31 – 07

It has been a little silent here, except from the twitterstream. But in the meanwhile we were quite busy buying and refurbishing a nice little ’semi house’ in a little pittoreske village at the river Rhine in the Netherlands. You should come and visit us there! We are finished with the kitchen now and we have the guestrooms ready…

So far we are expecting over 100 guests and we are excited! I bought a suit and new shoes for the occasion and Agnieszka drove her mama and grandmother crazy with her dress adventure. I am very curious to see it!

Church
Our wedding worship will take place in Matka Boska Bolesna Church in Rybnik, at 12:00.

Change of programme
The Auschwitz excursion has moved to Friday, and the Cracow tour will be held on Sunday afternoon.

Transport from Mogilany to church in Rybnik.
Since many people are coming by airplane, we will try to arrange a bus, leaving from Mogilany to Rybnik at 10:00 on Saturday morning.

Gifts
We are still thinking about the gift section, but it is hard to list things… Please don’t give us cut flowers. Check the ‘presents’ section for more info.

Although we are quite post materialist and we are most happy to just see your presence, we like to get some things and we encourage you to invest something in this party. Agnieszka doesn’t like plastic stuff too much and we do have the cutlery and other household things already, but we will publish a tiny list of things later here to help. 

Update:

You can find our wish list on http://www.lijstje.nl/nl/list/open/73037 Please use the password from your invitation card.

Please, don’t give us flowers,  because we will leave for a honeymoon soon after the wedding. We appreciate potted plants (as long as they fit in our car) and plant seeds instead.

A very good starting point for understanding Polish history is “Hart of Europe”, a book of British historian Norman Davies.

Because our wedding is close to Kraków, you can trace Jewish history in the quarter of Kraków called Kazimierz. In the vicinity of Kraków there is also the former concentration camp Auschwitz-Birkenau, worth a day trip.

If you are curious how life behind the Iron Curtain looked like, you can visit Nowa Huta. This grandiose city was a kind of present the Polish people received from Stalin. The idea behind this was not only to build a new centre of heavy industry, but also to balance the well-educated, conservative, catholic and anti-communistic Kraków. You can visit the Museum of Polish People’s Republic or have a funny Communism Tour.

There are 23 National Parks in Poland and every single one of them is beautiful! Unfortunately, not all parks have website in English, but we will be happy to help you arrange your nature holiday in Poland.

While many people visit Tatra National Park, we encourage you to choose another destination, as in summer time this park is literally overcrowded.

We suggest you explore national parks in the east of Poland, like Bieszczadzki (mountains on Polish-Ukrainian border), Roztoczański (featuring konik horse and our native turtle species) or Poleski (Ramsar-protected wetlands and peat-bogs). For those nature-lovers of you who have never been in Białowieża, book your trip today! In Białowieża National Park are the last remains of European lowlands primeval forest: wolves, lynx, wisents, elks, beavers and lots of other species reside in the strictly protected reserve. Once you are there you can also visit the Mammal Research Institute.

Another unique wetland area bursting of biodiversity is the Biebrza National Park, located in the north-west of Poland, close to Białowieża.

The location of our wedding will be both in Rybnik, where we will get married in church, and in Mogilany, where we will have the party. In Mogilany we are guests in the conference centre of the Polish academy of sciences. Originally built in the 19th century as a country house, it became a ‘culture palace’ under communism, a place for brilliant minds to linger and create useful stuff for the people. To be honest, currently it is in need of some paint, but we like the atmosphere of this place very much and we hope you will do so as well. There is a very nice parklike garden with a beautiful view. Check www.okmogilany.pl for more information.

Rybnik is the city where Agnieszka grew up. It is located in the south of Poland, not far from the Czech border. It is in important economical center in Upper Silesia, a densely populated area that has been part of the Habsburg, Prussian and German Empire before it finally became Poland again after World War II. Around the city there are several coal mines, but the city is also rapidly transforming its heavy industries. The city is surrounded by forests and there is a big artificial lake. It is also just one hour trip to the foothills of the Tatra mountains.

One of the most beautiful cities of Poland is most probably medieval Cracow.

Poland is dubbed ‘the heart of Europe’ by British historian Norman Davies. It is a very beautiful country with many interesting features. The country forms a bridge between Slavic and Latin cultures and has a rich history. The Polish economy is one of the fastest growing economies in the world and since the fall of communism in 1989 changes are enormous.

People

Polish people are really nice and very helpful. You will experience very a hospitable atmosphere when you come to Poland. Many young people speak English and you might try your German with some older people.

Transport

The infrastructure is developing quickly, but unfortunately not quickly enough to cope with the growth of traffic, so you might experience some traffic jams. Roads are of good quality and petrol is cheap (around € 1,- for a litre or unleaded petrol).

Public transport is everywhere, but not always very fast and it might take you some time to figure out where you have to buy the tickets and where you have to go.

Money

The official currency in Poland is złoty. Exchange rate approximately: 1 zł = € 0,25 Check www.xe.com for the latest rates. You can take cash money from the wall in every major village. You can pay with euro’s in many shops and you can use your creditcard or pay with Maestro all over the country.

www.poland.pl

www.wikipedia.org/wiki/poland