Poland - Church, Castle, and Wrocław

Ula works at the Polish office of a large, American company so she speaks English very well. Her husband Stanisław understands English quite well and is able to speak a few words. Ula's daughter, Ela, has a degree in English and teaches the language full time. She has also spent time living in Ireland. She speaks English fluently and we're both fascinated by language so we spent time discussing the meanings or pronunciations of various words and phrases. So fun to be able to converse freely with them!

During my time in Poland I had asked a couple of people if they speak English and their response, "Of course," came across as being quite rude. Ela seemed eager to learn even the slightest nuances of the English language, so I brought this up with her and asked if the response is a direct translation of how they would respond in Polish. She said it is, and later in the week she asked a few of her students how they repond to the question and she was pleased when they told her they answer with the phrase, "Yes, I do."

Stanisław is a disc jockey so he usually only works on weekends, but Ela and Ula were happy to use my visit as an excuse to take some time off work and have a little vacation. I told Ela she could justify it by telling people that spending so much time speaking English with me counted towards career development.

Ursula and Stanisław - I called them Ula and Stanley.

Ula planned out my time with them, taking me to numerous Polish sites, urging me to come back for another two weeks in the future and she'll take me to even more places. She prepared delicious food and when she found out I enjoy Polish cooking, she introduced me to a number of new dishes - tripe soup, potato pancakes, apple pancakes, and various salads, sausages, and cheeses. I was definitely well-fed throughout my stay with them!

First stop on Tuesday was the Church of Peace in Świdnica - a beautiful, wooden, evangelical church completed in 1657. Check out the link for information about the history of this building - I found it really interesting. Information about the site was played over a sound system, allowing us to explore the church and listen to details about its history and unique features.

Church of Peace.

Interior of the Church of Peace.

Main square in Świdnica.

Next stop was Ula's favourite castle, Książ. For some reason I had never considered that Poland would have castles, but they have numerous castles, both intact and in ruins. Ela and I enjoyed exploring the interior of the castle while Ula and Stanley waited outside, enjoying the sunshine. Ela's high school graduation dance was held at this castle!

Książ Castle.
Click here for a virtual tour.


Wall painting detail.

Ceiling detail.

Ceiling detail.
Repainting this ceiling is not a job I would want.

View from a castle window.

The largest nearby city is Wrocław (believe it or not, it's pronounced VROH-swahv), the city where Ela currently lives and works. After exploring the castle, we headed into the city for lunch and more wandering.

Main square in the old part of Wrocław.

I noticed a little dwarf statue next to a tiny, cave-like house and asked Ela about it. She said the statues are quite new, but they've been placed all over the old town in Wrocław.

Origin of the Dwarfs
Photos of the Dwarfs





It's a lot of fun to get to know my Polish cousins - nice to discover that they love ice cream as much as I do! When I planned to spend five or six days with relatives I'd never heard of before, I wasn't sure how well they'd speak English or how old they'd be or what we'd do. I was definitely pleasantly surprised and I'm being spoiled rotten by my Polish family!

Reflection of me and Ela in Wrocław.