As many of you may know, my family is from Poland. Although I was born in Virginia, my parents were born in Poland and moved to the US in 1976. Almost all of our extended family lives in Poland - spread across the cities of Gdansk, Kielce, Wroclaw, and more. EYE of the World's stop in Poland was a chance to meet up with many of my family and friends who live there.
I've been back to Poland several times - usually in summers. Although I've never actually lived in Poland, I know my way around Gdansk fairly well. We were hosted by my cousin Marcin in Sopot, and spent our time there rushing from house to house, visiting friends and family. Each had a large meal waiting for us and it was pleasant to see them all.
Some highlights of our time in Gdansk:
- My Aunt Basia lives on the 5th floor of an old apartment building, and starting the day after we arrived, the elevator was closed for repairs - for seven weeks! We spent our first day helping her buy groceries for her seven weeks of forced confinement, and visited her once per day while we were there.
- Back in Malaysia, we meet up with my friend Witek (who was doing some world-traveling of his own). He flew back to Poland from his own visit to Sri Lanka and is now living in Gdansk. We met up and we shared stories from our adventures. His friend Krzysztof is studying to become a tour guide in the Gdansk Old Town, so he gave us a private preview tour of the city!
- Although it was very short notice and he was very busy, my friend Marius met up with us one evening and we caught up.
- We went out and walked down the snowy beach and frozen Baltic with Marcin's large (but gentle) rottweiler "Tanner" (affectionately called 'Gruby' or 'fatty' in Polish).
All in all, a good, but short trip back!