Laurel Elisabeth Stevens

Warsaw is a beautiful city.  I must say, though, it took me a few days to appreciate it.  Sunshine helps too.  I've learned that big cities scare me for a few days and then I start liking them.  So here are a few shots from our wanderings around the town on Saturday.  Weather being unpredictable, I carried around an umbrella and raincoats all day yesterday, under a bright blue sky.  Today, Sunday, dawned sunny and bright as well, so I pulled all the rain gear out of my backpack.  Thus, after church, the rain poured down.  After a wonderful lunch at Kino Kultura, we took a taxi back home. The gardens atop the University Library--we're walking all over the roof! Climbing up the roof A rare close up A view from the Palace of Culture and Science--Warsaw's old town is the area of red roofs. Here Dad is showing Henry models of Polish army tanks, howitzers, etc. etc.  Dad did not mince words and explained that these things kill p...

In Germany we have visited a number of German speaking churches--Lutheran, Reformed and Evangelical Free, but today in Warsaw I went with my parents to what they already, after one month of being here, refer to as "our church."  It is the Church of England in Poland, meeting in a Catholic chapel called Res Sacra Miser,  pictured here . There were certainly a lot of things for the kids to look at, a big change for these Protestant kiddoes.  Elisabeth sat on the pew with my parents and the three of them filled it up, so Henry and I sat behind them. The liturgy was printed on 2 sets of paper and it was a bit tricky to follow along, but it was so good and so needful to hear the word of God.  In my own language.  I don't think I realized until I looked at the liturgy, how hard it has been to not be at an English speaking church.  In truth I was refreshed. We read together the Nicene Creed, which is more in depth than the Apostles Creed, which even in most Pre...

At a playground a couple of days ago in Warsaw, near the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Henry was playing on a merry go round with a little Polish boy.  Instinctively Henry began speaking German to him.  It rolls off his tongue so easily . . ."Das geht so schnell!"  "It goes so fast."  Other times I hear him telling me things in German just as if he were speaking English.  I'm glad at least one of us keeping up his German while we are away.  On the train from Berlin to Warsaw we were in a compartment with a Polish woman who spoke Polish and German, so Henry had a very easy time conversing with her and showing her his cookies, his coloring book etc.  She was charmed. Waiting for a bus in the rain The kids and I are in Warsaw visiting my parents for a week.  John is in Germany flitting about between cities that begin with D.  Every time I talk to him I assume he is in a different time zone, but no, he's only 8 hours away, by train. Vie...