Happy Thanksgiving in Warsaw

Happy Thanksgiving from Warsaw, Poland…

I have absolutely loved the fall season here in Poland! The changing leaves and trees have been beautiful once again, we have had many cold days, and I love wearing sweaters and scarves….it has been a beautiful season! But today…has been a little different, it is the very first time I have not been in the United States for Thanksgiving…and I am missing home today! 

Last week Mark called around to a number of hotels thinking maybe they would be serving an American Thanksgiving meal in Warsaw….but no such luck for us. Then Mark remembered about a restaurant called "Jeff's" that serves American food and we could possibly have some luck there. There are two locations in the Warsaw area and so when Mark came home from work today (first time he has worked and worn a suit on Thanksgiving)….we drove to the restaurant. 

One of the best parts of this Thanksgiving evening was that Mark was home at 4:30pm!!!! That never happens…and I was so happy to have him home so we could enjoy our Thanksgiving date!

 We arrived at the restaurant about 5pm….but it has been this dark since 3:30pm! Darkness arriving so early continues to amaze me!

After parking our car…I noticed an American flag waving near the restaurant…that made me smile!

 After being seated, we asked the waitress if they had an American Thanksgiving meal for today because we didn't see anything listed on the menu. She said "tak!" (which means "yes"). I ordered the Thanksgiving meal…but Mark ordered a Texas burger! I thought that was funny since it was Mark's idea to call around to hotels looking for a place serving a Thanksgiving meal, and it was his idea to take me out on Thanksgiving?

 Here is my American Thanksgiving plate…a huge amount of turkey, a little bit of dressing, carrots, mashed potatoes and a little bit of cranberry sauce. Also served prior to this plate was a vegetable-turkey soup that was quite tasty!

 My meal was really good! No strange spices, flavoring, sourness….it was all quite good! Of course I could not eat it all…but I was so happy eating a Thanksgiving meal (though without friends and family). 

Mark enjoyed his HUGE Texas hamburger and HUGE portion of fries!

 They brought out the dessert that went with the Thanksgiving meal…I knew it was pie with a dollop of whipping cream and a small Polish scoop of ice cream…but what kind of pie would it be?

It did not look like pumpkin…never heard of chocolate dribbled on pumpkin before? Maybe it was a peach or fruit pie? We shared and tried to figure it out.

 I asked our waitress… Co to jest? (What is it?) When she said "Dynia" …I knew exactly what she meant…"pumpkin"! We were actually eating a pumpkin pie and we didn't even know it!

It was quite different (they do not have canned pumpkin in Poland)…so this was the real deal…a real pumpkin pie!

 Happy Thanksgiving…at Jeff's in Warsaw, Poland

 As we left the restaurant, posted outside was this HUGE sign (that we did not even notice when walking into the restaurant)…announcing their special for the day…."American Thanksgiving Day Dinner"!

 Mark had quite a busy and important day at work…and was tired…but we were so glad he was able to leave work early…and together we could enjoy a Thanksgiving date !

 Though it has not felt like the Thanksgiving season in Warsaw this year….except for in our home….I have had a thankful heart all month long…and I am so thankful for each new day! We are blessed, we have daily challenges, and we have grateful hearts!

Happy Happy Thanksgiving 2012!

Last Day in Wrocław,,,

On our last day in Wrocław we took a self-guided walking tour following a little map. It was in an area we had partially walked before…but didn't realize all of the interesting sites we could see and learn about in this area.

 After 3 days of walking Mark thought staying in or near the hotel sounded like a good idea.  But he was a good sport as we headed once more down the streets of the Rynek.  Next door to the City Hall in the center of the square is the oldest restaurant in Poland…Piwnica Świdnicka. We didn't eat there…maybe on another visit.

The architects and builders who originally created these buildings were never shy in using great details  in their colors, paintings, designs and ornaments. The details are quite nice!

The structure below is called The Pillory.  It's actually in memory of the pillory that used to be located on this spot in front of City Hall.  The pillory was a structure used to publicly humiliate and flog people convicted of minor offenses in the middle of the market square.  I noticed this structure with a tiny statue on top when we had walked past it on previous occasions, but paid little attention to it.  Now that we knew what it represented we looked closer at the statue and saw that it is of a man holding onto a whip…so this was actually a whipping post!

We went inside the old but very beautiful City Hall...

It was filled with rooms with beautiful old doors, art, furniture...

….stoves....

….and beautiful ceilings and framework.

It is amazing to think this building took 250+ years to build in its current form…with sections and rooms added on over the years.

 Here is the very first gnome created…Papa Gnome! We actually saw this small figure from a tram the day before….but on that occasion, when we walked over to see if it was a gnome I said, "No, this looks like an ape. I wonder what it means?" Little did we know it was the very first gnome!

 The history of these gnomes dates back only to the mid 1980's…as a symbol of protest against communism and censorship by a student protest movement called the Orange Alternative.  Gnomes are common characters in Polish folklore, and the protestors would paint gnomes in public places as absurd symbols of their protest.  It wasn't all whimsical though….anyone caught painting gnomes or wearing orange hats were subject to arrest and sometimes beatings.

Wrocław reclaimed the gnomes as a city symbol by erecting this gnome monument on June 1, 2001, in memory of the protests of the Orange Alternative.   In the ensuing 11 years, businesses and other interest groups have placed the other gnomes at many locations all over the city.

We had heard, "Oh the city with the gnomes", or "You know, Wrocław is filled with gnomes"….and didn't know what those comments referred to….but now we do.  

Since there are over 200 of them, I am sure we would enjoy finding more on our return visits.

Here is the gorgeous Opera House in Wrocław…"Wrocław Opera". It was built in 1841 and over the years has been expanded with a number of different stylistic variations. I would have loved to step inside….better yet, to have seen a performance here.

We almost tripped over this little gnome with walking sticks…which someone actually had taken away!

Here is a statue of Bolesław the Brave…the first duke and then the First King of Poland. He was considered a very successful ruler, politician and statesmen. It is erected on a city corner in the middle of trams, buses and pedestrian walkways. 

One of my favorite monuments in Wrocław was in honor the common citizens…we found these sets of statues on opposite sides of the street at a major intersection.  Together, the two sets of statues are called "Crossing" or "The Anonymous Pedestrians"

These life-size bronze statues are a memorial to the many people who went underground in the middle of the night to escape the militia after the declaration of martial law on December 13, 1981.

On one corner are people walking down into the ground….forced underground by martial law.




Across the street are people walking back out of the ground after having persevered until martial law was lifted.

 The 14 statues were erected here in the middle of the night in 2005….

…. on the 24th anniversary of the imposition of martial law.

Every December 13 there are demonstrations in Warsaw, and perhaps all across Poland, against the declaration of martial law in 1981.  The man who was president of Poland at that time lives just up the hill from us, and it is customary for one of the demonstrations to end near his house.  As far as we understand the demonstrations are noisy but peaceful, and watched over by a significant police presence.

We had a great walking tour…all done on our own but with the help of a guidebook.  I would have loved to do another walking tour...but our time in this beautiful city was coming to a close. 

So…. goodbye to Wrocław…and your beautiful streets...

….to the Best Western Hotel Prima….

….and a wonderful weekend together….

Another artistic creation that caught our attention on the way to the airport….

 ….a locomotive standing on its back end, proceeding up a track leading up into the air.  

We are not sure what it means…or how it was created…but it definitely caught our eyes!

We have loved Wrocław…Poland's 4th largest city…such a rich cultural heritage, beautiful buildings, parks and green spaces…we loved learning and relaxing together….and  being here during the autumn season. We have had a great weekend!

How fitting that the last gnome we found was quite close to our hotel…it is holding a heart…we have loved being in this beautiful city!

Safe journeys home…to Warsaw!

A Trip to Bolesławiec

We arrived at Wrocław's main train station before 8 a.m. for our 2-hour ride to Bolesłwiec….the center of the Polish pottery industry.

We were traveling for the first time on a 2nd class regional train without reserved seating.  We were just hoping to get a seat...

….and we did!  The ride was comfortable and not really crowded which we were most happy about!

 Checking e-mail  on the BlackBerry….or playing Brickbreaker?

We stopped at many small railroad stations along the route.  

This is the train that people can take from town to town….the "milk route".

 Once again many beautiful autumn trees and countrysides.

We arrived a little after 10am…and once we figured out how to leave the train station and walk to the factories and shops we were good for the day…or a few hours anyway.

There are many Polish pottery factories and shops in Bolesławiec, Poland. In fact this tiny town is known for its factories and for sending pottery all over the world!

I knew we were getting close as I spotted signs and large pottery pieces placed on the streets, corners and fences….drawing customers and tourists like us to their shops.

Once we found the main street with shops and factories I was delighted!

We had been told that some of the factories actually give tours…but when I called I was told they no longer do so. We still enjoyed looking at the different shops and seeing what different pieces of pottery were here, compared to what we have seen in Warsaw and other Polish cities.

I was wondering if, since this is the town that manufactures the pottery, the prices for the pottery would be much lower….I learned a "yes" and "no" to that question. There are many more designs, patterns and kinds of pieces here than I have seen elsewhere….but the highest quality "#1" pieces that I want are very similarly priced as in Warsaw and other Polish cities.

What a busy, great shop we found ourselves in.  There were many pieces of 2, 3, 4 and 5 Quality rating, at much reduced prices that many people were buying.  I wanted only the Quality 1 pieces though, and so did not buy from many of the shops.

A piece of pottery can receive a Quality rating lower than 1 for many reasons….and still be a high quality piece…but I did not want to take a chance so only opted for the Quality 1 pieces.

We enjoyed seeing the pottery displayed in such creative ways...

Mark was a good sport as I went from shop to shop…most of which had "husband couches" to rest on.

Bolesławiec is very close to the German border, in fact it used to be part of Germany, along with Wroclaw and other Polish towns and villages in  the area. There were many signs in Polish, English and German.  We saw the word "Ceramika" often…which literally translates to "ceramics"….but in Poland it means Polish Pottery.

This was our favorite shop…one of the first we saw and last we visited. It was filled with many tour groups…traveling from Germany, the Czech Republic and other areas around Poland. People come far to buy the Polish pottery…how lucky we are to live so close to where we can buy it and share it with others.  I only wish we had a car with us…I think I could have purchased much more this day!

We had also heard about a glass factory not too far from Bolesławiec.  So with an address, a taxi driver that did not speak English…and two Americans who spoke little Polish…we found Studio Borowski !

At the entrance of the gate, there was a sign that said "enter at your own risk"…interesting. We rang the bell and workers let us in…and then let us wander to the area where glass was being heated and blown. We only wish someone spoke English so we could understand what they were doing, and the process behind the creations .

Though we watched for only about 5 minutes, it was quite interesting to see.  I was amazed at the absence of safety equipment like goggles or other protective clothing or devices.

Here they create very modern and unique glass pieces….a co-worker of Mark's traveled all the way to Kraków in order to buy one of these pieces for a wedding gift.  Mark was thinking they made clear, crystal-like pieces….so he was disappointed.  But I had read the pieces were very modern. We did buy a small glass tree ornament there.

Most of the pieces were not our style of decor…but this chameleon would have been fun to have in our yard!

Since it was a relatively long trip to Bolesławiec, our taxi driver was happy to wait while we explored the glass factory.  Once back in town he dropped us off at this highly recommended restaurant….Opałkowa Chata.  It was quaint and busy….at first there was no room for us in this little cottage…

….but then they found the smallest table underneath the rafters in the attic area.  

Mark loved his Polish pancake stuffed with meat…and I had a very unique salad from the salad bar. The bread was so delicious and warm…it was great to relax for a little while.

There are many types of artistans and crafts found in and around Poland.  Besides Polish pottery, another craft is wooden carvings.  Outside the restaurant I am sitting between two life size wooden figures….

.…and more beautiful pieces in front of the restaurant.

We had been in Bolesławiec for 4 of our scheduled 6 hours…but since we had a 2-hour train ride back to Wrocław we opted to leave a little bit earlier. We had made some nice purchases, saw some beautiful work…and were both glad we had come since we were so close to this area.

The train stopped at 18 stations on the way back to Wrocław…not really too bad though, since we weren't in a hurry to get anywhere.  We both read and Mark was able to work. We were successful in riding the 2nd class trains in Poland!  I would not use the bathroom on board though…quite interesting, Mark said.

After the train ride we were ready to explore some more.  Very close to our hotel was a little side street that we had seen a number of people walk through. I wanted to see this area also. At one end there were a number of cast iron statues of  domestic animals….a "Memorial to Slaughtered Animals".

300 - 400 years ago this area was filled with animals to be butchered and their meat sold to customers…thus the statues in honor of the animals that were slaughtered here….at "Stare Jatki" - Old Massacre.

The butcher stalls have been converted to little art studios…built on medieval foundations!  

 Most of the studios were not open due to the holiday weekend…but I saw unique and beautiful pieces of art through the windows.

After nightfall we ended up back at the Market Square…and saw many Christmas trees and decorations.  We thought they were getting ready for Christmas, but we also saw lights and cameras….they were filming some type of commercial.

There was simulated snow on the sidewalks, and the area really did look like winter….the trees and lights were festive.  I didn't want to get in the way and was walking away on the sidewalk.  But when I heard "prosze Pani…" I knew I was being told, "Please ma'am…don't walk on our snow".  All I could say was "I'm sorry…I didn't know". 

The next day this area was completely empty of any trace of winter, holidays or Christmas. Most definitely the filming and decorations were for some type of commercial.  It did look pretty and would have been fun to see during the Christmas season.

Before returning to the hotel we stopped by Starbucks for cakes and hot chocolate.  On the way home we went right past this little gnome!  We had another great day in Wrocław and Bolesławiec… and enjoyed learning so much about this great area!