Hello! I have been without computer access since arriving in Poland on the 24th and am not sure when I will have access again so I will try to catch you up with our adventure.
July 24: We flew from Prague to Warsaw on LOT-Polish airline. It was a 50 seater and was an excellent flight. A bit over an hour and we had two drinks, sandwich and dessert and sat in leather seats. Very nice. Michal (pronounced Me-how) met us at the airport. He was holding up a sign with my name. Michal is 31, married with a 10 month old son Tony, wife, Kasha-met them all but more about that later. Michal has a master's degree-law degree and runs his own business doing all kinds of research. He is about 6'2, 200 lbs and quite a talker and very knowlegeable of the history of Poland.
We took Peggy to the train station, got her a ticket to Krakow. Michal had a written agenda all done for her complete with contacts, directions, etc. He had reserved her a room in an active theater near the town square. When I get with Peggy, we will write about her trip to Krakow, Austwitch, and the salt mines. She did get her $70 tour ticket stolen from her hands but the tour agency gave her another. It was some young kids who thought she had money in her hand.
After we dropped off Peggy, Michal and I started our tour of the villages of our ancestors-Hartwigs-in Poland. Saying I was off the beaten path is putting it mildly. I did not see any towns that were larger than 30,000 people and that was Michal's hometown of Turek. Most of the places we visited amounted to just a few houses. Not even as big as Romney, IN. If interested, you can check google maps for Plock, Poland and go in a diameter of about 100 miles and that is where I have been. We have driven over 500 miles so far. So, on the 24th, I think we visited about 8 villages and some cemeteries. None of the actual houses that my ancestors lived still exist. What I did learn was that our great great grandfather was very poor and traveled from village to village looking for work. Sometimes he was a farmer or a laborer, or a tobacco farmer. I learned the names of all of his children and where they were born. They were born in several different villages. We cannot find the village where our great grandfather was born but we did go where he was married and where his wife Carloine Riske was born. It is indescribable. We spent the night of the 24th in what could be considered a bed and breakfast for $30 per night. The room had two single beds that sit very low to the floor. The accomodations are very simple and sparce but clean. Shower stalls in the corners of bathrooms, towels that feel like sandpaper, no amenities or hairdryers and irons. And, you lock yourself into your room from the inside. TV's are very dated and very small with just the minimal channels, and guys, no remotes! I was completely exhausted after the first day. It was go, go, go. Some of the villages we visited were Grudsk. Kargoszyn, Lipiny, and Dabrowa
July 25: We repeated the same routine but this time Sompolno was the center of our travels. This day we focused on the ancestors of our grandfather Edward Weber, who was my dad's dad. I learned that all of these ancestors were Luterans or Evangelicals and that Poland is 90 percent Catholic. We went to Turek for the night. This is Michal's hometown. I met his wife Kasha and their son, Tony. Kasha is also very intelligent, speaks several languages and works as a translator. The places we visited Sompolno, Mostki, Zakrzewek Galczyczki, Przewoz,and Gawrony. We also went to Lichen' which has a famous sanctuary where Catholics from all over the world visit. It is where a man saw Mary. It is one of the biggest Catholic churches in the entire world. I will post pictures when I can.
June 26: We went to the archives in Plock. That was amazing. We found a birth certificate of our great great grandfather. I held the books of the vital records in my hands. They were almost 200 years old and all hand penned
We spent the night in a palace in Walewice. It was visited by Napoleon. He had a son with the countess that lived in the palace. As soon as I get someplace that I can upload pictures, I will.
June 27: We will meet with Peggy in Radom today and I will write more when I can.
Sandy
