Krakow Academy of Fine Arts students and other encounters!;-)

Why did the UK weather move to Poland?
Here is a new theory! So many Polish people have left for the UK, that the British weather has moved here to keep the balance right! Hence, there is rain and fog in Poland, while Britain is basking in the sun!
I may need a raft going to Krakow today. I guess crutches could perform as oars, should the need arise!
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Krakow didn't suffer from excessive rain during my two-day stay. The whole trip was great, So many fascinating people met, starting from a very old many on the coach amazed at my smartphone and talking to me all the time until he got off in Kielce. He saw computers occupying the whole room some forty years ago and couldn't comprehend they now operate at a touch of a finger!  Then there was my new friend, a keen Esperantist who's travelled most of the world with her group. Heading for a portion of grilled cod I snapped this gorgeous red squirrel so those only familiar with the grey one could see what the European squirrel is like:

Next, I must mention awesome young people, fine arts students at The Krakow Academy of Fine Arts.
 It was a pleasure and fun to talk to them about their works currently exhibited at the academy. Angelika, Szymon, Aneta and others, I can't wait till I find the time to add the pictures and write about them more.  So please come back to this post soon.

In the evening, I was parting with my friend on the corner where Florianska Street meets The Old Town Square and you are facing the side of St Mary's Church, when I saw a male choir ready to start singing by a temporary altar beside the church wall. That looked interesting so I stopped and looked. (Fortunately, I didn't need to rush to visit my dearest Krakow friends.) Other people were stopping too. Soon I could see what was happening: a small Corpus Christi procession was approaching, as it does every evening for a week after the feast itself! I couldn't compete with the speedy, (semi-)professional photographers, but I still got a good few shots and also, I recorded a bit of the singing on my little magic phone.

The Chocolate Manufacture at Szewska Street was not a busy place around 8 pm. Undisturbed, I could compare the two old Town Hall towers, one real, the other made of chocolate:

However, I shall now associate the chocolate-eaters' hive with the most hilarious moment when one of the customers, a middle age woman with a sweet little girl, browsing among the numerous pieces of various chocolates in more and less unusual and surprising shapes and combinations, spotted an item on a top shelf and pointed it to the girl: 'Look! Look at that! See? Lord Jesus!'. I couldn't help turning towards her with most surprised and questioning look, rising my brows high; saying nothing though. That made the woman look closely to examine the chocolate piece and she realised her embarrassing mistake. Fortunately, there was no way the girlie could see the object which definitely was not meant for kid's eyes and hence was displayed where their sight couldn't reach! I shall say no more! The woman bought a choco-delicacy suitable for the child and left the shop laughing, but still rather embarrassed. The sales girl and I were trying to guess what made the woman think of Jesus. It was a hard task, as Christianity doesn't promote such images, that's for sure. However, the clever sales girl came up with an explanation. The woman must have thought the little scenes depicted The Road of The Cross at first glance. Well, this is only to her credit. We were in Krakow, not in Soho or a certain part of Amsterdam! Anyway, I was buying some sweet gifts and we were chatting about some other funny things, prompted by the situation, but unrelated to the funny scene when,  suddenly, the woman stormed back in and with a wicked smile said: 'So, you are still laughing at me!?'. We both contradicted, but used the opportunity to ask her what scene involving Jesus she saw. She wasn't sure, maybe scenes in Lord's life, or The Road of The Cross. I couldn't help remarking how good it was she didn't say so several hundred years ago. Back then, she could be sure, the stake would be getting ready for her....
Aren't some of us more lucky then others as to when and where they happen to live?
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Saturday afternoon, sunny and warm.... Nice... Ideal to remove the moss that has started to grow on the edge of my balcony floor. I love moss. It's delightful to walk on it in the forest, looking for wild mushrooms or picking blueberries... Unfortunately, on my balcony it is out of place. Before I start the job, I will add here a few of the Friday Krakow pictures taken at the annual end-of-the academic year exhibitions of works by the students of  Krakow Academy of Fine Arts:

Angelika Gurtat and her sculpture

Angelika Gurtat impressed me both by her sculpture and her comfortable manner of speech. Intrigued, I googled her name, as suggested, to find that she had already been awarded before being admitted to the academy: http://www.zakopane.eu/index.php?option=16&action=news_show&news_id=6579. Behold: GRAND PRIX —Angelika Gurtat z Zespołu Szkół Plastycznych w Lublinie
IX OGÓLNOPOLSKI KONKURS RZEŹBY W DREWNIE Well done, Angelika!
In our conversation I told her about an artist met at a bar in Barcelona in 2012. Lawrence Gundabuka joined me at a table in an empty tapas bar, because only from that particular seat could he draw a sketch of a sculpture which, as it turned out, he had made earlier! Here is the Australian artist's site: http://www.peschke.eu/LG/LGhome.html . When my friend joined in, we had a great time together (a chatty barman including) and came out with our portraits done in no time! One day they will be displayed in our abode!

 The legs below reminded me of  peculiar, cow-shaped legs of a table in the Dairy  at Ham House near Richmond. Please, do not get me wrong, I am far from suggesting that the student who 'committed' the legs below took inspiration in the said dairy table. It's just that the legs brought back so many precious memories of my hikes along the Thames and a few visits to Ham House. The Thames Path is an amazing feature for any keen walker or biker.  I simply adore walking any distance between Kew and Kingston-on Thames, provided the weather is decent. I can't wait till I can do it again, alone or in a nice company! From Ham House you can walk to The Thames bank and take a little ferry boat across the river to visit Marble Hill House and walk towards the house where William Turner lived if you've had enough of the river walk! Possibilities are countless!

After this slight detour, let me get back to the Krakow bovine legs. I didn't meet the artist who made them so I can only make guesses as to what (s) he wanted to tell the world making this cute pair of pink legs wth hooves... Somehow, the colour and the shape makes me think the artist was a female, but unless some of you, Dear Readers, tell me, I won't know...  I thought I'd remember, but it simple wasn't possible as I saw a huge number of works by the next generations of Jan Matejko, Jozef Mehoffer and the like...

The dynamic gazelle is the pride of Aneta Sliwa who also made a a few more works shown below:

Pegasus with glass wings was made by another trainee she-sculptor:

The bike was photographed because I and many of my family, as well as friends love biking:

This sculpture was in the corner:

That group was well hidden 'backstage':

Damien Hirst inspired display?

In an effort to peer in nearly everywhere in the vast four-floor premises of the art school, and with the walking limitations, I did the in a great hurry. That couldn't be helped. It's a pity, as each work deserved attention. I cannot tell you anything about this trumpet, nor about most of the other photographed works:

By a few days I missed a funny, but meaningful happening, part of another exhibition:

 

 These two forest-reminding-me-of works caught my eye:

There still was more to look at: originals and copies of works by famous artists that decorate the building:

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