Whirlwind visit here so far. Not sure I remember what happened Monday now. I do remember rest of Sunday pretty much a wash since I was too tired to go out again after my bus trip. This was fine cause Sara and I needed to catch up and she has her translations. I know I slept in cause Sara left on her bike in the morning to teach a lesson. I think she travels to most of her students, but it is winter break from school here now and she only has a couple of students this week. She was home by 11am-noon at the latest and we ventured out for the first time. Sara has a student who joined us for the walk to town. Her name is Marta. She is 17 and a finalist in the national English contest in Poznan this spring. Only 58 finalists selected in all of Poland so quite an honor for Zamosc and a real testament to Sara's teaching skills. Her english is flawless!
So Sara, Marta and I explore the Old Town of Zamosc by foot. We had lunch at a pizza place that had George Bush and Ben Laden featured pizza's on the menu, but we just ordered an eggplant and prosciutto (I think). I had red wine, while Marta and Sara each had banana juice. For dessert we went all-out decadent for REAL hot chocolate at a popular Chocolatier off of the town square. My hot chocolate was really a fruit fondue that was to die for!
Tense episode awaited when we arrived back at Sara's place and discovered she didn't have her keys. All pockets, bags, etc checked. Keys awol. Called Sara's landlord who let us in. Searched some more and not a trace.
Gave Marta the brownie mix I had brought for Sara. Sara hasn't figured out her oven yet and Marta knows how to use hers. Also this was a good exercise for Marta's english - learning how to prepare an American brownie mix, which she promised to do and bring back the finished product!
Tuesday, February 3rd
Errands with Sara that morning. Needed to get wine and gift for Sara's friends who invited us to dinner. Good thing we came back to apt before heading out - Marta called and said Chocolatier found keys! Yippee! Back into town to get keys and catch bus to friends house. Bus missed stop near friends house. Oyvey! Bus driver needed signal but Sara says they're not necessary. Anyway, he drove so quickly past the stop that there was no chance to indicate our wishes.
So we were on this bus headed to a small village called "Wychody". We took this as an opportunity to check out "greater Zamosc" and stayed on the bus to Wychody. Very curious looking structures in the backyards of homes in this village. They look like little beekeeping houses. They are all painted different colors and lined up in rows. They also have ramps leading up to the doors. If anyone has any information leading to what these things might be, please let me know! Everyone here has heard the description but has no clue.
We eventually reached a stop close to friends house but it had started snowing and big temperature drop. Really ready for warmth and dinner. Sara's friends are a delight! - Janusz, Julia and 5 yr old Amelia plus her 5 yr old cousins Monia and older sister, Alicja. Typical Polish dinner awaited and apple crepes for dessert! Julia is quite the sous chef!
After dinner, Alicja played piano and Amelia and Monia sang Christmas Carols. I had a rare opportunity to teach Poles how to play Polish Poker. They LOVED it. We played the rest of the evening with Sara holding the lead.
Wednesday, February 4th
Lots of shopping today. Met Janusz and family in town square late morning. Oh, particular highlight was being awoken by Sara's client needing a translation for a job reference. At the town square, took pictures of the ice rink. Lots of kids hanging out here today with school on break. Could not understand the meaning of a 2 week school break beginning of Feb. Apparently it's a hold-over from communist rule days when there were no religious holidays, let alone lengthy school breaks. Check out my picture of the ice rink (looks like a postcard!):
Met our friends and did some shopping for traditional Polish gifts. Found myself a pretty amber necklace. 5 yr old Amelia saw lots to buy! We spent some time at Julia's brother's second hand store. I bought four winter tops. That was fun. To post office to mail postcards. Then to restaurant for dinner. YUM! Janusz and Julia had some sort of meat entree while Sara and I had pierogi's and this really delicious, warm and flavorful beet soup that we drank like tea! Here is picture of me and the family:
Back at Sara's to greet Marta and our promised brownies! She was embarrased as they didn't turn out quite right. They were hard around the edges, but still tasted like brownies so they were fine. We taught Marta Polish Poker and another game from Sara that was like UNO.
Thursday, February 5th
Decided to ride the train back to Krakow on Friday. Bus only takes an hour less and was much more crowded. More errands in town - retook some of the pictures Sara thought she had taken but were not saved. Found the Corner Pub. Here is Sara outside the Zamosc Corner Pub. This is really a Polish sister pub to our beloved Corner Pub of Silver Spring!
Some other shots of old town by the award-winning digital camera whiz - Sara Wild! This one is me standing outside part of the wall surrounding the east gate to this walled city:
We went to the Zamosc Museum where we saw an actual model of the city as it looked when it was created in the 1500's. Of course, huge portions of this wall are gone now, thanks to the Russian conquerors in the 1700/1800's but they are now being restored. Zamosc is on the UNESCO World Heritage List and some assistance is coming with their admission into the European Union.
Now being Thursday and, back in Silver Spring, we are always at the Corner Pub on Thursdays for 1/2 price pizza, we should have gone one step further and actually had lunch and possibly pizza and beer for lunch at this place but I was hellbent on crepes and hot chocolate at popular trendy local place off the town square called "Bohema." We each had these wonderful vegetable and cheese crepes with garlic sauce. Dessert was hot chocolate with chili powder!
Sara had a 5pm student, so I chilled at her place while she biked over to their place. She manages to ride in all types of weather, but I'm not sure about in the dark. So I was a little worried when she was a couple of minutes late getting back.
We were going out again but decided to just shop for my snacks for my return train tomorrow. Got some Polish beer for Lewis, bottled water and pastry for me. Got Sara a badly needed cutting board and teflon spatula for her kitchen.
Too tired to go back out. I had to wake at 4am to catch my train. Cab scheduled to pick me up at 4:45pm. Showered and packed before bed. Sara worked on translating but seemed to get to bed earlier since she was waking up with the alarm like I was.
Friday, February 6th
Didn't need the alarm. Stayed awake all night. Basically got dressed and ready and a light breakfast. We said our goodbyes and I was right on time for the cab. Little hesitation at the train station not knowing the language and being sure I got on the right train and that it was 2nd class. All was well. Train very very slow. At times thought I could probably walk faster, but soooooo much better than the bus. And only a few zloty's more. Worth it.
Language barrier erupted again when I wasn't sure of my stop in Krakow. Lady in my car warned me at the stop immediately before but we were able to communicate enough for me to know for sure that the stop I wanted was immediately after that one. Whew!
Next hurdle was getting me and my stuff over to the airport train. No problem here. Just followed the little illustrated signs. One scheduled to leave about 15 mins after I arrived in Krakow! From there it was pretty uneventful. Was at the airport 2 hrs before my flight. PLENTY of time for my badly needed cup of coffee, bathroom, last-minute souvenirs and to check in with Lewis.
Arrived in Frankfurt on time at 5:30pm. Lewis there with a single rose! Quite a journey, folks! I can't wait to return to Poland with Lewis this time! Oh, interesting sidenote: gloomy with snow and ice the whole time in Poland. But Sara had to just tell me that immediately after I left the weather cleared, got much warmer and sunnier. Go figure. Of course, now it is gloomy and rainy here in Wiesbaden. Guess I have some bad weather karma following me around these days. Let's hope it doesn't continue!
Till next week,
Jaime
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