Melancholic trips with fado

Sunday trips may not exist without music. Two weeks ago I had happines to listen to on the radio an interesting interview with Portuguese fado singer – Mariza and admire and even touch melancholic winter landscapes, which harmonized so perfectly with her full of postive nostalgy fado songs flowing from the car speakers.

Mariza talked about her love of journeys and Portuguese melancholy. Almost whole my life I had an intuition that expereicne of melancholy is common for us all, wherever we live, and it only may be different in its tones, but never in essence. My intuition got true when I heard that Portugese fado, from far western Europe almost on the eastern outskirts of the continent.

Winter journey, eastern melancholy and fado

40 kilometres and 30 minutes drive from the busy downtown, road across the boreal forest of majestic, soaring pines and firs, all covered with thick layer of snow. I can’t imagine a week without a trip to this primeval forest. It is one of these places, where you are not able to believe that God does not exist. Silence, mystery, beauty and emotion, intuition that He is.

But the outskirts of the forest are not less mysterious and beautiful. When you add to all of these melancholic fado flowing slowly from the car speakers and interviewd fado singer Mariza talking about her love of journeys and Portuguese melancholy, it gets just real wonder!

to be continued…

Old necropolis

Since the second half of the 18th century Bialystok (at present in northeastern Poland, then Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) got a multicultural town inhabited by Poles, Jews, Russians, Belarusians, Tatars and Germans as well. First Germans appeared here as officials of Prussian Government. As a result of Poland’s partitions (after the third partition which was held in 1795) Bialystok was taken over by Prussia. In the first half of the 19th century Germans appeared here in most cases as owners and highly qualified workers of textile factories. It was the time Bialystok when was even called – “Manchester of the North”.

German culture was thriving. As a natural consequence of that settlement evangelical church and cemetery were established. The pictures which are published below depict German cemetery which was set up in the second half of the 19th century in ditrict town called “Wygoda”.

After the Second World War, during the communist regime, on the part of the cemetary were built block of flats and was created park.

Mausoleum and quarter of German soldiers who fell during the First World War.

Some Germans living in Bialystok became assimilated into Polish culture, mainly in the interwar period. German traces still exist in the form of surnames of Bialystok’s inhabitants. On the part of the left former evangelical cemetary was created lapidarium. Unfortunately, the huge part of necropoly was destroyed irreversibly, as I mentioned above, during the communist times.

Colours of the autumn, Lura, Kapuscinski and melancholic journey

Gentle, melancholic music flowing from the car’s speakers, it is Lura, straight from Portugal and Cape Verde at the same time. It is thousands miles away, but I feel as if this music were rooted here, in all these landscapes, I am passing by. It harmonizes so perfectly with all melancholy hidden in all these hills, groves, forests, fields and villages.

About 10 years ago I read “Heban” by Ryszard Kapuscinski. He wrote about his journeys to Africa, and I remembered perfectly one of the stories from this book, when author met on the bus an African, young male, silent and shy person. They started speaking, and that guy told Kapuscinski story of his melancholy, maybe even light depression. And his descrpition was done in such common, universal language (in sense of the meaning), that we at once realize – in the same way we could describe our emotional states, our existential experience, in Europe, in United States, and probably everywhere in the world. It was the langauage of our common fate, of our common human experience. One of the most beautiful messages of that fragment is that in our deepest emotions, thoughts, psychic states and our fate we are the same, and there are always things, which unite and bind us.

The same thing I felt while driving the car, contemplating all these melancholic landscapes and listening Lura’s music.

Autumn memories – melancholic countryside – part 2

Lightly hilly landscapes, all colours of the autumn – red, yellow, brown, orange and still green forests, grasses and picturesque groves; small villages lost between delicate hills; medieval hill forts, in 11th – 13th centuries, belonging to Ruthenians, some of them from 14th century were established by Lithuanians; many of the Ruthenian hill forts got conquered and burnt probably by Yotvingians – last Indians of Europe – as called them Polish Noble Prize Winner Czeslaw Milosz – the mysterious tribe of Baltic origin, totally destroyed by Teutonic Knights. Tiny and cozy wooden houses with their gable roofs and open to guests – porches, wooden crosses by the side of the roads. And all of these in the mystic rays of the setting autumn sun. Dostoevsky used to say: “Beauty will save the world”, and he was right!

Autumn memories – melancholic countryside

Even a walk to the shop may be a journey, spiritual journey of course.

One Saturday autumn afternoon, we set out to the countryside, north of Bialystok. It is only 30 minutes’ drive from the downtown, and we set off to to see all these melancholic, beautiful landscapes – gentle, small green hills; yellow, green, red and brown pine, fir, birch and larch groves; cozy and picturesque villages with their tiny wooden houses, and gentle autumn sun.

I hope you will forgive me this truism, but in such beauty one gets sure that God exists. In every kind of beauty.

Winter boreal forest

About one week ago, in Knyszynska Forest, boreal forest in the north eastern Poland.

Unfortunately, I was not lucky enough to take the picture of the small doe, staring at me with interest. It was waiting, standing on the road as enchanted, but I could not take my camera out of the case, as my fingers were stiffen, and when at last I managed to do it, it just ran to the the forest and disappeared between pines and firs…

Late autumn forest

Boreal forest, almost 20 kilometres north of quite big town (300.000 inhabitants) – Knyszynska Forest, not more than 30 minutes drive from the downtown, taking into account staying in traffic jams. Mystic, majestic and mysterious primeval forest. 

I leave my car on the sandy road and walk it down. That road is straight as an arrow, on the both sides of it – slender, soaring pines and firs, only sometimes I may notice maples, ashes, elms, sycamores or birches. Traces of the does, elks, deers, wild boars on the sand. Sometimes it is possible to hear the tramp of the fleeing unnoticeable animals.

And I am recalling the story read in a local magazine about a woodsman, who found somewhere here part of the sword’s edge lost in the Middle Ages…

Knyszynska forest – Puszcza Knyszynska

Only 15 kilometres north of  quite big town (almost 300.000 inhabitants), no more than 20 minutes drive from downtown. I remember times, when it was possible to reach this place by bike. Now it is task only for stronlgy determined people, who do not mind taking real risk. The road was planned as a Via Baltica connecting southern and northern Europe. In fact, plan has not been realized, but it is used by countless TIRs going to Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia.

Even though, the forest is one of the most mysterious, mystic and beautiful places, whiche I have ever seen in my life.  Lavishly green even in November (these pictures were taken on 11th November), fabulous as if from The Chronicles of Narnia, ideal to contemplation, full of magic and inner hidden life. When I was approaching a pasture, heard the tramp of fleeing animals, probably herd of does, maybe even deer.

Soaring, slender and majestic pines and firs, lavishly green and soft as a pillow moss, delicately shrouded in the mist, create unique atmosphere of this place. There are no villages in the vicinity, not to mention towns. Only blissful quiet and peace…

Next time we will go in the search of human traces in this forest, especially in its rich history…

To be continued…

Vilnius – my spiritual capital city

It is said that everyone should have his/her spiritual capital city. For me – apart from Budapest – it is Vilnius, Lithuanian capital city. Really European, beautiful, picturesque and phenomenal city.

3,5 – 4 hours drive from Bialystok. Across mysteious forests, picturesque fields and meadows, 140 kilometres across Poland, later on Lazdiai, Alytus and Vilnius. You can get on the car on Friaday eveninig, after work and in the evening, at 9 p.m. walk down the Vilnius streets.

City that gives me strength, energy, hope and dispell all sorrows, inspiring place, where you can hear people speaking in Lithuanian, Russian, Belarussian, Polsih, English. I do not mean tourists, but inhabitants of Vilnius. I still remember two charming girls met in restaurant speaking to each other in Belarussian, but talking to waitress in Lithuanian. I still remember all those smooth flows when I spoke to my friends in Polish, and after a while in Russian or English to young waitress. All those different languages, diifferent nations, religions, cultures account for uniqueness of the city. Undoubtedly it is a Lithuanian city, capital city of independent Lithuania, where there are visible traces of Polish, Lithuanian, Italian, Belarussian and Russian cultures. Catholic baroque enormous churches, impressing Orthodox churches, former Jewish district, monument of Gaon of Vilnius – Jewish intelectualist, adversary of chasidism; classical cathedral, Karaims’ temple (kienesa), Gediminas tower…

There are only 180 km to Warsaw, capital city of my country, but it is alwas traumatic for me to travel to this bleak city, popular Cracow is too stuffy and conceited for me. I would even risk the statement that in Poland we do not have a really European city not in the sense of architecture but also in the sense of amosphere created by people, so I am glad that Vilnius is only 300 kilometres form my native town – Bialystok. If it was possible to travel acroos Belarussia it would be only 260 kilometres. I hope one day Belarussia will become democratic country, join EU and there will be no need to posses visa to reach it and go further, for example to Vilnius.

The space, landscape, architecture, atmosphere of Vilnius give me a deep sense of freedom and happiness. It proves that architecture of the city, its inhabitants may be inspiring and hearteaning. Visit to Vilnius pose almost mystical experience.

I was suprised with its harmonic combinationf of modern architecture of Šnipiškės district and baroque, renaissance, classical architecture of the old town on the opposite bank of Neris river.

I also found my private, personal places, where it is impossible not to believe in God – Saint Nicholas gothic church, Divine Mercy Sanctuary with its deeply contemplative atmosphere.

I remember kind people, smiling charming girls with gentle features, only positive things and experiences. For the 2 last months I have visited Vilnius 3 times. There is a great possibility that my impressions are not full, that they are just impressions, illusions. But I am going to go there regualrly and explore this one of the most beautiful and original cities in the world. I am going to discover its postive and negative sides.

My pictures of Vilnius I placed here:

http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=1426391925#/album.php?aid=2004750&id=1426391925

http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=1426391925#/album.php?aid=2004289&id=1426391925

Here You can also find pictures of Vilnius churches:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Churches_in_Vilnius_in_alphabetical_order