Rodzice w Polsce

From the 7th till the 13th of July my parents came to visit me in Poland.

They flight to Bydgoszcz from Tours, by London. Their first minutes in Poland were funny. As we were in the bus, getting to Akademik where I had booked a room for them, as Akademik also  works as a hotel, they were  very curious. They were observing everything around: buildings, vehicules, blocks, people, etc, making their comments. Of course, it is a different country and it looks different.

On Sunday, we went to Torun with the newly-arrived French volunteer Lucile, with who I was sharing my room, and on Monday I showed them Wiatrak and Bydgoszcz.

Torun is very close to Bydgoszcz. Both cities are located in the voivode (Wojwoda in Polish, kind of region): Kujawsko-Pomorska (Kuyavia-Pomerania). Besides I heard that for a long time, both cities have a kind of rivality. Also, before the last reform of administrative division of Poland which was introduced on the 1st of January, 1999, both cities struggled and each wanted to become the capital of the Voivode. Bydgoszcz, which is quite bigger, wan.

Torun is a gorgeous and historically very important city. The centre is surrounded by a well-kept orange-stones-made fortifications and we can still see ruins of the castle which was built by the Teutonic Knights. It is also the home town of Mikolaj Kopernik (Nicolaus Copernicus), the famous astronomer. In Pland it is also very well-known for pierniki, gingerbread. And finally, it is the city where was founded Radio Maryja, a very nationalist, conservative and anti-post-communist radio, in 1991... 

The day after, we left to the North of Poland: to Gdansk. I had booked a room in a newly-opened guesthouse. After some difficulties to find the place (******* Internet map), we got to the place and went for a tour in Gdansk. The following day we visited Malbork Castle, which was also founded by the Teutonic Knights and has by the same architectural style than the fortifications in Torun. And the next one Sopot, a city on the sea.

Their stay was quite fun. We went to some womderful places. They were very curious. I think they did not like that much the food: pierogi "trop pateux" (true that we did not tried the best ones), insistence to go to eat a pizza (pfff!! in Poland!!), tehy made a face when they saw and smells the big smell coming form a place where they served slices of bread with smalec, oignons, meat and some other stuff (I found it quiet good :-) and they did not really like the sausages for breakfast, even not the eggs!! Pfff, they behaved a bit like "French dogs":-). But I exagerated as they liked our 1st lunch in Torun. we were in a typical place where we ate very Polish dishes (meat, cabbage and potatoes), and my father never said not to taste a new beer :-).

They were also very funny, as always keeping over-confident in their Polish-speaking guide :-): ME :-). Each time a seller or someone was coming to them, my Mim ws answering with her wonderful accent: "I don't speak English" or "I am with my daughter". Or, even better, we was saying "Merci" or "Bonjour" to people.

We loved the places, Gdansk esp. Sopot was more disappointed, not so special for French as it looks like any touristic city on the French coast.

After there stay, I flighted to Paris for a NEVA seminar WE.. A wonderful WE where I met for the 1st time great people with who I am continuing the NEVA adventure :-)