Testimonials

May 2016

I just wanted to say how pleased we were with our tour.  To begin with, I was coordinating our tour group of 3 coming from three different countries.  We were to start our tour in Wroclaw but meet the day before in Warsaw.  None of us speak Polish and we were meeting at a relative’s house who didn’t speak English.  Anna was fantastic and went above and beyond to help us sort out our logistical and communication troubles for our Pre tour day.  In the planning of the tour I found the communication to be great, and I’m sure I was possibly one of the most difficult clients because I kept getting bits and pieces of family history given to me that I would pass on for possible inclusion.  But at no time did I feel my ‘strange questions’ were a bother or asking too much.

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October 2015

One of the best things about our trip to Poland was it far exceeded all of our expectations thanks to Zen Znamirowski. We spent two days trying to reconnect with family and did we ever. When I left CoMo I knew I was going to meet two cousins. Instead we met 27 cousins including my grandmother’s first cousin on her father’s side.

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October 2015

Zenon met us at Krakow airport loaded up our luggage in his auto and we were on our way to find my ancestors.  He’d found a very nice upstairs small apartment to stay that was near the church where we were going to look for records.
The roads in Poland are fine, but someone who is familiar with S Poland is a necessity.  We zipped around to the various churches and if the records were not what he (we) were looking for, we didn’t waste any time looking at the wrong place.

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September 2015

As I entered my 50s, I became much more interested in family genealogy. Both my parents had died with little or no information forthcoming from my father particularly about past generations and potential relations back in Poland.

Searching our Polish family routes was going to be a difficult task for my sister and me. Although our father’s parents had both emigrated from Poland in the early 20th century, we had almost nothing on which to base our search.  My father’s last living sibling, Sophie, is 92 and had little additional information to share other than when her parents were born and when they died. We do not speak the language and had never been to Eastern Europe . All we had was a couple of letters written in Polish to our grandmother shortly before her death in 1956 and a single envelope with a return address on it.  The name on the return address was Konstanty – our grandmother’s brother.

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September 2015

Lucjan was amazing. He was on time, personable, fun and tenacious finding and talking to people to find out as much as he could for my search. It was of the best experiences of my life.

He was very attentive to anything I wanted to see and made sure I got to the bus station on time but I never felt rushed. Lucjan was a comfortable careful driver.

Couldn’t have had a better guide. Couldn’t have had a better experience. Really!

Preparation for the tour: Very satisfied and actually surprised by all the attention. Thanks for arranging the return bus.

One of the best and moving experiences of my life. So much fun!

Thank you!

September 2015

I was sure that this trip would complete our research. It didn’t. It added a new twist to it….an indication that perhaps my Mother was born in Poland under another name and birth date. Now I have to do more research to see if that is accurate or not. I’m not complaining. I’m thankful for that “find”. It may be the “secret” we’ve always heard about. Yes, I am more than satisfied with the research.

Danuta is an absolutely wonderful person and a treasure to PolishOrigins Tours. I often forgot she wasn’t our relative as she was as interested in our research as we were! We found a great deal of information and could not have done that without her. You are fortunate to have her on staff.

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September 2015

I travel a lot but this was my favorite holiday ever. This was partly due to how much i wanted to visit the homeland of my ancestors. Bit the experience wouldn’t have been half as great as it was without Zen and Magdalena’s assistance. Even if all they did was to set up the hotels, drive me around, and interpret, it would have been worth the fees i was charged. But the real value comes from how much more productive I was with their help. By the end of the first full day i had traced my paternal line of ancestors back to the early 1700’s. Zen knew how to schedule research trips and sightseeing in such a way as to pack as much into each day as I could handle. That same first day, I met a first cousin living in Poland of whom no one in my family had ever heard…a cousin that had a picture of my great grandfather hanging in her house….incredible.

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September 2015

We were extremely pleased with Zbigniew. He was excellent in dealing with workers in the civil office and churches. He did an excellent job with translating the conversation with relatives.

The itinerary was very informative and you always answered our emails and made any adjustments we needed for our tour.

The Hotel Columbus was excellent. The staff were helpful and friendly. The rooms were clean and comfortable. Breakfast was outstanding.The Stryol Inn was comfortable and clean and they also had a good breakfast.

We did achieve our goals. We even exceeded the amount of records for our family history.

Excellent trip !

September 2015

Monica, our guide in Warsaw was wonderful and very knowledgeable. Kasia, our guide for the balance of our tour was exceptional. With her we visited many interesting historical sites, many sites that relate to my Polish ancestors, and met a number of very friendly people. I would gladly recommend both guides to anyone.

Very much satisfied with the research.

September 2015

Zbigniew was terrific. He was able to communicate very well with local officials and parish priests. We also visited two homes and were welcomed. He has a positive attitude and has excellent computer skills. Also, he’s quite a historian; he offers insights into Poland’s past.

I exceeded my goal with my father’s side of the family. My mother’s parents were from different towns; we did not have time to visit them all.

I should have stayed for an extra day.

Zbigniew  will do further research for me; I look forward to learning more about Galacia