In Poland...

It's been a while since I've had a chance to blog. I arrived in Gdansk, Poland last Sunday (13th) and things have been rather "non-stop" (a popular English saying in Poland and Hungary these days) since then.

My trip to England was great. After the first few hours on English soil of tango lessons in a old English manor, I spent the next day walking around Norwich and ducking into buildings in between brief hailstorms. We spent the evening at the local pub, playing the British version of billiars (yellow and red balls, smaller cue ball), and drinking some good English brews. The next day, we drove all the way to the sea (about 15 minutes) and ate left over wedding cake (my friend is a wedding cake maker, and she had some yummy cake leftover) and drank good English tea from the thermos, while watching seals sleep on the beach in the sun. The day ended with another evening at the pub and billiards, and then I took the late bus to Stansted airport.

On my midnight coach ride to Stansted airport, the bald-headed bus driver in a dark, mortician like suit introduced himself in the following way: Good evening ladies and gentlemen. The lou is a bit fresh, but I've used it and am still walking. Seatbelts should be worn at all times, by law, though I'd like to see you use the lou with your seatbelt on. Anyone like to play with fire? There's an extinguisher here to the right. How about Drs and Nurses? First aid kit to the right, as well, use the fire extinguisher to break the glass. There's no valium in there, but you will find bandages and maybe a scalpel. For those who'd like to nap, make sure to wake up for your stop. "




I made a comfy bed for myself under a flight announcements sign, but did not fall asleep for two hours, because I was determined to finish my latest book. I woke up at 5am, surrounded by passengers waiting to check in for their flight.

Playing pool in Norwich


At the seaside

After less than 2 hours of sleep, I arrived in Gdansk, Poland, and began my whirlwind day of visiting family. My sister had flown in the night before, and we met up with uncles and aunts, and consumed multiple cakes, cookies and sweets as well as innumerable number of cups of coffee and tea, before meeting up with our remaining family over dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the Gdynia beach.


In Sopot

We spent the next three days with my aunt in Chojnice, going down to the basement every two hours to feed the wood burning stove that heats the house and hot water and playing Gin Rummy and Kierki late into the night. My aunt lives in the house I spent every summer and holiday in when I was a kid and not much has changed there, which is great for nostalgia. The basement cellar still has dozens of the jams and fruit compotes that my grandmother had made over the years from the fruits in her garden, and we had one or two each night. We had raspberry jam, and gooseberry, cherry, and black currant compotes, and all were delicious.

On Thursday morning, we left for Warsaw. I always feel sad leaving Chojnice, a place that seems frozen in the time of my early childhood, and where not everything is going well and my aunt lives by herself in a big empty house. This Friday, when I have a bit of time, I will go back for one more visit.

In Warsaw, my sister and I met with my mother's godmother, who lives in the center of Warsaw overlooking a monument to the heros of the Warsaw ghetto uprising. There, we caught up, told stories, and drank maybe 6 cups of tea (with cakes and cookies of course). The next day my sister left for the airport at 5:30 am, only to have her flight leave too late to catch her connection in Paris. The poor girl had to stay in the French capital for a full day and night, with free food and lodging.

I spent the weekend with my godson's family, a very active group of people that used to run marathons in their spare time. They have a pool table in their living room and a small climbing wall in their yard, so I was pretty much in heaven. We played pool into the night, woke up at 7am and went on a 10 km fast paced hike in the woods (in the rain), followed by a cup of tea (at McDonalds!), and three hours at the local climbing wall gym, all before more pool late into the night. The next morning, I had a train to catch at 7am and my godson's sister Marta (who has been a 1st place Judo champion in Europe and the US in the past and Poland this year and who walks around the house on her hands in her spare time) headed off for another competition. (In this entire trip, I missed my godson, who was off at a camp in Germany with his Judo team.)


I took a walk through Old Town in Warsaw...


...and the nearby park.

Sore from my rock climbing day (we climbed and downclimbed each climb), I rested durin a five hour train ride from Warsaw to Gdynia, where my cousin Alek picked me up. After dropping off my 15 kilo (I made the weight limit!) backpack at Alek's house in Rumia, we went to walk through my old haunting grounds of Gdynia. These included the "molo", which is the oceann-side boulevard next to the beach which winds its way to a small hillside park, followed by the Mariola dessert cafe at the top of the hill (two scoops of smietankowe ice cream- no english version of this flavor exists - plus one scoop of strawberry, topped with fresh whipped cream and fruits.)

We made it home in time for Alek's mom, Ella to arrive from work, which meant that we were off again soon after swallowing the last bit of dinner. (Ella has taken the term "Carpe diem" closely to heart.) Within a few minutes, we had borrowed a bike from a neighbor and were riding along a 25 km bike trail that wound through salt-water estuaries towards the ocean. At the end of our path, we stopped in a small sea-side town where we each had a pint of beer on a park bench overlooking the sea. Since it happened to be my 'name day' that day, we ended the evening late into the night with a few glasses of wine and long debates about religion and politics (which were especially funny given my inability to understand or use the more complex vocabulary of the Polish language.)


Ella at the beginning of our bike trip (right before my camera battery died, so no pictures, sorry...)


In Gdynia on the molo

I am now staying with the family of my mom's cousin in Wielki Kack, where three generations live within 30 meteres of each other. They recently finished building two huge gorgeous houses for themselves and their kids, and are finally getting a chance to slow down and enjoy them. We eat a lot of food here, which I am trying to store in my belly for our trip to India, where at this point, I really won't need to risk my health by eating. Breakfast usually consists of several eggs, bacon or ham, many pieces of bread and is quickly followed by coffee and cookies. I can barely move. Yesterday, my cousin Sebastian and I went to Gdynia again, and visited my old school and building on 10 lutego street, before stopping for (you guessed it) ice cream again. Tonight, I'll be heading off to Gdansk to meet up with my cousins Olenka and Marzenka to go rock climbing, but I fear that I might injure myself trying to pull my ass up the rocks...


Roxanna, the youngest member of our family in Wielki Kack, joyful as usual.