Poland - a Wonderful Surprise!

Old Town-Warsaw, Poland

Outer Wall-Old Town, Warsaw, Poland

Warsaw, Poland -
I really never thought this Texas girl would be traveling abroad. But there I was, on a plane to Poland, of all places. My son, Paul,  had become a Foreign Service Officer and he and his wife, Dawn,  had moved to Warsaw for his first post. They  encouraged my mother and me to visit. So there we were, on our way! We had planned this trip for months. I had obsessed over what clothes to pack, how much money to take, who to get to keep my dogs, etc. etc. Mother and I had marathon telephone conversations before  the trip. I really didn't think I would like Poland all that much but wanted to visit my son and his wife. Mother and I had booked a tour to Spain after the Poland visit, so I was really more excited about going there. Boy, was I in for a surprise! I just fell in love with Poland. I will have to tell you, though, that traveling with my son and his wife is better than any tour--they took care of every detail and tailored the trip specifically to us. Luckily for us, they both had learned Polish-we didn't find anyone who spoke English! Oddly enough, the first thing that fascinated me was the plumbing fixtures-definitely a cut above ours. :) Their house had ceramic heaters-I'm still not sure how they worked--with hot water I think. Parts of Warsaw were just what I expected--Soviet era ugly buildings-but with one bright spot--geraniums spilling out of every window box! . Then we went to Old Warsaw--absolutely beautiful. The architecture was wonderful, the buildings colorful, and the people very friendly even though Mother and I only knew "good morning","thank you" and "you're welcome". I felt as if I had gone back in time. The buildings surrounded a large square, which had artists, restaurants and performers.  There was even an organ grinder--he had a parrot instead of a monkey!

I wanted to come back there, rent an apartment facing the square  and stay for a month, but what to do about the language?? Polish is not an easy language to learn. So I settled for a return trip the next year. :) I told my son that I would probably save money because I didn't expect  Poland to  have any good shopping. Wrong again! Their hand painted Boleslawiec pottery (which is quite popular now) was outstanding-I bought several pieces of it. Then my daughter-in-law took us to a really neat little store in the basement of a building. An artist  had hand carved things of all kinds.I purchased several things, my favorite of which was a delicate bird (I hand carried it all over Poland and Spain so it wouldn't get broken!). One special thing--each store gave us something "extra" with every purchase, such as a hand painted egg, etc. and wrapped all our purchases.  A high spot of our trip was a visit to the American Embassy. Very impressive-especially the Foreign Service Officers--I don't believe I have ever met a more gracious and friendly group of people. We were able to meet the Ambassador, which was a great treat. He was also very gracious. The  grocery stores in Poland  are really something! There was an entire aisle devoted to milk products. We weren't sure what they all were. And the vegetables--so fresh some still had their roots! They also had all sorts of other things from appliances to clothes. We saw small community gardens scattered about the city. One fun thing we did was to dine at a restaurant that specialized in traditional Polish dishes. They also had traditional folk dancing in which we participated. What fun!

 Traditional Polish Dance-I'm in the back!

Stay tuned for the next leg of the trip-on to Gdansk, Poland where I met my "knight in shining armor"!
TRAVEL TIP:  Pack your suitcase, then take half the clothes out!! Take an extra one for souvenirs!