AndrewHL's Guestbook

Beautiful Pictures
I felt like I was back in Heidelberg....very evocative pictures!

Chihuly is amazing
The talent some people have is utterly amazing. I always check out his works when we can.

The joys of Seattle
We lived in Seattle for 7 years and near grew tired of the market and the beauty of the surrounding area.

Wooden shoes
It is probably strange but I always love photos of wooden shoes.

You have quite a memory...
I also visited the 1964-65 Worlds Fair, but couldn't remember every exhibit. The one I do remember was General Motors, which had a road building display and of course their cars. A friend of my mothers bought the displayed Cadillac. I also remember the Ford exhibit with the first Mustang. I guess I'm better at remembering cars!

The beauty of the Netherlands
The windmills are lovely.

Amazing Architecture
Thanks for taking us along.

Serenity
Lovely even on a cloudy day.

Very cool
We hope to go to Poland soon.

Gnomes
An adorable collection of gnomes.

Copernicus
I had totally forgotten that Copernicus was Polish. I had come to think of him as a Greek/Italian scholar. Torun look like it's packed with history and character :)

El Galeon
What an amazing ship.

I look forward to visiting Poznan this fall!!!
Poznan was the first capital of Poland with King Boleslaw "The Brave" Chroby. becoming the first king of Poland. You missed getting a picture of his statue! We are going there to get a picture of his statue, as he is both Linda and my 29th great grandfather. His sister, our 28th great grandmother, was Świętosława "The Haughty" (and "Sigrid" in Sweden and "Gunhilda" in Denmark) Mieszkówna of the Piast Dynasty, and Queen of Sweden, Denmark, Norway and England. Firstly, she married King Eric "The Victorious" of Sweden (28th ggf), with whom she had a son, King Olaf III "The Treasurer" (27th ggf). King Olaf III had two daughters, Princess Ingegerd who married Prince Yaroslav "The Wise" Vladimirovich of Kievian Rus (26th ggf) and Princess Astrid who married King/Saint Olaf II Haraldsson, King of Norway (32nd ggf...vikings had shorter generations than other as they were always killing and being killed). King Olaf II was killed in the Battle of Stiklestad in 1030. His younger half brother King Harald III "Hardrata" Sigurdsson of Norway (31st ggf), known as "The Last Viking," was wounded fighting by his side, but escaped to Kiev where he was welcomed by his relative Prince Yaroslav "The Wise." He then traveled to Constantinople where he was commander of the Varangian Guard who protected the Byzantine Emperor. He returned to Norway after 16 years where he was crowned king. In 1066 King Harald III was killed in the Battle of Stamford Bridge by the army of King Harold II Godwinsson of England (29th ggf), who himself was killed in the Battle of Hastings by William the Conqueror (26th ggf) a couple weeks later. Secondly, she married King Sven "Forkbeard" of Denmark, Norway, and England (28th ggf) with whom she had two sons; the oldest Harald II became King of Denmark, and Canute. She told Canute that if he wanted to be a king he would have to conqueror another country. So, he invaded England with the help of the fearsome Polish cavalry provided by his uncle, King Boleslaw. He became King Canute "The Great" of England (27th ggu), and with the passing of his brother Harald II, he also became King of Denmark and Norway. So, Polish Świętosława was the Queen or Queen Mother of four countries, but not Poland itself! We are also related to the first kings of Hungary and Serbia, so will also visit there, with the statues of many of these kings at the Heroes Monument in Budapest, including Köten Khan of the Cumans, our 25th great grandfather. We are enjoying following the footsteps of our ancestors!