Where have you been?

I posted the night photographs first because a bunch of candles in the day time are not that impressive/creepy/neat looking/whatever. As you can see they are just a bunch of plastic red cups with some candles in them.


I am the first to bitch about capitalist holidays. Christmas, Saint Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, the list goes on. If Hallmark or FTD Flowers were not able to peer pressure us into buying a bunch of kitsch stuff, how ever would they be multimillion dollar empires today? Anyway, one of the best things I have learned living abroad, besides that Europeans have high divorce rates too, is that they also have holidays based on money as well. As we can see in this picture there are plenty of street vendors willing to provide candles, flowers, and idols for your loved one's grave site.


This panoramic, taken just outside of the Powązki Cemetery, shows us a few interesting things. First, that the public transportation Authority had to break out the old school busses to accommodate the heavy flow of travelers on All Saint's Day. Second, we notice the Police car in the background. It looks to be an Opel combie (thats a Chevy station wagon for you Americans) but could also be a VW Passat combie as well. The point is that the Polish Police do not have any single car but rather at least one of every single car. I have seen new Volvos, Fords, Opels and VWs as well as older BMWs, Mercedes vans, and even an old Polonez. The Wikipedia link says that these cars were produced into 2002 but I find that hard to believe. Just look at them. Maybe, but the Police ones are definitely closer to the 1978 launch models.

And finally a few more pictures from Powązki Cemetery.