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Ok, but seriously, folks. Poland is so beautiful. Definitely one of the prettiest places we've been to. I always laugh when people tell me they are a little afraid to visit. I get it; I really do. Eastern Europe sounds scary - is it in Russia? Or just near it? Is it still Communist? (Answers: No, Poland is west of Russia in Eastern EUROPE. It is sort of near Russia, I guess. I mean, it's closer than Tennessee is. And Poland wasn't Communist; it was Socialist. And, yes, there is a difference.) Well, all of that and the complete lack of being able to ready ANY sign at all... unless, of course, you read a Slavic language, but not many of us do. In reality, though, Poles are some of the kindest, friendliest people I've met. They're happy and funny and just ... nice.
And the food. Oh. The food. Have you had authentic Polish cooking? NO? You're missing out. If you live in southern Germany, I know there's a Polish restaurant in Frankfurt that's pretty good. Kaiserslautern and Mannheim both have Polish markets if you're just looking for some yummy ready made barszcz or sausage. But if you visit Poland (and I really cannot recommend it enough), don't worry about not being able to read the menu. Just point to something random and enjoy. It's all delicious.
So while we were there - happy surprise - they had a wine festival! I live in Germany's wine country so this shouldn't have been a big deal to me, but it was lots of fun. All over Rynek Square (aka Market Square) vendors set up gardening ideas and furniture to try out. Everything was decorated with flowers and they were kind enough to provide information about where you could purchase these goodies if you so chose. I thought it was really thoughtful. They even had a couple of sandboxes for kids to play in or to rest your feet in and dream of the beach.
We spent too much time at the wine fest to revisit the cathedral and island, but maybe next time.
Oh! And I haven't told you yet about the gnomes, have I? You know how some cities have statues of cows or horses or whatnot and they are usually painted different colors by local artists? Well, in Wroclaw, they have gnomes. They are mostly small and are scattered all over the city but there are quite a few gathered in the downtown area - most likely to make mischief together, I imagine. Isn't that what gnomes do? They're tons of fun to find. Some are easy to spot, others hide from you. They even have their own website if you'd like to learn more about their history and get a map of where to find them. And don't worry, you can switch the website to English in the top right corner.
Our trip culminated in a wedding. Is there any better way to end a long weekend than with two young lovebirds dancing the night away? Probably not. I had never been to a Polish wedding, and let me tell ya- these guys know how to throw a wedding. I'm very fortunate I had never been to one before I had my own wedding because it would have too expensive for me to have in America and I would have been heartbroken.
All of the food - yes, the food again - is served family style and there is always a full meal available on the table. And we're not talking about for a couple of hours, either. From 6pm to around 4 or 5am, we partied. We danced. We ate. We drank. We ate some more. We laughed. We talked. And we ate. Every couple of hours the servers cleared the tables and brought out another round of deliciousness. There were at least 3 tables of desserts and vodka on every table. I think Mike & I went to bed around 3 because we had a 9 hour drive to make that afternoon. Or maybe it was because my dress was too tight from eating so much. Either way, we woke up the next morning for brunch and the whole thing started again. It was fantastic!
Now I'm off to convince the Mr. to take me back again!
Ok, you have convinced me to visit Poland. And gnomes? I LOVE gnomes. I must go there.- Tamara
ReplyDeleteYou'll love it! And they love redheads!
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