October - Trip to Poland!

10 days in Poland in the winter with two children - a bit ambitious for our first trip “abroad”, I think. We flew into Krakow about 8:00 p.m. and needed to reach our hostel in downtown Krakow, about 15 minutes away. After getting our luggage and translating some signs, we walked down to the train pick-up just as it was pulling out of the station. We then missed the next bus and though paying $50 for a taxi as ridiculous. Ended up waiting in the rain an hour for the next train in. We arrived at a completely deserted downtown Krakow station about 11:00 p.m., gathered our luggage and our children, and started the several block walk to our hostel. Luckily, we had the stroller with us so Jake was able to sleep through it all. Emma was such a great sport, pulling her little suitcase along the cobblestone roads in the pouring-down rain.

We finally found a building with the correct address but looking like something straight out of a horror movie. Turns out, Erik had previously made reservations over the internet at a local hostel, but received an email two days before we left saying they had overbooked so could we please stay at a sister hostel a few blocks away. He agreed and got the address. So, back to the dark and creepy-looking building….we entered, stood in a dingy hallway with flickering lights, trying to figure out what to do next, when we hear a shaky little voice piping up, “I really don’t like it here, can we please stay somewhere else? I’m scared.” The little trouper Emma had finally hit her breaking point. Erik finally figured out that this “hostel” was located three floors up so left us with the stuff to go up and figure it out.

He returned with this news: The hostel is actually just a bunk room, which was currently full of a group of women and they have no reservation under the Jensen name. It’s 12:30 a.m., we’re tired, stressed, hungry, but, speaking for myself and Emma, very grateful that we didn’t have to stay there. We walked several blocks back to the downtown square where we had seen several large hotels, real hotels. We were incredibly lucky to find that Hotel Polonia, a rather grand old hotel, had a room available at a reasonable rate. We trouped upstairs, only to discover that a “double room” actually means two twin beds pushed together. At this point, we’ve been through enough that I don’t even blink, just drag the bedspread onto the floor, throw a couple of pillows down and make a bed for Emma and Jake while Erik and I collapse onto the twin beds.

Not an auspicious start to our trip. The next day, it rained. All day. We managed to get out and explore the square (pictures to left and right). We ate at a milk bar (a traditional Polish cafeteria) and Emma and I browsed the market stalls. I was tempted by the Polish pottery, but in the end I knew I couldn't travel around with it so I only bought a couple of small things. We stayed another night at the hotel, and then left for Pulawy.

Right:Wawel Castle and Church in Krakow, in which the beginnings of the residence of Polish rulers on Wawel hill go back to an early Romanesque stone building from mid 11th century.

Left: Feeding pigeons in Krakow Square.






Left: Emma and Jake in a fairly cozy, private train car.



Right: Many Communist-era buildings across the land still exist. Not all are as dull a this one--often they are painted in a rainbow of colors.


We arrived in Pulawy to visit our friends Andrey and Ania, who we met two years ago when they came to Salem for a year on a teaching fellowship. They were wonderful hosts. They showed us around their mid-sized, charming town and surrounding castle ruins in the countryside. Oh, and the food! We ate so well there--Ania continued to produce plate after plate of delicious food--meats, cheeses, and dessert at every meal. We stayed two nights and left on a morning train for Jaslo, where we were going to attempt to visit some of my Polish relatives on the Konieczny family side. Andrey was a huge help, as he was our translator by phone with Tomek Cholewiak, our contact in Jaslo. He spoke no English, so through Andrey we were able to tell Tomek when to expect our arrival. He kindly offered to pick us up at the train station.





Left: Andrej, Ania and Hania


Right: Jensens (obviously)--isn't the scenery behind fantastic?

So, on with our trip: We had a bit of adventure getting to Jaslo--as in, we got on the wrong train during a transfer in a small town after leaving Pulawy, which was going the opposite direction. But before that, while we were waiting for our (wrong) train, I got a great picture of this (hopefully you can read the graffitti):

As I was taking the graffitti picture, this woman came walking by, homemade broom in one hand, cleaning supplies in the other, a scarf over her head, and those stout Polish ankles covered in bobby socks:

Continuing: So after we realized we were on the wrong train, we got off at the next stop in a random town where we spent some time paralyzed with indecision. We finally found a bus to Jaslo, but had the added complication of needing to call Andrey to ask him to contact Tomek so he could translate our new travel arrangements. But it worked out fine, we arrived in the late evening and were met by Tomek, with hugs and big smiles and virtually no spoken words, shortly after. I'm not sure how we communicated, but somehow we managed. He took us to a hotel, waited for us to check in, and then took us out to his house, where he lives with his mother and father, brother, sister-in-law, and niece. Not dirt poor, but not rich, either. I think they all lived together because of tradition but mostly because of money. Turns out, none of them knew any English (they learn Russian or German in school, it seems) so we made use of the Polish-English dictionary as best we could. Polish is not an easy language to read and pronounce, though, so we did a lot of writing Polish phrases down to get our point across. It was difficult, and stressful, but they were so nice, friendly and generous that we couldn't help enjoying ourselves (even though it felt like something out of the Twilight Zone!)

We arrived at the house about 8:30 pm to find the coffee table in the living room absolutely covered with foods: sliced meats and cheeses, bread, crackers, sausages, drinks, desserts...and they had already eaten, so it was all for us. We sat there, awkwardly, eating and drinking as the grandmother kept urging "Eat! Eat!" in Polish. We complied, in order not to be insulting. Most of the evening is a blur...we stayed for a couple of hours, Emma played with the shy 6-year old grand-daughter and Jake played with her toys. Tomek, as it turns out, is an almost identical replica of Uncle Paul, who would be his second cousin once removed or something along those lines. He even laughs and talks like Paul (except in Polish, of course.) It was very disconcerting. It shows how strong a gene line can be, across the generations and the oceans. They had some pictures in an album of when one of their older relatives, mabye the grandma's sister, came to visit Portland, Oregon--she was standing with my Grandma and Grandpa Zegar at Multnomah Falls--crazy. I wish we could have communicated better, but maybe someday we'll visit again, after we've had some Polish lessons.

Left: Some of the family and our picnic on the coffee table.

Right: Emma with Natalia (who eventually warmed up to Emma.

Left: Tomek in Poland.

Right: Paul in Oregon.

(Will someone email me a better picture of Paul? This is all I have.)