Can you guess what these things are? Hint: their modern version is in the background, on the left.
The cottage next door--LOVE the sunflowers against the blue and white!
Tek and Ula's wedding ceremony was a traditional Polish mass in a nearby Catholic church, Pete served as best man and I was asked to read 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 after a friend of theirs read it in Polish, since there were a number of other guests that didn't speak Polish. While it wasn't my first experience in a Catholic mass, I still was a bit apprehensive about sitting and kneeling and standing at the appropriate times because I was sitting separately and in the front. But everything went well, and truly I was honored to be asked.
My handsome hubby. His blue tie matched the blue in my blue, black, brown and white print dress. (Which I will have to find a picture of somewhere...that's what happens when you're the one BEHIND the camera!)
Immediately afterward we all quickly returned to Sioly Budy for the reception which started at 6pm and lasted until 5am. Appetizers were already on the tables, first course was a wild mushroom soup, and then second course was a pork chop, beet salad and potatoes. Third course was a variety of perogies (pork, sauerkraut, mushroom, etc.) and was served at 11pm. Fourth course was wedding cake and fruit & cream tarts made by Ula's parents (who own a bakery) which were served at 1am. They were scrumptious and perfectly light--with just a hint of sweetness. Finally, the fifth course was red beet soup (barszcz) which was served at 3am, but I went to bed at 2. My contact lenses were starting to dry out and feel scratchy.
The wedding couple dancing the tango.
They had a DJ who kept things lively throughout the entire time. I am not a dancer at all--I much prefer to watch, and a few individuals were quite enthusiastic and very entertaining! :-) Tek and Ula's friends had organized some games/relays. And in addition to the traditional throwing of the bouquet the single men caught something too...then the single man who won had to pretend to propose. At one point a bunch of funny costume pieces were handed out and more pictures were snapped.
I enjoyed talking to Pete's cousin Pawel's wife, Natalia, throughout the evening as well as our Toronto friends, Karol, Malgosia, and Karolina Kisielewski. Pawel and the Kisielewskis were at our wedding 12 years ago! (Karolina was 3 at the time.)
Kisielewski Family:
Here is Pawel, Natalia (who is Ukrainian), and their 2 year old son Kostyantyn. Isn't he adorable?! He doesn't talk much, but then again he's growing up with German, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian AND English being spoken on a regular basis. The kid is going to be a genius!!!
The next day breakfast was available until noontime, then a wild boar roast along with leftovers from the reception was served at 3pm. We were awake and functioning by 10am and then it was more visiting and sitting for the rest of the day.
In the next picture you can see Pete's dad, Jurek, and his second wife Malgosia (behind the water bottle), then Pete's mom, Maria's older brother Jan, and his wife Basia (in the foreground). Tek and Ula had a number of friends from all over the world at their wedding. For example, at the far end of this picture there is Eduard, who is South African but lives in Brisbon, AUSTRALIA, and works in ROMAINIA. Then Simon, who lives and works in Boulogne, FRANCE.
It felt like all we did from Wednesday to Monday was sit in a car, bus, train or airplane, eat, or sit to talk. And after a diet of mainly bread, potatoes, pork, eggs, and coffee, I was envisioning the 25 lbs. I've lost since Easter making a comeback. Veggies, fruit and salad play a very small part in Polish meals, aside from root vegetables. And except for one restaurant in Bialystok's shopping mall offering a grilled chicken Caesar salad, I came home from Poland craving vegetables and fruit. Not a bad thing.
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Tomorrow's post: POLAND, Part 4--Arriving in Krakow and Day Trip to Oswiecim
2 comments:
Wow, what an amazing location! And that was a late wedding! :) And wild boar for lunch, how fun!
I stand corrected. I originally wrote that the wedding lasted until 3am. It was 5am-ish.
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