First off was a visit to the provincial capital city of Lublin. Great old city with the European classic, cobbled, narrow roads. We checked out some 600 year old church and walked through the marketplace for an hour. A nice, short stint, and close to our main destination.
Finally, next on our sight-seeing tour was Majdek, a concentration camp from WW II. I was very eager to see it, though understandably reluctant. We all walked quietly through barracks, crematorium, gas chambers and grounds we'd seen before in movies. One of the more sobering displays was a barracks filled with tens of thousands of shoes on display from all the inmates.
It was so different when you are actually standing in the same place where tens of thousands of interned prisoners were killed. Talking to the athletes and coaches we all seemed to share the same sick feeling in our stomachs, even more than sadness. Over 60,000 Jews were exterminated here, many elderly and numbers of children murdered weren't even recorded. Not the funnest trip but sometimes I think it's good to get out of Orillia, and see the real world. The kids were all very mature about it, and the trip ended with a view of a cremation pit, full of bones and ashes of over 80,000 victims.
Off to an authentic Polish luncheon of schnitzel, potatoes and various slaws. Yummy!
We raced home to get back for our first mat session. It was well-run by coaches Sebastian and Damian, two young and former national champions. We had a great warmup, that was virtually identical to any you'd see in Canada. We reviewed approximately 4 techniques the kids were familiar with, plus a few tiny variations. We mixed the partners as much up as we could, and our athletes were on par with or superior to the Polish. They had a few tiny girls who were extremely talented, but just didn't have the size to match up with Katy or Chris. Our kids who didn't have a Pole to train with, were happy to challenge one of the Polish coaches and receive an appropriate beating. A great quick hour session with a bit of vball with our Polish hosts afterwards. You'll notice Katy Waite and Robyn Lee representing Canada in the pushup department.
The good news was how great all our kids looked. I wouldn't say it's bad news, but more TBA, that the superior Polish athletes are split between camps from the European cadet championships, or are already at the camp in Zakopane. Well we'll be joining them tomorrow and see what happens there.
(Sarah and Molly)
I'm looking forward to our new wrestling venue as pictures of it look gorgeous! Our hosts are beyond kind, and are treating us like royalty. Hope to find some wireless soon to post this for you all! And I'm out for today, straight from Krasnik, Poland!
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