Avis does not let you drive their luxury cars into the eastern countries (although they are happy to take your money up front) and so we were given a Skoda station wagon which is still a lovely car (although not the Mercedes E-class that we were expecting). Of course, Scott forgot to bring his actual license so Michele and Teresa had to step up and Teresa drove all the way from Berlin to Lubin. Arrrgghhhhhh!!!!!!!
The roads are magnificent and you find yourself doing 160kmph without any effort on the freeways! We ensured that the GPS was set in English and made good time to Lubin.
Then we got lost. We were due to meet the family at around midday but by this time it was around 2:30pm. We had a little contact with Amadeusz (our new cousin and only English interpreter). The address we had put into our GPS was not correct so we had to find somewhere for Michele to purchase credit to contact Amadeusz. When we did he told us to wait where we were while they came to rescue us. We were met by Kamil, Honorata and Amadeusz at a corner store. Teresa had to try and keep up with Kamil in the car….phew! Luckily it was only about 5 minutes away.
Elzbieta’s and Pawel’s place is magnificent! The family welcomed us with open arms and watery eyes, as were ours, plus the hugs were warm and plenty. Although there were some language challenges we felt an instant connection. In total the whole family was there waiting for us! Wladyslaw and Veronika, Teresa and Janusz, Elzbieta and Pawel, Evalenka, Kamil, Anna, Amadeusz, Honorata, Milena, Damien and Anna with little Kasper (18 people in total including us) plus Fanix the black cat with no tail! Of course, as is the Polish way, a massive feast awaited us consisting of many Polish delicacies – pork schnitzel, chicken nalesznicki, cucumber and dill salad, Bigos, beetroot with horseradish and pickled mushrooms plus mushroom sauce made from the mushrooms Wladyslaw collected. It was washed down with jugs of cherry juice, water or apple juice. And that was lunch! We were not allowed to lift a finger! All four sisters are animated and the life of the party, spontaneously breaking out into songs at times to entertain and break the language barriers. They are hilarious and so easy to get along with!
Teresa is warm and has a smile like Bla that lights up the room! Her husband, Janusz was the official photographer and quietly recorded the proceedings over the two days. Pan Wladyslaw and Pani Veronika cannot do enough for you……..and are always trying to make you eat more…..and more……and more! Amadeusz was amazing as the interpreter……..he’s also very knowledgable about history and wise beyond his years.
Before dinner we were whisked into Lubin for a walk around the centre with a history overview plus visits to churches which were still in mass. There was also a tree planted to memorialise Pope Jan Pawel II with a plaque. Not all members of the family joined us as they were busy preparing the next feast! The two girls, Honerata, 12 years and Milena, 9 years insisted in hanging out with Michele to practise their English and teach Michele Polish. Michele loved this very much.
After our mini-exploration of Lubin we came back to another Polish feast and a night full of singing, drinking and laughter. It is amazing how well we all connected despite the language barrier and it is obvious that the Kiemski genes run deep. Anna had the great sense to introduce games and activities that didn’t require spoken language e.g. Each person was asked to share their particular talent or ‘party trick’. Every one of Anna’s activities had us in fits of laughter. We also had a musical performance from Milena on the flute (magnificent!) and then Honerata on the guitar playing Flamenco style! Amazing!
During our ‘conversations’ we were discussing age and birthdays…..apparently Evalinka was a ‘surprise’ as was Barbara in our family……..we laughed at yet another similarity between the Kiemski families. Not to mention that Wladyslaw is also outnumbered by women as is Mikolaj!
The food during our whole stay was gourmet and abundant. Our days were organised to the finest minute with members of the family having delegated chores to complete so that we were always entertained and came home to another 5 star feast!
It was such a great day and Janusz was busy photographing the event where he will produce a Cd as a keepsake ( yet another wonderful service provided by the Kiemski’s).
We finished by 3.30 am……we haven’t even discussed the Vodka yet….but there were many bottles consumed!!
To be continued……..