Sunday, May 27, 2012

Our weekend.



Some years ago, on the day Joan and I got married, we couldn't take a week off for a honeymoon because of our jobs so I planned and evening after our ceremony to attend a Mozart concert in a small operal house in an old town north of where we we're living. The opera house was small, only holding 200 people, so it was very nice. After the concert I had a reservation in a country hotel that was quiet, peaceful and good for a romantic evening.  When we arrived at the hotel after the concert, about 10PM, we found that a local band had set up a stage right below our window and they were loudly playing very bad versions of Beatles songs.  So loud that it was impossible to talk in our room or to relax.  They didn't finish playing until 2AM so the night was not good for a honeymoon night.  I'm telling you this story because of what happened to our romantic weekend at the palace to celebrate Joan's birthday.

We arrived at the palace at 2PM Saturday to find three, large, tourists busses in front of the place and behind the palace were set up different kinds of inflated play areas for childern.  It seems as though the palace had decided to make a childrens day event to attract more money.  So there were dozens of people with their kids but what made it worse was that the sound system for music was just under our room playing music so loud it was impossible to for us to relax in our room.  I asked how long this would go on and management said until 8PM.  I wasn't about to stay there until that time so we decided to leave and go to Szamotu艂y until then.

It's only a 10 minute drive to Szamotu艂y and it has a palace we have not seen, once belonging to the G贸rki family.  Behind it, on property that once belonged with the palace, is a park.  We found an outdoor cafe first and stopped for lunch before visiting the Palace. The cost for visiting was only 4 zl per person so it was cheap enough.

The first floor is a collection of religious paintings with Cyrillic Russian writing on them.  The most interesting was the second and third floors.  On the  second floor is the ladies parlor and men's parlor and the both are furnished as they were many years ago.  The third floor has the ball room and music room and those large area rooms were interesting as well.  Also on the grounds was a tall tower and the old servents quaters.

The Gorki Family Castle – from XVth century, rebuilt in 1518 and once more in XIXth century. Interiors are the home for a rich collections of furniture, pictures, ancient home equipment and for the biggest icon collection in western Poland.

We took our time looking through the palace and then went to sit in the park by the water fountain that had a lovely rainbow shining though it.

Finally, at 7PM we went back to our palace to change clothes for dinner, waited until 7:45PM and went down to one of the smaller dining rooms to order dinner and wait for the music/noise to stop.  At 8:10PM it was over and peace was restored.

Finishing dinner we went upstairs to our room, went to sleep and woke up to a beautiful sunny, quiet morning outside or room window facing the park.  All we could hear was the sounds of birds......no cars, no people, no noise, only quiet.  It was great.

We dressed. went downstairs and had breakfast on the veranda where there was one other couple.  It seems the hotel only had 6 guests, in total, for the weekend and that was good.  We had no trouble roaming around the palace although, except for the first floor, there wasn't really much to see. There were about 10-12 rooms on each floor but it looked like any other old hotel.

Personally, I was a little disappointed because of the Saturday evening noise because I chose this place thinking it would be a quiet weekend for the two of us.  I think the management should have let me know about the Saturday childrens day because it would have changed our plans.

Even with that, Sunday morning was exactly what I had hoped it would be......quiet, peaceful, an enjoyable place to walk and a nice breakfast on the veranda.  Would we go back and spend another weekend there?  Probably not.

Kilka lat temu, w dniu Joan i wysz艂am za m膮偶, nie mogli艣my wzi膮膰 tydzie艅 wolnego na miesi膮c miodowy, poniewa偶 z naszych miejsc pracy, wi臋c zaplanowali艣my i wieczorem po naszej uroczysto艣ci uczestniczy膰 w koncercie Mozarta w ma艂ym domku operal w starym mie艣cie na p贸艂noc od gdzie 偶yjemy. Opera by艂a ma艂a, tylko trzyma 200 os贸b, wi臋c to by艂o bardzo mi艂e. Po koncercie mia艂em rezerwacj臋 w hotelu kraju, kt贸ry by艂 cichy, spokojny i dobry na romantyczny wiecz贸r. Kiedy przyjechali艣my do hotelu po koncercie, oko艂o godzina dwudziesta druga, okaza艂o si臋, 偶e miejscowy zesp贸艂 za艂o偶y艂 scen臋 tu偶 pod nasze okno i byli g艂o艣no gra bardzo z艂e wersje piosenki Beatles贸w. Tak g艂o艣no, 偶e nie mo偶na by艂o m贸wi膰 w naszym pokoju lub na relaks. Oni nie zako艅czy膰 gry do 2AM wi臋c noc nie by艂a dobra na noc po艣lubna. M贸wi臋 wam t臋 histori臋, poniewa偶 to, co si臋 sta艂o z nasz膮 romantyczny weekend w pa艂acu, aby 艣wi臋towa膰 urodziny Joanny.
Dotarli艣my do pa艂acu w 2PM sobota znale藕膰 trzy, du偶e, turyst贸w autobusy z przodu w miejscu i za pa艂acem zosta艂y utworzone r贸偶ne rodzaje zawy偶one place zabaw dla potomstwo. Wydaje si臋, 偶e pa艂ac postanowi艂 zrobi膰 dla dzieci wydarzenie dni, aby przyci膮gn膮膰 wi臋cej pieni臋dzy. Tak by艂o kilkadziesi膮t os贸b z dzie膰mi, ale co sta艂o si臋 gorsze by艂o to, 偶e nag艂o艣nienie dla muzyki by艂a tu偶 pod naszym pokoju odtwarzania muzyki tak g艂o艣no by艂o niemo偶liwe dla nas do wypoczynku w naszym pokoju. Zapyta艂em jak d艂ugo to b臋dzie trwa膰 i zarz膮dzanie powiedzia艂 do 8pm. Nie mia艂 tam zosta膰 do tego czasu wi臋c zdecydowali艣my si臋 opu艣ci膰 i przej艣膰 do Szamotu艂y do ​​tego czasu.
To tylko 10 minut jazdy do Szamotu艂 i ma pa艂ac nie widzieli艣my, nale偶膮cych niegdy艣 do rodziny G贸rki. Za nim, na nieruchomo艣ci, kt贸ra nale偶a艂a kiedy艣 z pa艂acu jest park. Znale藕li艣my odkryty kawiarnia pierwszy i zatrzymali艣my si臋 na obiad przed przybyciem do Pa艂acu. Koszt wizyty to tylko 4 z艂 od osoby tak by艂o na tyle tanie.
Pierwsze pi臋tro to kolekcja malarstwa religijnego z cyrylicy rosyjskiej pisania na ich temat. Najbardziej interesuj膮ce by艂y drugie i trzecie pi臋tro. Na drugim pi臋trze jest salon kosmetyczny panie i m臋ski i oba wyposa偶one s膮 jak by艂y wiele lat temu. Trzecie pi臋tro ma sal臋 balow膮 i sal臋 muzyczn膮 i te du偶e pokoje okolicy by艂y ciekawe, jak r贸wnie偶. R贸wnie偶 ze wzgl臋du na to wysoka wie偶a i stare servents formy p艂ytki.
Rodzina Gorka - Zamek z XV wieku, przebudowany w 1518 i jeszcze raz w XIX wieku. Wn臋trza s膮 domem dla bogatych kolekcji mebli, obraz贸w, staro偶ytnego sprz臋tu domowego i dla najwi臋kszej kolekcji ikon w Polsce zachodniej.
Wzi臋li艣my nasz czas patrz膮c przez pa艂acu i poszed艂 siedzie膰 w parku przy fontannie wody, kt贸ry mia艂 pi臋kn膮 t臋cz臋 艣wieci mimo niego.
Wreszcie, przy 7PM wr贸cili艣my do naszego pa艂acu zmieni膰 ubranie na obiad, czeka艂 a偶 7:45 po po艂udniu i poszed艂 do jednego z mniejszych sal restauracyjnych zam贸wi膰 obiad i czeka膰 na muzyce / szum si臋 zatrzyma膰. Na 8:10 PM to by艂o ponad i pok贸j zosta艂 przywr贸cony.
Wyko艅czenie kolacji poszli艣my na g贸r臋 do naszego pokoju, poszed艂em spa膰 i obudzi艂em si臋 pi臋kny, s艂oneczny, spokojny poranek na zewn膮trz naszego okna pokoju z widokiem na park. Wszyscy s艂yszeli艣my by艂o odg艂osy ptak贸w ...... 偶adnych samochod贸w, 偶adnych ludzi, 偶adnego ha艂asu, tylko spok贸j. To by艂o 艣wietne.
Ubrali艣my. zesz艂a na d贸艂 i zjedli艣my 艣niadanie na werandzie, gdzie by艂o jedno inna para. Wydaje si臋, 偶e hotel mia艂 tylko 6 os贸b, w sumie, na weekend i to by艂o dobre. My nie mieli problem贸w z roamingu wok贸艂 pa艂acu, chocia偶, z wyj膮tkiem pierwszego pi臋tra, nie by艂o naprawd臋 wiele do zobaczenia. By艂o oko艂o 10-12 pokoi na ka偶dym pi臋trze, ale wygl膮da艂y jak 偶adnego innego hotelu starego.
Osobi艣cie by艂em troch臋 rozczarowany z powodu ha艂asu sobot臋 wieczorem, bo wybra艂 to miejsce my艣l膮c, 偶e b臋dzie to spokojny weekend dla nas dwojga. My艣l臋, 偶e kierownictwo powinno da膰 mi zna膰 o tym dniu dla dzieci sobot臋 bo to zmieni艂o nasze plany.
Nawet, 偶e w niedziel臋 rano by艂o dok艂adnie to, co mia艂em nadziej臋 by艂oby ...... spokojne, ciche, przyjemne miejsce do spacer贸w i smaczne 艣niadanie na werandzie. Chcemy wr贸ci膰 i sp臋dzi膰 kolejny weekend, nie? Prawdopodobnie nie.