Tuesday, July 28, 2015
Surprised call.
A beautiful day today and we made the right decision to go to the tourist center in the rynek to see if they had a picture book in English. I thought it would be a nice gift to give to the cousins who will visit from Michigan. They did have such a book, actually three different ones, and I bought three of them. Since we were there already and the weather was superb, we stopped for coffee. On the way home we got a surprise call from cousin Marilyn who said they would be here tonight instead of tomorrow and could we come to the Novotel hotel tonight at 8PM to meet everyone. Naturally we said yes and changed our prior evening plan. Tomorrow I will pick up just Marilyn and bring her to our flat to talk while the rest of them go on a tour of Pozna艅 in the morning. My camera is ready and I'm looking forward to tonight.
So we met with Marilyn Mapes, Elaine Brothers, Mary Ann Bergevin, Gerry, Rita and Bridget McAvoy tonight, all cousins from Michigan at their hotel. Marilyn, Elaine and Rita are sisters from the bloodline Kazimier Rajewski, brother of my great grandmother, Ludwika Rajewskai. Marilyn and I have been communicating for about eight years now and Mary Ann we met about 10 yeaars ago but the rest I have never physically met. It was really a great meeting.
The bus was a little late getting in but we greeted them when they go off the bus. After they got their room numbers and put their luggage away they came back to the lobby where we were waiting for them. The only place where it was quiet enough to sit and talk was in the restaurant so that is where we went. They were still full of food from the supper they had before arriving so we just ordered coffee and a few had drinks. The whole group of them were so enjoyable to talk with. They told us about what they had seen so far and how much they liked Poland. Some were a little amazed at how big Pozna艅 is and they will get a better view of more of it when they go on a tour, all except Marilyn who I will pick up at 9AM and bring to our house. I like them all and Gerry, Rita's husband is a fan of Bernie Sanders so we hit it off immediately. Bridget, their daughter, was very nice and we talked about her trips to Spain. She didn't like them so much but she was only to Mallorca and another island but not to the mainland. We told her about Estepona and said she had to visit there and Croatia also. They all like the picture books of Pozna艅 that we gave them along with a tour guide book.
Pi臋kny dzie艅 dzi艣 i podj臋li艣my w艂a艣ciw膮 decyzj臋, aby przej艣膰 do centrum turystycznego na Rynku, aby zobaczy膰, czy maj膮 ksi膮偶ki z obrazkami w j臋zyku angielskim. My艣la艂em, 偶e b臋dzie to mi艂y prezent da膰 do kuzyn贸w, kt贸rzy odwiedz膮 z Michigan. Oni maj膮 tak膮 ksi膮偶k臋, w艂a艣ciwie trzy r贸偶ne z nich, i kupi艂em trzy z nich. Poniewa偶 byli艣my tam ju偶 i pogoda by艂a wspania艂a, zatrzymali艣my si臋 na kaw臋. W drodze do domu dostali艣my telefon od kuzyna Marilyn niespodzianka, kt贸ra twierdzi, 偶e by艂oby tu dzisiaj zamiast jutro i mo偶emy doj艣膰 do hotelu Novotel dzisiaj o 8 wieczorem spotka膰 ka偶dego. Oczywi艣cie, 偶e tak i my zmienili艣my nasz uprzedniej planu wieczorem. Jutro mog臋 odebra膰 tylko Marilyn i zabierz j膮 do naszego mieszkania, aby porozmawia膰, podczas gdy reszta z nich wybra膰 si臋 na wycieczk臋 po Poznaniu w godzinach porannych. M贸j aparat jest gotowy i nie mog臋 doczeka膰 si臋 dzisiejszej nocy.
Wi臋c spotkali艣my si臋 z Marilyn Mapes, Elaine Braci, Mary Ann Bergevin, Gerry, Rita i dzisiaj Bridget McAvoy, wszystkie kuzyn贸w z Michigan w ich hotelu. Marilyn, Elaine i Rita s膮 siostry z rodu Kazimier Rajewski, brat mojej prababki, Ludwiki Rajewskai. Marilyn i ja komunikowania si臋 oko艂o o艣miu lat i Mary Ann spotkali艣my oko艂o 10 yeaars temu, ale reszta nigdy nie fizycznie spe艂nione. To by艂o naprawd臋 艣wietne spotkanie.
Autobus by艂 troch臋 p贸藕no si臋 w ale powita艂 ich, kiedy id膮 z autobusu. Po dostali swoje numery pokoj贸w i umie艣ci膰 sw贸j baga偶 dala wr贸cili do holu, gdzie czekali na nich. Jedynym miejscem, gdzie by艂o cicho siedzie膰 i rozmawia膰 by艂 w restauracji, wi臋c to tam pojechali艣my. Nadal by艂y pe艂ne jedzenia z kolacji mieli przed przybyciem wi臋c po prostu zam贸wi艂 kaw臋 i kilka mieli艣my napoje. Ca艂a grupa z nich by艂y tak przyjemne rozmawia膰. Powiedzieli nam o tym, co widzieli do tej pory i jak bardzo im si臋 podoba艂o w Polsce. Niekt贸rzy byli troch臋 zaskoczeni, jak du偶e Pozna艅 to i b臋d膮 mie膰 lepszy widok jej wi臋cej, gdy udaj膮 si臋 na wycieczk臋, wszystkie z wyj膮tkiem Marilyn kt贸ry b臋dzie odebra膰 od 9 rano i wprowadzaj膮 do naszego domu. Lubi臋 je wszystkie i Gerry, m膮偶 Rity jest Bernie Sanders fanem wi臋c zgodzi膰 si臋 natychmiast. Bridget, ich c贸rka, by艂 bardzo mi艂y i rozmawiali艣my o jej wycieczki do Hiszpanii. Nie lubi艂a je tak bardzo, ale by艂a tylko Mallorca i innej wyspie, ale nie jest z l膮dem. Powiedzieli艣my jej o Estepona i powiedzia艂a, 偶e musi tam i Chorwacja r贸wnie偶 odwiedzi膰. Wszyscy jak ksi膮偶ki z obrazkami Poznania, 偶e dali艣my im wraz z ksi膮偶ki przewodnika.