THE THREE PILLARS OF POLAND

Poland is a land dear to my heart. It is a beautiful country with a history as complex as it's people.

While spending a month there, I shot this footage. The narrative wasn't clear to me at first but as I filmed and visited everywhere from the capital in Warsaw, to their most sacred churches, and deep into the beautiful natural wilderness, an idea came to me.

I call it The Three Pillars of Poland. It's what I consider to be the three most powerful forces in this beautiful land: Religion, Nature and Politics.

Religion is a dominating force in Poland. Over 92% of the population is Catholic. It undoubtably plays a major role not only in the personal lives of most Poles, but the politics as well. Jasna Gora is one of their most famous churches. It houses the famous Black Madonna painting and was the breaking point of the Swedish invasion in 1655. Every year millions of people make a pilgrimage to the church walking hundreds of miles from all Poland.

The natural beauty of Poland in my opinion surpasses that of any other European country I've visited. From the mountains of Zakopane to the thousands of lakes in Mazury, all the way to the Polish sea, Poland has some of the largest and most pristine national parks in all of Europe.

Although beautiful in so many ways, Poland does have it's issues. Sadly, the country struggles with it's move into the 21st century regarding human rights. Poland could be compared to Russia, Iran and other extremely oppressive states when it comes to LGBT and racial rights. Fortunately it isn't illegal to be gay or of another race but there are politicians in power that would like to see it that way.

I had the honor of participating in the Warsaw Pride Parade and it was overwhelming to see so many people out in support of equality. Despite a record turn out, Poland has a long way to go before it's LGBT community will be given the respect it deserves. And tragically like the rest of Europe, there seems to be a growing movement towards radical conservatism not just from older generations, but young Polish as well.

Despite these issues, Poland remains one of my favorite countries and I have high hopes for it's future. I think through continued education and peaceful protest by it's progressive citizens, they will reach a place of equality and prosperity for all.

MUSIC CREDITS:
Gouttes - Hicham Chahidi
An Inch Away From The Window - Celadon City
Yann Tiersen - La Boulange

3 DAY HIKE IN BESKID ŻYWIECKI

Beskid Zywiecki is only 2 hours away from my parents home in Czestochowa, Poland. Although, I used to live close to the mountains I only did day hikes in the past. The idea of trekking with a heavy backpack and sleeping in a mountain lodge sounded miserable to me. However, I like challenges and I always want to try something new so when my friend asked if we could maybe do some hiking I said ”this sounds crazy and fun. Lets do this!”

We got to Zburzyca Gorna town on Thursday night. The 4 of us got one room at Pensjonat “ Za Borem” (http://www.zaborem.pl). We each paid 50zl, good deal ($13 USD per night). After few shots of vodka and hours of giggling like kids we finally fell asleep.

Day 01

Friday morning, we started the day with a hardy breakfast at the same place where we spent the night. Our host, Pani Janina,  prepared breakfast for us: scrambled eggs, cheese, deli meats, veggies, tea and coffee for only 20zl (about $5USD/per person). The day started sunny but a bit windy, which can mean bad weather in the mountains and dangerous hiking conditions.  Regardless we drove to Krowiarki, the start of the trail.

The agenda was to hike 10.9 km to our first destination the mountain lodge at Hala Krupowa ( Schronisko PTTK na Hali Krupowej). I admit that the first 30 min of the hike were hard. My Backpack ( Osprey Farpoint 55L ) was filled with food, water, some clothes, electronics and it was quite heavy. The scenery was beautiful and the laughs made me forget about the pain.

The weather continued to be perfect and by 4 pm we reached our destination, the mountain lodge "Schronisko na hali Krupowej". The lodge was an old, charming wooden house surrounded by forest and green meadows covered with wild flowers. It was quiet and peaceful. After eating a meal, prepared by the local mountain ladies "goralki", we took a nap outside on the wooden benches. 

We spent the rest of the evening sitting in the meadows and enjoyed the beautiful view. We also met some other hikers at the lodge and we shared some stories and vodka.

Day 02

Waking up in the mountains is the best. You naturally wake up early and refreshed. There is this amazing connection to nature and even though your feet might still feel tired from the day before your mind tells you to get up to conquer another summit.

The second day we planned to hike to our next lodge "Schronisko Markowe Szczawiny". We changed our original trail a bit and we ended up hiking to "Masorny Gron" ( about 6.5 km ) and then we hiked down the ski slope to a near by town. We had to find a way to get to "Krowiarki" trail again and unfortunately there were no buses running that day. We were already a bit tired and didn't want to add any more kilometers so we decided to hitchhike. Luckily for us the first car that we tried to stop picked us up. We hiked another 6 km on an easy blue trail to the next lodge. 

Day 03

This was our last hiking day. We left our backpacks at the lodge and we headed up a yellow trail (second hardest) to Babia Gora. The hike was definitely the hardest that we did during our trip. We had to claim up some chains and the trail was really steep, especially towards the summit. However, there were many kids and people of all ages at the summit and as long as you are careful and bring enough water, anybody can do this hike. The views at Babia Gora are spectacular and the hike was totally worth it! One more thing. Don't ever ignore the weather in the mountains, especially when going to Babia Gora. The weather changes really fast and this mountain is known for strong winds and scary thunderstorms. There is nowhere to hide at the top of the mountain and many people have been  struck by lightning and died. So be careful out there!