Day 16 - Tuesday 24/09/2013 Heading for Berlin,

It's raining today, appropriate for our sad goodbye to Ciocia. She has been wonderful, accommodating us, feeding us, and providing for all our needs during our stay. She is a remarkable woman, and we will miss her greatly. After breakfast, we record her message to her sister in Australia, pack our bags, say a tearful goodbye, and hit the road.

Goodbye Ciocia

We have had a wonderful stay in Poland, and met MOH's extended family. They have all been very generous and accommodating. It has been a privilege to meet and know them all. We will miss them, but always stay in touch. As Wanda said - GET SKYPE! Thankfully, now I actually know the people that we send Christmas cards to. Goodbye everyone, and hope to see you all soon - maybe in Australia??

STS owes this KFC 30c for using the toilet - we didn't have any euro then - oops

It's a long drive to Berlin, and it rained almost all the way. MOH says he knows the way, but we get to Berlin, and he announces that he is lost. After some random turns, u-turns and driving around, STS finds our location on the map, and we are able to find our way to the car rental terminal.

The car is dropped off, and we drag our suitcases around Berlin, looking for our hotel. We are wet through, tired, and I am in urgent need of a toilet visit, so I am very grateful to finally arrive at the hotel. We drag our cases up 3 flights of stairs, only to find out that there is a lift at the rear of the building. I just want to hurry up, and get to our room! Very cranky at this stage!

Sculpture in Berlin

We organise ourselves and decide to go on a reconnaissance of the area, and look for something to eat for dinner. My grumpy mood soon passes when we discover some interesting knick-knack shops along the main street. We bought drinks at the local Netto, and had dinner in McDonald's. Old fashioned sized burgers, and good value.

Cathedral bombed during the war, amongst other buildings

Lots of tourist attractions and shopping opportunities for tomorrow.

 

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Day 15 - Monday 23/09/2013 Saying Goodbye

Today we catch up with all the local cousins, and say our sad goodbyes. We visit Ela in Henrykow, then go to the bank to try to get some money from our traveller's card. We have euro on our card, but the ATM's have zloty. Unfortunately the answer from the bank is no. You definitely need zloty if you travel to Poland, or you might be caught short. Luckily we still ave some Australian dollars to exchange at the 'Kantor'.

Darek, gorgeous Olga, and MOH

Then back to Ciocia's for lunch, kiabasa sausages and mashed potatoes with sauce.

This afternoon we are visited by Kamila, Darek and little Olga, and a bit later by Damien and Agnieska. Later we are called on the phone by Wanda, who wants to know where we are. She is waiting for us, because she has food. Damien kindly gives us a lift to Wanda's on their way home.

We have recorded messages to MOH's mother, their Ciocia, from everyone on the iPad, so she will have a lot of heartwarming footage to watch when we get home.

We get home late, and hit the sack because we have a long day tomorrow.

 

Sights of Szprotawa

Stork nest on top of power pole

 

View from car - Szprotawa

 

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Day 14 - Sunday 22/09/2013 Driving back to Ciocia's

We leave early to drive back to Ciocia's, in Szprotawa for a few nights. The Autostrada is a great road, but lots of tolls to pay along the way. The radio keeps us company, with a mix of English and Polish songs. It's not to MOH's liking, but it keeps him awake. I've grown attached to 'La La La' by naughtyboy which seems to be on every time we change stations. So the volume goes up, much to MOH's annoyance.

Sights along the way

The autostrada, speed limit 120km/hr (some cars are travelling at 150km/hr)

We arrive in the late afternoon, and Ciocia has food ready for us already. This time it's a delicious cauliflower and vegetable soup. We show her all our photos and bring her up to speed with what we have been doing.

 

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Day 5 - Friday 13/09/2013

After a traditional breakfast of bread, ham and tomatoes, we took Ciocia to the cemetery to clean Wojek (Uncle) Piotr's grave and light candles.

View from inside the cemetery gates

During the war, the German army took over the cemetery and ruined the Polish graves. They buried their own people there instead. After the war, the Polish locals reclaimed the land, moved the German graves to one area at the back of the cemetery, and erected a memorial wall with their names engraved on it.

View of road to cemetery.

We went home for a cup of tea and apple sponge. Later we went in to the town centre again for more shopping. We bought some cocoa that was used to make the chocolate and cheese cake - yummmm.

I've noticed that people often greet each other in the street, even strangers.

Price comparisons - Coke 1.75l costs 2.79 zloty (zwoty) = $1.10AU, water 1.5l costs 0.65 zloty = 26 centsAU, diesel fuel 1l costs 5.65 zloty = $2.25AU, cigarettes 20pk 14 zloty = $6.00AU, vodka 700ml 17 zloty = $7.00AU.

In the meantime, Ciocia has been busy cooking. For lunch we are having pierczceonek - rolled pork, with ham and mushrooms and cheese inside, and mash potatoes and pickles. Everything is home cooked here, every meal and cakes and sweets. Many of MOH's family live in apartments, and have couches that are converted into beds each night.

Lunch

Tonight we are invited to cousin Wanda's for a barbeque grill. Unfortunately it is likely to rain, so we will eat inside.

We still went on a tour of their garden - dzialka (jelka), across the road, where we would have had our grill. It is a large plot of land, that they have worked very hard to cultivate and nurture, and now it is a beautiful garden, vegetable plot and entertaining area in warm weather. I particularly like the zinnia.

I tried a small glass of Polish wine, very strong flavour, but sweet.

Dzialka

We will see Wanda again tomorrow, when she takes us to an annual fastival in Zagan.

Wanda's dzialka

 

Zinnias

 

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Day 4 - Thursday 12/09/2013

Liam ate eggs and ham for breakfast today. He is usually a fussy eater so we're glad he is enjoying his food in Poland.

Church of the Virgin Mary - Szprotawa

We went into Szprotawa city centre again this morning, and were able to go inside the old church. It is very ornate inside, and is typical of churches in Poland.

The smell of sweet cakes led us to some cake shops, which were very tempting, but we are content to eat Ciocia's cakes.

Tonight we are going for a barbeque at Mirka and Wiesiek's home. They work in England, and have timed their holidays to coincide with our visit so we would have some opportunities to see them before they go back to work. They leave on the bus on Saturday. MOH has bought some Vodka in anticipation of a big night.

 

 

Church of the Virgin Mary - Szprotawa

 

 

 

The food keeps coming and so does the Vodka shots. I took a sip, and decided to resist Wiesiek's urging for more. Instead, I drink a home brew, like cherry brandy. Despite the language issues we all had a few laughs and a good night. STS kept showing Viesiek where we had hidden our glasses so he could fill them up again.

 

 

 

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Day 3 - Wednesday 11/09/2013

Today we are going to MOH's other cousin, Ella's home for lunch, after we catch up on some clothes washing. Her house is down a very narrow country lane way.

She has a big house, and Ciocia took us on the grand tour. There are lots of interesting nooks and crannies in her house, with dolls and ornaments including a lot of elephants. She has a beautiful garden including fruit trees and a fish pond. After a delicious chocolate and cheese cake and a cup of tea, we had lunch which included schnitzel, mash potato, mushroom sauce and tomato and onion salad. STS enjoyed the food, as we all did.

Anna, her daughter, is a football (soccer) player and was goal keeper for the Poland under 17 women's team. They won the women's european championship. Other teams have approached her to play for them, including 3 in Poland and 2 in Germany. She wants to represent Poland in the senior national team, and has travelled to many countries representing Poland. I have seen her mentioned in a lot of newspaper articles, and of course her mother is very proud of her. Well done, Anna.

I forgot the iPad today, so no photos until I get home, and can access the camera memory card.

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Day 2 - Tuesday 10/09/2013

This morning, after breakfast, we went for a walk around the local area, up to the church, along the river and across the bridge.

River across the road from Ciocia's house

There are fruit trees everywhere - apples, pears, black currants, blackberries, and plums, and they have huge snails here.

Back at Ciocia's we had lunch - potato dumplings and pork with goulash sauce. There was a lot left over, so the renovator's (Darek, Wiesiek and friend) came to have some food too.

St. Mary's church, Szprotawa

Later, we went to the city centre for some shopping. I am looking for some Australian story books, translated into Polish of course, for little Olga. I might have more luck in Warsaw or Krakow. We saw a large church in the city, from the 14th century.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We are still concerned that we have lost our bookings for return flights to London, so we call in on Kamila for help. She called the Polish contact for British Airways and was told that our flights are still on the system. We are very grateful for her help, and she told us to never forget that their door is always open for us. We enjoy our time with Mirka, Kamila and Olga, and then go home to Ciocia's for supper of sausages and bread. STS (second teenage son) has been enjoying the food, too, which has surprised everyone, most of all me.

 

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Day 1 - Monday 09/09/2013 Szprotawa

After a good sleep, we had a typical Polish breakfast - a selection of breads, cold meat like ham, cheeses etc., with a strong coffee. Just what we needed. Coicia has also been busy making some delicious apple cakes. She is an excellent cook.

View from Kamila and Darek's window

Ciocia's granddaughter, Kamila, took us to visit her home, that they are renovating next door. They are on the top floor of a 100 year old building, with a beautiful view of a bridge over the river. Kamila's husband, Darek, is busy with the renovations, and they hope to be able to celebrate Christmas there with all the family. He has a lot of work to do, but it will be brilliant when it's finished.

Ciocia's apple cakes, yummm!

 

 

We went shopping at the local supermarket, Kamila led the way in her car. She noticed that we were driving without the headlights on. Your headlights need to be turned on, even during the day, in Poland. Lucky she noticed, or we could have been in trouble.

 

 

We returned to Ciocia's for a cup of tea. She also gave us bigos, a popular Polish dish made with offcuts of cold meat, ham and sausage, cooked with cabbage, some carrot and other flavourings. Delicious! Ciocia is very clever, and we are very lucky!

MOH enjoying some bigos

 

At 3:00pm we are invited to the home of Kamila's parents, Mirka (MOH's cousin) and Wiesiek. We had a good time chatting to them, even though we have a language barrier. MOH is trying his best to translate everything. Kamila and Darek can speak some English, so we are able to get to know them better on a personal level. We met Kamila's gorgeous 18 month old daughter, Olga (O-la), who kept us entertained almost the entire time. We enjoyed a meal of mashed potato with a creamy mushroom sauce, schnitzel and meat patties, and coleslaw. Mirka is a good cook like her mother. We will never go hungry in Poland!

We watched the video of Kamila and Darek's wedding day. It was interesting to see their unique traditions and customs, and the reception looked like a lot of fun - dancing, and more dancing, and games, and more dancing. Kamila's brother, Damien, was particularly entertaining!

MOH has said that despite his Polish background, it's still difficult getting around, reading road signs and driving in the local way. Some roads are narrow and some are cobblestoned - very interesting. MOH is always interested in the weather conditions, so wants to say that we have had a little rain each day, but it hasn't been cold. The relatives are concerned that we will feel the cold here, but it has been very pleasant. Ciocia's house always feels warm inside, without any heating. She says that they have no draughts and good insulation, to cope with extreme conditions in winter, when temperatures can get as low as -25C.

 

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