The purpose of our trip to Poland was visit the area where Kay's great grandmother came from. Anna Ciepielusz arrived in NZ in 1875 unable to read & write, so there was confusion about the spelling of her name. Also town name changes had us originally flying to the wrong city. (Ryanair thankfully has a habit of changing flight times & offering refunds if they don't suit!) This was all sorted out by a very helpful and determined Polish genealogist. She also arranged for us to meet up with a member of the local genealogy group.
So Stan, & his friend Theresa who was the translator, arrived at our hotel in Gdansk to take us to the area of Starogard Gdanski, about an hours drive away. Theresa (in the orange top below), & Dieter have a large house (below) on some land & the top floor is a B & B. So there it was, all arranged - luckily our hotel nearby didn't mind!
Stan is extremely enthusiastic about genealogy & had found out much about Anna and her predecessors. Fortunately they mostly came from small villages in the area & these Catholic records weren't destroyed. He had one branch back to the early 1700s!
Anna had a tough beginning. She was born in 1851. When she was 3 her father died, and 3 siblings (aged 2, 9 & 9) died before she was 7. He mother remarried & then died when she was 9. This left her with one sister 8 years older. Of course we don't know anything more about her life there except that her sister was married with children before she left for NZ.
History tells us that Poland didn't exist in the 1800s as it was partitioned between Germany, Russia & Austria. Life was very difficult for the Poles and Anna was one of the many who left for better lives in the colonies.
Stan took us around these little villages and we particularly looked at the churches, (Czarnylas below) around which family life centred. Anna came from Czarnylas (definitely not a city!) & her mother from Paczewo.
Stan loved taking photos & would often commandeer my camera, or give it to Theresa.
The churches are amazingly ornate inside, often with beautiful paintings. The one below is from the nearby Pelplin Catherdral.
So Stan, & his friend Theresa who was the translator, arrived at our hotel in Gdansk to take us to the area of Starogard Gdanski, about an hours drive away. Theresa (in the orange top below), & Dieter have a large house (below) on some land & the top floor is a B & B. So there it was, all arranged - luckily our hotel nearby didn't mind!
Stan is extremely enthusiastic about genealogy & had found out much about Anna and her predecessors. Fortunately they mostly came from small villages in the area & these Catholic records weren't destroyed. He had one branch back to the early 1700s!
Anna had a tough beginning. She was born in 1851. When she was 3 her father died, and 3 siblings (aged 2, 9 & 9) died before she was 7. He mother remarried & then died when she was 9. This left her with one sister 8 years older. Of course we don't know anything more about her life there except that her sister was married with children before she left for NZ.
History tells us that Poland didn't exist in the 1800s as it was partitioned between Germany, Russia & Austria. Life was very difficult for the Poles and Anna was one of the many who left for better lives in the colonies.
Stan took us around these little villages and we particularly looked at the churches, (Czarnylas below) around which family life centred. Anna came from Czarnylas (definitely not a city!) & her mother from Paczewo.
Stan loved taking photos & would often commandeer my camera, or give it to Theresa.
The churches are amazingly ornate inside, often with beautiful paintings. The one below is from the nearby Pelplin Catherdral.
The countryside was well cultivated and there was plenty of yellow rape.
This is what Stan described as a "baby taxi" one of his few English phrases - we saw lots of them!
We were privileged to go with Theresa & Dieter to their friend's name day party. About 20 of us sat around a large table with the delicious food everyone had brought. Of course we understood very little of the talking but loved just being there. When the singing began we contributed with our 'off the top of our heads' version of 'Pokarekare Ana', helped no doubt by the vodka that had appeared. What a Polish experience!
We were privileged to go with Theresa & Dieter to their friend's name day party. About 20 of us sat around a large table with the delicious food everyone had brought. Of course we understood very little of the talking but loved just being there. When the singing began we contributed with our 'off the top of our heads' version of 'Pokarekare Ana', helped no doubt by the vodka that had appeared. What a Polish experience!
The next day Stan insisted on driving us to a railway station on the same line as the Torun train, so we didn't have to change trains. Mike gave him a generous amount of petrol money for all the trouble he had gone to. We had appreciated a great 2 days with special people.