Memories of our first visit to Poland

I thought I'd write a bit more about our visit to Poland, the land of my mother and my father and indeed all my relatives.  I have gained a family that I was not really aware of and have also developed a deeper sense of patriotism.  My Polish has improved a bit too!

Our family could not have been more welcoming.  Our cousin, Iza, met us at the airport in Warsaw.  She was with her husband, Darek, and daughter, Klaudyna.  We were all presented with roses to welcome us, even Peter. it was very touching.  Also, I had forgotten the Polish custom of three kisses on greeting!  My dad used to do it when meeting Polish friends.  Polish men kiss each other when greeting each other. We really got into the swing of the kissing by the time our visit to Poland was over.  I thoroughly enjoyed it, I must say.  My brother said he had enjoyed it so much he would start kissing my husband, Paul, every time they met when we got home.  When we had first contacted the Bialystok family to say we were coming, they insisted Cousin Iza would meet us at the airport to guide us to the train station.  We thought we would just meet up and have a coffee.

My sister, Christine, got into Iza's little car whilst my brother Peter, Rosie and myself got into the car with Darek and Klaudyna and we left the airport and got our first sight of the city of Warsaw.  It felt so strange to be in Poland.  The city was not unlike the Paris streets.  Little kiosks everywhere selling cigarettes, magazines etc.  Quite wide roads.  They also have a tram service, which was quite fascinating. 

As we drove through to the outskirts of Warsaw, I was surprised when they told us we were not going to the railway station but they were taking us back to their house for a meal.  We really did not expect that.

Whilst we were driving it was strange to see many blocks of flats with washing flapping in the wind.  I don't remember seeing any normal houses.  Just many, many, blocks of flats.

We arrived at my cousin's block of flats.  It looked grim from the outside but when we went up the stairs and entered the flat, it was lovely and bright and modern and had quite large rooms.  They had a wonderful balcony which looked out to woodland.  In the living room was a table beautifully laid out, with lovely crystal glasses and the finest china.  She hadmade us all our favourite Polish dishes,

My cousin and her family treated us like royalty.  I have never felt so welcome anywhere in my life.

Heres a picture of the lovely Iza and her sweet husband Darek. 

He is a baker and they both work very hard in their business.  He leaves at 4 a.m. every day and doesn't get home until late.  We had some of his beautiful cakes and by the time we had eaten all they wanted us to, we could hardly move. 

It was such a shame my Polish was bad and I couldn't say too much to them both, but I do know how to say thank you.  Luckily Chris remembered a lot of her Polish, I was so proud of her.  Klaudyna, their daughter, was very fluent in English.  I did manage to tell Klaudyna that she had very nice windows, when I meant that she had very nice eyes!  Oche and ocne are very similar, thats all I'll say in my defence.  That caused a real laugh and I don't think I'll live that down.

We had such a connection with them and made arrangements that we would meet up again on our way back after visiting Bialystok before going to the airport for our flight home.

One thing I should mention is that the Pope died just before our visit to Poland.  We arrived in Warsaw the day before his funeral.  Here's a picture of some of the lights we saw.  This was taken in the old town of Warsaw.  These lights were everywhere and it was quite eerie the night we arrived to see them all and everyone out in the streets standing around.

 

Well, after all this feasting and bonding, we were then taken to the railway station by our cousins and they did not leave us until we were safely on the train to Bialystok! 

Our next adventure was about to begin.

Here's Chris with Cioca (auntie) Lila and Cousin Lila at our second feast of the day.  Doesn't my sister look like my cousin!

More to come on our visit to Bialystok.

Hope you enjoyed this entry.

Hugs.

Terry x