.. "Karol Wojtyla" ..
seemed to be very active and purpose - driven
His way with WORDS and suble MANNER of speaking
were GIFTS that not only served
Poland
but ultimately served
Europe
and
Mankind
Rather than summarizing
we'll let the
.. Poles tell the story ..
the way they see him
. . . the "REST of the STORY" . . . ( as Paul Harvey used to say )
We hunt down THIS 'Street' & THIS 'Window' - Aha! There it is!
THE WINDOW . . where this Kraków - born Home - Town Boy lived
while serving the Parish across the street.
He would spend hours talking to people . . from this window
about the . Church . Politics . Sports . Events in town
or . News around the World
He loved it . . and . . so did the crowd
Even after moving to Rome . .
he kept this apartment and . . stayed here when he returned to Poland for visits
Days before he died ( April 2005 ) in Rome
( absent from this window ) . . people gathered . .
This street in front was filled with Poles awaiting news
. . remembering the days
they loved talking with him here . . .
When news came about his passing .. the wave of grief not only filled this street
but for weeks the whole country went into mourning
cancelling concerts and musicals performances of all kinds
Out of 265 Popes . . only 2 have been given the title " GREAT "
Within 6 years . . he was 'Beatified' . . in Rome
Whether or not he becomes 'Sainted' .. most Poles already consider him Great !!
Standing in the Parish doorway .. looking toward the famous window . . .
Inside the church he served . . almost pitch dark . .
( today's cameras work . . miracles ) !
Sets of 5 short rows of pews are down both sides of the center aisle.
Folding chairs are set up when more seating is needed.
We notice many churches in Poland have dedicated a Chapel
named in . . his . . honor
A street scene . . ( between ) . . his Apartment and the main . . Kraków Square
We should mention that even Russian 'Gorbachev' gives this Pope
a lot of credit for the . . Fall of . . Communism
_____
And just to prove that there are some silly moments . .
We're at the bottom of the hill . . below the . . Wawel ("vavel") Castle
Is this "TIN MAN" a Tatar .. or a Teutonic ???
____
In addition to the famous
.. POPE John Paul II ( Kraków ) and LECH WELENSA ( Gdansk )
.. Notice .. the names of other well known .. POLES
( Catholic or Jew )
Stefanie Powers
Larry King
Paul Newman (father 1/2)
Arthur Rubenstein
Warner Brothers
Fryderyk Chopin (died at age 39)
Aaron Spelling
Billy Wilder
Copernicus
Loretta Switt (Mash)
Max Factor
Arthur Miller
Peter Falk
Roman Polanski
Bobby Dylan
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We're glad we came to Poland
POLES 'matter' !
____
There's so much more to see . do . think about . share
However
Rusty and Wrinkles are heading south into .. Hungary
BUDAPEST . . next
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