Having had a fair share of vodka last night (and dancing and eating), you’d have thought I would sleep in today, but I did not. It was a beautiful morning out with the sun shining in the window. I got up and opened the door to the balcony from my hotel room at the Hotel Atlas. It was so quiet and peaceful out. But I got on with my day.
Wojtek and Alicja came by after a bit and we went down for breakfast. They made scrambled eggs for us and had an assortment of meats, cheese, breads, tomatoes and a few other things so we had a nice breakfast. And tea. No beer or vodka in the morning! Eventually we got all our stuff together and checked out, then drove to downtown Ciechocinek and parked. We spent the next hour or two walking around.
Our first destination this morning in Ciechocinek were the Tangiers, the huge wooden structures that are used in the production of the saline solution from the salt springs. You can read more about these towers here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduation_tower. Because of this and the salt springs, Ciechocinek is know for its rehabilitation and treatment of various illnesses and it is quite famous. The three graduation towers there total 2 km in length, over a mile, and contains tons and tons of saline water. We climbed to the top of one and enjoyed the view, though there is not a lot to see. It’s maybe only 15 meters tall? Maybe 20. Not real tall but the length is what is impressive.
And Ciechocinek is very beautiful. There are huge flower gardens and wide walkways all over the downtown area. There are vendors, shops, beer gardens, and lots of places with dancing. It is very popular, but again, the main popularity is the restorative atmosphere and the salt water.
Of course, I will eventually post pictures on my blog as well. I took quite a few. We did stop at a Cukiernia (sweet shoppe) and I had a pastry whose name I do not remember (I think I did take a picture of it) which was basically a douch and cream cheese with maybe a few raisins. It was a bit heavy but was also delicious. We also stopped at the place where we ate and drank and danced last night. The have a spring there and you can sample the mineral water that comes from the spring, but you need to buy a cheap plastic glass for 1.5 PLN, about 50-cents. What a gimmick. But I did and tried it. It was nothing special, just tasted kinda mineraly. I would not really want to drink it, but maybe bathing in it would be good, I don’t know.
Eventually we headed out of town to our next destination, Toruń. Toruń is most famous at the birthplace of the world renowned astromoner, Nicholas Copernicus (everyone knows him by his Latin name, but he was indeed Polish). If you remember, it was Copernicus who was able to prove that the earth revolves around the sun. Toruń is also a very old city and very pretty, especially in the old city. We walked around for quite a while and saw the sights. There were a few churches open that we visited as well. In places the old walls and fortifications are evident (it was a walled city and sits right on the Wisła river. At the end of our time there, we went to a nice little restaurant for lunch. I as barszcz czerwony with uszka, and pierogi with meat. It was very good. And Coke “light.” That tasted especially good. We had a nice meal there.
About 1 or so we hit the road and returned to Grabiny-Zameczek, arriving around 3 or 4. We were all a bit tired but enjoyed the time a lot. When we got back here, Wojtek got right busy mowing the lawn. It had been languising since we were gone so long and then it rained when we got back. But today is very nice out and so the lawn got mowed, finally. Well, he had some help from Bartek and some friends of Bartek’s as well.
A bit later in the afternoon, we had dinner (first of two for me today). It was a cookout with sausages cooked on the grill. And a bunch of trimmings. Once again, it was very good. It was a nice afternoon and Bartek’s friends Karol and Piotrek joined us as well.
When we were gone yesterday, Alicja and Wojtek picked up a lego set for Filip, and I spent a bit of the afternoon today putting together a few of the vehicles that were in that lego set. Though the box said it was four ages 4 and up, I found it a bit challenging to put it all together. But I managed, more or less.
Then about 7:30 this evening I went with Ludwika to Marek’s home where his wife had dinner for us (though first Ludwika gave me a quick tour of Marek’s graineries–it is harvest time and he was out working in the fields). Kasia, Marek’s wife, made a very nice dinner with a broccoli and cheese soup, some kebabs, and some other vegetables and trimmings. And we then had dessert—twice! A bit later Marek joined us as well. We had a very nice time and I did get some pictures at the end of the evening. I even had a chance to see the home of Alicja’s brother Riszard and his family–his wife (whose name I have forgotten) showed it to me.
But all good things must come to an end, and so this evening did, and so does my vacation. But it is certainly not the end of what I have to write in my blog. I’ve learned a lot and have a lot more to ponder, and I shall do it here.
And, once I am back, I have thousands of pictures to go through, and I will soon start posting them here as well. But for now, it’s do zobaczenia!
