Day 15 - Another breakthrough

Today we 're saying goodbye to our family in Turek and leaving for a couple of days in Warsaw and then home.  And our family is going back to work and school.  But you never know when you're going to make another discovery about family history. 

My cousin married a fellow named Waldemar Pilarczyk, one of the family names I'm researching.  For years, even when Mom was alive and could speak with them in perfect Polish, I've been trying to find out how he is related to us as anyone whose name is Pilarczyk from the small town of Tuliszkow has to be related. But we couldn't get him to talk about his family, his father, grandfather, etc.  

I told Helen that Zbigniew Pilarczyk of Karchowice knows Helen's sister, Zosia.  Helen called Zosia, and Zosia said that Zbigniew isn't related to her (he is and I have the documents to prove it) but that Zbigniew is related to Waldemar.  Aha!  If Zbigniew is related to Waldemar, then Waldemar is related to us.  Probably five generations back, but still related.  This could help fill in information about the family.  But Waldemar isn't talking.  Helen explained that he doesn't talk about his ancestors because his father was his mother's first husband.  His mother married a Pilarczyk who then adopted Waldemar.  But now Helen understands what I'm looking for, and she said that she would find out the names of his grandfather and great-grandfather, which should be enough to connect him to the family tree.  You never know when you're going to break down another brick wall!

The weather was beautiful all day, and the new autostrada got us to Warsaw in just over two hours, even driving much slower than the 149 kilometers per hour speed limit.  The EU money is building beautiful new roads all over Poland.  I remember driving between Turek and Warsaw on a two-lane road crowded with trucks and cars and the little Fiats actually driving on the side of the road as if it were a second lane!  It used to take 4 hours of nerve wracking driving and now it's 2 hours of easy driving.  Poland is a totally new country. 

We had plenty of time to walk around the Old Town (Stare Miasto) and New Town.  We even headed in the other direction and picked up treats at Blikle, Poland's most famous bakery whose specialty is the traditional rosé jam filled paczki.  We bought paczki and I couldn't resist the plum tarts.  I've eaten my share of paczki, but I've never ever had anything this delicious.  I think it's worth a trip to Warsaw just to visit Blikle.  We decided to eat at Polka, one of Gessler's many restaurants in Warsaw.  It's right on the Old Town square, and has delicious food at really reasonable prices. 

Warsaw is changing, at it is all for the good.  It is starting to feel like a very modern cosmopolitan city.  Given it's location between Western and Eastern Europe, I think the future is going to be awesome for Warsaw. 

Do zobaczenia!