To provide some contrast to seeing the concentrations camps of Auschwitz and Birkenau, I decided to go on a light hearted trip back in time to an example of the perfect communist town of Nowa Huta ( which means New Steel Mill).http://www.answers.com/topic/nowa-huta I embarked on my tour with a hotel pick up by a pretty blonde driving a 1960″s era Vernault. Who could ask for anything better.
We dove just out of town to see what was designed by USSR after they drove out Hitler. As I disvoverd with my privious tour, it was Russians, not the US troops who freed all the people from the concentration camps. The USSR liberated and then occuoied Poland. To show the Polish people how wondeful living under Communism would be, they built the utopion city of Nowa Huta. It had a huge steel mill to employee everyone. It provided housing, equal wages to everyone, was designed with perfection and resembled the best of urban planning. It was a wonderfully concieved master plan in the late 50’s early 60’s.
When I was there it was like going back in time. It makes me want to visit Cuba before Fidel Castro dies and see the last of communism.
For anyone ever visiting Krakow I highly recommend http://www.crazyguides.com/
Russa was finally driven out in the early 80’s after many of the peaceful protests happening in Nowa Huta.
The Vernault: Check out under the hood. Everything is there, fuel tank, engine and battery. It has a 2 cycle engine so you had to mix oil with the gas. There was no gas gauge, you just had to take the lid off and look in to see how much fuel you had. the car was build out of fiberglass so it was very light.
The church was really cool. The outside was covered in beach pebbles that were collected by all the people of the town. The guide said it was designed by Le Corbusier, but I later found out it just looks like his work. It was a very moving structure. When you are inside you felt like you were underwater looking up at the bottom of a huge boat. Perhaps Noah’s Arch if you believe in that stuff.
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