Poland Day 8 — More of this Amazing Adventure

Today was a day where we had a chance to look into the interior of Poland, into it’s heart and soul by looking at the people as they live in the countryside, in the little towns and villages.

It was quite a productive day on so many different levels. As always, we started the day with breakfast here at the hotel. I am eating less breakfast but trying to have some fruit and yogurt each day along with the less than healthy spot of eggs and piece of polish sausage and maybe a bit of bacon. But I have also learned and again today made a small sandwich that was my lunch on the bus, since dinner was not scheduled until late this evening.

We saw a bit more of Rzeszow on our way out of town. We learned that during the Communist times, Rzeszow was one of the dirtiest cities in Poland, just filthy. But in the past 20 years, it has made an amazing turnaround and now is one of the cleanest cities in Poland. Well, we sure did see a clean city.

We started the day’s bus tour with an hour or hour-and-a-half bus ride to the south and east of Rzeszow. Almost immediately we entered some more hilly terrain, and eventually we were in some fairly hilly terrain. We had to take a roundabout route today as several bridges were washed out by the flooding that occured in June. Along the way we saw something unusual–Oil wells! Yes, that’s right. Though Poland is still dependent upon Russia for about 90% of its oil needs, it does produce about 10% of its needs right here in Poland. That actually started in the days before electricity when the Oil was refined for kerosene for lanterns.

Eventually we arrived at our first stop, the town of Pilzno. Pilzno is on the Wistoka River. There we visited a church, a very fine and ornate church. It was amazing inside, absolutely amazing. Later on we walked around the town square for a bit. It’s a very picturesque town set in the rolling hills of south Poland.

Eventually we made our way to Bielowy, only a village or two away. There we saw a small, newer church. I believe someone was checking on some records there, but we did not stay long.

Finally, we made it to one or our main destinations for the day, Lubcza.  Lubcza was not at all easy to get to for two reasons. First because of all the bridges that had been washed out by the floods, and second because we had to take the back roads which by this time had become quite steep and narrow. It became a very hilly area. We stopped several times to ask directions, and at one point a local man even led us by car to where we had to go, a good several miles away. People are in general very friendly and helpful. But after quite a lot of turning and twisting, we made it to our destinate at Lubcza. It is the town where the grandparents (or maybe it was great grandparents) of one of our group. Christine, was from.

By this time we were deep within the middle of nowhere, places where normal tourists don’t adventure, places where time seems to have stood still. We saw lots of small farms carved out of steep hillsides, and a lot of land being cultivated with various crops. We even saw some sheep here and not many cows at all. At times we saw people in the fields as well. It was really, really rural Poland. About like what Lublin or Withee is in Wisconsin. Very rural.

Eventually we made it to the church, but it was locked. It took some doing, but eventually our tour guide, Marek, convinced the wife of the Sexton that we were honest people and she opened it for us to take a look. It was another marvelous chruch, quite ornate and very beautiful.

AFter that, we made our way to the cemetery. It turns out that Christine’s relatives are very numerous in this area, almost like Smith in the American phone book!  We saw lots of graves of her relatives. It was quite a bitgcemetery. It was also like all the other cemeteries we saw in Poland, the people are buried in the ground, but then elaborate monunments are placed on top with very nice headstones and then there are flowers and candles and all sorts of things everywhere. We heard that there was to be a funeral later that day and indeed even saw the open hole, freshly prepared, awaiting its new casket. Eventually, though, we had to move on.

It was at that point that the highlight of our day happened, and it was quite by accident initially, though our tour guide, Marek, had a hand in its instigation. We’d been driving a long time and a few people needed to use a bathroom, but there was really none around. Now manybe one or two of the guys used a tree in the cemetery–I could not say–but that was not sufficient. So Marek decided we’d stop at the school that was nearby and ask to use their facilities.

What happened next would surely never happen in most schools in the USA, most definitely not! But, the teachers and or the administrator welcomed us into their facility and said, sure, go ahead. It was the end of lunch time and so all 300 or so students of all levels were milling about. They certainly gave us some looks of inquisitiveness. I’m sure many had never seen a foreigner before, being from such a rural area.

But then, Marek talked to some teachers and administrators and volunteered that we’d be happy to talk to one of their English classes. And so it happened that us 18 or so American tourists went to an English class in a Polish school, a class of 15-year-olds, I believe. One of us talked a bit about why we were there. The students then sang Jescie Polska, nie zginiela. Then they sang another Polish Song. Then we said a few more words and then sang America the Beautiful for them. Then the teacher had them break into groups for a bit, and after that they asked us some questions. They actually spoke pretty good English, and all of this conversation was taking place in English as well. Towards the end, they sang a few more songs, and then so did we, Old MacDonald Had a Farm, and Roll Out the Barrell. They enjoyed it thoroughly and will probably be talking about it for some time.

But in the middle another amazing thing happened, the teacher asked if there was anybody in the class with the same surname that Christine was searching for…and there was, a 15-yearold boy named Slava. So Christine met a distant cousin of hers as did he. I believe they exchanged email addresses.

On our way out, the Principal (Administrator actuallY) had us all get togehter and we had some pictures taken. Actually, since I had the fancy camera, I have the pictures. I will send them to the teacher later.

We had a most excellent time in this school. The student were all very well behaved (though of course, they were still kids and somewhat silly and giggly). They were all very friendly as well as very courious as to what all was going on. As I said, many had probaby never seen a foreigner before. For us it was a very rewarding experience, as I hope it was for them.

With that impromptu and amazing part of our day done, we hit the road again. We journeyed back through this amazing and picturesque countryside, but it was a long trip. We went through Jaslow and then had a short stop in Krosno, a town of about 50,000. We stopped at the town square, of course, the place where everyone hangs out. Both cities, by the way, have refineries (though I admit to really missing Jaslo due to a slight nap!).  It was about 4:30 or so when we made it back to Rzeszow and hour hotel.

When we got to the hotel, we were all told to wait outside and stay together. Of course, I knew the reason for this as Marek and Chris had made the arrangements earlier in the morning. When we went in, Pat had to go first. YOu see, today was her 75th birthday. So the hotel had a little like a cake with a candle for her. They all sang Sto Lat and then we all sang Happy Birtday. I believe she was pleased though earlier in the morning she begged Sonja and I that we not tell anyone it was her birthday. Too bad, huh?  We even had gotten a card (thanks, Janet) a few days earlier for her.

After this, I quick went to my room for a bit, then took a walk in the gorgeous, warm, and sunny afternoon on the square. I ran into Janet and Dennis, two of our group, who were soaking up the sun over a beer, and I joined them for a beer. It was just a perfect afternoon out, not hot, but sunny and pleasant. It does not get much better than this.

At 5:45, about a dozen of us gathered for a tour of the underground. You see, starting in the 14th century—yes, than long ago–they began excavating under the market square and under the buildings on it, creating storage rooms, other rooms, tunnels and passageways. So we took a tour. In tough times when there were invaders, villager  and warriors would take refuge here, it was very easy to defend. And in good times, they would use the rooms for storage, for workrooms, and the like. During world war II a group of Jews were hidden there from the Nazis, though unforunately they eventually perished, I believe from starvation (that Nazis were not very nice people, you know).

At 7 PM we all gathered in a large room around one large table for dinner, about 20 of us all togeher including our guide and driver. We had a very nice meal there as well. We started with a wonderful soup. I learned it was a leek soup though the leek flavor was very mild and refined. I detected a bit or turmeric in it as well. It was absolutely wonderful, I could have eaten several bowls of it. Our main course was a stuffed pounded chicken breast. The stuffing was a carrot and leek stuffing and it to was very, very good. There were also some delicately boiled potaotes with a bit of dill and a white cream sauce. Accompanying that were some green beens, cooked and seasoned to perfection. I’d say this was one of our best meals yet. And to top it off, we had a wonderful dessert. A yellow angel food type cake base was topped with a chocolate mousse, then some vanilla wafers, then a pudding that was creamy and not too sweet, and then topped with a pinapple slice embedded in cherry jello. There was a dollop of whipped cream and a bit of chocolate ganache on the side. It too was very good.

At the end of dinner we once again brang in the small cake Pat had had earlier and again sang happy birthday, then eventualy devoured the cake, though by this time none of us was hungry.

After the meal I took a walk out on the square and in the surrounding area. I found a liquor store that had a small bottle of my new favorite, Zubrowka vodka. It is a half liter bottle, so about a pint, and was a whopping 22 PLN….about 7 dollars US. Can you believe that?  And here we were paying at least 4-6 PLN for just one shot. So I am having just a wee bit of that tonight, but not very much as you can see, because I can still type!  I’m not sure that anyone was going out tonight, but I know that I was not, it will be nice to get a nice night’s sleep. Tomorrow we leave at 8 AM for our long journey to Zakopane with a stop at the Niedzicza Castle on the way. We’ll have a “late lunch” there too. We should go through some very picturesque scenery tomorrow as well as well be into the Tatras, the Carpathian Mountains. I am excited for that as well.  So, I will finish for now, but you never know when I will choose to write some more. I am having such a wonderful time and know that even after my return I’ll be able to go back and read this blog and be transported back to that moment. And, I have so very many pictures I’ll eventually post, to! Dobranoc!