Witamy w Polska! Part 1

In Poland, Christmas Eve is usually seen to be more important than Christmas Day. The Wigilia feast does not serve red meat, but rather fish, generally carp. The supper begins with the breaking of the opłatek. Everyone at the table breaks off a piece and eats it as a symbol of their unity with Christ. They then share a piece with each family member. A tradition exists among some families to serve twelve different dishes at Wigilia symbolizing the Twelve Apostles or the twelve months in a year. Some also practice the superstition that an even number of people must be seated around the table. In many homes an empty place setting is symbolically left at the table for the Baby Jesus or, for a lonely wanderer who may be in need of food, or if a deceased relative should come and would like to share in the meal.

The Christmas Eve I experienced was very traditional, much like the Christmas Eve I'm used to back home. However, the difference for us is that Christmas Day is still considered the more important day. Though for my family, we also exchange our gifts that night, and spend it with family and close friends. My dad's side has some Polish roots (ancestors) so we try and incorporate some Polish (and German) traditions. One we do that I was a little surprised was true is sharing opłatek (oplatki). But it seemed that was about all we had in common, because unlike serving no red meat my dad usually makes some extraordinary feast and there's always meat. 
Take Christmas Eve 2010 for example and his 14lb prime rib

From Christmas Eve to Christmas Day, to even the day after Christmas; it was non-stop feast after feast with family and friends. So this "part 1" will be filled with the various dishes and celebrations of those first three days in Poland.








Christmas Eve ~ Pabianice
I spent most of the day sleeping, since I had just flown in that morning from Zurich, Switzerland (I had a 9 hour layover that night in the airport). Once I woke up it was close to dinner time so I just waited until then.
The dinner party consisted of Iza, her sister, her dad, her mom, and her grandma and grandpa, and myself. However, like tradition states there were 8 places at the table, in case someone stopped by. There were 12 different dishes, and for "luck" and tradition, you must eat a little from each. (So even though I am a rather picky eater, I ate a little bit from each of the 12 dishes).

Setting the table

Potatoes

Bigos

Breaded Mushrooms

Sour cabbage (Sauerkraut?)

Carp

Pierogi's

Bigos

Bigos is a hunter's "stew" it is composed of sauerkraut or sour cabbage and wild mushrooms.
Pierogi's is a pasta dumpling that is filled with mushrooms, cheese, etc. Ours were filled with mushrooms.
We had a few different prepared types of fish both of carp and herring.




Iza's family has a sort of tradition they do when handing out gifts. Someone is the "santa" who hands out the gifts (which are just labeled to: ____ no from.) and thinks of something they have to do in order to get their gift. They're small things mainly just to get a good laugh out of.

Iza's dad had to braid Iza's hair

Iza had to read some French, this is Eva
correcting her

A classic one we did throughout the night was getting people to speak other languages: Iza read French, her mom read English, and I had to have a go at Polish...Let's just say each of us was followed by a round of laughter.

Eva trying to do the splits

Iza trying to touch her toes

Exercise was also a popular one, so was singing. I liked the idea of this for handing out gifts. I was thinking of trying to bring this one home with me for next year, so Singer family get ready...

I also want to have a thank you shout out to Iza's family for not only allowing me to share the holiday with them, but also getting me lovely Christmas gifts.

It was sort of an uneventful rest of the night....oh who am I kidding, I skyped my family back home to wish them a Merry Christmas Eve....and watched them eat their dinner while I sat on the table facing a salad dressing. ;)

Wesołych Świąt! ~ Merry Christmas!
Christmas day started with a small basic breakfast, because soon we were going to have a large lunch and dinner. Her grandparents came back over for breakfast (they only live a few blocks away).

And from my family...
Merry Christmas 2012~

Christmas Day ~ Łódź 
After breakfast we headed over to Iza's boyfriend (Mariusz)'s house. Again it was a little early to eat so they handed out presents, and we sat and talked and watched some tv. (His family bought me a t-shirt with the symbol of the city on it). Anything on tv, is funny, because they have to dub over it, but you can sometimes hear the other language underneath it, and there's only one guy who's doing the voice over so it's not quite the same...

Christmas Day you can have meat, it's just Christmas Eve you're not suppose to.

Potatoes

Orange juice, in a really cool pitcher

Bigos

Nice big glasses of wine

(still not sure why this won't flip the right way,
but here's us taking our Polish Vodka shots)

 Desserts, YUM!!!!

Black Tea, and shot of Polish vodka

In between lunch and dinner, we all sat around in the living room. Mariusz's dad made a fire, and someone brought out more Polish vodka... (I hate to admit I started losing count of how many shots I had taken, but I was still able to understand everything and not slur my words. In fact I started answering yes and no in Polish: tak and nie). 
Before we knew it, they were resetting the table for dinner and we were eating again.

After dinner, I stayed up and talked with everyone for a bit before turning in for the night. However, before I got any sleep, I skyped my family who was celebrating Christmas at my grandparent's house like every year. So I saw most of my distant family, and then wished them a good holiday before going to bed.

Day after Christmas ~ Pabianice
The next day was again, filled with food. We ate a decent sized breakfast and then headed back over to Iza's house for a small lunch, because shortly we were heading over to her grandparent's flat to have another dinner.
[Lunch]

[Dinner]

Day 4 ~ Cracow / Kraków
It was day 4 that we finally got some sightseeing done. We had to get up pretty early to catch a "fast" train down to Kraków, and this so called fast train took 5 hours. Yup. 

Kraków is the second largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. It has traditionally been one of the leading centers of Polish academic, cultural, and artistic life and is one of Poland's most important economic hubs. After the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany at the start of World War II, Kraków was turned into the capital of Germany's General Government. The Jewish population of the city was moved into a walled zone known as the Kraków Ghetto, from which they were sent to extermination camps such as Auschwitz and the concentration camp at Płaszów.

The Old Town is the historic central district, in the Main Market Square has some of the most iconic sites of the ancient city. The Renaissance Sukiennice, or Cloth/Drapers’ Hall, is one of the city’s most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the Main Market Square in Old Town. It was once a major center of international trade, traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter their goods. Other, similar cloth halls have existed in other Polish as well as other European cities such as in Ypres, Belgium; Braunschweig, and in Leeds, England; but the one in Kraków is the best-known and best-preserved.

St. Mary’s Basilica is a brick Gothic Church re-built in the 14^th century (originally built in the early 13^th century) in the Main Market Square. On every hour a trumpet signal (called the Hejnał mariacki) is played from the top of the taller tower. The plaintive tune breaks off in mid-stream, to commemorate the famous 13th century trumpeter, who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm before the Mongol attack on the city. The noon-time hejnał is heard across Poland and abroad broadcast live by the Polish national Radio 1 Station.

The Renaissance Sukiennice, or Cloth/Drapers’ Hall, is one of the city’s most recognizable icons. It is the central feature of the Main Market Square in Old Town. It was once a major center of international trade, traveling merchants met there to discuss business and to barter their goods. Other, similar cloth halls have existed in other Polish as well as other European cities such as in Ypres, Belgium; Braunschweig, and in Leeds, England; but the one in Kraków is the best-known and best-preserved.

Town Hall Tower

Eros Bendato

The Wawel Castle (Zamek wawelski) served as a royal residence and the site where the country's rulers governed Poland for five centuries from 1038 until 1596.

The Wawel Dragon Also known as Smok Wawelski, is a famous dragon in Polish folklore.

In a cave at the base of Wawel Hill there lived a dangerous, fire-breathing dragon who posed a threat to the Kraków townsfolk. The more he ate, the greater offerings he demanded until finally he began hunting the townspeople. King Krak sent his messengers out into the world who promised a magnificent reward to anyone who could slay the dragon. Many brave knights tried but all perished in the dragon's den. A young cobbler named Skuba living near Wawel Hill had been watching the knights in action, and decided to find another way of dealing with the beast. He filled a sheepskin with sulfur and tar and planted it outside the dragon's cave. Thinking it was a tasty morsel, the dragon devoured the it. Like after every meal, he gave off a fiery breath and the tar and sulfur in his belly caught fire. He rushed to the River Vistula (Wisła) to extinguish his internal blaze and kept drinking until he burst. 

The Dragon's cave

Random cool Rooks

Vistula (Wisła) River

Kazimierz is best known for being home to a significant Jewish community from the 14th century on until the Holocaust in the Second World War.

While enjoying a coffee/tea and some sweets in the Kazimierz district, we decided it was time to head to the bus station to make our way to Oświęcim. 

See part II.