Thursday, May 19, 2016

Guest Post from the Maynard Koziks! (Part Two)



Back in Warszawa, visiting museums, Palaces and Cathedrals, we had the most amazing, knowledgeable, and patient tour guide in Bryan. Constantly astounded by his command of the Polish language in the short time he’s been there, the amount of historical information stored in his brain, and his ability to make it all so interesting, we heard more Polish history (and especially how it related to Dantiscus) than we can ever possibly remember. Dziękuję Bryan!! It was on this day that the “international incident” almost occurred. At our request, Bryan took us to an authentic Milk Bar restaurant for some home-cooked Polish delicacies. When Pat asked for sour cream on her meat pierogi (which evidently is never done) Bryan had to use all the Polish he knew, along with hand gestures and apologies for his mother, to calm down the babci in the kitchen!


Next up, the truly fun and tasty Vodka Tour! Walking around the city to different restaurants with a personable and very knowledgeable guide, we ate and drank shots as we learned which bottles to smuggle home in our suitcases…hahaha! Did anyone say Apple Pie?? It needs to be said at this point that even Pam did shots!! Na zdrowie!!

On Friday, headaches and all, we headed to Gdansk on the train for the day. We had a great seafood lunch looking out over the Wisła, and had so much fun on our search for amber. Then we were on a mission!! Thanks to the timely calculations of our hosts, we took a train to the resort area and put our feet in the Baltic Sea!!!


Friday night found us back in Warszawa, eating another wonderful Polish meal at Folk Gospoda. Dave finally got to eat his Golonka (pig knuckle) and we had many shots and cocktails to dull the pain of thinking about leaving the next day.

As we were leaving, Bryan and Emily asked us our favorite parts of the trip and what we were surprised about. Although impossible to narrow down what we liked best to one or two or even three things, we can say we came away from this once-in-a-lifetime experience with a great appreciation of the Polish people and their pride in their history, culture, and strength. We were thrilled to interact with different nationalities, and felt woefully inadequate in only being able to speak English, as everywhere we went people were welcoming and helpful.

These are a few of our favorite things….
Seeing Bryan and Emily. Watching with amazement how, in such a short time, they have navigated the language and culture. Meeting the wonderful friends they have made since living in Polska. Feeling pride at the smart, talented, and wonderful couple they are and watching their beautiful relationship full of love and faith.
Dziekuje! Dziekuje! Dziekuje to our remarkable hosts, Bryan and Emily, for all you did to make our trip to Poland so perfect! From finding us lovely and perfectly located Airbnb accommodations, making reservations, purchasing train tickets, getting us Złoty, choosing fabulous restaurants, and organizing a schedule that included every wonderful Polish experience they could possibly fit in! We feel blessed to have shared this amazing trip you! You gave us one-of-a-kind insight into this special place you have called home since September 2015. Our trip that began with pride ended exponentially with more. You are superb ambassadors! Well done Bryan and Emily!!

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