Thursday July 31, 2008
We all fell in love with Poland. The beautiful landscapes, farms, relaxed ways. We stayed at a lovely B&B (the Blue Beetroot)out in the country a bit. The owners bought and lovingly restored a derelict stone barn on the edge of a village outside of Boleslawiec three years ago. The owner's son made all the pine furniture, the linens and lamps came from IKEA. They have 12 locals working for them, and are training the little girls who live in an adjoining large home (the 'home' is inhabited by three families!) Our waitresses were the most charming, sweet, shy and hardworking girls we'd encountered. We wanted to take them home with us. David thinks the Polish girls are the prettiest! No wonder, our waitresses were beautiful and unspoiled in their affect. People walked, rode bikes, scooters and drove cars like racers all on the same narrow road! We shopped at Tesco's for our first dinner. I think going to a grocery store in a new country is a good field trip exercise! Try to find a wide variety of interesting food for supper, use the local currency and learn to say Thankyou! I found people smiled easily and were very helpful, almost shy. We shopped for Polish Pottery and have become quite picky about our newest addiction. We got a factory tour from the oldest factory (200 yrs). We walked around the town square of Boleslawiec the first evening. It was an eye opener for Dave and David. The buildings were in varying states of repair or crumbling plaster. Apparently the buildings previously owned/operated by communists are the most neglected. The mood was somber. Not many people were in the square, although the actual buildings were from the 1800's and were painted in soft pastel colors. Napoleon spent a winter in this town in 1812, resting from his war in Russia. Today we stumble upon the more vigorous, new part of town and were relieved that the economy is booming somewhere!We drove back roads up to the German border today, sharing it with trucks and cars, going through small villages and pine woods. Once in Germany it was autobahn all the way to Berlin. Amazing to think that only 19 years ago it was still East Germany, and basically inaccessible area.Once in Berlin we unloaded our stuff on the top floor of a small hotel (very HOT up there) and took off for the Tiergarten (walking distance) for 2 hours. What an amazing zoo. You feel you can reach out and touch the animals, and the setting is beautiful, lots of trees, bushes, benches.I could write more, but it is busy in our little lofty hotel and I need to let someone else on the internet now. We are using Roland's laptop with a wireless connection at the Berlin hotel.
We all fell in love with Poland. The beautiful landscapes, farms, relaxed ways. We stayed at a lovely B&B (the Blue Beetroot)out in the country a bit. The owners bought and lovingly restored a derelict stone barn on the edge of a village outside of Boleslawiec three years ago. The owner's son made all the pine furniture, the linens and lamps came from IKEA. They have 12 locals working for them, and are training the little girls who live in an adjoining large home (the 'home' is inhabited by three families!) Our waitresses were the most charming, sweet, shy and hardworking girls we'd encountered. We wanted to take them home with us. David thinks the Polish girls are the prettiest! No wonder, our waitresses were beautiful and unspoiled in their affect. People walked, rode bikes, scooters and drove cars like racers all on the same narrow road! We shopped at Tesco's for our first dinner. I think going to a grocery store in a new country is a good field trip exercise! Try to find a wide variety of interesting food for supper, use the local currency and learn to say Thankyou! I found people smiled easily and were very helpful, almost shy. We shopped for Polish Pottery and have become quite picky about our newest addiction. We got a factory tour from the oldest factory (200 yrs). We walked around the town square of Boleslawiec the first evening. It was an eye opener for Dave and David. The buildings were in varying states of repair or crumbling plaster. Apparently the buildings previously owned/operated by communists are the most neglected. The mood was somber. Not many people were in the square, although the actual buildings were from the 1800's and were painted in soft pastel colors. Napoleon spent a winter in this town in 1812, resting from his war in Russia. Today we stumble upon the more vigorous, new part of town and were relieved that the economy is booming somewhere!We drove back roads up to the German border today, sharing it with trucks and cars, going through small villages and pine woods. Once in Germany it was autobahn all the way to Berlin. Amazing to think that only 19 years ago it was still East Germany, and basically inaccessible area.Once in Berlin we unloaded our stuff on the top floor of a small hotel (very HOT up there) and took off for the Tiergarten (walking distance) for 2 hours. What an amazing zoo. You feel you can reach out and touch the animals, and the setting is beautiful, lots of trees, bushes, benches.I could write more, but it is busy in our little lofty hotel and I need to let someone else on the internet now. We are using Roland's laptop with a wireless connection at the Berlin hotel.
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