Finally, some real pictures!

I've had a really big day. Our camera was still dead, so you'll have to use your imaginations for some of it. I visited a medieval torture chamber, yeah, a real one. I got to run my fingers over markings prisoners scratched in the wood inside their cells. All the illustrations from torture manuals in the middle ages made me sick. They had cells made up to look like they did back then, with creepy sounds playing and everything. It was just a little too vivid for me.
Then we switched venues and toured the largest brick building in the world, a cathedral. Massive doesn't even begin to cover it. The brochure said it will fit 25,000 people. It has soaring ceilings and a crazy tall tower. They let you climb up, and I made the mistake of being game to try it. First of all, I don't like heights. Let me just say that. We climbed up this tight, tight brick spiral stairway that was completely enclosed. There was an entire elementary class moving really slowly ahead of us. There were students on our heels behind us. I tried really hard not to think of what would happen if we had to evacuate the building. We climbed for the rest of my natural life. Then we emerged from the spiral to find ourselves above the ceiling, looking down on it. Up above us we could see the tower continuing up soooo high. My heart was pounding, my knees hurt from nerves, but I didn't cry. We finally made it to the observation platform on top of the pointy roof, crammed with a bunch of middle schoolers messing around. It took me a little bit to be able to enjoy the view, but it was really beautiful. I made it back down in record time, and it took me about an hour to have my nerves settled again. Phew! Here are some pictures of what I told you about yesterday.

This was our view outside our hotel room in Gdansk. It's a fascinating archaeological dig! Apparently, the land was marshy and those wooden beams holding up the foundation are centuries old. The city was first mentioned in the 1300's. Crazy, huh? We had a fantastic time peeking at the their work.
After walking though a lovely wooded town, I doubted that the Baltic Sea was even there. Then all of a sudden, this view opened up. The salty tang of the air, the crashing waves, the soft sand between my toes, I was so excited I could hardly stand it!
There I am, miss brave and crazy.
A yummy lunch at a shack on the beach.
Love that architecture.
We ate pierogi in a traditional Polish restaurant, and it was here that I had a serious inner struggle.
They love English music here, and the song "I will always love you" by Whitney Houston came on. I'm terrible at restraining myself from bursting into song at inappropriate moments. I once had a checkout guy at the grocery store have to void and rescan my entire cart because I distracted him by serenading my son with "the sound of music". So as the strains of " And I......EeeeIiiii..... Will Always Love Yoooooo woo woo wooo" wafted over me, I had to seriously clench. Okay, I did sing a little, but I kept it quiet.
The four of us walked all over old town, in Warsaw. It was so fun to watch Kuba with my husband. I'd forgotten how goofy they get together, they were speed walking around, looking like freaks. Then Kuba's cell phone rang and my sweety answered it for him and really confused the caller. Good times, good times.

Here are some pictures of my project for the Polish Young Women:
I put all the letters, loot, and the dvd from the young women in a binder.
Here is the mission president, his wife, and some missionaries accepting it. He is, by the way, from Denmark, so I was right. I had a fun time rubbing that in.