We met our fellow travelers for our tour around Poland this evening. This is the first time I’ll ever be on a coach with 51 total passengers; actually, I never knew the coach had that many seats. I just hope none of us are assigned to sit in the baggage compartment!

After our introduction, we took a ride around town and enjoyed a nice welcome meal at a local Polish restaurant that I thought was never going to stop serving food.

One of the many dishes we tasted was something called Smalec, a dish made of rendered pork fat (lard), bacon, onion, and spices. Apples are used in many recipes as well and though I don’t like cooked apples, the crust on the dessert was perfect with the ice cream!

May 12: Mother’s Day’s in Warsaw

Rather than a particular Sunday, Polish Mother’s Day (Dzień Matki) is always celebrated on May 26th, no matter what day of the week. First celebrated in Krakow in the early 1900s; it is not a public holiday and was said to grow in popularity after the Second World War.

Our first morning out was a tour around the city center with a local specialist who gave us deeper insight on how the city was rebuilt after the Second World War.

We also visited Wilanow Palace which was built in the late 17th century as a summer home for King Jan Sobieski III. The treasures inside the palace form part of the museum. which is considered to be one of the oldest in the country and the repository of the country’s royal and artistic heritage.

Łazienki Królewskie is a favorite place for walks and an oasis of green in the center of Warsaw where one can rest watching nature and take a break from the hustle and bustle of the city. This park-and-palace complex was a summer residence of King Stanisław August and nowadays performs a variety of functions: it’s a museum, a place of cultural, scientific and entertainment events and, due to the summer concerts that take place at the foot of the world’s most famous monument of Fryderyk Chopin, also an important place for music lovers.

We decided to skip a repeat visit to the Vodka Museum and instead get ready for our early departure to Gdańsk in the morning.