bolesławiec

43 hours (14 of those driving!), 1450 km (900 miles round trip), four countries, and hours upon hours of shopping...

I had the opportunity last weekend to go to Bolesławiec, Poland. It was a four day weekend due to a national holiday on Thursday (and if a holiday falls on a Tuesday or Thursday, you get the preceding Monday or following Friday off as well), so 12 of us went up there for two days. Why there in Poland? It's where they make the hand-painted Polish pottery!

So many stores filled with pottery just like this!

We left Thursday morning at 5 a.m., arriving just after noon. We spent the remainder of the day shopping for pottery. We went to at least a dozen stores, if not more. So fun. :) We shopped until the sun was setting and time to head to the hotel for dinner. We stayed at the adorable Blue Beetroot Inn. So quaint with wood floors, beams, attic rooms, and low ceilings. Dinner was FANTASTIC.


I have gotten used to the options of food that typical European restaurants offer, and my taste buds must have adjusted, too. Typically, their desserts look beautiful and delicious, but I was constantly disappointed when we first moved here because they are not very sweet. But I think I have gotten used to it and even enjoyed a slice of chocolate cake that night. :)

We hung out at the hotel that evening and actually crashed rather early after getting on the road so early that morning. Becky, Angela, and I were car buddies and hotel buddies. Thanks to Becky who did ALL of the driving! And even though we set the alarm the next morning to be up and ready for breakfast before heading out for more shopping that day, we three mommas woke up an hour or so before the alarm even went off. :)

We had a good laugh over this! Love that English translation sometimes :)

We spent all of Friday shopping again for pottery. I was just going to look for a couple things for myself and to get fun things to bring back for others. After awhile, it all began to look the same! We did take a tour of one of the factories where they make it. That was interesting and really neat to see (pictures at the bottom).

Becky's trunk loaded down before heading home.

We ate a really late lunch, stopped at the grocery store (grocery shopping in another country is so much fun because they'll have different foods...including but not limited to Cheerios, Oreo's and rice cakes...none of which we get in Hungary), and headed out about 5:00 Friday night, arriving back home at around midnight. Funny how the foods we find and miss are the ones that we rarely ate in the US anyway!

It was a wonderful trip with a bunch of women, and I got a few goodies for myself and for other people. And the Oreo's are sitting in the pantry for a special occasion... :)

Factory Tour:

This man was throwing stuff on the wheel.

These women were attaching handles to all of the mugs.

Can you see where these boxes are being shipped off to?! TJMaxx and Marshall's! Ha ha!

Pottery that had gone through the first firing and waiting to be painted and glazed.

A few women hand painting the pieces of pottery. There were about 50 women in the room all painting.

Although I had a great trip and a fun time, Polish pottery is not my favorite thing ever like so many others. Most of it is not really my style, but I was able to find some fun things. But taking the factory tour was really neat and made me appreciate the pottery more, as EVERY SINGLE PIECE is hand painted. Every piece is therefore a little different! They are super fast and good at it, and I loved seeing it all be made. And thanks to Kevin for telling me I should go on this trip and for taking care of the kiddos. :)