Poland

Three weeks of constant work - sometimes 15 long days with only 1 actual day off - it was time for a break! Naomi’s father’s side of the family, the Jankowski’s, had organised a family reunion amongst the cousins, as some of them had not even met each other before, and I guess having Naomi’s brother in Europe and us around the corner in Berlin meant that the timing couldn’t have been better. We caught the Berlin to Warsaw express train Friday afternoon after work, and 6 hours later we are stepping off the train to be met and greeted by the Jankowski family. It was late at night so we went straight to bed and started the reunion over a traditional Polish breakfast of a selection of cold meats, cheeses, breads and fruit, and when you thought that was a lot, there were some sweet biscuits thrown in there! We then spent the first day exploring the city of Warsaw. We were given some insight by our personal tour guide Tomek, Naomi’s uncle, on the history of Warsaw. He took us to a small museum showing the before and after of the city pre and post war. The city was basically flattened and totally destroyed by the orders of Hitler, which is how Warsaw gets its modern, drab communist-looking buildings.

They have re-created what is called the old town to represent what Warsaw used to look like. After a full days sight seeing we stopped off for a taste of what Poland is all about to me – the food! We overloaded on an interesting selection of pierogi - Polish dumplings. The fillings ranged from soured cabbage to forest mushrooms and even mushy lentils. We left in a food coma to trek back to the family home to once again eat, this time a three-course dinner! Poland was all about eating, and I have now discovered the similarities between European families stuffing food down your throats! We decided to take a day away from the family and took a day trip to the romantic city of Krakow, which was once the country’s capital and for some reason kept un-touched during the war. We spent the day eating and walking around the city. We were recommended by Naomi’s parents to go to a Bar Mleczny (literally ‘Milk Bar’). These are small communist looking food outlets that served traditional Polish food at cost price during the country’s post-war depravity, and which still serve up generous bowls of soup and dumplings for all. You get the feeling you are in a Polish highschool cafeteria, but the food was so amazing that over the course of the day I tried and tested 5 dishes from these food venues! First there was Bigos for breakfast - a traditional Polish stew of soured cabbage and spicy sausage – then a Pork goulash with their version of gnocci, followed by beetroot borscht, and to end the evening of Jake’s food tasting of Krakow, I had to try the pancakes stuffed with cottage cheese and topped with a warm sweet strawberry sauce… amazing!

We woke early the next day to meet up with the other side of the family, Naomi’s mother’s family. We decided to make them lunch, so we got our supplies from Warsaw before jumping on the train and getting off at a small town around 40 mins from Warsaw called Prushkow, where Naomi’s mum Krystyna grew up. We went to their magnificent family home that has been in the family for the past 100 years, and is now lived in by Naomi’s cousin and his family. It was so lovely to sit outside in the amazing garden and get to know their welcoming family over a banquet of food we had created. Krystyna’s brother Krzysztof was full of stories and showed us a tree that Krystyna had brought to Poland from Australia on one of her visits. He said it was a very happy time of her life, she came she planted the tree and 9 months later Paul was born!

We said our good-byes and went back to Warsaw to meet the last of the family, Krzysztof's daughters - Erika and Eliza. They took us on another small tour around Warsaw and it was great to hear their insights on the country’s capital. We started in Warsaw’s oldest chocolaterie where I had the thickest hot chocolate doused with rum! Then off to the famous bakery for another tasting session – this time a traditional Polish doughnut stuffed with melted gooey chocolate and cherries. Delicious! We then walked along the river-front to sample some of Poland’s finest honey-beer and soak up the last of the days rays. The perfect ending to our amazing time in Poland! Both sides of the family were so welcoming and I was glad to take part in this reunion and hopefully we can make it back in September for cousin Olaf’s wedding. I promise to start fasting now!!