Poland Day 6 — From Warszawa to Sandomierz

We saw a lot of Poland today, though generally under cloudy skies. But no matter, we had mostly inside stuff to do anyhow.

We started out with breakfast at the Novotel Centrum in downtown Warsawa, then about 8 or so we all piled back into our small bus and off we went with our luggage in tow in a trailer behind. Our first stop was somewhat impromptu. But we stopped to see the home of Josef Pilsudski. This was the man who was responsible for bringing Poland back together as a nation in 1918 after world war I, and for repelling the Soviet/Communist/Bolshevik invasion in 1920. Back in the 1400s or so, king Jan Sobieski, at the request of the Pope, was responsible for stopping the Turkish/Islam invasion of Europe. And in 1920, Josef Pilsudski of Poland was responsible for stopping the Communists from overrunning Europe. Both “savings of Europe” done by the Poles. But, you do not have to take my word for it, check it out on Wikipedia, read what the modern history books over gloss over, ever so slightly! It was the Poles who’ve saved Europe, not only once, but twice!

After that, we were on the road to Kazimersk where we had some time two walk around this old city. Some of the buildings are from the renaissance times. I climbed to the top of a huge hill–not an easy feat–but was rewarded not only with a spectacular view of the city far below, but also of the Wisla River, far below, but also far outside it’s banks due to recent flooding in Poland. It was an impressive sight.

Later, we continued on to the mineral springs at Naleczow, where we had a most excellent meal! The first course was soup, a clear broth wiht some sort of sausage meatballs in it, and carrots and a few turnips. It was delicious.

The second course was some various salads. They were all very good. We had roasted beets wiht some sort of sweet note, possibly pear. And a celery root and tangerine salad. And a romaine, dill, corn, red pepper, and scallion salad. All were excellent.

The main course was roasted pork loin wth a mushroom gravy. The mushrooms were abosolutely fantastice, best I’ve ever had!  With that we had delicate kopytky–they were excellent. And we also had some mixed fresh vegetables, carrots, squash, broccoli, Cauliflower, beans, carrots, and maybe even a few others…very good.

Dessert was a very filling crepe-like thing. I think it has some cheese in it. It was topped with cherries and powdered sugar and was fantastic.

Add to the meal the mineral water we had, and we all had an excellent meal and a great time.

After that, we had a bit of time to wander around this spa, but then it was back on the bus and on to Sandomierz.

The trip to Sandomierz was pretty quiet, probably because I got in a bit of a snooze. We arrived here around 6 or so and found our hotel. It’s a very nice place, though a bit older. But still a very nice facility with lots of charm and character.  After I checked in I managed to get my INternet connection settled, then set out. Quite a large contingent of our group was heading to church, but I opted to go my own way instead and explor a bit.

I walked around the old city a bit but there were lots of young kids around attending some sort of rap music festival. Yes, Polish Rap music. I did not venture to far into that but eventually ran into Dennis and Janet, two of our group. We had a beer togehter at one place, then went to another.

At the second place, when we couldn’t communicate well with the waitress, a very attractive young man came to our rescue and translated. We had some Wybrybowa (vodka) and then another. Eventually we got a table. We each ordered a sort of salad and some Nalesniki, which was very good. Then we had another beer. When in Poland….

Eventually I made it back to the hotel. I found Pat and Sonja having a good old time with a part of the tour group. Eventually they ate some food and had a good time.

So we had a very exciting day today, even though it was a lot of travel. Saw some hops being grown and also some tobacco being grown and cured….very exciting stuff. But tomorrow, after breakfast, we get a tour of the old town, and then it’s on to Rzszeszow for two nights. It will be another buy day of travel.

So, you may wonder, how am I doing? Well, I am doing very well. The stories of the vodka may seem excessive but it is not so at all. It’s a very great tour and I’m having a very great time. I am learning a lot more of Polish history and also gathering a great appreciation  for this wonderful race, these wonderful people, my ancestors. I become more and more proud to be polish each and every day. I love it here. Oh sure, I’ll go home, but I hope to come back many times here over the next few years!