TRIP REPORT POLAND JUNE 2002 PART ONE

TRIP REPORT:
POLAND, JUNE / JULY 2002
Part One: June 26 - July 2

Debbie's Polish Pictures Home Page

Part Two Part Three

Departure (scheduled):	Wednesday, June 26 Dallas to Chicago to Krakow
Departure (actual):	Thursday, June 27 Dallas to London to Krakow
Return:	Sunday, July 21, 2002 Warsaw to Chicago to Dallas
Statistics:	1,565 miles driven (2,520 km) 54 Rolls of film Exchange rate: 3.98/4.00 zloty to one U.S. dollar

We had made arrangements to fly American Airlines to Chicago and then LOT Polish Airlines from Chicago to Krakow. We used our frequent flyer miles in order to fly business class all the way to Poland. There is a big difference in comfort between business class and economy class.

Before we left for Poland we made and paid for our rental car through Le Car International. We had requested a Group C+ car which ended up being a Ford Focus. This car had an automatic transmission and air conditioning. The automatic transmission meant the long drives wouldn’t be as tiring and the air conditioning meant no bee stings from driving with open windows (see summer, 2000 trip). We changed rental companies because we found that National Car Rental and others would not accept a specific request for a car. With the other rental agencies, Group C included vans as well as cars and we did not want a van so we switched to Le Car. The interesting thing about Le Car is that someone (the owner?) drove the car from Warsaw to Krakow as the company did not have an office in Krakow. After turning the car over to us at the Krakow airport, the owner took a train back to Warsaw. The drop-off fee was $50.00 but all totaled it still wasn’t any more than we would have paid with another company. The car rental cost $1130.00 for 24 days with unlimited mileage. Renting a car is the biggest expense in Poland.

I made all hotel arrangements from the US either using the internet or a friend in Krakow who made telephone calls. None of the hotels were paid for prior to the trip.

Knowing I would be buying lots of books I packed scissors and packing tape in the hope of sending the books back via “the bag”. I also packed lots of batteries, two battery operated hand fans, a package of tissue paper, several pieces of bubble wrap and two plastic storage boxes. On previous trips I had bought a hair dryer, curling iron and extension cord to be used only in Poland, so these were packed too along with extra plugs (not transformers). Next time I will also bring a plastic coated wire hanging basket that I can place toiletries in to hang in the shower.

Dave and Josh carried backpacks that held my camera equipment, 50 rolls of film, some research materials and a book or two for each of them. I carried a black diaper bag filled with my research notebooks and papers, our itinerary, the passports, international driver’s licenses and our airline tickets.

Our American Airlines flight was to leave Dallas for Chicago at 5:21 p.m. We arrived 2 hours ahead of flight time and asked the ticket agent to tag each of the five bags with priority tags. He argued that LOT was not a member of One World (airline membership) and would not honor the tags. We told him we were not concerned with LOT airlines’ handling of our luggage but American Airlines. He begrudgingly put the orange Premium tags on each suitcase. I was hoping these tags would help insure that our suitcases would meet us in Poland.

We decided to spend the time waiting in the American Airlines Admiral’s Club. On our way up there I noticed that our boarding passes weren’t quite right. At the Admiral’s Club we had the agent correct the errors. The ticket agent had stapled Dave’s return ticket to the boarding pass we were going to use that day. Was this a sign of things to come?

Everything went along fine until it was time to leave the gate. It began to rain and the pilot informed us that since lightening strikes had been noted in the area, all ground crew was back inside the building as they were not allowed on the tarmac during lightening strikes. It took about an hour for the weather to settle down. The plane’s engines had been on during this time so we were kept comfortable. The pilot finally taxied out onto a runway where we sat for about another half hour. It seemed the pilot didn’t like the performance of one of the engines so he drove back to the gate. We sat there waiting for a mechanic for about another half hour. Finally we were allowed to deplane but the flight had not officially been canceled. We knew before we boarded the plane originally that the flight after ours to Chicago had been canceled. There was only a two hour window between the time this flight was to arrive in Chicago and the LOT flight left for Krakow. Things weren’t looking good.

We approached the gate agent and pressed for different connections to Krakow on any airlines. The agent would only check airlines we suggested. I found her to be very uncooperative. The consequence of not getting to Krakow by Thursday was that we would have to cancel a hotel reservation and reach the car rental company before they left for Krakow (we had already paid in full). We also would need to notify Monika that we would arrive in Krakow a day late so her vacation would also start late. We had arranged to pick up Monika from her apartment in Krakow. She was going to be with us the entire time we were in Sanok/Bukowsko. Did I mention that I’d be losing a day in Poland? There was no way I could make that up if we did not arrive in Krakow on Thursday. The gate agent refused to make the three telephone calls to Poland canceling these reservations and appointments.

The gate agent made reservations for us on British Airways to London and LOT from London to Krakow, leaving Dallas on Thursday, June 27, a full day late. The agent gave us meal tickets worth $75.00. At this time of night the only restaurant open was a mini-Chili’s where the most expensive item was a sandwich for about $7.00. I viewed the high value on the meal coupon as an empty gesture. The agent also gave us vouchers for a cab home and back the next day since we decided not to stay at the airport overnight. Dave pointed out that since our luggage had priority tags on them, they would probably be the first off the plane and since Dallas/Fort Worth does not check luggage tags or secure the luggage, he’d best head right to baggage claim. Josh and I walked to the restaurant, ordered our sandwiches, and ordered one for Dave “to go.” We also ordered desserts to take home since we had nothing in the refrigerator.

Upon meeting Dave in baggage claim we learned that all five suitcases were visibly wet. We supposed they had been left out in the rain. Glad those priority tags had an impact on the baggage handlers. The baggage claim customer service clerk said that American Airlines would pay for dry cleaning any items that had gotten wet. Let’s see: our flight the next day was to leave at 4:35 p.m.. How were we to get anything dry cleaned? Dave made sure the incident was placed in our record.

Our next headache came in trying to get a cab to take us home. This ride would cost $40-50 but of course, we had a voucher. None of the cabbies wanted to take us because they’d had trouble getting payment from American Airlines. Well, things were getting worse. Finally, a cabbie agreed to take us.

Oh, the fun didn’t end when we arrived home. We found that we had to unpack all five of our suitcases because water had gotten inside each one and clothes, etc. had to be dried and re-packed. I also realized that the gate agent actually booked us on an American Airlines flight and not a British Airways flight and had not given us seat assignments. She also had not given us seat assignments for the LOT flight. Knowing that people usually didn’t make transatlantic flights at the last minute I was very concerned that we would not be sitting together in business class. Dave called American Airlines and sure enough we were flying American not British Airways. She was able to give us seat assignments on the flight from Dallas to London but not on the LOT flight from London to Krakow. This would have to be done at the airport in London. Dave asked the reservations agent if she would call LOT in Warsaw to get seat assignments as it was now daylight in Poland. She refused, as did her supervisor. It’s always a headache dealing with American Airlines.

I made the three calls to Poland canceling and changing reservations. After making a reservation with the cab company to get back to the airport, we went to bed at 1:00 a.m. hoping the next day, Thursday, would be free of problems.

American Airlines from Dallas to Gatwick Airport, London, and then on LOT airlines to Krakow. Going through security I decided to take my unexposed rolls of film out of the backpack so they wouldn’t be x-rayed too many times. As a young man ran a swab over the rolls in a zip lock bag, a coworker passed by saying he was supposed to swab each roll separately. Evidently this young man had not been told about the high level of security at airports. Our flight left Dallas at 4:35 p.m. with no problems. Seated on the plane in business class, nice and comfy, Josh couldn’t contain his excitement about the comfort and perks of business class. He especially liked the private TV set. He did have trouble getting his seat to recline so someone from the cockpit came back, took a panel off the seat and fixed it. None of us slept much, choosing instead to watch a couple of movies.

I set off the metal detector at Gatwick after deplaning and attempting to get into the terminal. I guessed it was the 9 -11 bracelet a neighbor made for me. The only other metal objects on me were a watch and a wedding band. Our layover at Gatwick was spent looking through the shops. We didn’t buy anything as the prices were much too high and the exchange rate, as always was not favorable. We also spent time in the British Airways lounge enjoying beverages and snacks. The LOT flight to Krakow was uneventful though disappointing as there isn’t much difference between coach and business class on LOT’s intra-Europe flights.

We arrived at Krakow airport on time, at 2:20 p.m.. The weather was cool and rainy. Fine by me. I was surprised to see that a renovation of the terminal had taken place since October, 2000. The baggage claim area was much larger. Dogs walked around sniffing passengers and their belongings. The dogs were very non-threatening and were accompanied by soldiers. Once we’d gone through passport control and baggage claim (all five bags arrived with us!) Dave exchanged some money for zloty while I looked for the agent from Le Car. We got the worst exchange rate of our entire trip but we knew we would not find an open kantor by the time we picked up Monika or left Krakow. We found the agent with no problem. He took us to the car and showed us how to operate the alarm system. All of our suitcases fit in the trunk. We left the airport headed for Monika’s apartment. First stop would be a gas station so I could buy a more up-to-date map of Krakow. The car rental company had left us a map of Poland and one for Warsaw. On the map, he showed us where the office was located in Warsaw, and I wrote down the address as well.

After stopping at a gas station we found that the instructions given us about disarming the car alarm were incomplete. The alarm went off about every 2 minutes as we drove. I had to keep pressing a button on the alarm to make it stop - for 2 more minutes. We arrived at Monika’s apartment at 4:00 p.m. and found that the alarm was still sounding even with the car turned off. Dave stayed downstairs and figured out how the alarm worked. I went up to Monika’s apartment. Monika was waiting and ready to go. We kissed and hugged hello. Monika’s bag fit into the trunk! We got in and headed for Sanok in old wojewodztwo Krosno with me driving. The traffic was so heavy it took an hour to get out of Krakow.

Once out of the city we stopped at Chlopskie Jadlo, a restaurant owned by same man who owned the Chlopskie Jadlo in Krakow. It was just a little unassuming place on the side of the road but the inside was just like a peasant’s house and we enjoyed our food. Josh was thrilled to get pierogies that hadn’t been frozen and were cooked in butter. Dinner for four of us cost 65 zloty or $16.25 and we were full.

Since we had left Krakow 8 hours later than originally planned I wasn’t able to stop at a pantofle (leather slippers) manufacturer to pick up several pairs of really cheap slippers. I also couldn’t stop in Jodlowa or Lubcza for Pete (president of PGST) as I had planned. We took secondary roads hoping to speed up the drive time but the rain slowed things down a little bit. We arrived at the Hotel Jagiellonski in Sanok at 10:30 p.m. having made one stop for gas and a bathroom. All was in order and we had no problems. Dorota (Zytka from Bukowsko) Radozycka, had called the hotel to find out if we had arrived. We had arranged for a separate room for Monika and hers was next to ours on the second floor. Both rooms were quite spacious. Ours had three beds, a dining table with chairs, a coffee table, night stands, an armoire, TV, telephone, clock radio, bottled water and a shower. I was very tired from the trip to Poland and then driving to Sanok. This was what I had hoped to avoid by arriving in Poland a day earlier and spending our first night in Krakow.

One room for one person and one room for three people, five nights each. Locked parking behind the hotel was included in the room price but breakfast was not.
Price including VAT: for the entire stay was 920 zloty or approximately$231.00. That worked out to $46.00 a night for the two rooms. Can’t beat that!

My husband, Josh and I met Monika for breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant in the basement. The decor had been changed a little but was still quite pleasant. After breakfast the desk clerk photocopied the telephone book pages of Bukowsko residents and businesses. I also confirmed a September reservation for six people I knew from Poland Roots who were also visiting Bukowsko. We called the Krosno glass factory to see if they were open for a tour. I had hoped to buy some glass items cheaper than I could in the U.S. but the factory was closed. Although stores in Poland are open on Saturdays, most close by 2:00 p.m. I decided to take this opportunity to give Monika the gifts I had brought for her. I gave her a couple of scholarly books (in English) she had requested, as well as some clothes and odds and ends. She was most appreciative.

As we headed out the hotel door for the car, the clerk pointed out that we had a flat tire. Well, that cut into my schedule! Dave changed the tire and we drove into town and found a place that repaired the tire right away. It cost 9 zloty to repair and change the tire. That’s a little over $2.00. The tire repair shop shared a building with a ceramic tile store. Once finished we drove the few blocks into downtown Sanok, parked and walked to the tourist office and Cepelia. I picked up whatever brochures were available at the tourist office and asked about Krosno dolls at the Cepelia store. No dolls. Another Poland Roots friend had looked for a Krosno doll at this same store a few months ago. I was hoping that if enough people asked for this rather plain costumed doll, that someone would make them. I did buy a couple of straw ornaments and a thimble from Sanok. Checked out our first bookstore and bought some books about Bieszczady. Had some lody (ice cream). There are little ice cream stands everywhere in Poland. Some are just open windows. You can either buy soft serve ice cream, ice cream made from fresh fruit or commercial ice cream bars.

Just looking around, we walked down a street that was being re-bricked to become a pedestrian mall. We decided to tour the castle and see the icon exhibit inside the castle. The castle is an unimposing building but we had never seen it before. Afterwards we walked to the Orthodox church down the street. We walked to the rynek and found that the Cepelia there was already closed. I took a few pictures and Monika bought some ice cream from the monks to whom the church on the rynek belonged. Monika called Dorota for me and set up a time to meet her. Originally, I was going to pick her up on Monday to go together to the gmina office in Bukowsko to look at the record books (more about this on Monday). Dorota invited us to come over that evening after she returned from church. The public telephones were next to a market so we stopped in to buy some bottled water (nie gaszowana).

We decided to drive through Bukowsko, my ancestral village (surnames: Zytka, Chrzaszcz, Zadylak, Bochnak, Durlak, Klepczyk, Lisowski, Mazur, Roczniak and Pleśniarski), and on to Wola Piotrowa, a one-time Lemko village now inhabited by Protestant Poles. While visiting with Elzbieta Kseniak Reiser in the Chicago area three days before our trip (another story), her husband, Bill mentioned seeing clothes hanging on headstones in a cemetery in Wola Piotrowa during his exploratory trips of the area while Elzbieta visited with her family in Bukowsko. I was intrigued with his mention of a cemetery as I was supposed to look for the location of the Bukowsko Jewish cemetery which I knew had been destroyed. Could this have been it? In between my trip to Chicago and leaving for Poland, I did some research and located a fellow, Greg, who has a Lemko web site concerned with Lemko villages and cemeteries. I contacted him when I realized that Wola Piotrowa was in fact a Lemko village and not part of Bukowsko. I told him I would find the cemetery and take pictures. He was most appreciative of my offer.

Wola Piotrowa is a small, one street village. I spotted the village’s current cemetery and what appeared to be a small field next to it on a small hillside. I couldn’t see anything else in the village that could have been a cemetery visible from the road. We stopped a woman and asked her where the old cemetery was located. I was correct! The cemetery was next to us. She showed us the “road” to get up to the top. It was really for tractors or feet. Very deep ruts. I drove up anyway and parked mid-way up. We got out and walked to the field which had knee-high grass just like the cemetery in Bukowsko. I noticed that the current cemetery was in the same condition. A man walked across the road and up the hill asking what we were doing. He spoke English pretty well so I didn’t have much trouble talking to him. Of course, having Monika there made it much easier. He confirmed that the field was the Lemko cemetery and led us to a spot between two trees where you could still see a toppled headstone. I took pictures of it and the area for perspective. Unfortunately, the headstone had fallen onto the side that had writing on it so I could not identify the name on it. The man said there were other gravestones in this cemetery. Another reason to bring a weedeater when visiting Poland! There was no way you could find a gravestone without cutting down the grass. The man was very nice and told us that his brother was living in New York, their mother had died in December (he showed us her grave still covered with flowers) and explained that the Poles living in Wola Piotrowa came from across the border in Czechoslovakia and inhabited the village in the 1970's with the sanction of the Polish government. The Lemkos had been displaced by the Polish government just after WWII and the village lay in ruin until this Protestant group of Poles came along. Elzbieta Reiser had told me that her father in Bukowsko had helped this group of Poles get established. The man said there were probably 65 families in the village now and that he lived in house #50, which was diagonally across from the cemeteries. Due to confusion, none of us asked the man his name! I may have taken a picture of his mother’s grave, but I’m not sure. He invited us to stay at his house the next time we visited Poland. He said he had 50 visitors last year! We thanked him, got back into the car and headed back to Bukowsko to meet Dorota at her house.

Dorota is Elzbieta Reiser’s sister. Lucja, another sister, lives near Elzbieta in the U.S. I knew that Dorota lived in house #48 which was just up from the church. Trying to find numbers on the houses was impossible. Some houses are blocked from view from the street by other houses and you have to drive across the yard of the front house to reach them. I should have gotten a description of Dorota’s house. We ended up asking a woman who was walking if she knew where Dorota’s house was located and she did indeed know. She said it was the house with the balcony. OK! Oh, there were several with balconies. By the time we had driven up another driveway, the woman on foot had reached us. This time she pointed to the house. We drove up the driveway to the left of the house but it seemed like it belonged to the farmhouse next door. We gingerly crossed the rock covered ruts onto the grassy area that was behind Dorota’s house. By this time it was 5:00 p.m. An older woman, man and young girl came out of the house and motioned for us to park on the grass behind their house.

There were several “dzien dobry” as we introduced ourselves. The older woman was Elzbieta, Dorota and Lucja’s mother, Bronislawa Grzes Kseniak. The man was Dorota’s husband, Roman, and the young girl was her daughter, Marta. Dorota was shopping and would be home soon. They made us comfortable in the living room and served tea and cookies. We visited with Bronislawa (the mother) until Dorota and her sister, Helena, arrived.

We talked about the history of Bukowsko, what it was like for Bronislawa when the UPA came through in 1947 and burned all but three buildings in the village. This is why there aren’t any church or civil records prior to 1890. Evidently these were hidden in the church. This also meant that almost every building in Bukowsko had been built since 1947. My ancestor’s homes were no doubt gone.

I had promised Debbie Raff, a descendant of Jewish ancestors from Bukowsko that I would try to find out as much as I could about the Jewish people who lived in Bukowsko prior to WWII. Debbie’s great grandfather was a watchmaker in this village and she had visualized my great grandparent buying a watch from him. I countered that since my ancestors didn’t own anything they could probably only have afforded to buy dirt and not a watch. Bukowsko had a large Jewish population which disappeared during WWII. Most were taken to an internment camp east of this tiny village and then were sent to death camps. While the church and a memorial in Bukowsko mention those who died during the war, the Jewish citizens are not mentioned. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to believe that any Jews lived in this village although at one time there were three synagogues.

My quest was to pinpoint the locations of the Jewish cemetery, the synagogues, and the shtetl. Bronislawa had many Jewish girlfriends when she was growing up. All of them were now gone. Mention was made of the location of the synagogues, the Jewish school and the cemetery. We knew from previous research that the Jewish cemetery was 3 km. east of the village center on an isolated wooded, hillside and that it was 0.5 hectares in area. I was also interested in locating the “agricultural center or circle” as we had heard that some Jewish gravestones had been used here. I had deduced that this was more or less a farm rental building but Bronislawa was quite sure the headstones had not been re-used but had been destroyed. The conversation went slow because it had to be translated.

Dorota arrived and introductions were made again. Dorota mentioned that her sister, Elzbieta had called that morning to see if she had heard from us. I guessed she was anxious for me to meet her family. Dorota lived in what I would call a modern Polish house of about 3 stories with a modern bathroom and kitchen. Bronislawa lived at the south end of the village, approximately 500 meters “up” from Dorota’s house. Still living in Bukowsko were brothers, Kazimierz and Tadeusz who both worked for the post office. Dorota worked for the elementary school. I was told that the church and anything north of it was considered “down” and anything south of the church was considered “up” as in “Dorota’s house is “up” from the church. Homes numbered 200 were “up” from the church but are not in numerical order.

We stayed until 8:30 p.m. talking about my ancestral families and what information I needed from the gmina records. Dorota had graciously volunteered to take a vacation day to take me to the gmina office on Monday to go through whatever records were held there. We had arranged this through her sister, Elzbieta before I left home. Dorota thought that we’d be able to figure out the old house numbering system and thus locate the spot where my great great grandfather’s home stood. Dorota and her mother suggested that I check with the Catholic churches in Sayreville and South River, New Jersey as many Bukowsko immigrants had settled in those towns. We made arrangements to pick up Dorota at 9:30 a.m. Monday so Monika, Dorota and I could go through the vital records held at the gmina office. I had to awaken Josh as he had fallen asleep in a chair. We said good-bye and drove down the grassy yard on the other side of the house to the street. Communicating would have been difficult without Monika.

We decided to eat at the restaurant in the hotel, Dom Turysty, in Sanok. The hotel looked pretty basic. There were a few other customers in the restaurant. We seated ourselves. Although the restaurant smelled heavily of cigarette smoke, the food was great! Josh had his favorite, pierogi. The cost of dinner with tip came to 125 zloty for four people; about $30.00. The portions were large and we were more than satisfied. After dinner we drove back to the hotel and called it a night.

We again met for breakfast in the hotel. After breakfast, Monika walked to church. She had decided to attend the one on the rynek. Dave, Josh and I drove around Sanok taking pictures. We picked up Monika after mass and drove to the largest eknografik park (skansen) in Poland. It was right there in Sanok. To get to the skansen you have to cross a long, one lane bridge. Parking was to the right of the bridge under the trees. Entrance fees were paid inside a building that also housed souvenirs, the bathrooms and tour guides. We decided to hire a guide even though she only spoke Polish. We would have had to wait about a half hour for an English speaking guide so we decided to have Monika translate for us. The skansen was separated into villages according to the different cultures that had inhabited the area. Churches, homes and farms were all here. Even a tame stork. The park also houses a display of orthodox icons. In order to enter this building you had to pay one zloty to buy shower cap type shoe coverings.

Afterwards, at the souvenir sklep I bought a couple of things for the neighbor kids at home and tried to locate, “Bukowskie Wesele Sprzed 100 lat,” a video tape I had heard about from a (now proven) distant Bukowsko family member who lives in France. No luck on the video. Lunch was next and we decided to eat at the park. Josh had pierogi and kielbasa again. I had barszcz with ears (dumplings), Dave had zapiakanka and bigos and Monika had pierogi.

On to Krosno, which is about a half hour from Sanok down the main road. Krosno reminds me of a capital city in the U.S.; sort of boring. Krosno was also the wojewodztwo so I imagine that most people didn’t go to Krosno unless they had business with the government. We parked near the rynek and stopped for ice cream and pastries at a cukernia. We walked around a mini-cemetery and monument to Russian soldiers which sat next to a Catholic church. The monument was to those Russian soldiers who helped fight off the Nazis. Each grave was marked with the soldier’s name and pertinent dates.

I took a picture of the statue of Ignacy Lukasiewicz who invented the kerosene lamp. A quick walk around the rynek and down a side street brought us back to the car. Driving out of the city we passed the Krosno glass factory. Maybe I’ll stop here during my next trip. We were going to stop at McDonald’s but they were evidently having a grand opening and the place was packed so we decided to drive back to Sanok.

This night we had dinner at a “bar” in Sanok that served food. Josh and I had a pizza, Monika had spaghetti and Dave had chicken. This restaurant seemed to be popular amongst the locals. After dinner we called it a night and went to bed.

Breakfast again at the hotel. Our choices were made from the menu. At 9:30 Monika and I dropped off Dave and Josh in front of the gmina. We did this to have room in the car to pick up Dorota. We drove to Dorota’s and I went to the house to get her. Once in the car we drove the very short distance to the gmina where we traded places with Dave and Josh. Their assignments were to take pictures of all the buildings (except houses) in Bukowsko and to draw a map of the village since we were unable to locate one in Sanok or Bukowsko. They were also to go into the building across from the gmina to see what kind of stores were in there. At one point a policeman came running out of the police department towards Dave who was trying to take a photograph of the police department. Neither could verbally understand the other but when the policeman made a gesture indicating that he wanted the whole roll of film, Dave was able to communicate that the photo hadn’t been taken. The policeman was satisfied and Dave ended up driving down another street and, using my long lens, took a picture of the police department through the trees.

Meanwhile, at the gmina Dorota, Monika and I were given the three record books for Bukowsko. They were for births, deaths and marriages from 1890 to the present. The woman in charge of the vital records was quite nice and gave us an intern to help. Each one of us took a book and the intern worked with me. We were all working furiously when it dawned on me that there were just too many ancestral names in these records. We would never be able to write down all of them or for that matter go back and pick up the other surnames that we would come across. These books needed to be microfilmed not only for the use of descendants but to protect the records themselves. I asked Janina Nowaczek, the woman in charge of the records, if I could come back next year with filming equipment. She didn’t really answer me, but I think it’s a possibility.

One thing I was able to determine form the short time at the gmina was that Elzbieta, Dorota and their cousin, Jean-Claude (in France) were indeed related to me. We had found the one record that confirmed what I had guessed was the case. I gave Dorota a picture of my great grandmother, Magdalene Zytka, her sister, Salomea Zytka and their cousin, Agnieszka Zytka. Dorota showed the picture to Janina Nowaczek. Janina said it looked just like her mother-in-law, who, it turned out, is also related to me! Janina knew a lot of information off the top of her head on the whereabouts of people we were looking for or their relatives. I was dumbfounded! I had always suspected that anyone who had Zytka ancestors and hailed from Bukowsko must be related. Of all the ancestral villages and names I’ve been researching, Bukowsko and the surnames Zytka and Chrzaszcz, returned the most contacts. How could we not be relatives?

About a year ago I was contacted by a man of Polish descent who was living in France, Jean-Claude Zytka, whose ancestors were from Bukowsko. We traded family information but could not make a connection. Our research wasn’t at the same level. Jean-Claude had been able to make a trip to Bukowsko during the summer of 2001 and was able to get more family information.

Approximately 4 months before my trip to Poland this year, I was contacted by Elzbieta from Illinois. She had been in the US for 30 years but her family was from and was still in Bukowsko. She had found my trip diary from 2000 and was astonished to read about people she knew who were living near her in Illinois! We talked by phone a couple of times. When Elzbieta mentioned she had a distant cousin in France I asked if his name was Jean-Claude. It was! I guess the computer is a good thing. I couldn’t wait to email Jean-Claude and tell him that I met his cousin in Illinois! Elzbieta sent me some of the information she had on her family and Jean-Claude sent me a huge envelope full of family trees. After months of looking at his information and trying to somehow connect mine to his, I found a possibility. However, while I had names, relationships and dates, Jean-Claude only had names and relationships. The people could have been the same, but unless I could come up with dates for Jean-Claude’s people, we were nowhere. I was, however, able to prove our relationship while going through the records at the Bukowsko gmina. It appears that we can eventually tie-in other surnames thus proving that our families criss-crossed several times. It is also possible that Lemkos married into my family.

Three days before I left for Poland, Josh and I had to make a 2 day trip to Illinois. I arranged to have breakfast with Elzbieta and her sister, Lucja, not knowing that they were in fact relatives. We visited her home and I was pleased to see the little Polish touches. Elzbieta was able to give me some information about Bukowsko and her family.

It was clear that a more thorough search of the Bukowsko gmina records (which were copies of the church records and easier to access) and a search of the Przemysl Archdiocesan records was going to be necessary. A wild idea: get other descendants of Bukowsko that had contacted me to agree to make a trip to Bukowsko and Przemysl to copy these records as a group.

We worked from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Janina would have let us stay longer but had to attend a funeral. Generally, the gmina is open from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. Janina said there weren’t any records that would allow us to track house numbers so it would be impossible to find some of ancestor’s houses. I knew that my great grandmother had been born in house #238 which was now house #201. The problem is there is no map or record indicating where house #201 is located. I asked Dorota how her brothers knew where to deliver the mail and she said that they had been doing to for so long, they just knew. Swell, not even the post office had a map. I should check on that though. Janina suggested checking with Sanok powiat office for local census records because Bukowsko gmina did not have any. She also suggested checking there for local maps. I will have to do that by mail or during my next trip. Boy, this trip had just begun and already I was talking about the next one!

When the gmina closed we walked across the street so Dorota could show me where the synagogues and Jewish school had stood prior to WWII. Two of the synagogues had been located on either side of the Siloczek River, which connects with the Sanoczek River (near the current deli and on the corner diagonally from the deli). It turned out that the Jews had lived all over the village and were not separated from the other residents. Dorota stopped and talked to a man who turned out to be her brother. He lived on the other side of town. Not that any side of town was that far. Dave and Josh were waiting for us in the parking lot of the large store building (mall) across from the gmina. We drove back to Dorota’s and found her husband, daughter and mother waiting with pierogi, cookies and coffee. Josh was in heaven and Dorota’s family encouraged Josh to eat as many as he could. I think he finally stopped at 25. I could hear his arteries closing up. Elzbieta called from Illinois and she and I talked about my trip. I told her about finding the link that made us relatives. She said that she knew it would happen.

I gave Dorota the gift of bath towels I had brought for her and gave Bronislawa a kitchen towel set. (These were relatively light to pack and took up the space that I knew would later be filled with the things I’d be taking home from Poland.) Dorota showed me baby pictures of her daughter, Marta.

Bronislawa kept the pierogi coming. She had visited the U.S. several times and had even worked part-time in a restaurant. Her pierogi were great! I told her she could come home with me and cook all the time! Dorota gave me a booklet and some photocopied papers about Bukowsko. Evidently the agricultural group in Bukowsko had printed the brochure in order to increase interest in the area. It would help if they refurbished the motel (see our summer, 2000 trip).

Dorota’s husband said he would take us to the site of the Jewish cemetery! I was excited. I really wanted to give Debbie Raff (my adopted Jewish cousin) something from this trip since she had done so much research on this village.

Well, it sure seemed longer than 3 km to the hillside but I suppose the 3 km was either a straight line or from another direction. We drove to the end of Bukowsko (passed Bronislawa’s farm) to a small path carved into fields of wheat. The drive seemed long but I suppose it was only because we had to drive slow since the path was a combination of dirt, ruts, mud, and large rocks. An SUV would have been a better vehicle for the drive. We hoped that the large clunks we heard didn’t do damage to the car. We finally got to the top of the farmland, passing an electric station of some sort along the way, and parked. Not that there was a parking lot mind you; more like a space at a crossroads. We then walked up the rest of the hillside stopping to pick and eat wild strawberries. What a treat! Fruit that had flavor! At the top of this hill was a forest. You could see all of Bukowsko from the top. We entered the forest which was dark, overgrown and full of nettles. Did I mention that Dave, Josh and I were wearing shorts? We came out of there full of nettle stings. Roman was able to lead us right to 4 Jewish headstones that had been toppled and were now moss-covered. I couldn’t believe it! It was as if we had entered another time. Debbie Raff and I were under the impression that none of the headstones existed! I was totally unprepared for this so I didn’t have any water or rags to clean off the headstones. The best I could do was remove loose debris and take pictures. We were able to make out a star on one of the headstones but I don’t know at this point, if it will be visible in the photograph. I’m sure there are more headstones in this cemetery. But, once again, it would take some sort of weed clearing implements (preferably gas powered) to find them. Monika, who is Catholic, made a gesture that I found to be very touching. She placed a stone on top of the largest gravestone (a Jewish tradition). As it turned out, Roman had come up to this spot the day before and cleared away a lot of the overgrowth. He mentioned that a Jewish group had been to this same spot a few years ago. I took more photos and photographed outside of the area just trying to get things localized.

Roman took us farther up the hill to see some beehives. I misunderstood at first and thought they would be wild bees but we found that these were actually tended bees. Roman took my camera and went in closer to take pictures of the bees buzzing around their houses. I asked who took care of the bees and Roman said a “Zytka.” Of course, another relative of mine! We had packed a compass so once out of the forest we took a reading. I was surprised to find that we were indeed east of Bukowsko. The twists and turns driving out of the village and up the hillside had turned me around. Not difficult to do, since up to this point I hadn’t even been able to get Bukowsko locations situated as to north, south, east and west. Exact directions and a map to the cemetery can be found at Debbie Raff’s Jewish Bukowsko web site: http://www.shtetlinks.jewishgen.org/bukowsko.

Roman asked to be dropped off at the little store across from the church. We drove to Sanok to buy gas. We had more to do in Bukowsko, but not enough gas, and the station in Bukowsko was closed. We drove back to Bukowsko to take more pictures (you can never have enough books or photographs) and finish up the map Dave and Josh had started. Dave was certain there was another way to the Jewish cemetery so we drove off down another road in that direction. Not far from the hilltop, the paved road stopped. We decided not to rough it again but determined that this road probably led straight to the Jewish cemetery from another direction. We had passed a surveyor on the road and stopped to ask if she knew where the Bukowsko boundaries ended. Not a clue. She worked for the electric company and was only measuring for more electric poles.

Our last stop was at the Bukowsko cemetery. I wanted to get a better photograph of the entrance to the cemetery. The cemetery isn’t surrounded by a fence, nor is there a gate or formal entrance to the cemetery. I noticed that a walk-path had been made around the south end of the cemetery affording better access to the graves at that end. The cemetery as usual, was high with weeds although the 8 ft. growth I’d noticed around some of the older grave markers during previous trips, had been removed this summer. One in particular appeared to have Cyrillic writing on it. Monika mentioned that even for a farm community cemetery, this one was especially unkempt. I did not read the cemetery again, but took some photos.

We drove back to the hotel and decided to eat dinner there. Interestingly enough, there were at least three other groups of Americans staying at our hotel. One group was in Poland on business.

Three of our breakfasts for four people cost 125.50 zloty = $31.37 or approximately $10.50 per day for four people. Three of the four dinners for four people cost

For the last time, we had breakfast in the hotel. Josh was so full from eating so many big meals that he just stayed in the room. There is a cukernia across the street from the hotel where you could pick up a few pastries instead of eating in the hotel. I checked us out of the hotel and charged the rooms to my credit card. The desk clerk asked how everything had been and I told her it was very nice and this was the fourth time I had stayed in the hotel. She was surprised and suggested that I recommend the hotel to friends of mine. I told her that I had, in fact, done just that and six people would be there in September. Dave and Josh had packed the car, so we were ready to go. We left Sanok at 10:00 a.m. Since I was doing most of the driving, it was Dave’s job to follow the map and the instructions I had worked up before we left home. Of course I had used an old map so the road numbers, once again did not match up. I don’t know why I didn’t use the newer atlas I had at home. Dave was also recording every new roll of film and its number as it was put into the camera, and was writing down what I was shooting pictures of, so I’d know when I got home. Yes, sometimes I did shoot pictures while I drove.

Our first stop was going to be in Pilzno which is located between Tarnow and Ropczyce on road #E-40. I wanted to visit a doll museum and factory located in this town. Kasia brand dolls were made here and I wanted to see exactly which dolls she made and whether I could pick up a few Krosno dolls. We had no trouble locating the building as I had the address and we remembered the location from a previous trip (it was closed then). Museum Lalek przy Pracowni Artystycznej , ul. Grodzka 24, Pilzno, hours: Monday - Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. We paid a few zloty and were given about a half hour to 45 minute tour which included going into 3 different buildings. Two appeared to be converted houses. We did not see many employees at work but all the dolls were hand dressed, painted and decorated whether they were cloth faced or china dolls. The dolls ranged from stick puppets to lovely medieval ladies dressed in velvet. I was more interested in the Polish peasant dolls. Kasia’s museum included foreign dolls from all over the world. I even recognized some that I had in my own collection. The grounds are decorated so as to provide some interest to the visitors, and inside, a play was set-up using dolls and telling the story of Cinderella. A 13 year old boy I know thought it was lame.

I had a chat with our tour guide trying to find out how I could arrange for Kasia to produce some Krosno dolls. We discussed the cost of production to design a brand new doll ($300 start up fee). Actually, all I wanted was a current doll model dressed in a Krosno folk costume. We also discussed the cost of shipping. The woman said that it would be very expensive to send the dolls (number unknown, but certainly more than 10) to the U.S. due to customs and the assumed intention of retail sales. I threw out the possibility of having the dolls shipped to Monika and then sent by Polamer to me. Also the possibility of bringing an empty suitcase on my next trip. Our guide suggested I use the company’s web site to make formal inquiries and place an order. Another addition to my “to do” list! I bought a couple of discounted dolls to give as gifts.

We left the museum headed for Zalipie. On the way, we passed another museum owned by Kasia but did not stop. It appeared to have a story village in miniature set-up in its front yard. If you are not familiar with Zalipie, it is a small village north of Tarnow. It is renowned for being the only village which paints decorative flowers and designs on the inside and outside of their homes, barns, fences, cisterns, wells, flower pots etc. Each year just after Corpus Christi a competition is held to see who has the best painted residence. The contest also involves a couple of nearby villages which are members of the parish of Zalipie. We arrived in Zalipie with little time to visit the “master,” Felicja Curylowa’s, home and the library which housed pictures of the most recent painting competition. I was pleased to see that the children of the area were being encouraged to take up this particular art form by holding a separate competition just for them. Though their paintings were on paper, not on the buildings, you could see the talent in the young. The house of the woman who started this all was unbelievable! She was an incredible talent. Her whole house is covered in color. I think she was the forerunner of the U.S. craft queens we see on T.V. today. I couldn’t resist buying quite a few things, some for me and one as a gift. At the library we found a couple of local ladies painting items for sale. I asked how long it took to paint one particular pot they were working on and was told it took two people two days to paint. The prices that the items sold for at the master’s house and at the library certainly did not reflect all the time and love that were put into them. We were encouraged by the people at the library to stop and visit the parish church. When we arrived it was locked and we couldn’t see inside. I noticed there was a cemetery behind the church and although I didn’t take any photos it appeared that the famous Zalipie painting had been included on many headstones. How charming! We started to drive away when we noticed a little nun running to the church. We went back up the walk and Monika explained who we were and where we lived (something she had done a few times in the last 5 days). The nun opened the church for us. I was surprised there was so little painting in the church but what was there was gorgeous. I realized of course, that the decorative painting really shouldn’t be the focus of one’s attention when attending mass. The little nun (she couldn’t have been four and a half feet tall) took Monika and I into the priest’s vesting room and showed us the incredible vestments that had been hand painted, hand embroidered and beaded in the Zalipie style. One for each month of the year and one for funerals. Some weighed at least 15 pounds. In fact the nun had us hold them because they were too heavy for her and of course, too long. She mentioned that the young priests didn’t like to wear these vestments very often because they were so heavy. I noticed sadly that several were stained from water and they had the odor of mildew. I made the comment that I hoped the priests at least wore each vestment on one Sunday of the month. If someone wanted to be very generous to their Polish priest at home, a handmade vestment from Zalipie would certainly do the trick. We left a donation for the church as we did with our ancestral churches. I knew from previous discussions about Zalipie and its art that its people, especially young people, were losing interest and paint was expensive. I thought that perhaps the descendants of Zalipie ancestors might want to consider making a general contribution each year in order to help defray the cost of the paint and to help foster the interest of the younger residents. Zalipie is a farming community and although it is a parish I think I only saw one or two small stores. Visiting Zalipie is certainly worth the detour off road #E-40.

Back home in Texas the police have developed a way to slow down the traffic on our highways without using police personnel. They park empty police cars on the shoulder of the highways, perpendicular to the road so the car is easily seen. Driving between Zalipie and Krakow we passed a wood cutout out of a local police car. I’m not sure if people slowed down because they thought it was a real police car or because they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

After several detours and change in routes due to traffic back-ups (accidents?) we arrived in Krakow at about 6:30 p.m. Due to the hour and the fact that Monika had to go to work the next day, we decided to eat at a McDonald’s. To feed four of us at McDonald’s cost 39.96 zloty = $10.00 or about $2.50 per person. A fish sandwich in Poland is called a “Fish Mac”, a Bic Mac meal is called a “Zestawy Big Mac” and a Happy Meal is called a “Happy Meal.” The weather had turned to a light rain. After our McDonald’s fix, we took Monika home. It was a sad but short goodbye. It had been so nice to be able to visit with her and of course to have her as our personal translator. I was glad that we visited places (Sanok skansen, Zalipie) that she’d never been to before and seemed to enjoy. As I drove away, I realized that I had not given her money to put into my Polish bank account. A couple of years ago, Monika was kind enough to agree to make occasional purchases for me, when I learn of books or other items which are available in Poland, but which are unavailable or particularly expensive here. Rather than pay the fees to send money each time, I set up a bank account through Monika, who manages it for me. When she purchases something that I’ve requested, she just takes money out of my account and either holds onto the items for my next trip or sends them to me. This has worked out quite well and was, in fact, how I acquired my second Polish mailing bag (see Gniezno and Solec Kujawski).

Our reservations in Krakow were at the Pensjonat Rycerska located on the Wisla River just below Wawel Castle. I had stayed here during my fall, 2000, trip and thought it was quite nice.

One room, one night for three people including breakfast.
Price including VAT: 340 zloty or about $85.00.
The hotel faces what was a park in 2000, but now there is some sort of building going on in that area. The street between the hotel and the park is one way.
Locked, guarded parking, which cost extra is opposite the hotel on the other side of the park. It is a very short walk from one to the other. Parking for 24 hours cost 39 zloty or about $9.75.
Very large bathroom, 2 beds, sofa bed, armoire, TV, telephone, table, night stands, chairs, refrigerator, dresser, bottled hot and cold water in the hallway.

While Dave and Josh unloaded the luggage in front of the pensjonat, I checked us into the hotel. We were assigned the same room I had during my fall, 2000, trip so I was familiar with it. Once the suitcases were in the room, we drove the car to the parking lot. Since it was still early and the sun was still up, we decided to take a walk along the Wisla. We only walked as far as Smok, the Wawel dragon. Every few minutes he’d belch out a plume of fire, which surprised the unsuspecting. The area was littered with young people “in love.” We decided to check out a little souvenir store around the corner from the hotel. The young cashier tried vigorously to sell various souvenirs to people who stepped inside. She spoke English pretty well. When I asked about that, she responded that she hadn’t learned it in school but had just picked it up while working. I bought several tapestry bookmarks for Sydney and two puzzles for Josh and a neighbor boy. She also offered me several items that were more than slightly sexually suggestive from an American point of view.

We ate breakfast in the hotel dining room, making our choices from a set menu. After breakfast we packed, checked out and rolled our luggage to the car in the parking lot. During the ½ block walk we were approached by a man who offered to sell us cigarettes out of the trunk of his car. We continued on to the parking lot, loaded the suitcases into our car, paid the attendant, and drove to the rynek. In April I had placed an order for 3 folk costumes with a company in Krakow, “Perfekt”. I had hoped to have time to visit the store and perhaps bring home one of them but we didn’t have the time. We did have time to do some shopping, though, and take more pictures. Josh’s history fair project for 8th grade was going to be a reproduction of St. Mary’s church, trumpeter and all, so I needed to take some close-up and side photographs of the famous church, and Cloth Hall is the best place we’ve found to buy inexpensive souvenirs. We arrived at Cloth Hall (Sukienice) about 9:30 a.m. Lucky for me it opened early on Wednesdays. I won’t go into detail about Cloth Hall because I describe it in detail in earlier diaries. We all bought a few things, including pysanki, pens, amber jewelry, crystal vodka glasses, and t-shirts. We couldn’t pass up the bookstores on the rynek and purchased a couple of things there, too, including birthday cards in Polish. I have a difficult time finding these back home. I was surprised to see the Hallmark trademark on the back of many cards. I had been looking for 2 particular books about Polish costumes and some how-to books about wood carving, pysanki, szopka and the like, but I didn’t find them there and the store clerks couldn’t help me. We stopped for ice cream and then walked back to where we parked the car. We had chosen a parking lot close to the rynek which meant it was expensive, but we didn’t want to take the time to drive to the other side of the rynek to a cheaper lot. Parking cost us 21 zloty or about $5.25. Yikes!

Our itinerary now called for us to head for the city of Wroclaw in western Poland via Opole. We found a quick route out of Krakow and onto the tollway that lead to Katowice. I was able to drive 90 km in 45 minutes going about 130 -140 kph. There were two tolls between Krakow and Katowice costing a total of 10 zloty or about $2.00. A bit high but it was nice to go fast without detours or roadblocks. This tollway is not used much and I suppose it is because of the tolls. Unless you’ve got a reason to drive the back roads, the tollway is worth it. There didn’t seem to be many villages between Krakow and Katowice. Katowice is very industrialized. Just past Katowice the tollway ended and was still under construction, but it was certainly farther along than when I had traveled it two years before. Unfortunately, when the tollway ended the road signs took us in a back and forth route through slow, busy villages. This wasn’t the route I had mapped out but we didn’t seem to have much choice. Dave and Josh were able to experience the Nazi tank road which was put in place during WWII to allow the German tanks to travel through Poland without sinking. This road was made up of very large and thick concrete slabs joined roughly together. It is very noisy and bumpy. Finally the signs brought us back to road # A-4, which is, apparently, the tollway extension. The tank road runs alongside the construction site for the new extension. The tank road had obviously held up well the last 60 years and I thought it would be a good idea to leave it open for truck use only. That way the new road would last longer. There are only two lanes on the old road, which would have been fine except a large truck lost a wheel causing a 45 minute delay while a construction truck made its way down to pull the wheelless truck out of the way. I think the way I mapped out the route would have been shorter but since the road numbers were different, we couldn’t be sure.

We finally arrived in Opole. My mission was to buy some more of the Opole design porcelain that is sold mainly in Cepelia stores. Since it was manufactured in Opole I had decided that it would be cheaper to buy what I wanted at the source. I still haven’t found the factory store, but I was satisfied with the prices that I did find. In preparation for the trip, I had made up a list of all the Cepelia addresses in the cities we would be visiting. This Cepelia is located at ul. Katedralna 8, just down the street from the cathedral. I had made up a list of the porcelain I already owned and added a list of what I wanted. I was able to buy almost everything on my list. Good thing I brought bubble wrap! I was especially pleased that I bought a china tankard to serve as my big coffee cup at home while on the computer. After the short shopping trip we ventured out looking for a particular restaurant, the Gospoda Opolka. The owner, a Brit, had emailed me about two years ago suggesting I stop in his restaurant the next time I was in Opole. Well, I was too late as the restaurant had changed hands. So we took some pictures around what used to be the ice house and ate at McDonald’s. It was easy and fast and we still had to drive to Wroclaw. Dinner for the three of us cost 16.30 zloty = $4.08. A Happy Meal cost 73 cents and you even got a toy that is different than the U.S. toys. On our way out of town we stopped at a mall. Malls are moving into Poland in a big way. I was looking for a new hair dryer and curling iron as my tastes and hairdo had changed since I bought the ones I already had. The hair dryers they offered were all too short and the circumference of their only curling iron was too small. I bought some books for children, a map of Wroclaw and priced washing machines. We also exchanged money at the kantor in the mall; best rate yet, 4.01 zloty for $1.00.

After the unsuccessful detour to the mini-mall we drove to Wroclaw. You could tell we had a teenager in the car. He laughed hysterically when we passed the village sign for “Krapowice”. All I could do was sigh.

Something I had noticed during the drive from Krakow to Wroclaw was the use of suspension bridges as overpasses over the motorway. Each was a different design and color unlike the same old bridges we passed under at home, mile after mile. The road from Opole to Wroclaw was also like a freeway. We traveled between 120-130 kph and drove 90 km in about 45 minutes. There is an obvious difference in the architecture of western and eastern Poland. Wroclaw was very interesting. We were welcomed to the city by two large tanks which sat at the front of a park. We didn’t have trouble finding the hotel we’d be staying in for two nights, the Hotel Tumski. This hotel has a web site and email.

Two nights, three people, including breakfast and locked parking behind the hotel.
Price including VAT was 590 zloty = $147.50 or $73.75 per night.

This hotel has an elevator which was a welcome convenience. The lobby area was nice and bright. The male clerk spoke English and told me the parking was behind the hotel. I gave him my passport (as is necessary) and picked it up again before we left the hotel the next time. The hotel is on an island in the river and is right on the water next to a bridge (Wroclaw is loaded with bridges). The weather was very hot. We were in a corner room so we opened the windows hoping for a breeze. Unfortunately, spiders came in first. My husband went down to the desk and asked for bug spray and a fan. The desk clerk came up with bug spray, a duster and a fan. The fan had been sitting in an office unused. The young man seemed puzzled as to why we wanted the spiders taken care of. Being from Texas, we don’t trust any bugs. The young man stood up on the 24" deep window sills and cleaned out spiders. Well, we ended up keeping the windows closed anyway. Josh needed to take a shower but we found that the shower drain was clogged. Another call to the desk with a little confusion as to what the problem was. The desk clerk came up once again, this time with a tiny can of lye and a tiny plunger. Dave and I hadn’t seen lye in years, but it sure did the trick in short order. That little can of lye caused an absolute eruption of gunk from the shower drain. A couple of pumps with the tiny plunger and a quick rinse later and the clerk was on his way, with the shower draining just fine.

Josh showered and I repacked all five suitcases. Uh, oh, not everything would fit. I would eventually have to expand a couple of suitcases even after giving the Tomalski and Zuchowski families their gifts. Dave and I went to bed about 1:00 a.m. We slept fine and the fan made the heat tolerable.

This was the first hotel that had a small vanity in the bathroom. This made it easier to get ready in the mornings. In addition, the room had three beds, a closet with shelves, dressing table with a mirror, chairs, TV, telephone, clock radio, bottled water and a combination coat rack/suitcase stand with another mirror. Mineral water was also provided as usual. So far this trip we had not had a room that provided kleenex or shampoo.