Time flies when you are having fun

Whew, what a whirlwind the last week has been!

In the space of the last seven days, we have been to three different cities - Kazimierz Dolny, Sandomierz and Krakow. Each has imprinted its memories.

Kazimierz Dolny is a bit like coming home. It is a lovely little city situated on the banks of the Vistula River. It has some castle ruins, a town square with a famous well, and is the place where my parents got married. It's like coming home because it is the place to take family that is visiting from out of town, or in this case out of country. We laugh everytime we get taken there, because it is the standard tourist stop.

Nonetheless, it was dear to see it again, and this time, we toured a 16th century convent, where my mother bought herbs for everything from hemorrhoids to hypertension. We also met this monk who was desperately lonely and a lovely old man. I wanted to buy a rosary for E and L there and he would not take any money for it, and he blessed both of them. It was heartwarming. He told us a bit of the story of the convent, and we got the impression that if we stayed longer, he would have gladly spent more time with us.

The day we went to Kazimierz Dolny, it was a national holiday. Apparently, it's the place to be to show off your vehicle and your family. To walk the town square and to have a beer. Everybody and their uncle was there. I did not mind so much, as it was a sunny day. The throngs of people were not really interested in the same spots that we were going to, so that made things all right.


Onto the next city. On the 12th, we set out for Krakow, by way of Sandomierz. The highlight of Sandomierz was a 13th century church. But first we got stalked by a guide who popped out of her car when she spotted us and offered to take us through another church. This one was from the 16th century. A young'un. She had crazy hair and spoke with the speed of a machine gun. Lovely lady. Don't remember a word she said. She steered us toward the 13th century church, where, as it happened, my camera battery decided to bid adieu. Hence, so few pictures of St. Jakub's church were captured. We did find a statue of St. Czeslaw there - my father's namesake.

We arrived in Krakow in the late afternoon and set out for the city centre. This is a square again, with a famous basilica and stores in the middle of the square, called sukiennice. In medieval times, cloth was traded there, hence the name. The buildings were beautifully lit up at night, and I'm glad that I started snapping. Some of the shots worked out nicely.

Let me tell you, I wish I was in Krakow with my sister. It has such a spirit, so much life. It's a city for young people. So many hostels, so many clubs, so many things to do and see. I have a photo of a bar advertising 'dancing on tables' on Thursdays. You had to be there. I think they were dead serious.

We toured the castle and churches that would make you cry. We were bone tired at the end of the next day, full of walking and touring. At one point my eyes hurt from looking at things. So much history, so much tradition and such richness of spirit. It was wonderful. I am very grateful that I got to experience this at this point in my life, when I can appreciate it.

At the end of the day of touring, we wandered into the old Jewish quarter of town. We were hungry and hurting. None of the restaurants seemed to fit. How can you eat Italian or Portuguese food in the old Jewish quarter? I didn't think so either. We finally wandered into a little bar called 'alchemia' or 'alchemy.' This is funny because I was older than the crowd in the bar by about ten years. It was dark and smoky and oozing with coolness. You can imagine how well my mother, aunt and uncle fit in. The best part was that the bar did not serve food! Yes, liquor and beer only. And I thought you had to serve food to prevent people from getting sloshed! We had a beer on an empty stomach, and then stumbled out to find food. We found a little place that did not serve kosher food, but the food was yummy. Borsch with uszka, or mushroom pierogies.

So, the week was jam-packed with memories and feasts for the eyes. A good week indeed.

One big happy family

Today, we are crammed into my aunt's country home...a two bedroom home that is currently housing eight adults and one very precocious child. I love family; however, it is very close here and on top of that, the septic tank is full.

Yesterday, we attended the baptism for my first cousin's four-month-old child, conducted in a small church near her home. I realized that I no longer remember the Lord's prayer in Polish or the Hail Mary for the matter. Sad.

The photos from the day sucked, though. I was not having good luck. Everything came back blurry and stilted. Oh well, you can't win them all.

I'm impressed with the people of my parents' generation. Two people in particular were drinking shots of vodka last night. A whole bottle's worth. I'm thinking that if I were to partake, I'd be dying today. As it is, there is a persisting buzz in my head, perhaps from mixing white wine and screwdrivers. But they were chopping wood today, as if all was right with the world!

That is stamina.

I have decided that children, apart from my own, are good in small quantities. My cousin's child is an only child and is quite precocious, as I mentioned above. Maybe it's due to too much time with adults? All I know that when she was bouncing off the walls last night at midnight, I was ready to run. So much for routine and structure. Seeing all those children made me miss my own kids more than ever. Wish they were here to share this with me.

Crossroads

This is a country of contrasts.

Today, we toured the Zamoyski palace in Kozlowka. To get there we drove through a number of villages. The contrasts are the new builds, with jaunty colours and unique designs, versus the screeching poverty of the old buildings with peeling paint and cracked windows. It's like the country is really trying to resurrect itself, but cannot quite get there yet.

It's like that with roads too. They are so plugged with cars, because cars have all of a sudden become affordable. So people are getting cars and going everywhere, but the infrastructure is not there. The roads are so narrow and traffic is atrocious.

I thoroughly enjoyed touring the palace. They showed us about six different rooms. The most amazing things were the heating fireplaces. Made out of porcelain tiles. This family was so exclusive and rich that they had things made to order, such as the designs of these fireplaces, and then they had the blueprints destroyed, so that they could not be repeated. They had a 500-year-old rosary on display. It was made out of agate and silver. Likewise, the dinner service was made about 300 years ago, but now they have no idea who made it, because the family did not want the mark of the craftsman on the dishes, so they just had their family crest on the bottom.

The Canadian connection with this place is that they emigrated to Canada after WWII and settled in the Montreal area. Neat.

Let me tell you about a little treat called 'nalewka'

We are in the midst of very foggy and rainy weather here, it seems.

Today, our adventure was to head out to the outdoor market. This I recall from my childhood, except not that particular one, of course. The day was not particularly favourable, with a slight drizzle; however, the vendors set out their wares. You could buy everything from felt-lined rubber boots to rat poison and everything in between. There was a stand with kitchen cabinets, but I did not see one with the sink. We meandered, bought a little bit of this and a little bit of that, and ended up going home. We were done by 10 a.m.

I am having a hard time doing nothing. I realize this will be a complaint falling on deaf ears, but the morning hours after we got back stretched out a bit. Again, the meal times are a bit awry, so I can't rely on those to guide my day. Thank God for the laptop. I am keeping myself amused with it.

So, to get to the meat of the matter, my family makes this heavenly potion called 'nalewka.' Since I am of age, I can partake. It's between a spirit and a liqueur. We've had a plum-based nalewka and today we had a raspberry-based one. This is one of those things that you have to be careful with as it goes down quite nicely. But when you try to get up to the bathroom, all of a sudden the room does a little spin.

Cheers.

Walking among the convalescents

We took a bus into Naleczow today - 1 stop. A bus is really a passenger van, but that is the preferred mode of public transportation here.

There was a fabulous wooden church there. It struck me that no matter which church we go into, there are always people praying there. Kind of neat, to see that kind of faith. Just quietly sitting in the pew and praying. I wish I could have had better light in the church. It was very dark; ergo the photos sucked.

The convalescents were on the grounds of the sanatorium complex that we walked through. This brought back fond memories of my grandparents, who went there for various periods of convalescing associated with their myriad of chronic non-life threatening conditions, which always lead to a litany of description of symptoms and required medications. I remember visiting them as a kid and walking along the same paths among the majestic trees that line the park. This town is famous for its healing spring waters, which we of course, have in the bottled form here at my aunt's.

Who could resist posing with a bronze stature? Not me, that's for sure. I hope to be able to include the results here soon. We might also get to go to a Chopin concert there. I think I'm getting all worldly now!

I think my mother has figured out a way to eat regularly. They are a little bit 'loosey goosey' with the meal times here. Sometimes they're like snacks, and truthfully, we were getting a bit antsy for regular, hot food. So, anytime we are out, she proposes to eat. Not so good for the wallet, but hey, leads to a full belly in the end. Today, we had lovely meat pierogies, as well as hunter's stew. I'm still full and it's 10 p.m. But, this particular establishment had BIRDS on the menu. I kid you not. Apparently, they're a delicacy. So are snails, but you don't see me rushing out to sample.

Tomorrow we head to a bona fide outdoor market. I can't wait.

Day 2 and 3

What an unimaginative title, but hey, I'm not feeling very inspired. What I am feeling is homesick. For my kids and my husband and down to the small things in life, like my toilet.

It turns out that when you are older, you have a hard time adjusting to things as well as you did when you were little. I'm talking about wrecking havoc with meal times and such.

Yesterday, we went to pay respects at two cemeteries. One of the cemeteries was fertile ground for my obsession with photography and wrought iron. It heartily fed both. Except that I wore the wrong shoes and of course it killed to take every step. Then we went to a supermarket, and those have changed. I miss the old communist-era supermarkets that were tiny and offered no choices. Now, they are just like our stores, and it stinks. Even most of the signage is in English.

By the time we got home, my feet ached, I was starving and very tired.

On a happy note, I was able to get ahold of a friend from the First Grade. I have not seen her in eleven years, but I will see her next week. I will also hopefully see my Grade 1 teacher. Fond memories of those moments in childhood. My old school is now a high school, which is kind of sad. Apparently, my home town has changed a lot, but I haven't been able to go there yet.

Today, we set out to Lublin. We walked all along the old part of town, and I fed my passion for photography. Bitter disappointment after coming back. Most of my shots blow. I'm not sure what to do differently to make them better either. Urgh.

We did have a run-in with the old system in a restaurant/pub we went to. The food was atrocious and the service was just confused. It was not pretty, but I ended up with a full belly, so that was OK. We were approached by lots of people on the way around as we walked by. Some wanted money, some started talking to my mother in English. It was a bit surreal. I don't think I would do well there by myself. The two churches we went into were gorgeous, though. Baroque inside, no fanciness spared.

Lublin is in a renaissance. Most dilapitated buildings are being restored. The castle is restored. Everything looks fresh and almost new. I was impressed.

Of Toilets and Men

We took a walk today.

It turned out that we were taking our lives literally in our hands, as we walked along the side of a country road for about two kilometers. It's a national holiday here, so people are going to the cemetery in droves, and they do not slow down for pedestrians.

Nothwithstanding the mortal vehicular danger and my mother saying 'be careful' every twenty feet or so, I was happy. I could take as many pictures and stop as many times as I wanted. The fun part came in when we came to an old train station for the village of Sadurki. It had the most fabulous water tower, which had a set of very intricate wrought iron stairs. And with my wrought iron obsession, this was a very nice thing to photograph. What more could a girl ask for?

But then we were walking back on the way from the train station, and there was a WC. An honest to God European Water Closet. Let me tell you, it was preceded by a stench that was quite ovepowering. The best part was when I came in. My mother said, "don't go in there," so how could I resist?

The toilet was a HOLE!!! Concrete poured into the shape of a box, with a hole in the middle. And out of that hole came stuff that should really stay on the inside of toilets, or rather their plumbing. I, of course, could not resist taking a photo of it. I have been threatened with my life if I put it up on here. As we were leaving the train station WC area, a man came over and beseeched us to "call someone" about the toilet problem. He thought that we were some sort of reporters from a newspaper who were looking for a story. About Polish toilets, no less. I was tickled pink. He said that the mens' was worse. And that I should go in there and photograph it as well. He actually insisted. Adn when I refused, he offered to take the photos for me. Ha. Like I would let my camera out of my hands.

The walk was lovely.

At the airport where we met Barry

Philadelphia, PA, Thursday, October 30, 2008, 1447 pm

We have made the first leg of our journey. We are sitting in an airport, overlooking the airbus that will take us to Frankfurt. Funny thing about planes in the 21st century, they have gotten smaller. On the commuter plane from Buffalo to Philly, we found our seats and someone's carry-on was stowed under one of our seat. He was sitting across the isle and thought that this would be OK. He was quite indignant when we requested that he remove his giant bag so that we could have leg room. Sheesh. He had to duck to walk onto the plane, so I guess he thought the world was his oyster.

So, we made it through the first flight. A bit like riding a bike, except this was a boeing hurtling through the air. Eleven years since I've been on one of these things. It was exciting.

I have to tell you about the flight attendant on the first flight. She was a very beautiful woman, but the was intelligible. I guess if you have to say the same shpiel over and over again, it becomes a bit routine; however, we could not understand her. AT ALL. It was like an SNL episode, except it was real. Every time she got on the mike, we would laugh. Except for Mom. She was genuinely concerned that she could not understand the safety instructions. I said that if we would need to jump, I won't be looking for the flight attendant anyway.

Then it was time for lunch, since we had FIVE hours in Philadelphia. The thing about the metropolitan airport was that it was DESERTED. We had to take a shuttle bus to get to the right part of the airport, and then went in search of food. What might you eat in Philadelphia, you say? Of course, we had to have Philly steak. A bit gross actually, bu what do you expect from airport food? Then we had the crab fries, which came recommended from a waiter who looked like a Barry. He was very friendly and looked like he might break out into the chorus of Rent at any time. We were the only patrons in this restaurant. Barry recommended the signature dish of crab fries, which frankly, were just shy of a salt lick. Where is the brisket when you need it?

As I blog this, I hope that L is not crying again. So much for happy holidays in the homeland, when your heart is being ripped out. That is so green of me, to think about how much fun the trip will be and consider how much heartache a little soul will go through. Ugh, go to stop thinking like that, or else I will never take another three week holiday without my children in tow.