Poland Day 24 - Day 29

Day 24

We woke up nice and early to catch our train back to Lodz. At the train station we had a coffee with Marciek and said our goodbyes.... When we got back to Lodz and to her grandfathers house it was noonish so we decided to go swimming with Tomek, Ania and the pathers. The pool system is very akward at this place. The changing rooms are unisex, but they have individual stalls which you change in before entering and exiting the locker room. Basically you can enter form the front desk entrance or the locker room entrance into the stalls. and when u lock it, it locks on both ends... I could see how some people may feel very uncomfortable with this, but none the less it is a very good system... There is also two sauna's; one is a dry sauna where you must dry off before entering and the other one is wet sauna where it is very heavy to breath because of all the condensation... There is three pools here one for the children, a normal lap pool and then a pool with a slide as well as very cool shower fountains, water pressure holes and a few other little fun gadgets. After the pool, we headed out to go for supper at Aunt Krysia's house... Which was once again Fabulous! We played some cards and went to sleep....

Day 25

We woke up in the morning --- well Darrin woke up in the morning, Ola woke up in the "late morning" or I would call it afternoon! We had a very nice brunch prepared by Tadeusz, that consisted of a very scrumptious omelette and a nice cup of coffee ....

afterwards we spent two hours relaxing on the computer and then headed over to Tomek and Ania's for some ribs and potatoe's...... The meat just fell off the bone! After which we headed directly over to Krysia's for an even bigger meal (feel full yet? Imagine having to eat it all)... Tomek and Ania went to see Shrek III, while we helped Krysia clean up the big mess! We waited for Tomek and Ania to come back to pick up Filip and us, as we had plans to go to the Panthers! At the Panthers we just hung out, talked about sports and Darrin learned some more Polish...

Day 26

Darrin woke up at 9 am and went with Tadeusz to his allotment (a portion of land in which you may have a garden, small house/hut, trees, etc) At Tadeusz allotment he has a little 2 room hut, a small garden, and 2 cherry tree's and a small strawberry bush... Darrin picked two or so pounds of cherries and then mowed the lawn, while Tadeusz repaired a few area's in the house and fixed the garden. We were there for about 1 1/2 hour - 2 hours (it was very quite and beautiful). After which we got home to a still sleeping Ola who we forced out of bed at noon, as we were preparing lunch.... After lunch, we taught Tadeusz how to play; 31, Kings, Liar (3 dice game), Yatzee.... Then we headed out for supper at Krysia - While Tadeusz went to a wedding. At Krysia we saw Asia, who was leaving to go away for a couple of weeks since she finished school! She gave Ola a very beautiful bracelet and talked for awhile. Afterwards we accompanied Tomek to drive Asia home to her mom's so she can get ready to leave. We then headed with the Panthers to a Go Kart area. The go karts were very fast and Ola got to do it for the first time ever.... She loved it, but Darrin loved beating her and smashing her into the sides muhahaha....

We then went to the Pathers house for awhile.

Day 27

Today is a very relaxed day... As it is a Sunday and it is the day of rest! hehehe ---- We started of by both waking up late 11ish and then playing some cards... Afterwards we had plans to be at Krysia's to have special meal: Kolduny (sounds like: Co - Dune - Eh). This is what they call their family dish, which means everyone atleast likes it and the most of them LOVE it... It was very good. It reminded me of Perogi's but instead of regular filling, it is filled with meat and mostly the fat.... MMM good good fat! After eating this meal ---> Darrin had 40 or so.... we played some more cards.... and that was all!

Day 28

We woke up had some breakfast and headed out to the Botanical Gardens. Along the way Tadeusz pointed out a few historical places in Lodz, such as; an old factory owned by Karol Scheibler, who built a town like place similar to that of Manufactura, but it was called "The Priests Mill". The new owners of the land wish to turn the location into high class lofts, as well as turn the old town houses of the workers into expensive homes for the wealthy of Lodz... the main building, which is the factory, is not being used at the moment so it will be easy for them to create the lofts, as long as they abide by the laws from UNESCO, while the town houses are currently rented by 100's of individuals, as the strip is that large. The owners have promised to move all the tenants to another location which would be better than their current one... When we got to the Botanical Gardens, Darrin beat Tadeusz to the ticket counter.... but they didn't have change for his 100 Zloty bill... Tadeusz won this fight but I will win the war! The Botanical Graden was very beautiful, however we came during its off season and therefore was not being as cared for as normally done....... After the garden we had some ice cream and headed back home! At home we made some watermelon sorbet, which wouldn't be ready until late that evening and even better the following day! It was very very very very good.......

Day 29

Darrin woke up and had breakfast with Tadeusz, then watched Johnny English until Ola woke up. Afterwards Tadeusz made some amazing potatoe latkes' and then we met up with Ola#2... We then went to see the Poznanski Museum/House which was very big for a small family. The museum itself wasn't that great, but it had some very cool old outfits and some interesting awards which were given to the occupants. There was also a small photograph exhibition on the main floor... In the cellar there were some old Nazi photographs/documents and other misc stuff from the war... We then parted with Ola and went to Krysia for supper....