A Day Out on Saturday

After a leisurely morning doing some laundry and hanging around, we headed out to see some of the area sights. First, we dropped Asha at a baby-sitting job, which was near the Kosciuszko Mound that was our first destination.

Kosciuszko was a national military hero of Poland, who also fought for the Colonies in the American Revolution. Kosciusko County in Indiana is next to our home county of Elkhart, so we were especially interested to learn a bit more. The mound is a memorial similar to several prehistoric mounds that are found in the area. You can read more about it here if you are interested. In the 19th century the occupying Austrians built a fort surrounding the mound.

This picture is actually taken from the third level up on the fort; the mound is taller than it appears here.

Inside the fort area, mound to the left

Monument at top

Looking down on the fort's chapel

Dan, Karen, and I at the top

View from the top; it was a bit foggy

We had our first pierogis for lunch at the cafe. Half were potato/cheese, half were ground meat. Pretty bland!

After leaving the mound area, we drove a bit further away from the city to a Benedictine monastery on a hill in the village of Tyniec (ten-yetz). Near the entrance at the top of the hill, we could see the Vistula River through the trees. There were several kayakers, but they were too far away to show up.

The church inside the monastery walls:

The church was quite ornate inside. This golden pulpit was in the shape of a ship, even to a small figurehead. 

While we were looking around, a wedding party gathered. We watched the bride greet her family and guests outside the church before they all went in -- no dramatic entry as happens often at home. As we were leaving, we saw another wedding party getting out of their cars, ready for the next one. It is definitely wedding season here; we saw another bridal couple posing for photographs on our way out to dinner.

Another view of the river, farmland, and a village beyond. We saw a farmer working in his fields, using a tractor to turn hay.

After some down time, we went out for dinner to Peter and Karen's favorite restaurant. It was about a 20-minute walk from their apartment. As we came out, the sun was setting over the river; you can just see the spires of another monastery on the right.

The pedestrian bridge is beautiful, with multicolored lights along the railings at night. Many spiders liked the light and spun their webs along the rails. The mesh fence below is covered with padlocks. The tradition for newly married couples is to put a padlock on the bridge and throw the key into the river, signifying togetherness forever. Unfortunately, a few spots had the wire mesh cut away to remove the padlocks! (Sorry to put a damper on a lovely tradition.)

Karen and I had cabbage rolls stuffed with bulgur wheat, carrots and peas with mushroom gravy. Delicious, but enormous. We have some left for lunch one of these days.

We've been doing a lot of walking and I am holding up well. My walking sticks help immensely; I really don't think I'd be able to do so much without them, and without my back muscles complaining!