Halloween Fun!

As Halloween is one of our family's favorite holidays, so we were a bit nervous to hear that Halloween is not considered a holiday in Poland.  We really wanted our kids to experience the fun of corn mazes, pumpkin carving, and trick or treating as they are at such a fun age!

The reasons why Halloween is not celebrated in Poland are: 1) over 92% of the population is Catholic and there has often been a debate about Halloween being a satanic holiday and 2) the focus is put on November 1, All Saints' Day, as it is a national holiday in Poland.  We are very much looking forward to our plans for All Saints' Day this year with the Blackburns at a local cemetery - I promise to post about that experience in November!

Well, we are happy to report that we have found a lot of Halloween fun here in Poland!

Over the last couple of weekends, we have visited two Fall/Halloween places!

The first is a local "pumpkin patch" that is setup on the side of a major highway.  We couldn't see much as we drove by, but the wheelbarrow of pumpkins by the side of the road drew us in and we decided to check it out! We were pleasantly surprised by the activities for the kids - trampoline, petting zoo, haystack maze and swing set fun!



The second event was a cute little festival next to our neighborhood that we walked to today! It was supposed to be open at 11 - we showed up at 11:05 - and when we arrived we were told that they wouldn't be ready until 11:30/12.  Ha! We enjoyed the one-on-one attention from the art teachers and the open space. We may venture back tomorrow to see the horses and the maze!



The kids have a pumpkin patch field trip on Tuesday and their Halloween school party on Wednesday of this week (due to a fall school break the following week).  The kids are ready with their costumes (thanks to Once Upon a Child stock up before we left) and they are definitely ready to get their sugar on!

Our first Poland vacation!

Welcome to our family's blog!!! We hope you enjoy our adventures!
....

When we received our first sea shipment earlier than planned, we looked at booking a trip to Gdańsk/Sopot in the northern part of Poland the last weekend in September!! Woohoo - time to explore Poland and get away from unpacking!  After realizing that the two hotels that we would have liked to stay at were full, Andy had a great idea to wrap a work trip into a weekend long trip with the family! So at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon, we decided to head off on our first Poland vacation - a trip to the oldest city in Poland, Kalisz - the following morning at 7am.  Cue crazy, rushed packing!

It took us about 3 hours to get to Kalisz - almost straight West of Warsaw - and we hadn't taken a road trip in quite some time.  Boy did I forget how demanding those little ones are in the back seat - dropped a crayon, ready for a snack, now needs water, etc! We were all ready to get there and get out of the car!  P.S. I SO miss our van!

We stayed at Hotel Europa - all in one room - and it actually was a fun time! Andy got his early bedtime and it was nice to have the kiddos crawl into bed with us in the morning! 

Here is our Top 10 Highlights/Interesting Things of our first Poland getaway! No particular order. 

1. Zurek

Zurek is a soup made of soured rye flour (akin to sourdough) and meat (usually boiled pork sausage or pieces of smoked sausage, bacon or ham). It is specific to the cuisines of Poland and Belarus. Both Andy and I are soup lovers, so we have enjoyed this soup at most outings. I am excited to introduce it to my dad when they visit.  He is my soup eating buddy!

2. New Park Adventures

We found a fun fenced in park that we visited multiple times on our trip! The kids loved the variety of options and we loved the energy burning!

There was even workout equipment!

3. Old Town Hall

Kalisz's Old Town was beautiful - full of the typical restaurants and shops - with a City Hall as the center focus.  Andy's co-worker graciously scheduled a tour for us to go up to the top of the clock tower.  The kids loved it and was fun to see the city from above!

4. Steamed Milk

Steamed milk is a new trend for these kids! The milk here is thick and creamy and the kids treat it like hot chocolate!

5. Piast City Archeological Preserve/Piast Castle

We stumbled upon this cool looking building/museum while we were driving through the oldest neighborhood in Kalisz and thought we found a really cool, preserved war structure.  Ha! After reading the sign, we realized it was built in 2007.  It is actually a great museum, just not what we thought we found. Reese thoroughly enjoyed our little walk with a quick call to Nana and Papa! Oh and baby Ariel has joined our family!

6. Gołuchów Castle and Park

The Gołuchów Castle was beautiful! We were not sure how this experience would be with two littles, but we kept our expectations low and headed in.  The highlight of this area was the animal park featuring bison, deer, boars, chickens and peacocks! What we didn't know is that it was like a 3 mile walk to the animal park from the castle, and no one mentioned to bring the stroller to us - that was conveniently in the trunk of the car.  We definitely got our workout that day!

Our crew playing a little soccer after lunch before our trek to the animal park.

7. Dinners outside

We ate dinner outside both nights - the first night in Old Town and the second night at our hotel's restaurant.  It was beyond great to enjoy a nice dinner and let the kids run (as there were no cars in either area). Also, due to Poland's extremely low tolerance for consuming alcohol and driving, one of us is usually the sober cab.  Since we were walking home from both meals, we could enjoy #8.

8. Polish Beer

Polish Beer is yummy!!! Each area has their own specialty/brand we thoroughly enjoyed Warka beer while in Kalisz.

9. Candy at Breakfast

While at the complimentary breakfast at our hotel, the waitress dropped off this bowl full of goodness.  Andy and I exchanged smiles and quickly hid the stash.  Seriously - candy for breakfast!?!

10. Flowers from Beckett

This sweet boy right here, went to a corner flower store and picked out these beauties for me! Melt my heart!!!

First trip done, many more to come!

Lots of love from our family to yours!