Not Dale Sievert

Dale Sievert

Poland--April 2023
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   Zywert (Sievert), Leszcz (Leschke), Bac (Bonk), Szczpinski, Nowak, Woda, Osesek, and Glyzewski (Glish) were the surnames of my Polish ancestors, who emigrated to America from 1866 to 1883.  I estimate that I have 92 percent Polish ancestry, so I travel to Poland a lot. 

This April I made my fourth trip there, along with my cousin and his daughter.  My mother, who spoke fluent Polish (but, unfortunately, did not teach it to me), went to Poland with me in 1983 and 1987.

   Poland was initially formed of West Slav Lechites, referred to as "people who lived in open fields" in the early Middle Ages.  Duke Mieszko is considered as the founder of Poland when he adopted Christianity in 966 A.D.  Poland rose to be a great European state during the Jagiellan Dynasty, lasting from the 14th to the 16th Century.  It hit its first low point from 1795 to 1918 when the country was swallowed up by Russia on the east, Austria on the south, and Prussia (a German state) in the northwest, where my family lived. 

Poland arose again on Armistice Day, November 11, 1918, following the loss of WW I by Germany and Austria.  Finally, Germany again did horrors to Poland from 1939 to 1945, killing many millions.  In 1983 my mother and I spoke with several survivors of WW II, all of them shedding copious tears, quite a moving experience.
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Warsaw Old Town, rebuilt following the destruction of WW II

Birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus, 1473-1543 in Torun, who established the heliocentric view of the solar system

St. Mary's Basilica in Krakow, built in 1347 in Polish Gothic style

Wawel of Krakow, begun in 970, with the castle added in the 14th Century

An avant-garde restaurant in Krakow requests men to use urinals according to what they drink: Mleko (milk), vodka, piwo (beer), or woda (water).

With Jozef Zywert, Dale's third cousin, at the Zywert ancestral farm since the late 1700s. The house was built in the 1870s.

The church in Wiecbork where Dale's great grandparents, Lorenz Zywert and Antonina Leszcz were married in 1860

A monument in Gdansk to the Solidarity movement, started by Lech Walesa and others during the strike at the huge shipyard in Gdansk

A Russian Orthodox church in eastern Poland near the border with Belarus.

Old house in eastern Poland near the border with Belarus

Another Russian Orthodox church

This meat counter had seven different types of kielbasa, or what we call Polish sausage. None of the kielbasa I ate in Poland had any resemblance to "our" kielbasa "including taste".

The Lublin Castle was built and rebuilt until 1828, after which it served as a prison until 1954, used by the tzars, Nazis, and communists--not a nice history.

The Folk Culture Museum in Kolbuszowa, where some 80 buildings of the 18th and 19th Centuries were moved

Russian Orthodox cemeteries intrigued me.

Sadecki Ethnographic Park, housing some 60 buildings of the 19th Century

More cool old buildings

The High Tatras of the Carpathian Mountains along the border with Slovakia

Church in southern Poland

Morskie Oko Lake in the High Tatras The High Tatras of the Carpathian Mountains along the border with Slovakia

​Epilogue

   Pope John Paul II, a Pole, was pope from 1978 until 2005.  I often told Dorothy of the sacrifice I made when I married her in 1966, as I, being 92 percent Polish, and a Catholic, might just have followed John Paul as pope following his death.  He was known for his extensive travels, as am I, so our reigns would have meshed well.  Ah, the tradeoffs life presents to us all....
   Next up, my September trip to Iceland, so see you then.

Not Dale Sievert

Dale Sievert

   I had an itch, a big one, for perhaps 50 years--to go to Carnaval (or Mardi Gras) in Brazil.  I finally scratched that itch in February when I attended Carnaval in the Brazilian city of Salvador, reputedly the best city in Brazil to experience it.  I started by flying to Curitiba, the hometown of my Brazilian friend that I had been traveling with since early 2022.  After touring Curitiba we flew to Salvador to attend Carnaval, then drove seven hours to a beautiful national park, Chapsada Diamantina Parque Nacional, before heading home.

Brazil

Curitiba
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   Founded in 1693, Curitiba is one of the richer large cities of Brazil.  It currently has about two million inhabitants, but it was far smaller when I passed through it in June 1977, on my way to Rio de Janeiro.  

A street mural in central Curitiba

The beginning of Carnaval in central Curitiba

Curitiba Cathedral

Another interesting mural

Museum of Oscar Niemeyer, the designer of Brasilia, the capital

Salvador

   Salvador, a city of 2.9 people on the Atlantic Ocean, is reputed to be the biggest and best place for Carnaval, or Mardi Gras.  We experienced that tumultuous event for five days, which was quite exhausting, but certainly lively and fun.  The main street was filled with "band trucks" from 5 PM until 3 AM, every thousand feet or so, crawling through massive crowds of revelers.  Unfortunately, neither my Brazilian friend nor I took any cameras along, as she said it is so dangerous that they would likely be stolen.  So, I brought back primarily memories.

Scenes of Salvador

Street scene in central Salvador

Another sign

A incredible dessert made of tapioca, which is actually the root of the manioc tree that is ground up and mixed with sugar

Another street scene

Chapsada Diamantina National Park

   A seven-hour drive southwest of Salvador took us to a national park with numerous great rock formations.  The word "diamantina" means diamond in English, as there used to be many diamond-mining operations in the area.

Church in the small town of Mucuge

Shops in Mucuge

Forested hills

Rock formations were great to view.

Even more

A most unusual spider nest that has a trap door to capture prey

A mural in a small village

Cemetery in Mucuge

Cemetery in Mucuge

Epilogue


   Well, I made it home after seeing many sights I would never see in America.  And I came home without one incident of theft or assault, supposedly so common in Brazil.  However, I WAS assaulted by their highways, as I drove most of the way to the park and back.  Most exciting, with MASSIVE potholes, EXCESSIVE numbers of speed bumps, and HORRIBLE drivers.  But, don't let the negatives scare you, Brazil is a phenomenal country to visit.

Dale Sievert

​Guatemala    November-December 2022 ​My Brazilian companion and I traveled for four weeks in Guatemala late last year, which included a one-day excursion into Honduras to visit the Mayan site of Copan.

Guatemala is about two-thirds the area of Wisconsin with triple its population, of which half is of Mayan descent.   It has many volcanoes, rainforests, and large areas of highlands with many valleys, all which makes for a very beautiful country.

Antigua
   Antigua was founded in 1542 by Spanish conquistadors.  It was the capital of Guatemala for 230 years until Guatemala City became the new capital.  It is a very beautiful city with countless old buildings, many from the colonial era.  Its streets are laid out in a modern grid pattern.  It suffered several severe earthquakes over the centuries, so many structures were rebuilt.

Iglesia de la Merced, a church built in 1751

Walking street merchants

Altar of St. Francis Church, built in 1702

Casa Antigua-El Jaulon, a 16th Century private house

Volcanoes of Guatemala
   Guatemala has 37 volcanoes, all part of the "Ring of Fire" that roughly forms a circle around the Pacific Ocean, where tectonic plates are colliding.  Three of them are active, and I climbed part way up Pacaya, to where much smoke and gases were coming from just below the surface.

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Pacaya, with a summit of 8373 feet

Just before sunset

Fuego Volcano, at about 11,000 feet, just sent up a cloud of ash and smoke in the distance.

Lake Atitlan 
   I found Lake Atitlan, a 50-square-mile lake surrounded by volcanoes, to be the prettiest part of Guatemala.  Few roads access it, so travel is mainly by small boats that stop at all the small villages that surround the lake.

A nice welcoming rainbow at our lodging

The view from our place of Volcano San Pedro at 9908 feet high

It is quite a stunning view in late afternoon

Quetzaltenago
   Quetzaltenago is a city of 140,000 in the western highlands of Guatemala.  At 7644 feet altitude, it has a more refreshing climate, and the heavily forested surrounding areas are very beautiful.

Espiritu Santo Cathedral, built in 1532

Nighttime in the beautiful central plaza

 Fuentes Geogienes
Fuentes Geogienes is a very beautiful and interesting natural place in the eastern part of Guatemala.  It has several hot springs and many caves.  We sat at the exit of one cave for half an hour while countless thousands of bats flew out of the cave only 2-3 feet from our faces, an incredible experience.

The view from a hundred fifty feet above the river fed by hot springs

Great swimming in the "heated pool"

The entrance to the bat cave

 Tikal

   Tikal is one of the top Mayan sites in Central America.  At its peak, the city covered about 200 square miles, but the area cleared of jungle and debris and currently visited is about a square mile.  Its history extended from about 700 B.C. until 1450 A.D.

This view overlooks the visited area of Tikal taken from atop Temple IV. It was the opening scene in the first Star Wars film, and the area was called Planet Yavin 4. However, it was actually the fourth in the Star War series, and the film was called "A New Hope."

Mundo Perdido, or Lost World, is the oldest temple at Tikal, built in 700 B.C.

Temple I, or Temple of the Great Jaguar, built in 732 A.D., is 180 feet high.

Copan, Honduras

   The site of Copan, Honduras, was one of the most important Mayan population centers, home to approximately 20,000 people in an area of about 100 square miles in the Classic Period of several centuries early in the first millennium.  The historical park, encompassing 213 acres, is very near the border with Guatemala.  Buried by jungle and debris, it was rediscovered in 1570 but first evacuated in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Dale standing in two countries

The Principal Plaza

Forest of Kings, one of seven stelae carved in the 13th Century, A.D

Main Temple of Copan

The ball court, where the game of pok-a-tok was played

Epilogue

   This was my second trip to Guatemala, the first taken in 2005.  Though beautiful and most enjoyable, it didn't match the first time.  I often find this happens, and Tom Westover should not be surprised, as this exemplifies the economic concept called The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility.  It essentially means additional units of a good or service that one consumes or uses provides somewhat less enjoyment (utility) than the previous one.  That largely explains why eventually people stop eating potato chips, viewing a beautiful natural scene, fishing, etc.  So, that means I will likely never go to Guatemala again.  Thus, in February 2023 I went to Brazil and in April to Poland.  Those will be the next Gulliver's Travels episodes.  Stay tuned!

Dale Sievert

Ten National Parks and Other Wonders Oct - Nov 2022

   In October and November my Brazilian friend and I took a six-week trip touring national parks and other beautiful natural areas, from the Great Smokies in Tennessee to as far west as Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona.  We drove over six thousand miles in my Toyota Tacoma, often sleeping in the back that had a camper shell.  We visited ten national parks, three national monuments, and some state parks.  Utah and Colorado were seen most extensively.

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Great Smokies National Park in Tennesse

Guadalupe Mountains National Park in Texas

White Sands National Park in New Mexico

Taos Pueblo in New Mexico

Cemetery at Taos Pueblo

Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park in Colorado

Rocky Moutain National Park in Colorado

Bowtie Arch near the Colorado River in Utah

Corona Arch, near Moab, Utah and the Colorado River

The Colorado River, near Canyonlands National Park.

Fisher Tower, near Moab, Utah and the Colorado River

Delicate Arch in Arches National Park in Utah

Landscape Arch at sunrise , 306-feet wide, in Arches National Park in Utah

Double Arch in Arches National Park in Utah

Dinosaur tracks near Moab, Utah

Dead Horse State Park, overlooking the Colorado River in Utah

Mesa Arch in Canyonlands National Park in Utah

Newspaper Rock, indigenous petroglyphs near Canyonlands National Park in Utah

West Mitten and East Mitten in Monument Valley in Utah

Lower Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona

Upper Antelope Canyon near Page, Arizona

The Toadstools in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Grosvenor Arch in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah

Great Sand Dunes National Park in Colorado

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Cliff Palace in Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado

Epilogue

   This was a long, long trip, and most of these scenes I had seen before--but I never tire of them, especially those in my favorite state, Utah.  I sort of wish my great grandparents had continued moving west after emigrating from Poland to Newton in the 1860s, and instead, settled in Utah.  But I suspect that the Mormons would not have been too receptive to Catholics.  Speaking of Poland, I'll be visiting my ancestral family farm there in April, where my third cousin operates the farm.
  
   The next Gulliver's Travels will be from our trip to Guatemala last December.  Stay tuned.

Dale Sievert (Gulliver)

Canadian Rockies ​September 2022

​​   I had been to the Canadian Rockies before, but they deserved another viewing.  Plus, I wanted better photos.  However, the best camera in the world could not cut through the thick smoke from the numerous forest fires in the area.  I visited five national parks in Alberta and British Columbia.  On my way home I also visited Glacier National Park in Montana and Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota.
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Mt. Revelstoke National Park in moderate smoke

No, that is not a fire, just the setting sun.

Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park.

A beautiful waterfalls in Yoho National Park

On a rare clear day in Jasper National Park

The Columbia Icefield has receded a mile since 1942.

In Jasper National Park at sunrise

In Jasper National Park

Famous (smoky) Lake Louise in Banff National Park

Moraine Lake in Banff National Park

In Kootenay National Park

In Kootenay National Park

Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park in Montana

In Glacier National Park

St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park

A snowy morning in Glacier National Park

Brrrr!

​Epilogue

   The glaciers are melting--and fast.  So, go see them in the Canadian parks as well as in our own Glacier National Park in Montana.  But even without ice and snow, all the seven parks I visited are very spectacular.

   Next up, my six-week trip from Tennessee to Arizona, plus Utah and Colorado, including ten national parks and lots of other neat places, accompanied by my Brazilian friend.

France ​April 2022

   In April I took a short trip to France, mainly to see the WWII beaches of Normandy.  Also in the province of Normandy is the famous abbey of Mont-Saint Michel.  It's a small island off the Atlantic coast that becomes an island twice a day when the tide comes in.  Everyone has seen photos of it, on numerous calendars and in books.  So, of course, I just had to see it myself.  After Normandy I took a brief tour of the province of Brittany, then drove as far south as the city of Bordeaux before heading northeast to the city of Chartres.  
 I also wanted to see Paris again, as that city is one of my favorites in the world.  It has so many iconic sites, with such an incredible history, both good and bad.

Paris 

   Following WWI, in 1919, Nora Bayes had a hit song, "How Ya Gonna Keep 'Em' Down on the Farm Once They've Seen Paree.?"  The provincial and "socially backward" farmer Doughboys were supposedly impressed by the sights and lights of glamorous Paris.  I can see why, as I was a bit of a "socially backward" farm kid from Newton--though the sights and lights of Manitowoc didn't wow me as Paris did when I first saw it in 1983, and again in April.

   Remnants of a hunter-gather village from 8,000 B.C., has been found there.  The Romans established the city of Lutetia there in 52 B.C.  After they left, Paris became Christian.  It really became an impressive city with the structures built during the reign of King Louis XIV beginning in 1661.  Things generally went well until they all fell apart in 1789 when the French Revolution ended the monarchy, for a while at least, resulting in the cutting off of the heads of King Louis XVI and his wife, Marie Antionette.  Napoleon Bonaparte, a military genius, became emperor in 1804.  He was deposed in 1814, but he raised an army to regain power in 1815, only to lose his empire for good at the famous battle of Waterloo.  Finally, for a while the Nazis did a little better, occupying Paris from 1940 until 1944, when Patton's 3rd Army booted them back to Germany.

The Eiffel Tower is 894 feet high and was built in 1889.

Notre Dame Cathedral was completed in 1345. It is now being repaired after the fire in 2019.

The Arc de Triomphe, 162 feet high, was completed in 1836

The Louve art gallery was completed in 1793.

National Academy of Music or The Paris Opera

Palace de Concorde, site of most guillotine executions

Versailles Palace, begun in 1671, with 2300 rooms

The Versailles gardens cover three square miles

Normandy and Brittany

   Normandy and Brittany are two provinces in the northwest of France, both being on the Atlantic coast.  The former, of course, is famous for having the beaches that were the landing spots for the American, British, and Canadian forces on D-Day, June 6th, 1944.  Normandy is also famous for the launching site of the conquest of England in 1066 by William the Conqueror.  Its most iconic view is of Mont-de-Michel, the abbey that seems to float on the sea when the tide is in.  
   Brittany was the last bastion of the Celtic tribes, and until recently its residents spoke their own language, a Gaelic-based one.  I did not hear anyone speaking it, though one man told me that he did.  

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On the causeway to the abbey

View of the causeway from the top of the abbey

Begun in the 6th and 7th Centuries, it became a monastery in the 8th Century.

Looking up to the upper floors

The Cloisters

The dining hall

A memorial on Omaha Beach

Looking towards the route up the cliffs taken by Americans

A German bunker

Sword Beach, where the British landed

Bayeax Cathedral, near the Normandy beaches, built in 1077

A windmill and a field of rape, used to make canola oil

Over 3000 of these Carnac Stones at Menec were placed here from 4500-3000 B.C.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres, 371 feet high

Chartres Cathedral, built from 1194-1252

Chartres Cathedral

Epilogue


   Henry Ford once famously said, "History is bunk."  Henry knew lots about building cars, but little about the value of studying history.  France has a few cars....but TONS of history, with plenty to keep even the most jaded traveler enthralled.  Go there and be enthralled.

Dale Sievert (Gulliver)

​Argentina and Brazil  ​Part 3 February-March 2022

                              Brazil
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   The last part of my trip was spent in the southern Brazilian city of Curitiba and along the Atlantic coast near the city of Florianopolis.  Curitiba is the hometown of my new traveling companion.  Florianopolis is a large city near Uruguay that would be an ideal place to spend the winter should I ever do as so many others of our age do--in Florida or Arizona.  I spent several days in a nice two-bedroom apartment with a large kitchen/living room, two blocks off the Atlantic coast beach for $30 a night.  There were plenty of nearby shops and restaurants, where meals cost only 35-40% of our prices.  The beach surroundings were some of the best I've ever seen, with many forested hills everywhere.  There are plenty of things to do, and it is safe and clean.  A huge bonus: being it is their summer, it is light until very late at night.  So, if I ever get old and need to escape the cold and snow, that's where I'm going.

Museum of Oscar Niemeyer, architect of Brasilia--Curitiba

Niemeyer Museum

The Botanical Garden of Curitiba

Squeezing juice out of sugar cane at a street stall

Flowers of the tree named Handroanthus serratifolius, commonly known as Ipe.

A government building in Curitiba

On the tourist train Serra Verde Express to Moretas

In the town of Moretas on the Atlantic coast

In Moretas

Shops in Moretas

Hotels on the beach near the city of Florianopolis

Vacation home of my friend's sister on the Atlantic coast

​Epilogue


   My month-long trip to Brazil and Argentina was quite unexpected when I walked into a restaurant/dance hall in Lafayette, Louisiana last December 30th.  All it took was for me to ask a woman to dance who hailed from
​Curitiba, Brazil.  Next, we will be taking a five-week trip in October and November to Nashville, the Great Smokies, and Lafayette--followed by tours of ten national parks from Texas up to Yellowstone, followed by the Black Hills and the Badlands. 
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  Next up in Gulliver's Travels will be my April trip to Paris and western France.

Dale Sievert (Gulliver)

​Argentina and Brazil  ​Part 2 February-March 2022

A map of the falls, with Argentina on the right and Brazil on the left

Looking north upriver, with Argentina on the right and Brazil on the left

The Argentinian falls

Walkways over the water

Garganta del Diablo, or Mouth of the Devil, is 2300 feet long, 490 feet wide, and 270 feet high

Looking north to the beginning of the falls

The heart of Garganta del Diablo

Walking on the Argentinian side

Up close on the Argentinian side

Epilogue

   If you wish to see an amazing waterfall, visit Niagara Falls.  If you wish to see a waterfall that is ineffable, visit Iguazu Falls.  No words of praise can do it justice.  It reminds me of the old Japanese saying, "Don't say something is beautiful until you've seen Nikko Temple."  That means that a high percentage of Japanese people would say Nikko Temple is the most beautiful place in Japan.  A person who did not visit Nikko Temple but who saw another fantastic place might describe it as beautiful--but only out of ignorance.  I saw Nikko Temple, so I know what the Japanese man of olden times meant.
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   Next up: Part 3 of Argentina and Brazil, which covers the city of Curitiba plus the Atlantic coast area near the city of Florianapolis.

Argentina and Brazil      ​February-March 2022

​Northern Argentina

   After viewing Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil and Argentina, my friend and I flew to Salta, Argentina on February 17th.  Salta is fairly close to both Bolivia to the north and Chile to the west.  We rented a car and drove on some very good and some very, very, very bad roads, almost always in high desert areas.  Many of the desert rock formations were stunning, the like which I had never seen before.  My friend is a wine aficionado, so we visited seven wineries, one of which is the highest winery in the world.  After weather in the high 60s and sun every day, we returned to Brazil on March 2nd.

Church in Cafayte

Eating some (unnecessary) "Viagra" ice cream

City cemetery of Cafayte

A museum of indigenous people of northern Argentina

In the Colalao Valley

Portulaca flowers

In the Calchanuies Valley

Typical gravel road in the Calchanuies Valley

A very old cemetery in the Calchaquies Valley

A decrepit tomb with wooden coffins stacked inside

In the Angastaco National Monument

The Colonne Winery in Molinos

A cactus very similar to Saguaro in Arizona

A church in Cachi

The Cachi cemetery

The Andes Mountains in the distance

A canyon just outside Pumamarca

A Carnaval celebration in Pumamarca

A Carnaval procession in Pumamarca

A salt flat at 11,200-feet altitude

Epilogue


   I thought of a lot of places to travel to in my life.  However, by the end of 2021 it never occurred to me to travel to northern Argentina--to drink lots of wine with a wine aficionado, visit lots of quaint cemeteries with a cemetery aficionado, and visit deserts and salt flats with a new friend.  Here's hoping there are more pleasant surprises for me.  Maybe all I have to do is ask someone to dance.  Sure beats the frustration of a dating service--not to mention the cost.

​Dale

Dale Sievert (Gulliver)

​Part 3  Utah & Arizona--November 2021

Spider Rock, about 800 feet high

Farm fields are on the canyon floor.

Near the entrance of the canyon

An abandoned cliff dwelling

Lichens (symbiotic combinations of an algae and a fungus)

The yellow coloring on the rocks are lichens.

​      Epilogue

     Well, that's all folks--of Utah and Arizona.  I almost always drive there, just loving the area and the way out.  You might wonder why I spend so much time there.  Well, it is just so phenomenally beautiful.  The second reason is that every day I spend there is a day I do not have to take the chance of getting run over by some old driver in Florida, South Texas, or "Sun City and Environs"--not to mention "catching" old age from them.

     The next Gulliver's Travels will be of my February-March trip to southern Brazil and northern Argentina.