Softsong
24 Jul 2010
Travel / Poland-My 9-day experience [239]
Everyone is entitled to their opinions especially if they mean no harm, and it is simply their opinion. I got back from Poland the beginning of July. It was my third trip. Twenty years ago, a friend who was born in Gdańsk showed me pictures of Poland and I was unimpressed. But now, I see the beauty of the architecture.
And on this third trip, I did not even go to the main tourist places, I went to all the villages where my grandparents and their ancestors had lived. I visited old abandoned cemeteries, beautiful churches, ruined castles, but not where everyone else goes. One castle had next to nothing left of it and was located in Bobrowniki on the Vistula river. To me Poland is a mix of the ancient, old and very modern. The people were open and friendly. Possibly because I was interested in them and showed how much I liked Poland, I was made to feel right at home. When I asked directions outside one house, I was invited in for water and the wife set out coffee, tea and wine. Everywhere we went the Polish people were proud to show me their homes, villages.
The owner of the hotel where we stayed for four days even gave me a bottle of vodka to take home. Amazing guest services! We were looking for graves of ancestors one evening and a boy of fifteen showed up to visit his grandmother's grave. How often do you see something like that in other countries.
I found where my grandmother lived on a farm before coming to NY. It was beautiful. Rolling hills, fields of rye, and glacial lakes. I thought my photos would not be exciting to my co-workers as I did not go to Krakow or Gdańsk this time. But, they thought I had a unique vacation and loved my pictures of the villages. My experiences in Poland were of a personal nature, but other people appreciated it too. We all have opinions. In general though, if you go anywhere with joy and appreciation in your heart, you are apt to have a better experience.
Everyone is entitled to their opinions especially if they mean no harm, and it is simply their opinion. I got back from Poland the beginning of July. It was my third trip. Twenty years ago, a friend who was born in Gdańsk showed me pictures of Poland and I was unimpressed. But now, I see the beauty of the architecture.
And on this third trip, I did not even go to the main tourist places, I went to all the villages where my grandparents and their ancestors had lived. I visited old abandoned cemeteries, beautiful churches, ruined castles, but not where everyone else goes. One castle had next to nothing left of it and was located in Bobrowniki on the Vistula river. To me Poland is a mix of the ancient, old and very modern. The people were open and friendly. Possibly because I was interested in them and showed how much I liked Poland, I was made to feel right at home. When I asked directions outside one house, I was invited in for water and the wife set out coffee, tea and wine. Everywhere we went the Polish people were proud to show me their homes, villages.
The owner of the hotel where we stayed for four days even gave me a bottle of vodka to take home. Amazing guest services! We were looking for graves of ancestors one evening and a boy of fifteen showed up to visit his grandmother's grave. How often do you see something like that in other countries.
I found where my grandmother lived on a farm before coming to NY. It was beautiful. Rolling hills, fields of rye, and glacial lakes. I thought my photos would not be exciting to my co-workers as I did not go to Krakow or Gdańsk this time. But, they thought I had a unique vacation and loved my pictures of the villages. My experiences in Poland were of a personal nature, but other people appreciated it too. We all have opinions. In general though, if you go anywhere with joy and appreciation in your heart, you are apt to have a better experience.