To Cieszyn and Back Again

This past weekend I traveled to Cieszyn, Poland to visit with Colleen and Sarah, two American teachers I met at orientation about a month ago. It was my first solo trip in Europe, and I have to admit that I was a little nervous. Transportation in Central Europe is not always easy. We don’t have the Eurail, and the transportation system can be nebulous at times. My trip to Cieszyn was complicated – it involved one bus ride, three train connections, and the crossing of two international borders. I am proud to say that I totally rocked the travel - I made every connection with no problems! (Thank goodness.)

When I got the train station, Sarah and Colleen were there to pick me up. Together, we walked back to their apartment. We spent the evening cooking and talking. We made Levoce, a traditional Polish stew with vegetables and sausage. After dinner, we had Zubrowka, a Polish vodka, for desert. (The Poles love their “wodka.” They refer to it as “precious little water.”) Zubrowka is by far the most famous brand of vodka in Poland. Each bottle of this stuff comes with a blade of grass from the bison reserves in the eastern part of the country. Apparently, the bison “flavor” (ahem… poop on) the grass, and then the grass flavors the vodka. We mixed the vodka with apple juice and had a cocktail that the Poles call “szarlotka.” It was fabulous. The next morning, we woke up and walked around Old Town Cieszyn.

We stopped by an outdoor market.

Most of the stores and markets in Cieszyn sold sunflower seeds -by the sunflower.

What I most impressed with in Cieszyn was a program that the city has adopted that is translated "Cieszyn Walks." As you walk throughout Cieszyn, you will notice different symbols on the walls and signs of the city. Each symbol serves as a trail marker that leads you on a walk to important and beautiful places in Old Town. Sarah and Colleen had done most of the downtown walks, but they had not yet done the longest walk: The Panorama. This walk takes you through downtown and into the countryside. As it's name suggests, the Panorama Walk has several stunning panoramic views. The directions for this walk (which are translated for us into English online) are hilarious. They say things like: "Walk up the big hill. When you get to the brown of the hill, you will see a big black stone on the left. Turn here," and "On your right, you will pass two splendid oaks." My favorite was, "When you get to the bridge, keep left towards the fence. Then, cut diagonally across the field towards electricity." It is probably not surprising that we got lost. Our 8km walk turned out to be much longer - it took us almost four hours to do! We walked through Old Town, a street market, corn fields, a dairy farm, small Polish neighborhoods and plenty of fields. Some of the pictures from our walk are below.

After lunch of pierogies (another traditional Polish meal --- they are similar to stuffed raviolis), we headed back into Old Town for the annual Cieszyn festival. We saw Polish folk singing and a lot of artwork on display in the Cieszyn museum. Colleen and Sarah also took me to the tower of what once was Cieszyn castle.

We also saw the Cieszyn Rotunda of St. Nicholas and St. Wenceslas. It was built in the second half of the 11th century and is the oldest church in Poland. Interestingly enough, the church is still used today for concerts because the acoustics are so good.

On Sunday morning, we attended 9:00 worship at the Lutheran Church of Jesus. This church was absolutely gorgeous. It was built between 1709 and 1722 and is the oldest Protestant church in Cieszyn.

This is the back of the church. You can see the organ and the two tiers of balconies.

This is the altar.

After church, we went back into Old Town to view the craft stands at the Cieszyn festival. Colleen (who also wants to be a pastor) and I bought two beautiful hand-carved crosses for the equivalent of a few dollars.

Before long, it was time for me to head to the train station to go home. Thankfully, this trip only required one train ride and one bus ride. The girls walked me to the station and we said goodbye. I hopped on the train and settled in for a couple of hours of grading papers.

About two hours into the train ride, I heard a loud crash and our train came to a sudden stop. Immediately, I looked around at the people who were sitting near me. They looked confused. After a few minutes, an annoucement was made in both Czech and Slovak. I, of course, don't speak either. I gestured to the Slovak girl sitting across from me. "Co? (What?)" I asked. She pulled out a piece of paper and drew a picture of our train and a car. She then drew a huge crash. At first, I didn't think I understood what she was trying to tell me. We didn't feel so much as a jolt on the train. I didn't understand how it could have crashed. A few minutes later, another announcement was made. Again, I asked, "Co?" And the girl said, "Tri," and she held up three fingers. "Tot," she said as she slowly drew her hand across her neck. "Dead?" I asked. "Jeden, dva, tri. Tot? (One, two, three. Dead?)" "Ano (yes)," she answered. Then she drew a clock on the piece of paper and gestured that we would need to wait an hour. "Jeden hoden? (One hour)" I asked. "Ano," she replied.

After about an hour and a half minutes, a third announcement was made. As the conductor was speaking over the loudspeaker, people began rushing around. They picked their stuff up and started running off the train. I looked at the girl across from me and she was already shoving her books in her bag. I bent down to grab my duffel bag, and by the time I stood back up, my new Slovak friend was grabbing my hand and pulling me off the train. I had no idea why we were running, but I figured we needed to hurry. We sprinted across the tracks and through the train station. It turns out, the train company had sent a bus to take us the last leg of our trip. Unfortunately, they only sent one bus for about 250 people. Miracle of all miracles, the Slovak girl and I were able to squeeze on the bus. It was packed. We stood in the aisle for the duration of the bus ride.

The whole time we were on the bus I kept wondering how I was going to get back to Tisovec. You see, the bus we were on was going to drop us off at a larger town called Banska Bystrica. Then, I would need to take the bus back to Tisovec. Because Tisovec is a small town, there is a limited number of buses that run the Tisovec route. I had already missed the bus I was planning to take because we spent so much time sitting on the train tracks. I must have looked worried, because after about thirty minutes, my Slovak friend calls out to the rest of the bus in Slovak, "Does anyone here speak English?" The bus got quiet. Then she must have said something like, "This girl only speaks English and she doesn't know what's going on. Can anyone help her?" Before long, I had people passing me food. Someone patted my shoulder, and someone else even passed up his water bottle. The whole bus adopted me as their American.

"Bus to Tisovec please?" I asked in Slovak. Someone called the bus station hotline and reported back that the next bus to Tisovec would leave at 1am. I know at that point that I looked devastated. "Jeden? (One?)" I asked, "Aye-yi-yi!" The whole bus laughed. "Nie, nie," I cried. "Som uticelka. Mam skola zaytra." (No, no! I am a teacher. I have school tomorrow.) The bus full of people must have felt very sorry for me because they all started calling a couple of different bus stations. After about twenty minutes, they were able to find a bus route slightly out of the way - but one that would get me home by 10!

To sum up a long story, I made it home safely thanks to the love and hospitality of a bus full of Slovak people. It was a sweet ending to both a long and sad day and a wonderful weekend.