Halfway around the world last week in beautiful central Poland. I was visiting my friends who publish a blues magazine there. The trip started with a bar-b-que in their back yard. If you like Polish sausage, this is the motherland!!! A lot of Polish blues photographers all taking pictures of each other!!
The next day my friends Ewa and Zosia took me into town to sight see and eat at their favorite Burger restaurant (I took them to Kumas the last time they were in Chicago) So the big comparison ensued!! Totally different but equally good!! And, I have to say, their fries were better!
The next day, we went to a coal mine. 8 people in an elevator, and down 1000 feet under the earth’s surface. I will never complain about my job again!! We came across a bird cage and were told that when the birds died, it was time to get out, as there was too much methane in the air! Now I will have to go back to the Police album that has “Canary in a Coal Mine” on it!
At the end came the weirdest site I have seen in a long time. We rounded the corner and walked into a beautiful, state of the art concert venue, 1000 feet under ground! They know how to party there!!
That night we went to a concert. One of the bands was called the Krakow Street Band, a group of 9 guys who play American Blues songs on the street. They were great- great musicians having the time of their lives playing great music.
The next morning we were all having breakfast in a restaurant in my hotel and I heard music. We walked outside and there was the Krakow Street Band playing on the street. They were staying in the same hotel, got up in the morning and decided to do a gig!
That night we all went to the big concert celebrating the 15th anniversary of the magazine. A lot of great music by people I am going to have to look up when I am not jet-lagged, and some great speeches, which I did not understand a word of! I got on stage and received an award for Picture of the Year, which I will proudly hang on my wall as soon as I buy a frame for it! A good time was had by all, and I have a finer appreciation of the affect American Music has on people all over the world.
