Blog 2025

Roman era Valencia

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The name Valencia comes from the Romans, who named it Valentia Edetanorum, from the Latin Valentia, ‘valor’ and Edetanorum, the Edetanis being the Iberian people who populated the area. Roman soldiers arrived in 138 BCE, with Valencia’s founding credited to cónsul romano Décimo Junio Bruto.


The soldiers chose to build on what is commonly termed an island. A small branch of the Turia River circled a zone of slightly elevated terrain. You can still see the path today although the stream is underground. It moves approximately along Guillem de Castro, Xativa/Colon then to Porta del Mar (Port of the Sea).


The location is a high spot on the Turia River several kilometers inland, today the area surrounding the Real Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados (The Royal Basilica of Our Lady of the Forsaken) generally referred to as the Almoina. Refer to the drawing below. There was a wooden bridge crossing the Turia, probably located where the current Torres de Serrano is located, called “Pont de Fusta,” as it is written in Valenciano, meaning “Wooden Bridge.” Straight across the rise is approximately where the current Estación de Norte is located. In the center you see the temple and the Forum, where the Real Basílica de Nuestra Señora de los Desamparados, Cathedral de Valencia and the La Almoina Archaeological Museum are now located. The forum, with government buildings, a temple, baths and the like, was destroyed during the civil war of 75 BCE. The forum was rebuilt as the city recovered.

A depiction of Roman Valencia

The forum, with government buildings, a temple, baths and the like, was destroyed during the civil war of 75 BCE. The forum was rebuilt as the city recovered.


The hippodrome, a racetrack that used to be called a “circus”, dates to the 2nd century CE. Vestiges of both it and the forum can be seen today. La Almoina Archaeological Museum is several meters below the current level. The ruins displayed were discovered in the course of work to expand the Basilica in the early 1980’s when Valencia was competing with Barcelona in its worship of the Virgin de los Desamparados.

The remnants of the ninfeo (structures featuring water and plants), the thermal baths, the macellum (grain warehouse), the temple, the forum and many other important buildings of that time lie underground in the area surrounding the Basilica.

Fragments of the western wall of the Circo in the Almoina Museum


Remnants of the hippodrome are now visible in the basement of the Centro de Arte Hortensia Herrero (CAHH), about 5 meters below the current ground level.


During works on the Cathedral Museum workers came across remains of roman houses and streets one meter below ground. They are located beneath the San Francisco and San José chapels. Archaeologists dated the discoveries to the first and second centuries. “Some vital parts of the original structure are preserved, such as lintels, entrances and water vessels, according to the diocesan seminar Paraula, which informs about the unexpected discovery. “https://www.uv.es/uvweb/master-cultural-heritage-identification-analysis-management/en/master-s-degree-cultural-heritage-identification-analysis-management/roman-ruins-cathedral-valencia-1285932165134/GasetaRecerca.html?id=1285966840465

Valencia remained a Roman province until the 6th century, the later stages under Church rule. Then it became part of the Visigoths centered in Toledo.

Villa Szyja Światłowski,City Culture Park, Lodz

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House at City Culture Park, Lodz,
watercolor 21 x 30 cm/8.3 x 11.7′

This traditionally styled watercolor is a painting of the Villa of Szyja Światłowski, in Lodz, Poland. It was moved to its current site in 2008 as a notable example of the “świdermajer” architecture, a local style of wooden architecture. It was originally built at 18 Scaleniowa St, Ruda Pabianicka as a summer resort. It was fully restored in its current location.

The house is attached to the Central Museum of Textiles, together with relocated period houses beginning with the homes of 19th-century craftsmen. There is also a church and a tram stop building.

The initials FK are on the rear door lattice, representing the first owners of the house, Fajwel and Frajda Kossowski. It was always owned by Jewish families. After the Kossowskis, it was occupied by the Werners (1912–1920), Rozenbergs (1920–1921), Ciuki’s (1921), Birenbaums and Szotland’s (1921–1922), and lastly the Światłowski’s (1922–1939). http://www.muzeumwlokiennictwa.pl/public/informacje/about-villa,366

The Central Museum of Textiles is on the same site. It was established in 1960 at The White Factory, a complex of classic buildings erected by the family of Ludwik Geyer in the years 1835 – 1886.[1] It is considered one of the most beautiful and unique monuments of industrial architecture in Poland.” There is a four-wing mill, the Boiler House, two dust and two  water towers. https://visitlodz.com/lodz-city-culture-park/  On the top floor is a large collection of some mighty ugly Communist era clothing. Elsewhere there are numerous examples of mechanical looms and other textile machinery.

Attempted theft of the crown of Empress Eugenia de Palafax y Kirkpatrick

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The most famous Kirkpatrick is in the news. Thieves tried to steal the crown of Eugenia, Napoleon III’s third and last wife. Interrupted by guards, they left the crown behind. The crown has eight gold eagles, 1,354 diamonds, 1,136 rose-cut diamonds and 56 emeralds https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/19/world/europe/louvre-heist-items.html Photo from the NYT article.

In a stunning raid, thieves broke into the world’s most visited museum at 9:30 am. They escaped with eight extremely valuable items of jewellery. Using a lift to enter, they cut through a window. After threatening the guards, who closed down the area, they cut into the cases, leaving four minutes later. The gallery alarms were broken but per France’s culture ministry the museum’s other alarms sounded and security forces were notified. A crown of the empress Eugénie was also taken, but was recovered damaged near the museum after the thieves seemingly dropped it. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg7nrlkg0zxo

Eugenia’s crown was damaged but not stolen
Portrait of Maria Eugenia wearing the tiara
The gallery that houses the jewels



Back in Time

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What amazes me about living in Valencia is how much is going on. We were back from Poland in time to: 1) attend a special performance of a traveling orchestra and chorus. They served up a fabulous Handel concert including seven operatic singers and a large chorus. 2) have a rice dish at the paella festival in the main plaza (Plaza del Ayuntamiento) and a Patatas Bravas (fried potatoes with a slightly spicy garlic mayonnaise sauce) festival at the port. 3) One of my large paintings for the Dones (Women) of Picanya was exhibited at the University of Valencia, where it joined its permanent collection 4) While we at the exhibition, nearby some fifty thousand demonstrated against the Provincial administration for its president’s failure to issue warnings in the floods of a year ago. 5) We attended the fund raiser organized by the International Women’s Club which the wife helped organize and to which I contributed a painting. They raised $7000 for several charitable organizations. 6) We’ve had numerous outings with friends and regular acquaintances, including intercambios (Spanish/English language exchanges). I probably missed something.

The Paella Festival

In English we typically refer to paella loosely as yellow colored rice with various meats and or seafood. In Spanish the generic term is arroces,” that is ‘rice dishes.’ In this area there are five main variations: Paella Valencian with chicken and rabbit, “Senyoret” (the Valenciano spelling). It is fish based. The shellfish is pealed for your convenience, making it less messy than the next one: ‘Mariscos.” Its shellffish is not pealed. Then there’s meloso, a soupy variation, and these days you can get a “vegetariana.” These were popular at the festival, except meloso, normally served just in winter, as is ‘arroz al horno, a rice dish baked in the oven and since it is not cooked in that big flat pan (called a “paella” in Valenciano) it is not technically a paella but it is an arroz.

There were a dozen or so other rice dishes I’d never heard of. One was ‘arroz de puchero.’ Puchero is a beef stew. Another was “Winter boneless chicken with fava beans.” I had one with smoked pork and boletes mushrooms, which has a very long stem. There was one with stewed pork and mushrooms in a brothy rice, not soupy like meloso and not dry like most rice dishes. I saw one with just mussels. It was not colored yellow- I’d never seen a white paella before.

If you can find a copy of Penelope Casas’ book The Foods and Wines of Spain you will find about 50 recipes. Each region has its own versions. The one Americans are familiar with comes from Galicia. It has seafood and meat along with red peppers and green peas. It is one of my favorites.

Musicaeterna Choir and Orchestra

One of the several concerts we attended was extraordinary, the best of its sort I’ve had the privilege to attend. The “Musicaeterna Choir and Orchestra) https://musicaeterna.org/ is a touring Russian group organized by its conductor Teodor Currentzis. Aside from the excellent orchestra there were seven singers, all women except one. The choir must have numbered 50 or more.

The operatic singers all entered and exited the stage at a dirge pace. The chorus filed in silently from four entrances, two at audience level and two from the area above the stage. It was all to dramatic effect. The vocalists were of all different sizes and shapes, from a tiny mezzo-soprano to the hefty prima donna whose bosomy boom knocked you off your.

Then came the hefty male, only a weight class below a sumo. Did he knock us over with the magnificent base you’d expect? Nay! He hit us with a falsetto, blasting his way through demi-semi-quavered crescendo after crescendo.

Meanwhile the first violinist’s lanky blond limbs and arms gestured like a rock bassist’s, as Teo flipped that baton when he had one while his tall self pointed here and there until the next singer arrived. Then he stood in the singer’s face while mouthing the words, baton flying still. The singers didn’t flinch, so obviously used to this odd behavior. Violating the normally staid norms was clearly part of the act.

Gary Bob says check them out!

Musicaeterna Choir and Orchestra

The Demonstration

Here’s a good video of the demonstration

And last but not least, the exhibition:

Vencerem! (We Shall Overcome) painting, top floor

Vencerem! 1.5 x 1.3 meters, acrylics

The Poznański Palace in Łódź 

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Gary Bob says check this place out! (see last paragraph)

Izrael Poznański’s Palace is worthy of ranking with the most beautiful palaces of Europe. It was built from the profits of his fabric factories which used cotton in its many hundreds of mechanical looms. The palace is L-shaped.  Mansard roofs, normally only see in France, dominate the exterior, along with numerous embellishments and top notch sculptures. There was a large botanical garden with some rare specimens. The Poznański family evacuated before the outbreak of the war. The Germans used the palace as its headquarters. The palace is now the museum of the City of Łódź.

“The thirty-six two-metre (sic) figures on the roof of the palace symbolise (sic) the power of the contemporary industry, trade, wisdom, and success; in their hands, they are holding attributes of hard work: cogwheels, bales of fabric, chains, hammers, etc. Among them, we can find workers, spinners, Hermes – the god of trade, protector of merchants, and Athena – the goddess of wisdom and art, adept at weaving.” https://muzeum-lodz.pl/en/o-muzeum/historia-palacu/

Inside there is a ballroom, a mirrored chamber and a garden with a glass ceiling. The Neo-Baroque dining and ball rooms are by the Łódź artist and painter Samuel Hirszenberg.  

Our first in visit to Poland in 1998 https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/czech-epublic-to-poland-798/ This is from the emails I was sending out at the time, before there was such a thing as a blog.

Strolling Poland: My Short Book https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/visiting-poland-book/

About Gary Bob:

When we lived in Dallas back in the middle ages, a guy who called himself Joe Bob Briggs wrote a column for a counter culutre newspaper that also published Molly Ivan’s columns. His tongue in cheek reviews of drive-in movies were an absolute riot. A typical review summary might read: “No dead bodies. One hundred seventeen breasts. Multiple aardvarking.[a] Lap dancing. Cage dancing. Convenience-store dancing. Blindfold aardvarking. Blind-MAN aardvarking. Lesbo Fu. Pool cue-Fu. Drive-In Academy Award nominations for Tané McClure. Joe Bob says check it out.” By referring to Joe Bob I mean to imply that the palace decor is so way over the top that despite its excellence (for which his review movies were NOT known) that it deserves a bit of pull down. After all it all came at the expense of under compensated laborers working in a dangerous, unhealthy environment. Joe Bob had quite the career following his fu-filled frolics back in the mid-80’s. The palace is not large for a building of its type. The interior friezes are top notch but they are big and numerous out of all proportion to its overall size.

The Jewish community of Lodz

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Lodz is a Polish city seventy five miles southwest of Warsaw. Jews, mostly craftsmen and traders, settled in the Old Town section towards the end of the 18th century. Larger influxes came in 1793 and again in the middle of the 19th century, attracted by the rapidly expanding textile industry.

In 1825 Germans were invited to help industrialize the city. They championed the “Zagirez Treaty,” requiring that Jews live only on the southern edges of the city. But in 1862 the Jewish community obtained the right to purchase land and build anywhere in the city. Many more Jews came to work in the huge fabric factories. By 1914 175 such factories were Jewish owned. As a result of these developments Lodz had the second largest number of Jews in Poland, behind only Warsaw.

Following the invasion of Poland, the Nazis began to round up and deport this large and prosperous community. The Radegast train station was the major debarkation point. Today at the Radegast Memorial you see the bare wooden train cars the Nazis jammed full of people who could not sit for the duration of their journey, freezing in the cold months and boiling in the hot sun of summer, before they were enslaved or murdered.

You enter the memorial’s hall to find yourself in a long, large tunnel. On the walls they inscribed the names of victims, recounting the forced labor, starvation and other acts of inhumanity imposed upon these innocent victims. the horrific cruelty of which our species is capable.

Destinations of death camps
Entrance to the train station memorial

The result: the Jewish population plummeted from 265,000,, constituting about one third of the population, to about 27,000 by the end of the WWII.

To the ever lasting shame of the Polish people, Poles inflicted post war pogroms on the remaining Jews. Polish soldiers, police officers, and others assaulted 7 Planty Street in Kielce. The house was occupied by about 160 Jewish holocaust survivors. They killed 42 and wounded 40, falsely accusing the occupants of child kidnapping. Another 2000 deaths occurred elsewhere in the country.

Never bear false witness.

Never forget.

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/lodz-poland-jewish-history-tour

Lodz- or should I say ‘Łódź?’ Another must visit

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Europe has a nearly endless supply of great cities, towns and villages. Add Lodz to your list, one of Poland’s top destinations. It features Ulica Piotrkowska, a 5 kilometer shopping street lined with restored Art Nouveau houses. Scoot over on the tram to the Manufaktura, a large complex of beautifully renovated textile factory buildings filled with shopping, dining and an excellent museum. Go to Radegast Train Station, the Jewish memorial at the station used to whisk Jews to concentration camps. The Central Museum of Textiles has examples of worker housing, a mansion and textile machinery.

The pałace of Izraela Poznańskiego. Workers in his factories were worked to the bone and paid little. That’s how this came to be.

Lodz has been around since the 14th century but it was a town of just 750 until the 1820’s. The Kingdom of Poland decided to industrialize central Poland, which had been part of Russia. By the outbreak of WWII, Lodz had a population of 1 million!

Opulence galore in the Palace

The 19th century industrialization began with the establishment of the industrial zone then known as New Town. In came German migrants knowledgeable in the manufacture of textiles, attracted by Polish government offers of loans and concessions. Starting in the 1870’s Jewish entrepreneurs fueled the industrial explosion, making Lodz one of the world’s largest textile producers. The structures were largely preserved. Renovated in the early 2000’s, it is now a huge shopping, restaurant and museum pedestrian zone. The last factory closed in 1989 after years of declining production.

On one edge sits the Palace of Izraela Poznańskiego.

Rynek Manufactury, until 1989 a huge textile factor, now shopping, entertainment, museum

Jews played a prominent role in the development of the textile industry, none more so than  Izrael Poznański (1833-1900). He was born into a family of merchants who moved to Lodz in 1834. He took over the family business in 1852. By 1872 he had built a plant with 200 mechanical looms. The expansion continued, reaching its peak around 1890.

The infrastructure and edifices of Łódź were built at the expense of Poznański and Karl Wilhelm Scheibler. They sponsored schools, hospitals, orphanages, and places of worship. But they did so on the backs of workers who suffered with terrible working conditions and horrible housing, leading to many strikes.

Our last days in Berlin lead to Krakow instead

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On our way to downtown Berlin for a few night’s stay we were stopped by the water police: bridgework ahead so we could not proceed. The day before we passed under 58 bridges as we circled through Berlin’s south side, almost scraping the undersides, barely enough height even with our rain hood and bimini down. But today we could not get past even one.

As we were pondering our next step, a call came in. A friend was down in the ER in Krakow. That’s in Poland. As we’d already made our final arrangements for the winter, we rerouted from the bridge work to our winter berth. It took several hours. Fortunately it was a glorious day, yet another in an abnormal and nearly unbroken string since we entered Germany on the Moselle nearly two months ago.

We backed the boat into our space, set the lines and booked a passage to Krakow. By plane including the need to arrive early and transfer flights, bus or train it’s about 8 hours. We chose the bus as it was about 25% of the price of the train and even less compared to flights. We left the next morning and by the next evening we were there. We found our friend in stable condition, alert, communicative and on the road to recovery.

Krakow was the capitol of Poland for 500 years ending in 1596. That’s why we’ve been here twice before, in 1998 https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/czech-epublic-to-poland-798/ and in 2018 https://garyjkirkpatrick.com/category/blog/polandtouristblog/. In 1998 things were grim for the Poles. The economy was barely moving. Pensioners had sunk into deep poverty. They were called the ‘enterprising elderly,’ a term that made things sound unrealistically upbeat, but it was true that some sought to make a few zloty renting a room in their homes to travelers. Others sat or stood outside selling household valuables.

We were among very few from the west to make the journey as tourists. In those days a beer cost $.50 or less. You could not find a place to eat breakfast so we asked our hosts to make us coffee. We bought other items the night before. During lunch and dinner the restaurants were sparingly populated. Often it was only us. Hardly anyone spoke English.

Twenty years later brought a world of difference. A beer cost $3.00. Cafes and bars abounded. Restaurants were everywhere, offering very good local food at bargain prices. The museums were open, the exhibits very professionally assembled with excellent English translations.

Seven years later has brought much up-scaling. Now there are sophisticated restaurants and renovated hotels offering plush accommodations. A beer is $4.50. It’s become harder to find basic Polish food in the restaurants as hamburgers, pizza, kabobs and fancier versions of traditional meals abound. Not to worry too much, as there is still plenty of kielbasa, and pierogies abound in the grocery stores. Pierogies are now come in a large variety of stuffings. Bigos, a stew with sauerkraut and pork, is harder to find. It was on the menu in a tourist zone restaurant for a bit over $10. It was served in a bread bowl. The staff was dressed in folkloric costumes while traditional music played, a bit too loudly perhaps but I was glad to hear it rather than the relentless pop that drifts over much of Europe.

Bigos in a bread bowl

At a rooftop joint we had salmon and turkey. Wine was on the menu as it was in the bigos place. As in Germany it is much more expensive than beer. I have not had to courage to give Polish wine a try. They listed Spanish and Italian wines as well.

Back in ’98 we were one of few people in the country speaking English. In 2018 there was quite a bit more and now everyone working in tourist sites speak English. In addition quite a few know the language elsewhere in town, even in supermarkets. Call emergency and supposedly you can talk to someone in English.

But in the ER and ICU we visited there is a shortage of English speaking staff. Fortunately the medical care our friend is receiving is top notch, to my educated layman’s eye. The monitoring and diagnostic equipment appear up to date. They seem to be following rigorous sanitation protocols.

Wawel Castle, Poland
Wawel Castle, Krakow, watercolor
Wawel Castle and the Vistula River, watercolor 21 x 30cm/8.3 x 11.7″

In our spare time, between moves between hotels and apartments- we could not find one with continuous availability right off the bat- we visited the Krakow History Museum at the Krzysztofory Palace. It overlooks the enormous main plaza with the magnificent Rynek Podziemny, the building sitting atop the must see Rynek Underground museum. The temporary exhibits on the 2nd and 3rd floors offer a view of local and Polish culture. The lecture room is lined with traditional portraits of presumably notable figures. Nearby there are several more modern, and if you will, more creative portraits.

I am unable to ascertain the artist. The lower right arm was obscured by a plaque about the Polish pope.
Walk-in nativity scene

The Poles are enthused of nativity scenes. The exhibit includes a walk-in version, with its stunningly bright color scheme. There are a number of very good architectural drawings on the ground floor.

Next: a visit to a half dozen magnificent churches.

Good vibrations: frolicking Berliners

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Walking in the parks. Saxophone and singer playing guitar. Boats lined decorated with flags, lots of passengers drinking and dining. Boat parades. Canals lined with cabins and mansions,bathers young and old along the shore. Walking dogs, riding bikes. Drinking beer, eating sausage. A blanket on the ground, reclining, drinking tea and talking with a friend or lover. Maybe both.

Darkness falls and the boats illuminate with strings of lights, bright colors reflecting off the water as the music plays on. A boat with a hot tub slips by. Now a large ship slides through the narrow channel at Insel der Jugend, passing gaggles of cabin topped pontoon boats anchored in the bay. Then a gay pride boat parade.

Berlin: water laced, history packed

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If you visit Berlin just by land you might miss the extensive network of lakes, rivers and canals in which it is embedded. There are substantial lakes on the western and southeastern sides. Approximately a third of the city is green area, parks, woods, gardens, lakes, rivers and canals. Even so, with more than 75 major attractions, it’s not like you will be twiddling your thumbs- we spent 30 days here some years back and went to a different museum every day and did not finish seeing them all.

A brief look at the last leg journey of Berlin. We started in Toul, France

Berlin has long been an important city, serving as capital of the Margraviate of Brandenburg (1417–1701), the German Empire (1701–1918), Weimar Republic (1919–1933), Nazi Germany (1933–1945), and today’s Germany after the reunification of 1990. The Spree runs through its center, taking you past famous and impressive architecture: the Reichstag , the classical Pergamonmuseum, the Palace of Tears, and much modernity built following the devastation of WWII. There are day trip ships galore plying the Spree, as visitors from everywhere love the views in the center as well as the nearby countryside settings.

We sailed past the Pergamonmuseum
Oberbaumbrucke, a symbol of Berlin’s unity, links Friedrichshain and Kreuzberg neighborhoods once divided by the Berlin Wall .

There is much outdoor frolicking in the summer. Where we moored on our second night, across the narrow channel from the Insel der Jugend, some party barges picked up passengers just behind us or slid by with music blaring and beer bottles clinking. One moored behind us long enough to pick up a group of about 30 Americans waiting on the shore with balloons and other party paraphernalia. The others that passed by in the evening hung strings of lights illuminating the passage, revelers singing in their best karaoke voices . Forward of our bow is a bar with a floating hot tub, strings of lights and welcoming indoor lighting flickering on the channel. Across the pedestrian bridge is a restaurant serving local favorites, sausages, fries and Flammkuchen, a thin crusted pizza relative.

Frolicking on a party barge

One evening an excellent saxophonist played with recorded accompaniment on the edge of Treptower Park, the huge green zone bordering the river. Earlier we’d visited the Berlin city history museum, a tall three story structure. The elevator is hidden. To use it you must ask if you want to avoid the winding sparkling white staircase that takes you up the equivalent of two stories per flight due to the very high ceilings. A guard takes you to the elevator and stays with you to the top floor, where you find yourself in the 1200’s. That’s the beginning of Berlin.

The water authorities allocate space for what they call “sportboats.” You have to vacate the moorings every day between 10-11 am. All those who want to spend another night spend an hour or so puttering about. It appears, however, that there is no enforcement, as we were unable to find a spot across from the Palace of Tears despite two efforts. Your boat must have a ship’s radio license and the radio operator must have a radio operator’s license. Neither are very difficult to get. For the latter you must pass a written test. I did mine online with the Royal Yacht Association. The ship’s pilot must be licensed. This is not so easy to get. There is a written and practical test.

Moorings near the Palace of Tears

The Palace of Tears is aptly named for the thousands of families and lovers who parted here after the infrequent visits the East German government allowed. The Palace was the entry point where people passed through customs, their documents carefully scrutinized by stone-faced guards. The tears of mothers, sisters, brothers and lovers flowed as they said their forced good byes. The exhibit in the very space tells this tragic story.