Beach, BBQ and Bigos

We returned from our trip to Germany last Tuesday. On Thursday evening, Myles and I stole away for a lovely dinner out.

This is the second time since we have been in Europe that we have been out to dinner by ourselves. (The first time was our luxurious cruise down the Danube on New Year's Day in Budapest). We went to Old Town to a nice restaurant that we have walked by many times. It did not disappoint! Both of our dinners came with a salad. This is what a "salad" looks like in Poland. It's good but I will be happy to see an old familiar American salad when I get home!

Friday was a nice warm day and we strolled to the beach.

It was 70 degrees so Abbie and Trey took their shoes off and put their feet in the Baltic Sea. They had fun but that water was freezing! That didn't stop some crazies from swimming though. I saw a couple of people out in the water up to their necks. I'm way too wimpy for that!

On Saturday morning I took my grocery bags and headed to the store. In every part of Europe we have been to, you either bring your own grocery bags or you can purchase them there. So I get to the store and everything is closed. Well I learned quickly that Saturday, May 1st was a holiday. In America, Holiday = Big Sale. In Poland, Holiday = Nobody Buys Anything! May 1st is Poland's Labor Day.

In the afternoon on Saturday our neighbor, Basia, came over to get me to show me how to make bigos. When we had visited them on Easter, I had asked her to show me how to make it sometime. It is a delicious Polish stew and now I have the secret! Basia's English is limited and my Polish is limited so the teaching session was a bit of a comedy, but I got the information I needed! I can't wait to make bigos at home. It will have to be fall though; it will be too hot when we get home in the summer. It is totally cold weather comfort food. We joined them for a cookout in the afternoon with all kinds of yummy food, and we took the leftover bigos home! When I reheated the leftovers yesterday the whole house smelled wonderful! I love this picture of Mariusz and Basia. We sort of got a commitment from them on Saturday that they would come visit us in the US! :) We are going to miss them when we go home in less than two months...

It is harder for citizens of Poland to obtain a visa to visit the US. They will not have a problem since they are business owners and property owners in Poland. But it is still a bigger hassle for them than it is for most of the rest of Europeans.

On Sunday, Abbie, Trey, Myles and I went to a little spring market that was open for the weekend in Old Town. They had fun things for kids to do and Trey had a ball jumping and sliding on the big slide.

Here is Abbie by a pretty spring sign. It translates to "Clean City Gdansk."

And though we have walked in this area many times, this is the first time we have noticed this Millenium Tree that commemorates the 1000 year history of the city of Gdansk (from 997 to 1997).

Today is Constitution Day in Poland, so another holiday. All of the Polish flags were displayed all over town yesterday. Poland was the second country to have a constitution (only after the US). As Myles notes in his blog, their initial constitution was short lived as they were invaded and removed from the map for well over 100 years. But the philosophy was there and that is what is celebrated on Constitution Day. Luckily I stocked up on groceries when the stores were open yesterday since everything is closed again today! It is pouring rain, windy and cold today (high of 46), so we are staying inside and the kids are complaining about all the school I am making them do. Never mind that if today was not a holiday they would be at the British school! Life is rough for my poor American children living abroad...NOT!