Far-Flung Postcards is a weekly sequence wherein NPR’s worldwide correspondents share snapshots of moments from their lives and work world wide.
Inside an hour of touching down at Chopin Airport in mid-April, I discovered myself right here alongside the centuries-old Krakowskie Przedmieście road, among the many flag-waving supporters of Poland’s conservative and nationalist Regulation and Justice Occasion, identified by its acronym PiS.
I’ve been to many occasions like this one over the previous a number of years of protecting Poland, however I had by no means been amongst so many purple and white Polish flags. As I elbowed my manner by way of the hundreds of marchers, dozens of flags caressed my face and hair, and one managed to cowl my head for a number of seconds, briefly blinding me because the chanting crowd moved round me.
They’d come right here to rejoice the 1,000th anniversary of the coronation of Poland’s first king, Bolesław the Courageous. Many had been exhibiting next-level patriotism, carrying conventional, colorfully embroidered costumes and fur hats — symbols that appeared to serve, on at the present time, the political message in regards to the significance of nationwide id delivered by the presidential candidate they’d come to see forward of considered one of their most vital elections in a era.
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