Top Left: My father, Bruce, and Mr. Surface at the hotel.  We were all so happy to see each other again.
Top Right: The view from the hotel window.  Warsaw was completely destroyed by the Russians after World War II.  It was then rebuilt in the Russian communist architectural style: massive, intimidating, and unadorned.
Left: Though only living and teaching in Poland for four years, Mr. Surface proved quite a helpful and knowledgeable guide. In addition to his responsibilities as Director of the American Elementary School, he has been involved in literature translation projects and written tourist guide books for the  Gdansk, Gdynia, Sopot tri-city area. 

Above Left: Warsaw is currently the capital of Poland, and this building is the President's Palace--the equivalent of the American White House.
Right: A monument to all of the cities that Poland has lost to Russia since World War I.  The names of the lost cities were written on the railroad ties and the car at the end of the tracks was filled with symbolic crosses.  This monument would never have existed ten years ago under the rule of the communists.

Left: A building built by Joseph Stalin as a gift to the people of Warsaw.  Our cab driver reminded us that the Polish people, who had been so cruelly oppressed by Stalin, did not welcome this "gift".
Right: A fountain on the way to "Old Warsaw".  Mr. Surface and I met while undergraduates at Marlboro College, in Vermont and began what was to become a long-lasting and rewarding friendship.  He played the lead character in the first play I wrote and directed as a drama major.