Polish National Independence Day - 11th November

A special Sunday today for both English and Polish people. 

It's Remembrance Sunday here in the UK, almost everybody wears a poppy on the lapel to commemorate the fallen soldiers. I think I'm more in tune with Mr Robert Fisk's late father: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-do-those-who-flaunt-the-poppy-on-their-lapels-know-that-they-mock-the-war-dead-6257416.html ... Watching television in the Damascus hotel, he uses harsh words, but to my simple understanding, they are to condemn the war and to make us stop to think if it is right to glorify it...  Damascus... I was so lucky to visit this amazing multicultural city a year or so before the conflict began there, destroying the lives of so many innocent ordinary people. Yes, I could see there was a strong hand holding it together, that's true. However, they could wake up in safety every morning. Oh well, I admit, it's not that simple. 

The other day I met a woman at work who had just received the shattering news: her relative was killed by a bomb blast in Syria.... Her husband took refuge in another Middle-eastern country, he cannot join her here, she is longing for a child, her biological clock is ticking... The time is getting short, I wish I could elaborate more on this topic, make a comparison with the Polish past and  the events in the second part of the 18th century which resulted in erasing the country from maps and the suffering of thousands of innocent people, all in the name of what? falsely understood patriotism, democracy, religious beliefs???? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bar_Confederation 

 In Poland , the 11th of November is The National Independence Day, celebrating the country's regaining independence after 123 years of partition by the three powerful neighbours: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_Day_(Poland). I'm celebrating this anniversary by taking my compatriots on a hike from Ealing Broadway to Gunnersbury Park to pay tribute to the Katyn Massacre victims and to visit the Polish graves at Kensington Cemetery. Innocent, ordinary people swept by the winds of history, that doesn't change...

 I met two friends by Ealing Broadway Station and we marched all the way along The Mall, past the newest and very friendly Polish grocer's to stop by the  Polish church in Windsor Road with people spilling outside during the Sunday mass. The original Methodist church was built in the 1860s a to accommodate a thousand worshipers, but then remained abandoned and fell into dilapidation when the congregation moved to the church in Ealing Green. Although it was sunny, the light was not right to take a good picture. It got more camera friendly when we got to Ealing Common, but still I missed on a snap of St Mathew's Church in North Common Road; although we even peered in trying not to disrupt the Indian worshipers preparing their service. Nothing strange here, in the UK. Churches are often hired by different congregations who do not have their own premises. BTW, one of my companions sings in St Matthew's Choir and they are giving a concert on December the 2nd!

From there we crossed the through road and stopped to read about the history of Ealing Common. Then we carried on our walk in the sun, enjoying the sights and the colours.

We carried on to Gunnersbury Park admiring nice sights and chatting about the places we passed and the people linked to the borough.

We eventually got to the museum at Gunnersbury Park:

We stopped for a coffee at the park and admired the lake from the distance:

 The Park was at its best:

 And there is hope for the buildings as some money was granted for the improvements:

Here you can see the shadows three of us cast upon Princes Amelia's Bath House:

A daughter of King George II lived at the Gunnersbury Park mansion before it was split into two separate buildings by later owners. She entertained the high society in these splendid grounds.

Through the park it was an easy reach to Kensington Cemetery perched on the edge of the Rotschild's grounds. Yes, the famous family of bankers were among the owners of the estate and you can find out about it at the local museum.

Kensington Cemetery was founded in the 1860s. There are many Polish people buried there, along with the English people and other nationalities. Katyn Memorial  commemorating the slaughter of Polish officers by the  Soviet army stands tall above the graves.

It was a memorable day for us all, with some lovely autumn sunshine.