A Day in Strzelin

            Well good morning! Time for me to share how my day yesterday went! It was quite nice. Woke up on my own around 9, my uncle and I had a nice relaxing breakfast, and once we were ready, we went around Strzelin. Unfortunately, we couldn't just walk around in the city, cause I need to save my leg's to get to work successfully, so we hopped in the car. Our first stop? The cemetary. This is where my dad's parents are buried, my mom's dad and his parents, and then my mom's aunt and grandparents from her mom's side of the family. From my mom's side, both sets of graves originally had been two graves side by side, so this is the first time I have seen them since my uncle (my mom's brother) had moved each set of graves together, and it all looks really nice. The graves are kept nice and clean by a family friend. We went and bought candles from the flower shop by the cemetary, and I lit all the candles we bought on each grave site. You see, this is another one of those places I will never forget. Whenever we visited Poland when I was younger, we would always visit the cemetary to light the candles and buy flowers. And honestly, I don't remember any of these people but my one grandmother who is buried here (my other grandmother is buried in Gdynia), but I still know about the stories from them, and they are part of the reason why I am alive. Really, between the cemetary and my two grandmothers' houses, I don't have much memories from Strzelin otherwise. To me, Strzelin is all about family.
            So whenever the time came to move on to do something else, I honestly had no clue what to do except to go visit my other grandmother's house, very briefly, as someone else now owns it, and it's not in the middle of some street to easily drive by. But it was still nice going down the driveway and seeing the old house; it has a very nice new roof, but unfortunately, we really didn't see too much, as the house is fenced in. Still, a nice memory. After that, my uncle took us to the Hotel Maria, which is a historic building in Strzelin that is in the woods. A very nice place for a walk, actually, and the hotel is quite beautiful, I'd say. We walked around there for a bit before moving on to the Rynek here (the town square). Now this was really interesting, because around Rynek, there are these wooden posts standing with pictures of old Strzelin, before the war (in Poland, when you're talking about the war, you mean World War II, as it is the war that essentially bulldozed Poland flat in so many cities). Right now, Strzelin is rebuilding the Ratusz, or the town hall, which is a building in the middle of every Rynek, usually with a clock tower. This Ratusz hasn't been around since the war, and they finally have the chance to rebuild it. All of the components are laying in the middle of the square, slowly but surely being worked on. You can see one of the old wall's of the Ratusz, a corner wall, still standing, and there is only one lamp left that survived the war, which is by the upcoming Ratusz. Anyways, the town square was completedly demolished whenever the Russians were coming through to chase the Germans out; the Germans had a wonderful defense, so the Russians did what naturally occurs in any war. Obliterate the defense without thought for the town. So the entire square, all its buildings, but two, which still stand, actually, were reduced to rubble. It's always fascinating to listen to such history, and to see the pictures of the old square. It's a little chilling for me as well, but... it's good to know.
            After our walk in the square, we went to my parents' old school! We looked at the front, and originally we weren't going to go to the back, but we did. As we went to the back, we passed the monument in Strzelin dedicated to Pope John Paul the 2nd. Every city in Poland now has such a monument in honor of him. As we reached the back of the school, the gates there were shut as well, though someone was leaving to take their dog on a walk, so they left the school yard open for us. We went inside and looked around the school yard, and my uncle shared stories of their childhood. How the gym was now quite larger, how the kids would always play soccer in the yard, how there was a garden that the kids occasionally went to pick food from for the cafe, and all the food in the cafe was from the garden. He also told me how they worked during the school, working on technical things that they really didn't need to do, and how he was always so angry they had to do that. Eventually, the school ended up getting rid of the elementary portion, but my uncle went through for his entire younger education. It was really neat seeing it. But since it was quite hot (25+ Celsius), we left to find some ice cream!
            Actually, when in Rynek, we saw one ice cream place, but it wasn't scooped ice cream, just that soft serve stuff that's not nearly as good. So I suggested we go to the ice cream bar by the school, which confused my uncle, because he thought I was talking about the school my parents went to whenever I was talking about the school down the street from his house! Because I actually remembered how there was an ice cream bar down the road by some school. (: We ended up going there, and while we nearly left because it appeared as though it were old soft-serve, we didn't. I ended up getting two regular sized scoops, as opposed to the ginormous scoops in 4D Gelato in the Galeria. One was freakin' pear. Oh god. It. Was. Delicious. I love pears, so to have such a fresh zingy pear ice cream was heaven. I also had lemon ice cream. The pear scoop won the awesome award hands down. So good. <3
            But yeah, that was the end of our day out. We headed back home, had lunch, which was absolutely delicious. Actually, it was my first legitimate Polish lunch since I've arrived. A nice hot meal with some pork, potatoes, green beans, and a side of salad. Then some dessert my uncle made, simple but effective, and tea. It was so wonderful. We ended up spending the rest of the afternoon sitting and talking on the bench swing in the back yard. Very relaxing, warm but not too hot. We came back inside, I got to Skype with my parents once again, and we talked about the logistics of me going to Krakow, and really, API? Such confusing information. Hopefully someone will clear that up; I definitely sent an email in hopes for clarification. But yeah, I know my housemates, and I'll be sharing a room with someone. I laughed a bit at all of the info sessions about Poland they plan on giving us, because the Polish lifestyle to me is far more natural, so I know what's up; although, I completely understand the purpose of such explanatory sessions. Still. I get a kick out of it every time. Might as well be a native. Minus the fact I have issues with the grammar... but that will be fixed this year! Moving on, though, I looked at the excursion plans, and I'm very excited because I definitely see some possible weekends to go visit Lviv in the Ukraine (where my dad's family originates from), Prague in the Czech Republic, and Vienna in Austria. ;D Plus, the other things they have planned look awesome. So it's really going to be wonderful! Anyways, right now it's time to enjoy another day in Strzelin! <3 And to talk to my aunt and wish her a Happy Name Day! (Imieniny, very important day to celebrate in Poland. I still don't know mine though... And I'd think I would have one... as I am a character in a well known book!) 'Til the next time!