Leaving Krakow, Poland

   Sunday night, and I'm out tomorrow morning for Tel Aviv.  Tonight, I went with the Mencels and Beata's mom and dad to a salt mine to hear Joachim and Brad play a concert, 450 feet down into the former mine.  A large space has been converted into a concert hall.  There is also a hotel and a larger space for grander events in the mine.  Joachim and Brad played a great concert, starting the second half by calling five people from the audience - four of them kids - each to play a note on the piano, and then the duet fashioned a tune out of the five notes.  Remarkable and swinging it was and the audience loved it.

Terrific Ukrainian Musician

Mencel family

   Yesterday we went into the central square in Krakow, one of the largest in Europe at 200 meters by 200 meters, a huge space.  A crowd in a circle was watching four guys hip hopping and breakdancing, or is the latter a part of the former.  This old guy is not with it enough enough to know, but they were good, spinning on their heads, shoulders, on one hand.  Remarkable stuff.  I didn't get a picture of them but I did get some of other scenes in the square, full of costumes and music and families.

Robert

   I saw Robert, an old friend who worked three summers at The Theater Project in our teen camp, bringing two Polish boys with him the last two years, Pawel and Gzegorze, whose name I have never learned to spell.  Robert looks the same and is the same kind, gentle witty man.
   Today, dinner with ten in Joachim and Beata's small apartment.  She and her mother cooked up a feast for us that sustained the musicians through their concert and fattened up everybody else.  I hope they can come visit next summer, before their oldest is a university student.
   And away I go.