Hmm, more pause. I seem to be under the weather this time, but I am sure that remembering more about Poland will make me feel better! So let’s see, where were we? Oh yes, the eventful train trip to Ostrow!
I really liked the slow trains in Poland, even though they make a lot of stops. It feels much more open and less crowded than sitting in a compartment and you can open the windows and feel very comfortable. So, on Friday the whole group of us was heading to Ostrow to visit more dear friends, the parents of a special young lady in Poznan. We had a good visit and then were treated to this fantastic Polish meal of hot borscht and nalesniki (I think that is what you would call it), the Polish version of a crepe, it is thicker like a flat pita bread, can be filled with sweets or meats, and has a nice coating of crispy bread crumbs (I like crispy!) Ours was filled with a ground meat.
We were enjoying our visit so much , we almost missed our train back to Poznan though. You should have seen V. fly over the roads back to the little train station! But we got there in time, and were moving on quite nicely when all of a sudden we heard a “thunk”. We were in a small town, so I think we were stopped and trying to get going again. Long wait…….people getting restless……..people getting off the train to see what was going on….in all we were stopped about an hour and a half if I remember right. It was hot, but I thought it was rather festive! Loran walked over to the side of the tracks and picked some wild plums for me, some to eat and more to use for compote the next day (I LOVE fruit compotes!) The wild orange plums were growing all over the place in Poland, truly part of an edible landscape. I was also impressed with the numerous tiny backyard gardens, not only containing vegetables but small fruit trees and often a plastic covered hot house full of tomates and other goodies. One might see 10 or 20 yards like this right in a row. The majority of people seem to be brilliant gardeners! Anyway, we finally got on another train and pulled into Poznan about 8:30 p.m. And that was our eventful train trip.
A Passion for Green 
We had similar experiences with trains. We had to switch trains in the middle of the night in France, but the reason was different. On strike. A bit nerve wracking when you don’t know the language and you’re hoping you’re going the right way and your group gets split up and you’re hoping they’re on the train and headed to the same place you are. 😉 Nice to see Loren’s smiling face.