It’s the last day of teaching and….we got a day off! Ms Anna and Mr Marek wanted to take us to Kazimierz Dolny, a town on the side of Vistula River (Wisła in Polish). They said that this town has a lots of charm and historical atmosphere. There will be real zamek (Polish for castle). My mind floated to imagine the most beautiful castle ever with high roofs and big doors and wide  windows, just like in the movies. I’ve never been to a real castle before, who knows what I might seen?

After we arrived, the first thing that came into my mind is “Wow this is a really small town”. The cobbled street is narrow and leading to the famous old town. You can see tourist and souvenir shops everywhere. First stop! Ice cream! In summer, everyday you have to eat ice cream. Or you just want to hehe.

 A little bit information about this town. Kaziemerz Dolny is named after the formal founder of the town, Kazimierz II Sprawiedliwy (In English it’s Casimir II The Just? I’m not really sure about this “The Just”, I think it’s google translate gone wrong, more translations mention fair, and righteous). In 14^th century, King Kazimierz III Wielki (King Casimir III The Great) made this town a municipal character and built the castle. The slow collapse of the town came in the 17^th century related to historical events such as: the Swedish Deluge, and the Great Nothern War. This town had been in its ups and downs until after World War II, it gradually revive to become an art and tourist center. At the beginning of 20^th century, this town entered its “age of art” because there was an artist, Professor Tadeusz Pruszkowski, who brought his students and started to form colony in the town. Today, Kazimierz Dolny with its reconstructed architectural monuments is considered a true gem of architecture and an attractive tourist destinations. Feeling like you’re reading an advertising much? The night before we went for this trip, Mr Marek gave historical reading about this town for each of us. It’s like going on a school trip. Which is fun because I miss school trip. During our walk to the castle, Mr Marek always told us about the history of this castle, and we listened like obedient students. Turned out there is only the ruin of the castle, but that’s alright because they have a museum under the ruin and sight seeing spot on top of the museum, and I muttered “Whoa, cool” all the time.  We didn’t get to see everything on top of the hill, because it’s far so Mr. Marek and Ms. Anna afraid it will be too tiresome.

We headed to the tower where you have to take zillion stairs (but We’re strong, it was a piece of cake) and from the top you can see the Vistula River. And there’s a picture (or a craft?) of this river with an island in the middle of it. I don’t where it goes but the island is gone man. Mr Marek didn’t know where it goes either. You see I’m a sucker for history. I’ve always said I didn’t like history because I always got 4 out of 10 on my history exam in high school. I can’t get the years of events right, I mess up things that come from different centuries, list goes on. I’m not proud of this, but here, why is it suddenly fascinating? I think it’s because the way people tell their history, it’s like they own it. “It’s my country’s history and I have to know about it and I would love to share it with somebody else” –this is what they’d like when they shared their history to me. Ever hear the saying “A person’s attractiveness will gain when they’re doing something that they like”? It’s like that, they like to share their history, then what they tell us become much more interesting. Get it? No? Yes? Ok moving on.

After having a long walk, we wanted to eat lunch. “I’ve already browsed delicious food in this town!” Mr Marek said. I would say he can make a pretty good holiday planner. We got in to this restaurant with cute little garden filled with white wooden benches and tables. Mr Marek saw the menu book and said “Not here, this not what I’m searching for”. Sooo we’re heading to somewhere else, following wherever Mr. Marek footsteps go. We ended up in a quite area and went to this “beach vibe” restaurant (I forgot the name). We ordered tomato soup for appetizer and pierogi for main course. Pierogi is a Polish traditional dish, it’s like dumplings but more dry, and things stuffed inside can be a lot of types (chicken, meat, cheese, or vegetables). We were starving, and the food was……ok. “Ms Anna’s cooking is much better than this” hahaha I agree with you Mr!

We got home with a full tummy, new knowledge, and happy heart.

Bye Kazimierz Dolny!