On Oct 19, 2007, at 0:38, dtayloe (Vicki) wrote:
My husband and I are heading for Prague for a week and then onto Warsaw for 3 days and Krakow for 3 days before returning home. Does anyone know of lace supply shops or recomendations on museusm s etc for us to see while on vacation?
No idea about Prague, but we have a few Czech members who, hopefully, will chime in with advice before Monday.
There's very little of lace tradition in Poland, so you might as well stop thinking about getting any lace supplies (and never mind lace supply *shops*).
In Warsaw, the Old City (and peripherals) is worth visiting. It's full of tourist traps (aka shops), some of which carry lace (mostly tatted). It's also full of old -- restored after the WWII disaster -- architecture, good food, fantastically skillful young buskers (from all over Europe, but mostly from Polish and Russian Conservatories) and mind-bogglingly beautiful (also restored from ruins) churches.
In Krakow... Pretty much the same, though the lacemaking (both bobbin and crochet) tradition is much closer there. Also, since Krakow has never been levelled by hte Nazis the way Warsaw had been, there's more to see. Wawel (the castle) is a "must see"; lace (and related needlework) peeks in most unexpected places; I and a couple of friends visited it in '01 and, in the underground *armoury* saw a breath-taking bishop's cope worked in glorious, metal-thread, trapunto.
You never know what's around the next corner :) The Folk Art Museum had splendid paper (very lacy) cut-outs, as well as lace on (for show only <g>) pillow-cases and some costumes. And patterns for embroidery in the "museum store" which looked so unpromissing, we nearly didn't stop. And, of course the "Old Town" in Krakow is "something else". The shops (some of which carry lace, many of which carry embroideries and amber/silver work) are located -- on two longer sides of a "square" -- in what used to be the buildingss of the "textile guild" (Sukiennice). In between them is Kosciol Mariacki (the Marian Church), with two uneven-height towers (and a legend to explain it) and an altar by Wit Stwosz (1448-1553), which is one of the best pieces of relief sculpture I've ever seen, and I've seen quite a bit.
People from Warsaw are supposed to hate Krakow and vice versa, but I fell in love with the cleaned up version of Krakow (it was pretty grim and un-enticing when I saw it before, in '59 and in '70) and would recommend exploration. But don't count on much of a lace-haul. That way, every bit you come accross will be a delight and, if you don't "meet" any, you won't feel disappoined.
Enjoy your trip! -- Tamara P Duvall http://t-n-lace.net/ Lexington, Virginia, USA (Formerly of Warsaw, Poland) - To unsubscribe send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] containing the line: unsubscribe lace [EMAIL PROTECTED] For help, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
