Poland (Part II)

 We had decided before hand that we would take several days as a family to do a little traveling during our stay in Poland. We thought it would be wonderful to take our kids on at least a little sight seeing trip and we knew that 2 weeks would get to be a long time for 2 families to live together.

The adventuring was wonderful for us. In addition, it provided a little breathing space for both families.

The options seemed almost endless when we began thinking about where we should go or what we should do for a few days.

Our well seasoned Polish missionary friends recommended a trip to Northern Poland. We followed their advice and couldn't have been more pleased with the variety of experiences we were able to pack into 3 days.

Early Monday morning, laden with backpacks and a stroller, we embarked on our expedition. First we needed to catch a train from Minsk to Warsaw and then from Warsaw to Gdansk.

Catching the correct train and getting 4 children with backpacks and 2 more in a stroller and our 11 water bottles boarded and settled into the correct seats was not exactly a small feat. The process got smoother for us with time, but there was always a level of intensity connected with ensuring a safe and at least semi sane boarding and then settling on the train.  We found the train attendants to be kind, but their helpfulness depended somewhat on their command of the English language. Other passengers were also kind to us and offered to shuffle about on the train so that our family could mostly stay together.

The train ride itself was a new experience and of course a highlight for our family.

The 4 hours on the train went quickly as we spent time reading, eating, chatting, playing games, day dreaming and watching the glorious Polish landscape roll by at a fast speed. Some of us caught a few winks here and there but mostly everything was too new and exciting to spend time sleeping. Amos and I were really happy about the fact that we could kick back and enjoy the train ride rather than having to navigate our way North with a Polish map and Polish road signs that would be difficult for us to understand.

Gdansk turned out to be just as pleasing as what we had dreamed it would be. Upon our arrival we immediately set out by foot for the small apartment we had rented through AirBnB. We were ready to rid ourselves of the heavy backpacks we were toting before we went to do any more exploring around the city.

The apartment turned out to be a wonderful little spot for our family to rest and have just a few moments of privacy during what was otherwise a time of constant activity/interaction in public places.


Gdansk is one of Poland's oldest cities with a history going back a thousand years. It hold a prominent place in Polish history as the location of the start of World War II as well as the place where the fall of communism in Central Europe began.

We enjoyed an evening of strolling through the streets and catching a few important landmarks.

After a wonderful night of sleep, we met  Marian Biernacki, the pastor at Gdansk New Life Christian Center.  He showed us around an old pre-War World II  Manor that his church is restoring and renovating to use for various ministries.  Really quite an amazing story of God's provision and blessing as this church group labors hard together. You can listen to the story here. We were inspired and challenged during our time spent with Marian.

He believes that it is very possible that the manor could have been owned by Mennonites before the war since there was a Mennonite community in this particular area of Gdansk.

Amos and Marian

 Tea time at the manor with Marian.

 Here you can see some of the original walls still in existence. The destruction that came to many of the cities in Poland through the war is nearly unfathomable. We were intrigued with all the bits and pieces of history that Marian shared with us throughout the morning.

You can't see much of the gate here, but Angeline and Elliana are standing in the original gated entrance to the manor.

We also visited the new World War II museum that opened just several months ago.  We easily could have spent an entire day in this museum, but our youngest ones began losing interest after about 3 hours. Wait. I'm not sure if they were interested in the first place, but their boredom began to get very distracting at this point.

So. On we trained to Sopot. Located on the shores of the Baltic Sea, Sopot is perhaps the most charming Polish town I have ever visited. Here we had the pleasure of walking out on the longest wooden pier in Europe and putting our toes in to the Baltic Sea.

The following day we trained back to Minsk, stopping mid trip to visit the Malbork Castle. This Castle is the world's largest brick Gothic castle and was a fortress of the Teutonic Knights. The construction of the castle was complete in 1406 but it suffered terrible damage during World War II.  Much restoration work has been done and today it is an amazing castle to visit.

Again, we easily could have spent an entire day touring this castle and the grounds. So much history. So much grandeur.  We had a train schedule to meet so our time had to be utilized carefully. The littlest people in our clan were losing interest after 2-3 hours anyway.

After several more train rides we were thrilled to walk into Shannon and JoElla's home after 3 exciting but grueling days of travel and exploration. 

 I have to give my husband kudos for being Primary Navigator during this trip. He did an amazing job at keeping us all on track.  I have valid reasons for believing our entire family would be lost world without end if I had been navigating.

So you may be thinking at this point that everything about our journey to Poland went perfectly. Yeah!!??

Well. Next time I will tell you about Bloopers and Lessons Learned while traveling abroad with a family of 8.