Arriving in Poland

We just spent a wonderful two days in Wroclaw, Poland. The train ride there was pretty and it was a fun way to see the country.  

I had no idea what to expect. I thought no one would speak English, I thought we wouldn’t find any vegetarian food, I thought every building would be communist concrete gray, I thought the people would be unfriendly and impatient with tourists. I was so wrong.

Our Airbnb hosts greeted us warmly, welcoming us into their home like family. Andrzej made us green tea and we sat in his cozy kitchen talking about life in Poland. We'd been pronouncing it "ro-claw," but realized how terrible our Polish pronunciation was when our host referred to some city that sounded like "Brotslaf." It took me a minute to realize that that was, in fact, where we were. 

When his wife came home from work, she heated a bowl of soup for herself and offered some to us as well. Tomato basil with noodles, served with 2% yogurt, because, they noted, it was healthier than cream. 

 

Then, since we had asked about Polish food, the soup was followed by the Polish speciality pierogi. I’d never had them, despite living in a city with a significant history of Polish immigration and a handful of Polish restaurants and delis, but they are marvelous and I quickly realized that I’ve been missing out. The three little dumplings that appeared in front of us were steaming hot and fragrant, golden brown after being fried in butter. The filling was simple, just cabbage, carrots, and spices I think, and after a day of traveling and a long walk in the cold, they were like little pockets of heaven. Absolutely, absolutely delicious.

They were having friends over for New Years Eve that night, and in preparation Liliana had made three kinds of cake: chocolate with nuts, cheesecake, and a northern/eastern European traditional kind made with a thick layer of poppy seeds on top of a pastry crust. I was most excited to try the last one, after hearing my mom's description of poppy seed pastries in Germany. If I hadn’t known they were poppy seeds I might not have guessed, the flavor was mild and sweet and the texture was like a crumby, dense cake. It was tasty, and totally different from most things I've had before.

That night was New Year's Eve, so after a celebratory shot of Polish vodka flavored with Bison Grass with our hosts (Andrzej was very enthusiastic about this), we walked around the town center as fireworks went off from every direction (most definitely not done by professionals). They effect was beautiful nonetheless as we were surrounded by bursts of light.

More soon on our day in the lovely town center, filled with plenty of treats.