Report from Poland

Recently, I was fortunate enough to have a very 19th century experience, that is, a long train journey. How civilized to sit in a dining car with the lovely German and Polish countryside flying by as one slices into a fine steak or sips the excellent Polish Wyziec brew. A lot better than going through security at DIA, I'll tell you that!

My first stop was Frankfurt am Main to see Erik Liesenberg (CRS '84) and his lovely wife Esther and 1-year old boy Fritzie. Then on to Warsaw where I met up with dozens of Camp Rising Sun alumni of all ages. The majority of the reunioners were female this time, a first I think for a major CRS reunion, and an artifact of the Stendis camp being girls-only. Martin Rybczynski was there from Colorado, and also the Engbers from New York, McKinney Russell from DC and many more.

After the weekend was over, I stayed in Warsaw for 2 additional days to take in the sights and history together with Mike and Margie Engber - Old Town, Saxon Gardens (a trivial pursuit question, one I got wrong if I recall), the Ghetto and Umschlagsplatz, the Jewish Cemetery, and various castles. Overall I was very impressed with Warsaw as a leading European capital to be compared with Prague, Amsterdam or Copenhagen: great food, culture, architecture (that's right, it's not all Communist!) and bustling city life. I would happily go back again!

To catch you up on the Novel, I spent much of my 30 hours on the train editing, and I now have 21 chapters edited (of 50 or so). Ideally, I will have a completely edited draft of the whole thing by October.