Dzien Dobry --

After visiting the amazing wooden church in Lutcza, we were driven back to Helena Janusz’ house, where we said goodbye to her and her family, and met her 77 year old brother Jan.  He was there with his son Pawel and his grandson.  We exchanged greetings on the side of the road, and he told us he wanted to show us where Dad’s grandmother, Agatha Ciurczak Rec, lived.

We drove through Lutcza, and on the way saw an enormous bird’s nest on top of a telephone pole.  Through Lukasz, we learned that the nest was a stork’s nest.  It was huge.

We continued to drive up some dirt roads until we reached a farm.  We got out of the car and walked through someone’s farm.  Jan pointed at a birch tree on a hill and told us that this is where stood the house that Agatha was born.  We had to do a little imagining (I pictured some of the timber cottages with thatched roofs that we saw at the Skaansen museum the day before). The man who owned the farm came out of his house and was yelling to us, asking why we were there. He was not mad, but rather interested as to why someone would be walking through his farmland.

We drove to Jan’s house and were greeted by his wife, daughter, and granddaughter.  We were brought into one of the room’s in his house, where he had some chairs, a couch, a bookcase with quite a few books (including a 15 or so volume of Polish History), and the obligatory table with nice tablecloth and plates of food.  They had kielbasa, cheese, pickles, herring in oil (ugh), and various cookies and cakes.  Having eaten a full meal not 1 ½ hours earlier, we were not very hungry.

Jan’s house is small, and similar to the houses we have seen through the villages. The room in which we sat could comfortably sit six people or so (there were ten of us!).

Within minutes, Jan had offered us some vodka, beer or wine.  We politely said thanks but no thanks.  He walked out of the room and returned with a bottle, which he placed in the middle of the table.  Zdislaw starting laughing, and turned to Lukasz and whispered ‘bimber’.  Lukasz laughed and looked up the word in his dictionary.  He pointed to the English translation.  I laughed and turned to Dad and told him ‘moonshine’.  We all got a good laugh out of that.  It seems Jan makes his own potato vodka.  He poured us all a shot and we drank to naz drovia. I asked for a small amount, and he kept giving me a hard time – “Why do you drink such a small amount?”

We talked for a while with Jan and his family.  Jan told us that he has wanted to visit America for a long time, but has had trouble getting a visa.  As he is telling us this, he continues to pour himself a few (actually, four) more bimbers.  Must be pretty strong stuff, as it appeared to have an effect on him rather quickly . . .

We all went outside to take some family photos.  Beate (Jan’s cousins’ daughter) arrived at Jan’s house to meet us to help us drive to our next stop.  She was driving, of all things, a small Suzuki Samurai.  We said our goodbyes and loaded into the car to follow Beate to her mother’s house.  

We drove through some beautiful countryside on the way to Zofia Cwynar’s house.  They live atop a hill, where they have a large house (larger than the ones we have seen so far), an attached barn, and a farm.  Again, we were warmly greeted and welcomed into their home.  Zofia, her husband, and Beate and her two (rather rambunctious) sons sat with us in their living room.  We exchanged stories and photos (Dad continues to amaze me with his Polish speaking abilities).  Lukasz and I sat in the corner and he translated every so often – when there were some interesting stories.  They prepared tea, and had cookies and desserts on the table.  Beate went into the kitchen to prepare a red borscht.  Smachni!

Not long after, Zofia’s son (she has 2 sons and a daughter) arrived with his wife and two children.  They were very nice.  Beate sat with us and proceeded to play 20 questions.   Good grief, she asked me everything.  How did you meet you wife?  What is it like in America?  What do American’s think of Poles?  What do you do for fun?  It was fun.

I asked to see their farm.  They took us through the kitchen, passed a fabric-covered doorway, down a hallway and through a door into the barn.  The barn is attached to the house.  They had three milking cows, a horse used to help plow the fields, and several pigs.  Well, as usual, one of the cows felt obliged to crap in front of us.  I think I bring this out in cows.

We went outside to take some photos, and said our goodbyes.  We were off to our next stop - - Zofia’s sister Maria’s house.  Maria’s son came to get us at Zofia’s, but we made a detour on the way.  Zofia told us about a cemetery where several family members are buried.  We drove up the hill to check it out.  On the way, we drove by another old wooden church.  I could not believe it.  If we had more time (it was already 6:00p), I would have stopped and begged to see the priest to let us in.  The wooden church sat towards the top of a hill.  It was beautiful.  Well, we checked out the cemetery and I got a little freaked out – it was cold, rainy, foggy, and getting dark.  The perfect setting for some disturbed Stephen King-like incident.

When we arrived at Maria’s house, it was getting quite dark.  We were greeted at the door by Maria, her husband, her daughter-in-law and her grandson.  Little did we know this was the beginning of the onslaught.  Maria and her husband are renovating their house, and it is very nice.  Beautiful wooden floors, a modern kitchen, nice light fixtures, and a very nice spacious bathroom.

We sat at their table, which had juice, tea and desserts.  Again, we exchanged stories and photos (poor Lukasz and Zdislaw – they have had to sit through the same boring stories four times in a row).

Many of Maria’s family members came over to see us, including two of her sons, their wives, and four of the grandchildren.  Maria asked if we were hungry, as she had made us dinner.  We all laughed – heck, it must have been a full one hour since we have had something to eat.  Out came a wonderful soup, followed by chicken and mashed potatoes (you know, nice light food!).  Everyone was very interested in speaking with us, and the grandkids were adorable – they wanted to learn English words.  One little girl was running around the house saying, ‘Excuse me’ and ‘Hello’.

Stefan (one of Maria’s sons) had done a bit of genealogical research of the family.  I had received a copy of one of his family trees several months ago (it was very helpful).  I have promised to send him copies of my revised genealogical files.

This was a wonderful family.  All of them were very polite, very friendly, and a joy to be around (very much like all of the other friendly, warm people we have met today).  They have all gone out of their way to make our brief visit a pleasant one.

Every family we visited today invited us to return during another trip.  They all welcomed us to stay in their homes the next time we visit Poland.

We said a very heart-felt goodbye and drove back to Wadowice Gorne.  On the way, we laughed about our experiences, from the bimber to the ‘let’s-see-if-we-can-eat-every-two-hours’.  I joked with Zdislaw that we must make a stop on the way back for a quick snack.

When we arrived at Lukasz’ house, his mother and grandparents greeted us at the door.  It was after 10:30p, and they were all very worried.  His grandparents were convinced that we had been taken hostage by thieves, robbed, and killed.  They were truly very worried, but felt much better when we returned.

What a wonderful day and a wonderful experience!

There are many sites and cities in Poland we have missed – castles, museums, historical sites, churches, etc.  However, we feel that we have not missed a thing.  We have had a chance to do what less than 1% of the visitors to Poland have an opportunity to do – spend some time with wonderful people and see the true, real Poland.  The memories we have of the time we spent with these very nice people will last a lifetime.  I am not sure if there is a saying about Polish hospitality, but there certainly should be one.