Mission Accomplished

Important update: At long last, I've finally had pierogi in Poland. The irony of still not having had pierogi several days into my pierogi pilgrimage, which originally was pointed out to me by my Babci back home, was finally too much to handle so we ordered some while eating out at a restaurant somewhere near Brodnica. They did not disappoint, especially since I was in danger of having to switch the blog name to Czarnina Caravan or something. Mission accomplished!

 

Here's the restaurant. While I usually don't get excited enough about restaurants to consider chronicling them, this one had the largest horses I've ever seen and a ton of pretty flowers outside. (Mom, you'll have to tell me what of kwiaty they are because we couldn't decide.)

Anyway, we've been staying in Brodnica for the past few days with one of Babciu's favorite first cousins (her dad's bro's son) Kazik and his wife Gizela. They have a pretty home and lots of land that used to be a pig farm a few years back. Here's a pic of their son Kuba, me, Babciu, Cioicia Gizela, and Wujek Kazik. 

 
Wujek Kazik spent a lot of time taking us around town over the past few days. One place I was particularly excited to see? Jabonowo - the place where Babciu was born and lived as a child - and Nowa Wies - the place where Dziadziu lived as a teen and the location of their first house together before they moved to the U.S.

First, we went to the village of Jabonowo. We walked around the small street of shops there for a little while and visited the cemetery of where my great-grandparents on my Babciu's side are buried (and then later for my Glogowski great-grandparents and great-great-grandmother). And then we went over to the plot of land where Babciu's house used to be. There's a newer house in its place right now, but they still have the old barn. The yard was so beautiful - they kept one of the largest flower gardens that I've ever seen. We knocked on the door to see if we could take a look around, and lo and behold, the people there were SO nice. They had us come in for coffee and some of the best tea I've ever had and sat with us for at least 20 minutes. They even kept a picture of Babciu from the last time she stopped by for a visit several years ago! Of course, I had to have Babciu reenact the photo:

While in Jabonowo, we stopped by the church where Babciu and Dziadziu got married! It was so cool to see it, especially considering next year is their 50th anniversary:

Afterwards, we went to Nowa Wies, the small village down the street from Jabonowo where Dziadziu moved   when he was around 10 years old. It's also where Babciu and Dziadziu (and therefore my Ciocia Yola and Dad) lived before they moved to the U.S. My grandparents tell me it was the most beautiful house in the area when my Dziadziu helped his grandfather build it in part of bricks from a nearby old home. Unfortunately, it no  longer belongs to family and has fallen into hands that don't care properly for it, which was sad to see. However, at least I got an idea of how they lived - they had a nice kitchen and about 3 bedrooms/sitting rooms. And I did get a shot of the date above the front stop, which was cool. 

While still in town, we walked down the street to a nearby hotel/banquet hall that hosts many a wedding. It was pretty and all, but the best part of our stopping there was that an old friend of Babciu and Dziadziu's spotted and recognized Babciu after all these years! Turns out Rysiek's about 11 years younger than Dziadziu so he was apparently a teenager when he used to come over and visit them. He also remembers playing with my Ciocia Yola and Dad when they were babies. How cool is that?

We spent a lot of time visiting various relatives this leg of the trip - so many, in fact, that I had to make a cheat sheet after Brodnica so as to remember everyone by the time I get home. 

One of my favorite couples of the trip was Dziadziu’s cousin Halina and her husband Jurek, both retired teachers. I absolutely loved Ciocia Halina, she's adorable! She loves traveling and told me in addition to visiting nearly all of the countries in Europe, she's also been to every Canadian province and has stepped in all of the great lakes (which made me laugh, considering how crazy I was about setting foot in the Baltic:) While we were there, she pulled out a few very detailed scrapbooks - she records everything! When I posed for a pic with her, she told me to be sure to write about her in my blog, and she'd write about me in her scrapbook and the next time we see each other, we'd compare:)

Also on our list of people to see - Babciu’s cousin (father’s sister’s son) Zenek and wife Ela. Apparently they jokingly refer to him as mały Zenek - the small cousin. But for such a small guy, he's full of lots of laughs.

His wife Ela is one of the more gifted handcrafters I've ever seen. She embroiders and makes tons of  paper flowers and origami animals out of tiny triangles of paper, including the ducks we're proudly holding in this pic [of me, Babciu, Zenek, Gizela, Kazik, and Ela]. What a great souvenir! 

Speaking of Zeneks, we also made a brief trip to see Babciu's other cousin Zenek and his wife Teresa. I had met their daughter Danusia earlier back home in the states when she was there for a visit. She's very sweet, and her parents were very hospitable for the short time we were there. Fun fact: Ciocia Teresa regularly rides her bike to church. I found this out when she was complaining about having wind-blown hair, but rest assured folks, it looked just fine:)

Also noteworthy: My cousin Kuba and I walked around Brodnica for a few hours. We walked through the city's square, a park (where he insisted that I never forget that Chopin is from Poland, not France:) and later to the lake in town, but my favorite part was a large old tower, remnants from a castle from the late 1300s or early 1400s when the Teutonic Knights inhabited the area. We climbed at least a few hundred stairs to where I believe those dark holes under where the tower narrows are near the top of the tower. The view of the area was awesome!

All righty, that's all I have for now, loyal readers. So far having a good time here in Parczew, although I'm having a particularly difficult time remembering how to spell this town's name. But details will have to wait until I post again:)
Dobranoc,

Rach