What I Missed About America! And What I Miss About Poland!

As most of you know I just spent a wonderful 17 days in Poland visiting Archives as a work assignment.  It was great and I had good experiences there.  But there were definitely things I missed and was so happy to have again when I returned yesterday.  They are (not all in order of importance)

1.  My family
2.  Driving my car when and where I wanted to
3.  Napkins at the table
4.  Big refrigerators
5.  Enough electrical outlets and having them in convenient places
6.  Climate controls (hot and cold)  car and house
7.  Screens on the windows
8.  Tomatoes from the garden
9.  Multiple TV's in the house
10. Big one-stop grocery stores--Walmarts
11. Parking spaces!
12. LDS Church on every corner
13.  Inexpensive Xerox copies
14.  Laundromats and large washing machines
15.  Lots of freeways
16.  Cemetaries with old grave stones
17.  Drive-thru fast food places
18.  Drive-thru banking
19.  Cars with big trunks
20.  Free local phone calls
21.  Being able to read the language
22.  Hugs from grandkids

What I Miss About Poland:
1.  My ancestral villages
2.  Pigeons on every corner
3.  Pierogi mmmm.
4.  Roladen and red cabbage...
5.  Old castles, palaces and historic buildings
6.  Polish Ice Cream
7.  Silesian traditions
8.  My relatives
9.  Bookstores
10. Koszecin hand-churned butter, farm cheese and milk, and bread
11.  Afternoon cake custom
12.  Archives
13.  Forests everywhere
14.  A Gralla in every town/Palus or Grochla, Dziuk, Ochmann and Kandzia
15.  Kids selling blueberries on the roadsides
16.  Kloese/Dumplings, Silesian style
17.  Black currant Juice and jam
18.  Church bells ringing
19.  Cobblestones
20.  Looking at original church books
21.  Mushroom stands
22.  Poppy seed cakes

So you see, no matter where you are, there will always be things you miss from somewhere else.  But one thing is for sure...there is no place like home and I am so glad to be here!

Poland Pilgrimage Day 14

Today was a tiring day by getting up early, having a good breakfast at the hotel and then by heading to Katowice from Opole.  Of course, the GPS had another melt down due to "detour" signs caused by big construction projects.  Believe it or not, we eventually made it to our goal and went to the Archdiocese archive.  It didn't really have records that we would be using at the library, but there were some of interest, but definitely not of primary importance in any way.  After finishing here, we took some pictures of the vicinity and then walked quite a distance uphill to the car.  Parking here was not easy to find.  We then headed for Warsaw and believe it or not, we made it, and dropped off my rental car at the airport.  We had to explain all about the accident and the worker there called the police number and verified everything.  He said that there should be no problem.  So that was out of our hair.  They keep changing my Warsaw to Frankfurt flight and so I have to keep a close watch on this so I get there, eventually!  Today there wasn't too much rain and after we got back, I walked to the store about 1/2 mile from Danuta's.  It was nice to walk a bit again.  And tomorrow is souvenir day--I hope.  For some reason my suitcase is bulging w/o anything in it much.  I don't understand this at all...
Anyways, I hope that I don't have to pay extra.  I am tired of stuffing everything to the brim.  I will be glad to go home, see the grandkids and even go back to work!  See all you Utahns fairly soon!

Poland Pilgrimage Day 13

Here is a funeral procession in Jemielnice.


My trip is rapidly coming to its end.  Today we went to the archives in Groslawice.  There we found a building with no marks to indicate what it was, including a building address number.  We rang the bell and it was the right place.  Aside from the woman that worked there, we were the first there at 8:00 am.  By the way the Mercure hotel has a very nice breakfast.  And all you can eat, fruit, meat, coffees, teas, herbal and other, many fruit juices, many rolls, bread varieties and omelettes, vegies, cheese, Kielbasa, scrambled and hard boiled eggs, bacon, cereals, fruit and other salad type things and just about anything.  Very nice.  Anywys, back to the archive, there I had the same forms to fill out and then the book request.  The young woman that worked there spoke German, so that was nice for me.  I had quite a list of land records that I requested.  Here the copies were double the price as the other state archives where we have been.,  This was a little strange to me and so I kind of held back on the copies that I requested.    Most of the books from which I requested copies did not yet have page numbers.  Apparently I was the first to use these books.  It was interesting on the land records as one file was for one person and his family and one that I got for the Pallus family was very thick and I wanted the whole thing! Unfortunately for me, this wasn't an option.  There were some court records as well that were interesting.  I had thought it would take forever to get through all the files, but it didn't, so we went to the archives in Opole.  There we checked some civil registration records that were interesting.  The archive in Groslawice did not have a catalog of their holdings so it was not possible to request other things.  After we were done in Opole, we walked to the Mercure hotel, put our things away, paid our bill and then went to the Pierogi place that a taxi driver had recommended to us. Danuta didn't want to drive to Groslawice because of all the detours so she paid the taxi for me.  The pierogi place was great and I also had a cabbage roll with rice and vegetables.  It had tomato sauce over it.  I also had a blueberry pierogi.  Very tasty.    I uploaded some pictures and tried to load a few more, but nothing happened.  Will keep trying.  It is only 6:00 and Danuta is sawing logs.  Poor girl.  It is a bit cold in the room and outside it didn't rain as much as days past, but still cold windy with scattered showers, some quite hefty.  Well tomorrow we go to the Archdiocese archives in Kattowitz and I am thinking that after that we will go straight to Warsaw.  I am watching German TV right now as I work on this.

Poland Pilgrimage Day 12

We are at a relative in Nogawczyce.  The lady 2nd from left is 82 and a Palus wife and the other two ladies are her daughters.  I was happy to meet them along with Dominika, who is a young woman that helped me find some common genealogy over the past 3 years.  She told me that in the beginning that Nogawczyce had only 2 families, Palus and Heide.  Pretty much everyone that lives in town today is from one of these families, unless they are move-ins.  Dominika's mom gave me a book and fed us dinner tonight.

They had old family photos which I took pictures of with my camera and believe it or not they looked better in the photo of the photo than in the original.  Everyone was so surprised.  Here is a Palus gathering at the Jaryszow church where they attended.  I was told that the family was ordered to change the spelling from Pallus to Palus or they would be in trouble with the Polish government. 

Here is Dominika in the center and her sister-in-law at the left.  The father of the family and the husband of the sister-in-law work in Germany and come home every 2 weeks or so for the weekend.  That is a tough life.  But the pay in Poland can not support the family.

!

Yes, here he is, ready to get me the 35th time.

Poland Pilgrimage Day 12

Well today is coming to a close.  We are at the Mercure Hotel in Opole/Oppeln and it was a bear to find.  As with Gliwice, Opole was having road work too in the inner city right around where we needed to be and therefore we had lots of trouble trying to get to the hotel.  Finally the taxi driver thing again.  So we made it from Katowice where we had been in the state archives again.  It was good at the archives and we finished up the requested books.  After we got to Opole it was late in the day and we walked to the shops and looked for souvenirs.  We were told those type of shops no longer exist because people now buy all the Chinese stuff instead.  So the souvenir thing is not so successful but we still have 4 days...oh dear, that doesn't sound too good at all.  And during the day we are in archives so that makes it rough, also...Wish me luck or my grandkids will be sad...

Poland Pilgrimage Day 9 or 10??

I am kinda of losing track of the days.  Have I been here 10 days and miscounted or only 9?  I will call it 10 I guess because of sheer exhaustion.

Poland Pilgrimage Day 11

Danuta and I are at the archives in Katowice again.  We are waiting for a book order.  My feet are freezing because I didn't bring any WARM clothes and it is really cold right now.  At least for me, having left hot Utah not too long ago.  We will have most of the work done after this new request comes.  The helpers have been good and pretty quick to get things going.  So I can't complain.  This morning was the last day in Koszecin and the church bells rang in the morning.  I will have to remember that sound as in America, at least Utah, we don't hear any. 
As I got up to leave the Ulfik's yesterday, they began to sing Polish songs.  It was really sweet.  I think that they are amazing people.  I feel really comfortable there with them.
Today the rain continues and I don't care for it.  It is getting old.  Till later, tonight when I can write about something again.

Mosquito Meat

Well, the studio apartment at the Prince's palace was very nice, except for ONE LITTLE THING!  There has been lots of rain and cold weather.  And for those who have been in Europe, they aren't big on window screens here....Well, as I went to bed I kept hearing a mosquito buzzing in my ear.  No sooner had I swatted him away, then he was back again.  This guy was hungry...then he brought some friends with him, or maybe it was family, don't really know.  I pulled the covers over my head, but soon got a little low on air.  So I pulled the covers as high as possible. The buzzing continued and the hungry thing got more and more on my nerves.  I put my head where my feet had been.  Nothing deterred the beast.  I finally gave up.  There was nothing that I could do...In the morning my arms were mosquito lunch.  (Or in this case, his midnight snack) but then I saw him on the wall and took my shoe and splat.  It was an ugly sight.  He may have won the battle, but I won the war, at least against him...

Poland Pilgrimage Day 10 part 1

Today was Sunday and Theresa's sister from Milan and her son are here, and Ewa and Arthur, Jan's oldest daughter and her husband and 2 sons came.  Dinner was around 1:00 and Marysia made Roladen, Kloese, and red cabbage, the cold kind and then some drinks.  I poured some "bubble" water in my drinks and they said they had never tried that and so they all did it and decided that they liked it that way.  It was kind of funny.  They stayed in the kitchen talking from 1:00 till about 7:00.  And I think we ate the entire time.  Oh the pounds!  But it was fun and funny to hear Polish, English, German and Italian spoken all at the same time.  Crazy!  It was a really fun afternoon.

Christina, Danuta, Marysia, Thomek, Jan and Artur.

Christina, Danuta, Ewa, Malgosia, Theresa, Babcia, Marysia

Nicolai, Marysia, Sonja, Danusia, Christina.Robert, Camil eating Roladen and talking, all day long!
It was really sad to say goodbye but now we are at the palace hotel and it is not a bad room and its quiet and inexpensive, about $20 a person per nite with breakfast.  Anyway, we leave here in the morning and that will be the last day at Koszecin.

Poland Pilgrimage Day 10

Jan and Mr. Wieczorek. Jan called him to have him bring me some information, which he did and he let me take photos of anything I wanted to have. Wieczorek is also a name on my family pedigree. He is also married to an Ulfik woman.

Here is lunch in Tworog.  We had chicken, potatoes, salad and cabbage.  It was quite good.

Here is the Argentian group that performed.  Danuta liked the guy in the middle.

So actually as I am writing it is Sunday in Poland. I am hearing the bells announcing mass at my grandmother’s church. It is sort of a neat feeling. It is about 7:15 in the morning. I wake up fairly early in Poland because the sun starts rising about 4:30 in the morning. Unlike Germany, I don’t see any rolling shutters in this part of Poland, so the light comes into the room that I am sleeping in. Unlike yesterday, at this time there is no rain. Yesterday it rained and rained, non-stop. I was a little sad about that because I wanted to roam the vicinity on the weekend. That had been on my agenda, so to speak. But in a while we did that anyway.


So yesterday after breakfast we were not able to go to any archives because they are closed for the weekend. We will go back to Katowice tomorrow in the state archives and finish that up as best as possible. That will probably be my next chance to post my blog and communicate with the outside world. Unless at the palace tonight I can get an internet connection. So Danuta and I got into the car, set the GPS and headed to my ancestral villages to see them again, get some pics and just feel the ambiance of being there. (at least for me, anyway) So we headed to Wisnicze and took some picture, to Toszek, to the city market square and to the church and the castle which sits just above the church. It was nice to see it all again. There always now seems to be those renaissance days at the old castles in Germany and Poland that depict the middle ages with knights and ladies in waiting and the whole thing. I have yet to see one, but maybe one day the opportunity will rise and I will. We drove to Himmelwitz/Jemielnika and tried to get to Dziewkowice, which is pronounced Jeffkowitze in Polish. And we couldn’t get there, every street leading to it was a dirt road full of mud because of the rain that was falling. Not that I wasn’t feeling very adventurous, but the last thing we needed was to be stuck in mud and not be able to get help. Here is the forests, there are many times that Danuta’s cell phones don’t get reception and also the GPS loses satellite transmission. Such is life. Anyway, we saw lots of the old ancestral towns and I had just wished that I didn’t have to stay so much in the car, but yesterday’s rain was cold and windy. I definitely didn’t bring clothing or shoes for what happened on Saturday.

We had told Jan that we would be home around 2:00, and after a nice lunch at somewhere around Tworog, at the Restaurant Lido, and a short shopping stop at a Netto, which Danusia says is like Aldi, but from Denmark, not Germany, we headed back to Koszecin. Jan seems to have LOTS of local connections to historical type people. He knew a man Edward Wieczorek (also a name on my Koszecin pedigree) who had made arrangements with a town near Graz in Austria. ( can’t remember the name, but have copies and photos about it) and he had a lot of historical information. It was really interesting to me because of the fact that there is a town in the district of Graz where we went in 1984 because it was called “Gralla”. It is very near to the now arranged for sister city of Koszecin. The reason they wanted this as their sister city is because the prince from Koszecin, Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen went there after the war to live and he died there. I was given lots of historical information about this and its all jotted in my notebooks. I found it so interesting because of the name Gralla, my mom’s maiden name and the town Gralla which is also in the Graz area. Anyway, Mr. Wiecorek, was a nice man and let me photograph his papers and also gave me some as well.

Then it was time to get ready for the “Folklorico” at the palace of Hohenlohe. There was a nice theatre there and Jan, Danusia, Weronika and NIcoli, who is the nephew of Jan who just arrived from Milan, Italy where his mother, the sister of Theresa, married an Italian and lives. Anyway, the production features, Belo-Russian, Argentine, Portuguese and Turkish folk dance troupes from these countries and they put on a really nice performance. Koszecin is trying to be “the” cultural center of Southern Poland and the well-known performers, in the group called “SLask” are based out of the Palace in Koszecin where they have tryouts from performers from all over Poland and dance summer camp training during the summer. They travel in a large bus all over showing the presentation. They are quite famous.

After the performance there was a stand of books and things that the palace sells. I saw one book, that I didn’t remember seeing or owning. I have to have everything ever written on Koszecin, you know! So I opened it up just to take a look and there was the picture that I know from another book, with my great grandfather, Franz Gralla and the other 35 forestor’s of Koszecin with the Prince. So of course, I bought the book and then Jan said, look the author is my neighbor. So after we returned to the house Jan calls him and he comes over to sign the book and talk. He is very nice and says he remembers that the son of a forestor on page 32 of the book, told him about the forestor Gralla. He also said my grandfather was not the only “Robin Hood” type around these parts and told us some stories and then said his brother Josef Tyrol, who lives 32 km away is writing a book, also about the Robin Hoods. I couldn’t believe it. And so he calls his brother and his book is almost ready for production and I should send him a picture of Franz in his uniform, which I will after I get home. I was given his email address. Danuta and I will try to get together with him later today because he also sits regularly at the church in Sadow where the Priest informed us the other day that he has no Communicanten books which I really wanted. However, this Josef says that this is not true, they are there. So we will see if we can get the information that I need through him., somehow.

So tonight is our last nite at the Ulfik’s, Jan’s sister, Marysia made Roladen/Rolada for lunch today and we will stay for that and then make our way to the palace studio apartment that we reserved. While taking care of that reservation, yesterday or whenever it was, the worker there took us through the palace. The rooms, like hotel rooms were absolutely beautiful with all the amenities. So one last night in my little Koszecin and then in the morning to Katowice archives, and after hopefully to Gliwice to try to pick up the book at the museum that we tried to get earlier but ran out of time because of our Post office experience. Then we drive to Opole. We will stay 3 nights there and after we are all done with everything, on Thursday afternoon we will leave for Warsaw. We will arrive there later in the evening.

This morning is quite cool and I have my little jacket on. Wish I had brought a warmer one. It took me a while to fall asleep last night because my feet were so cold. So I put on my one and only pair of socks I had brought with me.

I forgot to mention that the whole family gathered around the outside fireplace to talk and visit. Unfortunately, there were mosquitos. It reminded me of having s’mores in the backyard like we do around the outdoor firepit we have outside. But this time no roasting marshmallows, etc. That’s all for what happened on Saturday. Hopefully I will have time tonight to write about Sunday’s adventures.

Poland Pilgrimage Day 7

Poland Pilgrimage Day 7 Part 2

Well, today was a busy day at the archives. We took Theresa to Piekary Slask on the way and she stopped at a bakery (Piekarnia) in a town called Ziglia to get poppy seed cake. And this was a famous bakery. She bought Danuta and I both a piece and we dropped her off. Then we went on to the archives. We were about 15 minutes early. It seems to take about 1 hour to get there and Gliwice is about the same. We were able to see the Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen collection today. The index along stood about 12 or more inches thick. I picked many sources that sounded good to me and then found an unexpected treasure of many of my ancestors listed in there for one reason or another. I ordered the books and got tons, They really treated me well and again the 5 book rule was not adhered to. Thank goodness for me.

After we finished we went to pick up Theresa. The Ulfiks are having even more company on Sunday over nite, so we are staying at the Koschentin Palace studio apartments for one night. Danuta and I will then go to the Katowice archives for one more day of study. Thereafter to the Gliwice museum to pick up a book we wanted Wednesday but had no time to pick up. It is about the Jews of Gliwice. If it wasn’t for the really bad road conditions it wouldn’t be such a problem, but we will try. Then after that we will drive to Opole to stay over night at the Mercure hotel for three nights. We had to change our reservations just a little bit and then on Thursday we will head back to Warsaw and get there in the evening. Then Friday if needed I can shop or pack and get ready for the return flight on Saturday.

I decided to not go to Kamien. It is a really long drive and I wasn’t sure that it would be worth it because Danuta called and Gerard Gralla’s wife said that they were not able to find any old pictures.

So tomorrow I will drive around locally looking at the towns of my ancestors and taking pictures. Nothing heavy duty. So that will be nice to do. I have found some amazing records. I hope that I will be able to receive the copies that I requested because they will be amazing.

Tonight Weronika is here while I type and she is watching Harry Potter who since the last time I saw it, has really learned to speak Polish well! He really is amazing!

She was shy at first to try and speak English that she knows and her mom says that she has now loosened up quite a bit.

As usual today, Danuta made an excellent secretary. You really need one for all the forms to fill out. I found many of my ancestors had arrest records for thievery, drunkenness, guns, abuse, racial discrimination, etc., Boy, it is crazy, is it not?

It has rained all day, but isn’t too cold, though. Tonight after we returned from the archives, we went with Jan to the Koschentin Palace and picked up some souvenirs and then the owners took us for a tour of the palace rooms. They were very nice and clean and newly renovated. They were renovating a big hall on the main floor, as well. They rent the rooms like a hotel and downstairs there are banquets, weddings, etc. This is where Hohenlohe-Ingelfingen lived back in the day. They were the local nobility. The palace is right across from the forestry building and I never noticed it before. It is quite beautiful and large. I wonder if Great-grandpa Franz was there and walked those same halls as did I today.

I had to do some hand washing tonight. Otherwise things might be a little rough but we shall survive.

I think that is everything. Love the archives and what they have there. I had no idea, not even a clue. This has been a great experience for me. All for tonight. I don’t think that I will have an opportunity to post till Monday unless I charge the computer and go to the church at some time. For some reason I get my internet connection there.

I almost forgot, the 86 year old sister of Jan and Marysia, Eleonora died in July of this year and 2 days after she had a leg removed surgically she died.... 
The blog stuff is all written in Polish so I always hope everything works right!

One Last Photo for today!

Here in the Ulfik kitchen is Weronika, age 5 and momma, Malgosia which is the Polish version of Margaret. 

More Pics of Poland

Here is where the forest used to be before the tornado, 1 km wide hit Koszecin.  Even on the US news because the van/vehicle carrying the famous singing/dancing group Slask was overturned.  It destroyed my great-grandfather's farm.

More Pics of Poland

The Ulfik family at the restaurant.  Check out the food.  Roladen and all the trimmings!

Whats left of the old Franz Gralla Hof.  Here I am with Mr. Gerhard Soballa, age 82.

More Pics of Poland

Watch out Jamie, Last time you had Grayson!

A car accident in the parking lot at the Restaurant "Under the Walnut tree" makes for a stressful time.  Thank goodness the people were honest and stayed to report it to us.  I have no idea how long they had to wait for our long lingering over meals, family!

More Pics of Poland

Gliwice, doing my thing!

More Pics of Poland

Street problems in Gliwice, which is why my GPS had a melt-down...but we got there.  Where there is a will, there is a way!!!

Polish Pilgrimage Pictures FINALLY!

Fields of Sunflowers everyone I look!  Abt 10 km from Koszecin.

Archive in Katowice

Poland Pilgrimage Day 8 Part 1

It is 6:00 am. And soon time to shower. I had some thoughts come to me and so am writing about them. First yesterday morning after waking I heard a pounding type noise. Later I asked Danuta if she heard it and what it was and she also didn’t know what it was. Later Jan told us that in the morning he had gotten up and chopped wood to heat the water. Wow, I was surprised about that. He says the gas and electricity are too expensive here. Anyway, just wanted to mention that.


Also, in most of Europe they don’t have screens on the windows and the same is here and I have been the meal for many a mosquito. But we must help the hungry or so we are told. Too bad about the type of hungry we are dealing with!

Also, the stork pair we saw in the nest on the day of arrival, I sort of remembered a stork nest 18 years ago and asked if they come back yearly. Jan said it is the same pair for 20 years now. Boy are the a happily married couple! Can you imagine having kids 20 years in a row. The thought makes my feet swell and my backache… Oh well!

Today it is raining and gray. It rained during the night. So, those are my random thoughts and I will continue after the day is gone by. Feel free to leave a comment if you like. I would love to hear from you also! Hope I am not boring anyone.

Just writing at the archives today.  Very busy here today for me because I got the big file that I hadn't been able to get yesterday.  Looks like we will be back here on Monday.  So much to do and see.  So many amazing record types.  I can't believe it. 

By the way, I guess I took my shower before Jan had a chance to chop the wood....so my hair didn't get washed.  Boy that was my fastest shower in history.  Today is rained hard and is still threatening to do some more it appears.  8 people in the archives besides us today.  The helpers have been helpful.  Did my gift put them in a nice mood?  I had been told I was limited but they have not limited my books or complained about all the books I have requested.  Danuta had to go move the car because they are going to cut the grass and it is a little in the way.  I have no book to view as I completed what we had.  I have found a lot of criminals in the court records belonging to my family.  They had verbal, physical abuse, thieves, racial discrimination against a Jewish woman and wood thieves.  Boy I have some black sheep.  Maybe more than I planned on. More later!

Poland Pilgrimage Day 7

Poland Pilgrimage Day 7


Danuta has become a professional “form filler-outer”. She needs a raise. That poor woman filled out forms today till she had writer’s cramp. She is a great secretary, ha ha! Well, today we drove to Katowice. I think Danuta was a little nervous because it is a big city and she was afraid of getting lost, but the GPS got us there before they opened and all was well. We put our stuff in the lockers and noticed that they had some books for sale. Tomorrow I will see if I have time to check the Family History Library catalog to see if we have them or not. Unfortunately, I can’t do it at home at the Ulfik’s because of the fact that I have this dumb internet problem. As we were driving and such we were happy to find that the archive was not in the Centrum, rather on the outskirts so we could avoid the Katowice traffic.
Well, we got in and there were about 3-4 other people there besides us. We didn’t notice any cameras as had been in the Gliwice archives, very visably displayed. There were computer plugs and quite a lot of space to work and many stations in which to sit. No problem there. We had to fill out forms, again. We filled the same 2 page form with all my information on it. One for Danuta and one for me. They were all in Polish and so all I did was sign my name. Then we had to start filling out requests. This archive, although they knew I was coming, did not have my books ready as the other archive did. We had to have our book order placed by 9:30, but because we filled so many forms to do this we were really racing against the clock. They told us the 5 book only rule. I told them that the manager had given me permission for more, but they were still not quite sure how many I could have. Ended up I got a lot and we were working like crazy until closing time. This time the copy situation was much different than in the Gliwice archives. Luckily no post office to deal with, however, all my requests have to be reviewed by the manager because they don’t own the books only are the caretakers of them and so the manager was not in today. (of course..) Hopefully tomorrow. The one item I really wanted to see had been sent to repair and they weren’t sure if I could see it. Another manager problem. So again, there is always tomorrow. I didn’t have to pay yet for the copies. After they determine if I can have everything I requested, then it takes 3 weeks and then after that they will bill me and send them to Danuta on CD.
We worked straight through lunch without a break till we went home,. During the wait times, I did as I had in Gliwice posting my blog entries and emailing and reading emails. And Answering Sylvie’s translation request. So I found some really interesting stuff today. My brain is so full I can hardly think of what they were. First there were moving records, Influenza reports, law suits., arrest forms, foreign workers etc. I had no idea that “flocks” of Galizian people came to Koszecin. There were 2 family names in my line from various towns in Galizien. While looking through the court records, I found in 1894 an arrest record of my great-grandfather, Franz Gralla. He was found guilty of breaking a law (It gave the official law number, not the crime) and fined him 20=== or 3 days in jail. That was probably the start of his life of crime in poaching, ha ha! Npw here is the thing, he wasn’t the only family criminal, I HAD LOTS OF THEM!! Many different family lines. I can’t wait to get the copies to read through these crazy things. I really had no idea, the many crazy types of records that give so much data were available in the archives. I have learned so much already. So then I found travel passes, forest workers from Galicia records giving their former residence and passports. I am just crossing my fingers that I will get those copies. If not, it will be more than a bad thing.

Well, after a hectic day at the archives, we completed the day’s work and decided to eat. A little hard to find a restaurant where we were but finally we did. Nothing fancy, but OK. We then went to the bakery and got a different version of a poppy seed cake to bring home, also some traditional Silesien Wafers. They are quite cool. Then we got in the car and followed Bobby Sue’s (my GPS) directions back to Koszecin where we gassed up our diesel car and we have driven 1 week clear from Warsaw on ½ tank of gas. I kept thinking we would run out and it just never moved. We filled in 149. Zl about $50.00. (sounds better in dollars, I think!) I can’t wait to put some pictures in my blog, but I just don’t get the opportunity, which is a bit frustrating. I know how plain text can be boring… Then we found the market and bought some water and some cool Polish items that I will bring home. No mushroom chips here, although there were some rather interesting flavors, I must admit. Danuta bought some items, too. I bought some Haribo gummy dinos. Now there’s one I hadn’t seen before. Then back to the Ulfiks, where as usual dinner was ready. It was spaghetti and for dessert our Poppy seed cake. I liked today’s cake better than yesterday’s, but Jan preferred the one from yesterday. We all laughed because no one could agree on the best one.

Malgosia and family were all there and she is building a new house and asked about all the modern American kitchen amenities. I told her and she said, she would be having some of them but not all. It is really interesting to me how Polish people linger over the meals, not eating, but talking and talking, laughing and just being together. It is nice, but the dishes never seem to get done! Her little daughter Weronika likes to entertain us with American children’s songs, counting in English and just being a cute little 5 year old. Right now it is pouring rain outside. Theresa said that it had rained a lot during the day, but we didn’t have any in Katowice or driving to and from the archives.

Tomorrow is another day at Katowice archives and we are driving Theresa to Piekarny Slaska which is on the way for her little school friends get-together. So that will be fine. I got some nice pictures today. One of a sunflower field just full of flower…I know, again no picture. Well, I will get to the pictures, too, eventually.

As we were driving Danuta had asked me to turn on the radio. I did and a man’s voice, a very sexy voice came on and I said, wow, what a sexy voice and Danuta said, yes, that is the Catholic Priest on the Catholic radio station talking about confessions…OK, I repent.

As I am upstairs, I can hear the family and Danuta just laughing and laughing, so I am glad that Danuta is having a good time, also. It is very comfortable to be here., I love it.

Well, whomever is reading this, till next time. On the weekend there may be a little silence on this end, unless I find a internet spot somewhere. On Saturday night we are going to some kind of a cultural event at the Palace. With folk dancers and so forth. Sounds nice.

Oh, I can’t remember if I already wrote this or not. But the tornado in Koschentin that occurred about 2 years ago, which was on the US News and happened in Koszecin was 1 km wide and when it happened it blew over the bus or van that the Polish dance group Slask was traveling in. I think a couple of people died if I remember. I remember hearing it while in the kitchen listening to TV while cooking and thinking that I had hoped none of my family was too near this. Well, it took out the farm of my great grandfather, Franz Gralla. I am so glad that we saw it while it was still intact in 1992. I had just hoped to get some good photos and I got photos, but the old stuff was no more.