Left our Home to go Home

The comforts of being home bring wealth in sleep, food, and family. Once we got rolling, Jowita went one way and Chad another, to take care of some essential practicalities. Chad inspected and reassembled the bicycles in the garage while Marzena headed into town with her brother and niece to get a phone and to change some money in to Polish Zloty (‘zwot-tay’). The rate is currently 1 usd → 2.80 pln but used her irresistible charm to get 1 → 2.85. Nice. She also got us phone service on our new phone at a pretty good rate throughout our proposed destinations. We had hoped that we could get a good rate on a wireless data plan for the computer but to no avail.

The Damage inspection on the bikes, after being turned over into the hands of the baggage handlers, reveled only minor paint scrapes on Marzena’s seat stays. TSA inspected her box and moved some of the bubble wrap that was protecting it from being rubbed by the rear rack, and that is exactly what happened. Otherwise, apart from some parts being shifted around, there is nothing major to pin on rough handling. However, Chad did discover that his seven dollar kickstand has caused some concerning damage to his chain stays. The excessive weight of the bags from the loaded test ride last week, resting on the kickstand may be the culprit, and without trying to figure out how exactly the little indentations occurred, the kickstand is going to be staying behind in Zabkowice. The risk isn’t worth it.

Our test ride of the reassembled bikes took us out to Rakowice and Her familie’s eighteenth century, German farm. Marzena’s Grandfather was captured by the Germans in WWII and forced to work in a German Work Camp for a dentist. After the war he returned to the Polish Highlands were his family remained. It was his experience working with the dentist, the pair of large pliers he took from the dentist, and his renowned strength that made him a very popular man with those in the poor village with nasty tooth aches. It was on his way back to the highlands of the Tatra Mountains when he passed through what is now Polish Selisia and noticed all of the beautiful farms abandoned by the Germans who were forced to leave this area that had long been a part of Germany. He asked Marzena’s Grandmother to move the family to one of these farms, but her grandmother refused for fear of the return of the Germans who had long called these farms home. It was fourteen years after the war that her Grandmother and Grandfather moved the family to Rakowice. Marzena’s Uncle Staszek now runs the farm with his Wife, two strong sons, daughter with husband and five month old baby. The farm is full of roosters, hens, geese, rabbits, three pigs, one dairy cow, two cows, one calf, thirty bee hives, a bunch of cats and kittens, a dachshund, and one really, really mean guard dog.

We were able to visit Rakowice together last year when the cherries were exploding off the trees, the honey was a deep amber, and Chad attempted, and failed to reap hay in the field. This time the raspberries are plentiful, the limbs of the apple trees are full of delicious apples, the honey is golden, and perhaps Chad and Jowita will get to drive the red tractor. Rakowice holds a very special place in our hearts.  We kept our camera in the bag, for the most part, tonight but will share the beauty of this timeless farm with you all next week when we return from travels to cousin, Marcin’s wedding in Opole and then to a town outside of Krakow to visit her cousins.

Marzena, Chad, and cousin Piotrek after an evening of apple picking, wheelies, and chasing the cows home from pasture