June 30, 2019 - July 1, 2019 - Bielin, Poland, a family gathering.

On this day, we drove up to Bielin where Wanda grew up. This just happened to be the day that an annual family gathering was taking place and there were dozens more of family to be met.
Tom was ready, notepad and camera at the ready.

The church where many Sunday mornings were spent.  Quiet and peaceful. An old church with wide walls about 18 inches thick.

And all of a sudden, dozens of people began showing up.  Notepad wasn't going to do any good here.  Take pictures and get names later.

We spent the rest of the day and evening at this wonderful resort out in the country.  It is a quiet part of the country of Poland where people go to just get away.  They have stables there where one can go do some horseback riding.  It would be a wonderful venue for an outdoor wedding, with a banquet hall also. 

 Later on in the day we spent time outside with relatives.  Fortunately, there were several who spoke English very well.

The next morning, we went to the local lake with the view of the town in the background. 

On the way back to Poznan, we were led by Bronek to some places nearby that brought back memories.


Today our plans were to get back to Krakow to catch the plane on a reverse trip from Posnan to Warsaw, to Krakow.  Little did we know that when we arrived in Warsaw from Poznan, late at night, we missed the last plane out.  I guess what happened to us happens often.  A lengthy walk to the place where we get new reservations for the morning flight happened after midnight.  Fortunately, the place where we had rooms waiting for us was just across the street. In the morning, we had a 7:30 flight to Krakow where we arrived plenty early enough to catch our flight to Zurich, and then home to Boston. 

A truly wonderful trip, a great time meeting relatives, plenty of food, great hospitality from those who were so happy to meet people from America...and memories of a lifetime.