April 25, 2014
Breakfast at the agro-business, again perfect. If you are ever in the area stay here, the owners speak English. Since our research was done, we went to a Skansen.
This is an outdoor museum similar to our Greenfield Village. You can walk in the homes and windmill. What were most interesting was the authentic dirt floor homes, which my great-grandparents lived in. My grandmother, Halina Buszek, used to tell the story of how her mother Stanislawa Langiewicz lived in a dirt floor home and how she hated that. Seeing it brought that story alive to me.
As we were running late, we had lunch at the Skansen. I had Zurek soup and bread with lard. It was so delicious I ate it all! Mike would not touch the bread with lard, the only time he has refused anything to eat!
On the way back we stopped at the Sonsk city hall to check their records. The lady that works there was super nice, helpful and was wearing a beautiful outfit.
That evening we had dinner at Anna Zalewska’s house. We are relatives from the Chojnowski side. She had invited Irek and Danuta Chojnowski, Irek’s father Czeslaw who was quite the charmer and brought me fresh roses, and Czeslaw’s second cousin Ludwig. As we had finished eating our dinner, Ludwig got up from the table. We thought he was going to the bathroom and patiently waited for him. Soon, we heard a tractor start up. It was Ludwig! He ate and ran. We all got a little chuckle out of that. He did look tired and it was late.
Anna has an amazing genealogy covering our family with photos! We spent the evening looking through her family albums and genealogy.
We exchanged gifts and said our goodbyes. Anna gave us a coffee table book of Poland. Love it.
I stayed in a house like this on a visit to Poland in 1971. It was the house in which my grandmother, Anna Sacha, was born. It still had the dirt floors. I slept on a straw bed (wrapped with cloth of course). They still had an outhouse and some old style oven. Some family members still lived there (I believe my Aunt Sophie) and some others. The farm and homes are still in the family today. It was a wonderful experience. They also had just been connected to electricity several years before the visit. My cousin Hania still lives on the farm. She is close to my age.
Joyce, Thanks for sharing! Sounds like you had a wonderful time on your trip. Also, thanks for the advice on hiring a guide/translator. We took your advice and hired 2 guides from Polish Origins, what a difference it made. I really felt like I saw the real Poland thanks to your advice and their wonderful service. 🙂