At this point in our trip, the camera battery died. So, unfortunately you will have to rely on my words and use your imagination to see the rest of our trip to Poland.
Our last stop was in Ola's hometown, Jaroslaw, in southeastern Poland. We stayed with her parents, who could not be more gracious. They do not speak English, but are trying to learn and mustered up enough courage to say a few sentences for us. Ola's mom made us tons of delicious food like pirogi (dumplings), schnitzel, soups, salads and desserts.
Ola's dad was kind enough to drive us to Ukraine, which is about 40 minutes away. The reason for going was to cross the border and obtain a stamp on my passport, renewing my stay in the European Union. It took us two hours to get through border control, which is very good time. It usually takes about six hours. Ukraine was a whole other world. The border control people were unbelievably rude. I don't know how that country functions.
We also took a trip to a death camp in Belzec. About a half a million people were killed there in WWII. Ola's grandmother lived in a city nearby, and she remembered smelling the dead bodies burning. Very moving place.
Our last night, we enjoyed some Polish beer at a few local pubs before leaving the next morning to travel back to Luxembourg by train, then plane, then bus. Ola's mom packed us four sandwiches and some mandarins to get us through the 18-hour travel day.
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