Thursday, February 14, 2008

Trip to Inowroc艂aw and Golina

At cousin Kazia's. Click on the picture and you can see her in the mirror.

Ewa Radzikowska, her mother, Jadwiga Rajewska , Joan and me.

Parking attendant
Tower in a field
Church north of Janikowo
Elzbieta Oczkos, her sister Ewa and their mother Jadwiga

Victor Oczkos, Zuzanna Radzikowska and Ewa.

Ela

The kids serving P膮cki made by Jadwiga.
We left at 9AM, two hours earlier than necessary because we wanted to stop in Janikowo. I wrote to the real estate agent but didn't get a reply before we left or after we got home. I think I know why.

We took Rt.25 our of Pozna艅 to Gniezno and then Rt.15 east toward Janikowo. Rt.15 doesn't go directly through Janikowo so we had to take a smaller road through the countryside to get there. Before Janikowo is the town of Mog艂ino, bigger than Janikowo but not that big. As we approached Janikowo I was expecting to see a pretty small town with lots of old houses and a not so prosperous town because of the way that house looked in yesterdays pictures. We found the street the house was located on, drove down to the location of the house and was very suprised to see row after row on newly remodeled building and new house everywhere. At the location where the house was suppose to be was a new apartment block building. Evidently the house was demolished and the real estate agent never took it off the advertisement. That's probably why they didn't reply. We were a little disappointed but not that much. It was just nice to be out in the country, seeing a part of Poland we had never seen before.

We left Janikowo in the direction of Inowroc艂aw, made a side trip to see and old church with its cemetery and were very surprised to see a windmill generator farm of about 20 huge wind generators. I don't know why but they seemed out of place with the old towns surrounding the farm area but evidently wind/power generation is alive and well in Poland. It was nice to see. We also saw several strange looking towers along the way and have no idea was these were used for. They were all old but in good shape.

We arrived in Inowroc艂aw and I had a map from Zumi.pl to help me find out where we were suppose to go. The problem was that the map was totally wrong and we ended up in the Rynek, the old market square. I pulled over by a park to look at the map again and there was a woman parking attendent standing next to our car. She looked like she was expecting us to get out of the car and after a few minutes looking at map I decided to ask her if she could tell me how to get to the address I had. In this area there are attendents who walk around the park and you pay them to park there. That's why she was waiting for us. She spoke no English and didn't know how to explain to me where I must go but was kind enough to keep asking passer-bys until she found someone who spoke English and this young man had us follow him to my cousins flat. A very good deed.

Ewa was waiting outside for us, gave us a great greeting and took us to the flat where we met her sister Ela, their mother Jadwiga and their two children Zuzanna and Victor. Like normal in Poland, they fed us, gave us plenty to drink and then we sat and talked for three hours. It was great to have someone to speak to in Polish for that long of a time. Very helpful. These are relatives of mine from my Rajewski side of the family. Ewa is living in England now because there is no work for her in Poland. She invited Joan and I to come and stay with her whenever we could. Excellent people, all 5 of them and I hope I have time to get to know them.

We were only 50 km from Golina so we couldn't go straight home without stopping and seeing cousin Kazia and her family. A perfect way to end our day. We we're only going to stay for 30 minutes but it was two hours before we left. There is never enough time to spend at Kazia's.

Wyruszyli艣my przy 9AM, dwie godziny wcze艣niej ni偶 konieczny poniewa偶 chcieli艣my zatrzyma膰 si臋 w Janikowo. Napisa艂em do agent贸w kupnych nieruchomo艣ci ale nie dosta艂em odpowied藕 przed my wyruszy艂a albo gdy dostali艣my si臋 do domu. My艣l臋, 偶e wiem dlaczego.
Wzi臋li艣my Rt.25 nasz z Pozna艅 do Gniezno i wtedy wsch贸d Rt.15 ku Janikowo. Rt.15 nie idzie bezpo艣rednio przez Janikowo tak musieli艣my wzi膮膰 mniejsz膮 drog臋 przez okolic臋 by dosta膰 si臋 tam. Zanim Janikowo b臋dzie miasto Mog艂ino, wi臋kszego ni偶 Janikowo ale nie tak du偶y. Jak zbli偶yli艣my si臋 do Janikowo oczekiwa艂em zobaczy膰 do艣膰 ma艂e miasto z du偶o starymi domami i nie tak pomy艣lnym miastem z powodu drogi, 偶e dom zajrza艂 przesz艂o艣ci obrazy. Znale藕li艣my ulic臋 dom by艂 zlokalizowany dalej, pop臋dzi艂 na d贸艂 do lokalizacji domu i by艂 bardzo suprised by zobaczy膰 rz膮d po rz臋dzie dalej niedawno przemodelowywa艂 budow臋 i nowy dom wsz臋dzie. Przy lokalizacji gdzie dom by艂 przypuszczaj膮 by膰 by艂 nowym blokiem apartamentu budow膮. Najwyra藕niej dom by艂 burzony i agenci kupne nieruchomo艣ci nigdy nie bra艂y temu precz og艂oszenia. To jest prawdopodobnie dlaczego oni nie odpowiedzieli. Byli艣my troch臋 rozczarowani ale nie tyloma. To by艂o w艂a艣nie mi艂e by by膰 poza w kraju, widz膮c cz臋艣膰 Polski, kt贸r膮 nigdy nie zobaczyli艣my przedtem.
Zostawili艣my Janikowo w kierunku Inowroc艂aw, zrobili艣my boczn膮 podr贸偶 by zobaczy膰 i stary ko艣ci贸艂 z jego cmentarzem i byli艣my bardzo zaskoczeni by zobaczy膰, jak generator wiatraka gospodaruje oko艂o 20 ogromnych pr膮dnic wiatrowych. Nie wiem dlaczego ale oni wydali si臋 nie na miejscu ze starymi miastami otaczaj膮cymi obszar farmy ale najwyra藕niej si艂a wiatru/ pokolenie jest 偶ywe i dobrze w Polsce. To by艂o mi艂e by zobaczy膰. Te偶 zobaczyli艣my kilku dziwnym patrz膮cym wie偶om naprz贸d drog臋 i mamy 偶adna idea nie by艂a to by艂y u偶ywana dla. Oni byli wszyscy starzy ale w dobrym stanie.

Przybyli艣my do Inowroc艂aw i mia艂em map臋 z Zumi.pl by pom贸c mi dowiedzie膰 si臋 gdzie byli艣my przypuszczamy p贸j艣膰. Problem by艂, 偶e mapa nie mia艂a racji ca艂kowicie i zako艅czyli艣my w Rynek, stare plac targowy. Poci膮gn膮艂em na bok przez park by popatrze膰 na map臋 znowu i by艂a kobieta parkuj膮ca towarzysz膮ce stanie {pozycj臋} obok {nast臋pny po} naszego samochodu. Ona wygl膮da艂a jak ona oczekiwa艂a, 偶eby艣my wydostali si臋 z samochodu i po kilku minutach patrz膮cych na map臋 zdecydowa艂em si臋 pyta膰 {poprosi膰} j膮 czy ona mog艂aby powiedzie膰 jak, 偶ebym dosta艂 si臋 do adresu, kt贸ry mia艂em. W tym obszarze s膮 personel, kt贸re przechadzaj膮 si臋 park i p艂acisz ich by zaparkowa膰 tam. Dlatego ona czeka艂a na nas. Ona nie m贸wi艂a 偶adnych po angielsku i nie zrobi艂a do艣wiadczenie by udzieli膰 wyja艣nienia do mnie gdzie musz臋 p贸j艣膰 ale by艂em do艣膰 uprzejmy by kontynuowa膰 proszenie przechodni a偶 ona znalaz艂a kogo艣, kt贸ry m贸wi艂 po angielsku i ten m艂ody cz艂owiek kaza艂 nam p贸j艣膰 za nim do moich kuzyn贸w p艂askich. Bardzo dobry czyn.

Ewa czeka艂a na zewn膮trz na nas, da艂a nas wielkie powitanie i wzi臋艂a nas do mieszkania gdzie spotkali艣my jej bli藕niacz膮 El臋, ich macierzyst膮 Jadwig臋 i ich dwa dzieci Zuzanna i Victor. Jak normalny w Polsce, oni nakarmili nas, dali nam obfito艣膰 by wypi膰 i wtedy usiedli艣my i powiedzieli艣my przez trzy godziny. To by艂o wielkie by mie膰 kogo艣 by m贸wi膰 do po polsku dla tamtego d艂ugo o czasie. Bardzo pomocny. Ci s膮 krewni mojego od mojej Rajewski strony rodziny. Ewa mieszka w Anglii teraz poniewa偶 nie ma 偶adnej pracy dla niej w Polsce. Ona zaprosi艂a Joan i by przyj艣膰 i pozosta膰 z ni膮 kiedykolwiek mogliby艣my. Doskonali ludzie, wszystkie 5 z nich i mam nadziej臋, 偶e mam czas by dosta膰 si臋 zna膰 ich.

Byli艣my tylko 50 km z Golina tak nie mogliby艣my p贸j艣膰 prostego domu bez zatrzymania i zobaczy膰 kuzyna Kazia i jej rodzin臋. Doskona艂y spos贸b by sko艅czy膰 nasz dzie艅. My, kt贸rych mamy tylko pozosta膰 na 30 minut ale to by艂o dwie godziny przed my wyruszy艂y. Tam nie jest nigdy do艣膰 czasu by wyda膰 w Kazia.