I recently took a short trip to Poland to attend the wedding
of two friends. I have written
a comprehensive article of my time there and of course, the traditional Polish
wedding!
Thursday 10th October
Departure from Southend 07:00am.
Travelling in a big group can be stressful, as I’m so used
to it being myself and my husband, powering from one side of the airport to
another, wasting as little time as possible. I loathe waiting around!
My eldest of two brothers kept us entertained, I think he
means well but he does embarrass us on a regular basis. I might even do it on
purpose. I often said to my husband, before they met one another, that my
eldest brother was a mix of Ricky Gervais’ sarcasm and dry humour and the
bounciness of Jim Carrey. That is a lot to deal with, when you are a person of
little patience. People generally love him because of his naturally
entertaining nature. I believe my husband thinks he is ‘a card’.
Anyway, after we boarded, I flipped through the duty free
book (as you do) and was disappointed not to see any Lancôme lip gloss… this is
my favourite thing! I love buying nice make up when I’m away as it is so much
cheaper. I put the book back and flicked through the Easy Jet travel book
instead. I came across some interesting articles to bide my time until the
coffee cart came along… much needed considering we got up at 3:00am this
morning having only had about two to three hours sleep.
Having such an early flight (something else I love is an
early outbound flight and a late returning flight… it’s bliss!) we had a great
opportunity to go into Krakow City Centre and take a look around. We managed to
find a bar/grill style restaurant which sold gigantic pizza slices for £1.90 (approx.
9 PLN). You can rarely buy a sad-looking sandwich for that price in the UK! I love
Poland oh-so-much already. I could get used to this.
As I was saying, I love buying my toiletries and cosmetics
abroad as the selection is different, sometimes better, and the prices are very
pleasing. I got a Nivea anti-shine moisturiser for £2.70 (approx. 13 PLN),
which worked out about half price.
The conversion rate from Pounds to Zloty was varied from 4.7
to 4.9 – an amazing rate! I felt quite rich even though I only changed up £50,
and it lasted me until the end of the trip. I came back with £20, which I was
quite pleased about.
We, being my husband and I, walked around the City for a
little while, admiring how well-maintained the town was, and the beautiful
architecture of the buildings. I took plenty of pictures. It was a fascinating
place if you like architecture. Some of the buildings still have antique lit-up
door numbers outside, made of lead and glass. Beautiful and very rare. I love
to see a city where the history is remembered and the architecture or
appearance of this history is looked after. It felt like stepping into a
preserved time capsule, in some streets.
In the city centre we saw some lovely, well-groomed horses
with plaited manes or feather plumes. These horses and carriages were taking
tourists all around the city and back again. We saw a bride and groom getting
into one and going off for a 30-minute alone time. Almost alone, they were
being ‘papped’ by the photographer all the way!
I thought this was a nice idea – making use of the resources
around you. As the saying goes, if the man upstairs gives you lemons, make
lemonade. I had to explain this to my husband though, as he asked why I wanted
to make lemonade.
We stumbled across a blacksmith in the outdoor market, who made jewellery and household ornaments from re-worked metal, mainly spoons, forks and horse-shoes. I remember some months ago seeing a YouTube video of a man hammering a spoon into a bangle the night before St Valentines Day, then I saw these for myself. I must say, they were very bohemian and rustic. The fork bangles were my personal favourite, sold for around £12.50 (55 PLN). Bargain.
After a completely knackering walk around the city, and
darkness falling upon us quite quickly, we decided it best to have dinner then
pass out back at the hotel and catch up on the sleep we were yet to have. I’m
ashamed to admit the KFC we found was music to my ears. My husband isn’t
exactly an advocate of ‘posh stuff’ so he didn’t really fancy all these fancy dishes
in languages we couldn’t understand. Turn the corner, see the KFC and amicably
agree that we were too tired to care what we had to eat, and that chicken was a
good idea due to the protein. However much of the protein is lest after being deep
fried and smothered in sauce, I don’t know. It was getting late and we had to
eat.
Normally, we’re very good and try the local food. Which we
did, a few days later.
Friday 11th October
Breakfast turned out to be a boner. In the end we settled
for small bowls of cereal and as much grapefruit juice as we could tolerate! I’ve
never actually had a hotel-supplied breakfast in the EU before, so I assumed
there would always be scrambled eggs and bacon or something…. There was a baked
scrambled egg… but only served with potato wedges (for breakfast?) and three
kinds of sausage. I took one tiny bite from one sausage and could taste it for
the rest of the day. The overpowering garlic would certainly keep the vampires
away!
Then…the coach ride of a lifetime!
Most of the guests arrived in Poland yesterday, although we
all piled into a coach at Novotel City West, no air conditioning, waiting for
others to arrive. The driver then took us to the airport to collect the
remaining guests… twice!!
In the end we were stuck on the coach for over four hours.
The first thing on everyone’s minds? To hold on and use the nice toilets at the
hotel. That was an experience I would like to forget. My husband used the
cubicle on the coach, and then sat down with a look of horror on his face. He
asked me if I remembered the toilets at a pub he used to frequent… Yes, I
answered… “Well this is about as bad as that”. The look of horror quickly
replaced my inquisitive face and the fear was thus instilled to hold on another
two hours until we got to the venue.
We got lost three times on the way to the venue, everyone
getting desperate to get off, the more urgent our bathroom needs became. Still,
we saw a lot of the Polish countryside and had a lot of time to doze.
Some experiences in life, when you look back, can help you
find solace in the humour.
There was a beautiful rush of cool air hitting our faces as
we piled off the coach at the venue. The bride and groom were there to greet
us, although they looked terribly stressed at us being so late. I really felt
for them as they must have been busy. They had arrived in Poland the weekend
before, to put the finishing touches to their arrangements. I think they were
quite relieved to see everybody, and the coach journey was quickly forgotten.
We all got allocated our rooms, and I got my lucky 8. It was
a nice room. The venue, Hotel Lacona in Staporkowie (stap-o-kav-yah) was
recently refurbished and had beautiful bedding, modern minimalist bathrooms and
gorgeous wooden laminate flooring. They obviously take pride in keeping the
hotel clean; you could still smell that fresh-paint smell that everyone
secretly loves.
Anyway, we all met for dinner that night after getting our
heads down for a few hours and unpacking our things. There was an assortment of
food on the tables, ranging from devilled eggs, to cold meats, breads, salads
and slices of tomato and mozzarella.
Everyone was so excited to be there, and they were all
openly talking to each other which was a nice feeling. It was nice to meet two
adorable baby girls aged eight months and ten months. Often, people group
together at weddings and don’t mingle with everyone – but I think most people
came over to cuddle or coo the babies.
Eventually, out came the vodka! This version had red chilies
in it and I was none-to-keen about trying it! Needless to say, ‘when in Rome’
the bottle didn’t last long at all and even the chilies were eaten.
I was really exhausted by this point so we stayed long
enough to eat something and talk to a few people before passing out in our
room, devoid of life until 7:00am the following morning,
Saturday 12th October - THE WEDDING DAY
The wedding day, or in Polish ‘Weselna’ which is pronounced “ves-el-nah”.
The hair dresser arrived at 8am promptly, to start the
ladies hair. The bride had arranged for the female guests to have their hair
done for the wedding as a treat. She charged around £5 or £10 depending on hair
style.
Breakfast started around 9am. Many guests are feeling
slightly head-heavy from drinking the chili vodka last night. More so for the
men that ate the chilies! There is a spread laid out at the reception venue
including chunky frankfurter sausages and bacon-fried scrambled eggs. I think
everyone ate this! I started to notice there was an incredible amount of meat
offered, for breakfast, lunch and dinner! My husband and I only occasionally
eat meat so we started getting quite anxious as to what may be coming later!
At 2:30pm the coach (yes, the same one as before) arrived to
take us to St Zygmunt’s church in Szydlowiec (pronounced shed-love-yes) church,
which was in a small town about an hour away. Suddenly the temperature outside
had really dropped and we were all freezing! No sooner had we all got off the
bus, were we piling back onto it again to keep warm! I managed to get into the
church, though, and take some pictures. I put some money in the donations box
on my way out. The church had been recently refurnished so still had some
inconspicuous scaffolding at the back. Nothing you would notice as we’re all looking
forward! I was amazed at how grand the inside of the church was. Most of the
front was plated in gold leaf. The floor was made of stone tiles and even the
ceiling was painted with murals.
The bride and groom arrived together in the same car, which
had been adorned with matching flowers on the front bonnet. The number plate
had been covered with a sign that said ‘Just Married’ in Polish. They entered
the back of the church together, with all the guests outside taking pictures of
them as they entered.
Then, all the guests filed into the church to take their
seats. There was no preferred seating as you normally see in the UK, everyone
was welcome to sit wherever there was a space. The couple walked in to the
Wedding March, which I believe is a local custom. The walked down the aisle
together, having just had a private blessing ceremony beforehand. This was the
ceremony that made the marriage official, I think. The service was around 35
minutes long which is quite good, as I understand that church services are
longer than ceremonies conducted in venues and registry offices, and Catholic
ceremonies a little longer still. The service was performed in both English and
Polish, and the couple spoke in English, with a reading from one of the
witnesses. There are no bridesmaids at a Polish wedding, traditionally, as
there are normally at least two witnesses who would effectively have an equivalent
level of a best man and a chief bridesmaid.
Towards the end of the ceremony, some people started coming
in from outside for the 5:00pm service which was not due to start for twenty
minutes. I do think this is a shame, as even though a place of worship is open
to all, the doors could be closed for a wedding. The bride and groom were too
busy being brand-new newlyweds to notice!
Notice to brides getting married in church – some members of
the public may be allowed to come in during your ceremony in some churches, so
it’s best to ask in advance if this will bother you.
After the ceremony, which consisted of several blessings and
readings, the couple walked out together as husband and wife, followed by the
witnesses, the family and the guests.
Photographs were taken outside, where confetti, rice and
coins were thrown. The tradition of the coins is that the bride and groom must
scramble to pick up all the coins. Whoever picks up the most money is said to
be the one in charge of the financial affairs. On this occasion, it was the lovely
bride!
About Catholic ceremonies… most of us had found out that in
a Catholic church, wedding guests are required to cover their heads and
shoulders. We were all freezing anyway, so had jackets and pashminas on but a
lot of us didn’t wear a hat. Some of us had fancy clips and fascinators – but not
a word was said by the church, so I think for a wedding they are a little more
open minded as many attendants might not be religious and the attire for
weddings is generally different to what you would expect someone to wear on a
weekly basis to church.
Maybe the rules are a little more relaxed than I first
though. I had originally relied on another blog about Polish weddings to help
me plan my outfit. I still ended up wearing black though, as I already owned
black tights, shoes, jacket and a bag. Wearing red is a big no-no as for all
weddings, as red is often used as a colour of anger. It’s too risqué and is
said to upstage the bride. Wear black in moderation.
The reception started promptly at 6:00pm, which began by the
guests waiting for the arrival of the bride and groom to the sound of a Polish
folk band.
The couple were given a glass to break together, before the
groom lifted up the bride to carry her into the venue to begin the reception. Just
a few hours in, and I’ve already witnessed more traditions than we tend to have
at home!
As we took our seats, we were each presented with a ribbon to wear on the left or right side. This custom shows wedding guests who is single (left) and who is married (right)... perhaps to help the singles find a future spouse!
We sat down to tables cascading with food and drink… we didn’t
know where to look! There was a lot to choose from on the menu and almost too much
to eat! We were served a peppered pea soup with croutons, followed by cordon bleu.
I had never had this before and it was a dish I’d love to try making at home!
The venue had a large function room which is where the
reception took place and a side room with a bar and Polish food table. There was
also a home-made vodka on tap – literally on tap – called Bimber. It was vodka
in its brewing method but it certainly resembled the colour and toxicity of a
strong whiskey! It brought tears to my eyes so I decided to be safe and not
drink it. Apparently it was very warming and some guests wished they had taken
some to church, to keep warm outside. This made me laugh, just the image of
everyone passing around a 15 litre wooden barrel of moonshine, helping keep one
another warm and fuzzy inside.
The barman was quite happy to mix drinks for everybody, as
they were prepaid. He made me a fantastic cucumber drink. I haven’t got a clue
what went in it, but a cucumber-gin-based-cocktail is very refreshing to the
palate and I would like to make this at home, too.
Some of the younger girls were none-so-clever about the
vodka on the tables. They were meant to follow each vodka-cheer-toast with a
few mouthfuls of orange juice, but were just drinking the vodka neat... this is
another trap I successfully avoided and was able to beam about the following morning,
feeling refreshed and happy to be alive at 6am.
Around 11pm I was very tired and had been up for a long
time. We went back to our room to catch some peace and quiet, before going back
to see the veil toss! At midnight, the bride stood in a vulture-like circling
of single women, waiting to thrown her veil. This is the same theory as
throwing your bouquet in America; that whoever catches the flowers is said to
be next to get married.
However, the funniest thing was the groom’s tie-toss. If only
I had videoed what entailed… one poor chap had curled up in the foetal position
and was being mercilessly dragged by the arms and legs into the circle of
single men. One of my brothers, also attending the wedding, had hidden from his
girlfriend to avoid being brow-beaten into marriage. I found this quite
amusing. His escape had been managed when said girlfriend decided to take place
in the veil-toss. He didn’t want to know!
Sunday 13th October - POPRAWINY
The second day is referred to as The Repeat, or rather ‘Poprawiny’
which is pronounced pop-ra-we-nuh.
I was feeling pleased with myself for being one of very few
without a hangover. Mainly because I had avoided the vodka and only had one
cocktail. Apparently, my eldest brother was somewhat inebriated (as they all
were, including my own mum and dad) and decided he would get some fresh air. This
fresh air turned out to be a sleep on the bench outside, in the cold and damp. He
was awoken in the morning by a few pokes to see if he was still alive. I think the
vodka kept him quite warm.
Apparently, the party had concluded in the early hours of
the morning. Some revellers had been up until 5:00am! Wow…
I went down for breakfast at reception, and made myself a
coffee after two attempts at making tea. None of them were tea-style tea, but I
didn’t have my translate app with me and eventually gave up and made coffee
instead.
The groom, exhausted and red-eyed came down the hallway
having still not had any sleep. We asked if he’d been to bed yet (still dressed
in his wedding clothes) to which he replied “Only physically”. We laughed at
the quip but felt for him.
The and the bride were being taken off into the countryside
for some morning-after pictures with the photographer. This was yet another
twist in the traditions of a Polish wedding. I thought it was quite a good
idea; an eternal memory of the-morning-after-the-night-before.
They eventually came back to change into fresh clothes for
the second day. Everyone showered and refreshed, took to their seats again to
share pictures and stories from the day before. This was also a day where some
guests chose to give gifts and sign the guestbook that was passed around.
While the bride and groom were away for pictures, my husband
and I took a stroll around the town. It was a very small town so not much too
see, although the mini supermarket turned out to be a welcome exploration of
goodies. It was quite similar to Aldi, and stocked a lot of candles and
alcohol. I would not suggest mixing the two – especially not after yesterday!
We needed some food to keep us from expiring on the coach, and stumbled across
some chocolate, or “czekolada”, pronounced ‘check-o-la-daa’.
I didn’t realise at the time the chocolate I bought was 90% cocoa!
I never had this strength before so I bought an extra one to give away, for my
discerning chocolate friends. See end of article for details on how to enter.
This was a much shorter day, however, timed from 2:00pm to
just 7:00pm – although this was ample time for us. The wedding really exhausted
us so I dread to think of the poor bride and groom. I think they enjoyed
themselves so much and were so in love they didn’t notice how tired they were. This
is the right mind-set to have…
It’s your wedding. For many you’ll only ever do it once and
you have to do all you can to be happy, and to take a moment to step back and
observe and absorb.
Monday 14th October
Departure from Poland 10:50am.
It’s sad that we couldn’t afford to stay in Poland for
another day, but my husband had to go back to work and I had to come back to reality.
That… and I really missed my cat, Betsie.
One thing I always miss… fish and chips and Twinings!
You can view more photos of my visit to Poland by visiting
my
Pinterest page. There’s lots of lovely photo’s I’d love you to see and share
with friends.
Competition:
Enter my Polish Chocolate competition, and win a bar of souvenir
chocolate from my trip to Poland, PLUS a fantastic £10 discount voucher to
spend in my
Etsy Store.
All you have to do is tweet one of the following, depending
on your preference.
Entries must be received by midnight on 30th
November. We need to spread the word to get as many entries as possible, so
share, follow and tweet away!
@FlorasBoutique CZEKOLADA MILK
@FlorasBoutique CZEKOLADA DARK
Please give thanks to Google Translate. Price conversions shown are representative of travel dates.
All photos taken are COPYRIGHT and taken by Clare Jones-Anthony.
In Autumn the leaves start to turn, apart from the Japanese
Maple, seen from the doorway of the house. It shows a very vivid red colour
that contrasts the rich green grass and compliments the rusty oranges of the
fallen leaves. The house feels cosy and you get spectacular dusk views of the
sun setting behind the trees.
