Day 1 — The Adventure Begins

My “day” started on Sunday when I left home in Orlando about 7:45 AM, headed for the airport. The travel part of my day ended about 1:00 on Monday when I was met at the Gdansk airport by my family in Gdansk. In between, there was a lot of stuff, made longer by a 5+ hour layover in Chicago, but shortened also by two LOT flights where I had no one in the seat next to me. Let me tell you, that comes in handy on an overnight flight that’s almost 9 hours long. Factor in the 6 hour time zone difference, and you have a long day. But my amazing adventure really begins after the flight, and that’s the reason I’w writing this.

I was met at the airport by Bartek and Paulina, as well as Asa, Bartek’s girlfriend They found me right away, and we quickly stowed my suitcase and began the trip to Alicja and Wojtek’s home in Grabiny-Zameczek. I was met at the door by Alicja, Wojtek, and Filip. It was a very nice homecoming. Eventually we were joined by a few others, friends of Alicja and Wojtek’s, and by Ludwika, Alicja’s mother. Alicja prepared quite a huge spread of Polish food, each dish better than the other. There was first a clear chicken/vegetable broth soup made with fresh noodles. Yumm. Then there was the cutlet, similar to a schnitzel. Follow that with potatoes and dill, then two types of pierogi (ruskie and meat), and add two salads, one primarily of cucumbers, the other a few mixed vegetables, and you have quite a feast of good Polish food. And it was good–excellent even. Once I’d eaten my share, then the cakes were brought out. Yes, cakes, two of them. One was decorated like a hedge hog, very cute. Both were tasty.

But as wonderful as the food was (and an appetite fueled by a few toasts of vodka with Wojtek) the company was even better. A mix of Polish and English, a fair amount of tranlation going one, but it was definitely a wonderful time.

Later, Alicja brought out some family pictures and we took a look at them. They really told a story about some of our common relatives. It was alot of fun.

Then a bit later, I went with Paulina and Bartek to a nearby restaurant where even more family was gathered. This was a lot of the Cymski family from Ludwika’s side of the family. They were eating and wanted me to join them. Though full, i did manage to have a few small portions. Once again, more English and Polish were mixed together and we had a very nice time. I learned a lot from them, and I think they from me as well. It was great.

Upon returning here, we sat outside for a while in the quiet evening air until a few stray sprinkles chased us in, then inside for a bit until I tired. But not so tired than I can’t at least write a bit.

Earlier, Alicja went over our itinerary. She has a lot of very great things planned for us, and I am very excited about all we will see and do. And I know that language will not be a barrier, for I’ve found that I can speak Ponglish–and so can they.

So, it’s been a long day. I’m tired and going to bed. But there is a lot more to come on this amazing adventure.