Poland in photo riddles - part 3

The interior of the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw?

No, but a brisk walk away from that. In Warsaw city centre.

Incidentally, the building is special inside in a very specific way, one that both limits its use and creates great opportunities.

You know this building. It's great. Or as we'd say in South Yorkshire, "Eeh bah Gock, it's ret grand".

Is it a relatively new building?

In a way, most buildings in the centre of Warsaw are relatively new. This is post-war but not modern.

The metal that you can see in the picture is decorative but also has a specific function.

Seems like something that would fit in the lobby or bar area of the Hotel Bristol - but that's not a modern building

Is it in a hotel ?

Ok, thanks, that's ruled out my suggestion which is very modern.


It's not part of a lift/elevator gate is it?


That's good news. I had treatment for skin cancer a few years ago now but I wasn't going to mention it while you were waiting for news.......and it's all fine now.

I think it's Teatr Wielki:

uk.yamaha.com/en/news_events/2016/0215_20_warsaw.html

Brilliant.

It is. The main auditorium.

And what's very special about that opera house that is both an advantage and a disadvantage?

Why is it there? Not just decorative.


That's a good guess. It looks a bit like that.



Thanks.

This is the photo it was cropped from. Should give a clue about why it's special and what the metalwork is for.

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  IMG_1227.jpg
  

This is all going to be down to acoustics. It has the largest stage in Europe with exceptional acoustics and was designed with advanced acoustic technology. Everything in that auditorium will be finely tuned to give the best possible experience for the audience and those on stage.

Having said that, the exceptional acoustics are also going to amplify unwanted sounds such as people chattering etc


Reflection panels for the sound?

Yes. The metal is for acoustics.


Almost. It's a wide stage, though not very deep in comparison. Not the widest, Salzburg is three times as wide which can be a problem for them sometimes.

This is both bad and good in a specific way. Bad because it severely limits the co-productions they can do (impossible to transfer anything from or to Covent Garden which has a very deep stage but isn't very wide). Good because it matches well with the stages in Brussels and Cardiff and often shares co-productions that they share as a three.

The width also means it's got good visibility and is great for ballet.

Thanks for the explanations. Wasn't going in quite the right direction with what I said.

I'm guessing you've been quite often to this theatre. I remember before on the forum you mentioned theatre and opera, which is why I guessed it might be a theatre. That or one of the art museums.

Quite a few times, though sadly not this year.

The Chamber Opera often uas nicer things on, but is a much smaller venue. We were once sat next to Bronislaw Geremek and his wife there. That was only anger weeks before he died in the accident.

An expert in statement analysis would have a lot to say there....

Phone typo. Should be "a few".

He was a good man. One of the best post war Poles.

What is this?:

• 
  riddle7.jpg
  

Looks a bit like a piece of flint but probably isn't

Is it limestone? Looks like a band of something running through it but it's a bit blurred.

Could it be some kind of meteorite?

It isn't flint, limestone or meteorite :)


Yes, can you make out the colour?

Looks like a very pale milky blue to me.

@Feniks, that's a very good description of its colour :))) Actually, it hints at the Polish name of this particular type/variety. 🤔

Akwamaryn? Although I don't think it is. The colour reminds me of blue ice.

@Feniks, nope, it's not aquamarine!

My other guess would be opal which is mined in Poland but I think it's more of a green than a pale blue colour.

@Feniks, yes, well done, it's opal!!! :))) 🥳🎉 Opal mleczny to be more precise - literally it means "milky opal". Apparently it's lechosos opal in English?

Where in Poland do you think it was found?

Btw, this is what it looked like after getting it out of dirt:

• 
  opal.jpg
  

Lower Silesia? I already read that opal is mined in a place called Szklary.


I love the colour :)

I have a lot of gemstone jewellery but no opals yet. They're prone to cracking unfortunately.

Yes, exactly! Opals in Poland are mainly found in Lower Silesia and this one was found in Szklary-Huta :)

Opal used to be very valued in antiquity, because it was rare. The only place where it was known to be found in Europe was apparently today's Slovakia. In the 19th century vast deposits were discovered in Australia and opal has become the national gemstone of that country :)


Me too :)


Yes, apparently they can break like glass.

Other pieces found at that location during a half an hour walk:

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  Szklaryopals.jpg
  

Yes, I was quite surprised to find it was mined in Poland.


I think most of their opals come from a town called Coober Pedy.


I didn't realise you had collected them! Cool!