Saturday’s trip to Grudzi膮dz was a success. We accomplished what we wanted to, saw cousins I wanted to see and also had a chance to view the fortress in 艢wiecie and the graineries of Grudzi膮dz.
We started out in the morning after having breakfast in the hotel because it was included in the price of the room. This will be the last time we use Hotel Centralny in Chelmno for a stay because their service has gone downhill since the last time we were here. The internet connection was always a problem and for me that is a definite reason not to use a hotel again.
So we left the hotel about 10:00 and took route 91 across
the Wis艂a river to the old fortress of the Teutonic Knights. When you cross over the river you take the
first right hand road and this takes you into old town but before you actually
reach old town you find the fortress and just before it an interesting church.
It is the church of St. Stanis艂aw and is unique because it’s
the only church I’ve seen that has a
watch tower attached to it. I
think we were lucky because the church was open and maybe that’s because a
woman and her daughter were inside cleaning it We went in to look around, take
pictures and I said a prayer for my late cousin, Duane. After we walked around the outside of the
church and took a few more pictures we continued the short distance to the
fortress.
This fortress was constructed in the14th century and there
isn’t really a lot to see. There were only four other people visiting when we
were there but for me it was still interesting to feel the atmosphere of the
place, the old suits of armor, flags, weapons and a few other things. The winding staircase was open if you wanted
to walk the 196 steps to the top of the tower but I declined.
We left the fortress and headed to Grudzi膮dz to the flat of
cousin Janek. I’ve been there twice
before so it wasn’t hard to find again.
We were greeted by his wife, went
inside and talked with them both for about two hours. Fortunately, we only had cake and coffee
because it was really too hot to eat anything else. About half an hour into our
conversation their daughter, Ma艂gosia came over with some groceries and I had a
chance to talk a little with her. I think she’s changed a lot since the last
time I saw her, 8 years ago. Natalia and
Kuba, grandchildren of Janek and Gertruda come home and I talked a little with
Kuba. Of course, both of them have
changed a lot because they are very young.
When we were done with our visit Janek accompanied us to visit with his
sister, Stefania and her husband who do not live from away.When that visit was done, Joan and I found the graineries of Grudi膮dz and spent some time viewing the outside. Unfortunately, we didn’t get there until 4PM and the museum inside the graineries closed at 3PM. As you can tell from the pictures, they are very tall and other building were attached to them. We walked up a long path to the top and took in the view of Grudi膮dz.
Finally we walked down streets until we found the old market square and since it was 6:30PM we decided to have dinner there and then take a small road back to Chelmno.
Sobotni wyjazd do Grudzi膮dza by艂o sukcesem. Wykonali艣my to, co chcieli艣my, zobaczy艂 kuzyn贸w chcia艂em zobaczy膰, a tak偶e mieli okazj臋 zobaczy膰 twierdz臋 w 艢wieciu i graineries Grudzi膮dza.
Zacz臋li艣my rano po 艣niadanie w hotelu, poniewa偶 zosta艂 wliczony w cen臋 pokoju. To b臋dzie ostatni raz u偶ywamy Centralny Hotel w Che艂mnie na pobyt, poniewa偶 ich serwis posz艂a w d贸艂 od czasu ostatniego byli艣my tutaj. Internet by艂 zawsze problem, a dla mnie to jest wyra藕ny pow贸d, aby nie korzysta膰 z hotelu ponownie.
Wi臋c wyszli艣my z hotelu o 10:00 i trwa艂o tras臋 91 przez rzek臋 Wis艂a do starej twierdzy Krzy偶ak贸w. Po przej艣ciu przez rzek臋 bierzesz pierwsz膮 w prawo drogowe i to przeniesie Ci臋 do Starego Miasta, ale zanim rzeczywi艣cie dotrze膰 starego miasta znajduje si臋 twierdza i tu偶 przed ko艣cio艂em interesuj膮ce.
Jest to ko艣ci贸艂 艣w Stanis艂awa i jest wyj膮tkowy, poniewa偶 jest to jedyny ko艣ci贸艂 widzia艂em, 偶e ma wie偶臋 zegarka do艂膮czony do niego. My艣l臋, 偶e mieli艣my szcz臋艣cie, poniewa偶 ko艣ci贸艂 by艂 otwarty i by膰 mo偶e to dlatego, 偶e kobieta i jej c贸rka zosta艂y wewn膮trz czyszczenia Poszli艣my w rozejrze膰 si臋, robi膰 zdj臋cia i powiedzia艂em modlitw臋 za mojego zmar艂ego kuzyna Duane. Po chodzi艂 na zewn膮trz ko艣cio艂a i wzi膮艂 kilka wi臋cej zdj臋膰 kontynuowali艣my niedaleko do twierdzy.
Ta forteca zosta艂a zbudowana w the14th wieku i nie ma naprawd臋 wiele do zobaczenia. By艂o tylko czterech innych os贸b odwiedzaj膮cych, kiedy byli艣my tam, ale dla mnie to nadal ciekawy poczu膰 atmosfer臋 tego miejsca, stare zbroje, flagi, broni i kilka innych rzeczy. Schody kr臋te by艂a otwarta, je艣li chce si臋 chodzi膰 po 196 krok贸w na szczyt wie偶y, ale odm贸wi艂.
Wyszli艣my z twierdzy i ruszy艂 do Grudzi膮dza w
mieszkaniu kuzyna Janka. By艂em tam dwa razy, zanim wi臋c nie by艂o trudno znale藕膰
ponownie. Zostali艣my powitani przez jego 偶on臋, wszed艂 do 艣rodka i rozmawia艂 z
nimi zar贸wno przez oko艂o dwie godziny. Na szcz臋艣cie, mieli艣my tylko ciasto i
kaw臋, poniewa偶 by艂 naprawd臋 zbyt gor膮ca do jedzenia czegokolwiek innego. Oko艂o
p贸艂 godziny do naszej rozmowy ich c贸rka, Ma艂gosia podesz艂a z niekt贸rych
artyku艂贸w spo偶ywczych i mia艂em okazj臋 porozmawia膰 troch臋 z ni膮. My艣l臋, 偶e
zmieni艂o si臋 wiele, poniewa偶 ostatni raz widzia艂am j膮 8 lat temu. Natalia i
Kuby, wnuki Janek i Gertruda wr贸ci膰 do domu i rozmawia艂em troch臋 z Kuby.
Oczywi艣cie, obaj zmieni艂o si臋 wiele, bo s膮 bardzo m艂odzi. Kiedy byli艣my
zrobieni z naszej wizyty Janek towarzyszy nam odwiedzi膰 ze swoj膮 siostr膮,
Stefanii i jej m膮偶, kt贸rzy nie mieszkaj膮 z dala.
Kiedy 偶e wizyta zosta艂a wykonana, Joan i znalaz艂em
graineries o Grudzi膮dz i sp臋dzi艂 troch臋 czasu ogl膮dania z zewn膮trz. Niestety,
nie dostali艣my tam do 4PM i muzeum wewn膮trz graineries zamkni臋te o 3PM. Jak
wida膰 na zdj臋ciach, s膮 bardzo wysokie i drugim budynku by艂y do nich
przywi膮zani. Szli艣my w g贸r臋 d艂ug膮 drog臋 na szczyt i wzi膮艂 zdaniem Grudzi膮dz.
W ko艅cu szli艣my ulicami, a偶 znale藕li艣my Stary
Rynek i poniewa偶 by艂o 18:30 zdecydowali艣my si臋 na obiad tam i wtedy wzi膮膰 ma艂膮
drog臋 z powrotem do Che艂mna.
