I love these boys

I get a HUGE MUNGO kick out of these boys!
I love that they are buddies.
I love that they are kind.
I love that they share their toys, their clothes and sometimes a bed.
I love that when I come down in the morning there is an entire table full of empty chairs and they are still sharing a the same space.
It makes me smile.


Funny comment of the night award goes to Cole... again...

Nate: "Cole, Come do the Neti pot. We have to get rid of your cold."
Cole: "I don't want to."
Nate: "Well come any way."
Cole: "Why do we have agency?"

And then he found out that sometimes in the Mecham house your agency gets robbed from you... and so he did the neti against his will...

Cole upon completion of the neti pot: "I feel like a new man!"

It snowed... It really finally snowed!

It finally snowed! Finally! It was starting to feel like an overdue pregnancy! Infact, it was EXACTLY like that! Some of us couldn't wait to see the snow fall for the first time. To feel its coldness and roll it up together to form snowballs! We couldn't wait for the white washed night sky and ground to look the same only divided by the grey space that seperated it which would inevitably be speckaled with giant white snowflakes! It was all perfect in our minds!
We waited. We checked the weather station no less than 97 times a day to see what the weather man might prophesy... but NOTHING! Then... it happened. It was 10:00 p.m. and the sky was speckled beautifully... and wouldn't you know it, the little Mecham's were bundled up and out on the front lawn like it was noon. They watched the snow cover the ground and the very second they felt like it was covered enough,

A little snowman appeared...
and it took up all the snow in the whole yard.
But it sure was fun!
And tomorrow it has been predicted that snow will fly again. WE CAN't WAIT!

Święty Mikołaj Wigilia

It is Santa Clause Eve here in Poland. Tonight St. Nicholas will make his way to all the good boys and girls and leave them a stocking of either treats or coal depending on how good they have been this year... and a gift in their shoe or under their pillow.

SHEESH! It all makes sense now! Santa Clause comes earlier in the month to Poland because we are really close to the North Pole... and Santa doesn't actually travel the world over in one night. HA~!
The kids think that means that if we go to Arizona for Christmas then they can cash in on Christmas twice this year!
Silly kids... Santa is smarter than that! We don't even have a tree or stockings here... So I he will either pass us up or he will stop because he feels sorry for us. :) We will see.

Happy St. Nicholas Eve

Happy Birthday to my dear old Pops!

*Today is my dad's 65th birthday.
*Today I'm pretty sure that I woke him up... or atleast spoke to him while he was still in bed. :) That doesn't happen often.
*Today I am sad that I am not home to celebrate the way he loves the best: family.
*Today I have thought about a million reasons why I love that old man.
*Today I watched Mr. Mecham tear up when he talked to pops and tell him that "we wished we could be home to celebrate".
*Today I cried when I saw Mr. Mecham tear up. And we had a house full of guests... AWKWARD!

Making a list a mile long about the things I miss about my dad since I came to Poland would be absolutley PIECE OF CAKE! Here is the short version...
1)phone calls on his way home from work.
2)drop by visits on Saturday after he gets done with the temple.
3)drop by visits to take the kids for an ice cream.
4)Sunday dinners.
5)his big old smiley face staring at me.
6)Stopping by to pick up farm fresh eggs.

and the a few things I really really love about the old man...
1)He calls and tells my children ways that they can enjoy Poland.
2)He calls and tells us the score to games.
3)He is willing to do ANYTHING... and I MEAN ANyThing!... for us while we are here.
4)He is always doing something for somebody else. ALWAYS.
5)My children talk about how much they miss their Grandpa ALL THE TIME!

Happy Happy Birthday! Sure love you Dad. Enjoy that Choc. cake with cherries on top... since you are the only one who likes it! :) haha.. j/k.

School makes McKay sick... But Dr. Emilia makes us better.

McKay is really sick. Like three weeks ago we found a private school who would teach our children even though they are not fluent in Polish. McKay went for one hour the first day, he went for four hours the 2nd day and then he got sick. He had a cold. The School won't let you in the doors if you are sick AT ALL! So he was home for the next few days. Then on MOnday of the next week he felt a little better. But Tuesday all the kids realized that they were sickly and couldn't go. They were home until Friday. That is when the other kids got better and Mr. McKay took a turn for the worse... but sadly I didn't believe him because I know how much McKay loves to go to school! NOT! So I sent them all Friday and I was home for one hour when the phone rang. It was McKay. He was too sick to be at school. He came home and went to bed. By Sunday he was laboring to breath. Sweet Emilia came over. She is our beloved neighbor who happens to be an Internal Medicine Doc. She came. She listened. She diagnosed. She prescripted. She ordered, "no school for atleast 3 days." She went home. Thorough as can be... and ever so kind. McKay smiled. He says the best part of being sick is that he can say, "I told you I was sick and you didn't believe me". And he reminds me every day.
INSERT GUILT HERE: I believe in the mum who sides with her cubs... and defends them to the end! I also believe in the mum who challenges her wee ones to do hard things and goes to great length to make certain of their success. I can't decide if I crossed the line... I should have been the mum who came home and smooched little McKay, put on the movies, and began making a pot of soup. But I wasn't. I thought he was faking. And so I tried to be stern. I am bad at that. Oh well. This time it bit me in the buttocks.
McKay got worse as the week went on. He couldn't breathe. Mr. Mecham blew up our nebulizer with the wrong size of transformer. Emilia came back over and listened again. She said, "we need to go the hospital now, okay?" And next thing you know, McKay and I were off to the hospital just barely passing Mr. Mecham and the other kidlets as they came home from Polish classes.

The hospital was like walking into a WARP ZONE... but atleast we were with somebody we trusted and who spoke the language well! Both dr. and Polish.



When we came to Poland it was required of us to have medical insurance to get a legal VISA. But when we got to the hospital they didn't believe us that our insurance was legit. They wouldn't have treated us if Emilia wasn't fighting for us. Doctors in this country get in BIG trouble from the government for treating patients without legit insurance... and they charge the Doctor for all the medical costs of the patient that they treated if they don't check insurance first. CRAZY! needless to say, registering at the front desk was interesting.
The concrete walls, the steel doors and the old style beds on antique training wheels gave us the creeps... McKay said the Elder Plumb told him there were "zombies" working in the hospital! I assured him that wasn't the case but that it just looked scary... like the Gas chamber we visited at the Majdanek death camp! Then Dr. Africa called us in.
ZOMBIE!



and he listened to McKay's chest and agreed that he was very sick and needed a lung x-ray to rule out pneumonia. Indeed the long scary halls made us afraid. I was worried about the zombies behind the metal doors. It was like a bomb shelter. And then behind the 3 foot thick concrete wall I saw the x-ray machine... and I felt so much better. UP TO DATE! And sweet Emilia was right there with us.
Back to Zombie Africa Dr... And wouldn't you know he said an "injection of steroids" was needed. And he had Zombie Polish nurse preparing the meds...
She was so nasty that sweet Emilia had to get after her. Dr. Emilia told zombie polish nurse that perhaps she needed to "get a new job. Perhaps one she won't be working with children and where she could grump around all day and it wouldn't matter". Then that zombie nurse put in the injection side ways into McKay's buttocks and took her time shooting in that medication. Too bad McKay is so tuff and it didn't matter that she sucked at giving shots. And when the fear finally hit McKay and tears began to come, sweet Emilia petitioned the zombie Africa Doc to give a new nebulizer rather than 10 more shots like this! And a quiet tear rolled off her cheeks as she saw how upset McKay was. But she got us out of 10 days of steroid shots. She became McKay's favorite person right then and there!
We made friends with that zombie Africa Doc. He liked McKay. He even shook his hand and then said, "Now you can tell all your friends you shook hands with a black man." To that I replied, "yea... well there are tonz of black folk where we come from and so it just makes us feel at home". Dr. Africa turned out to not be a zombie even though he looks like one.
Then a trip to the APTEKA...at mid-night... where we picked up one nebulizer, two antibiotics which we mix ourselves (and is awesome since the directions are in Polish), probiotics, 2 different vitamins, more cough stuff, one inhalor steroid, one resuce inhalor and a partirge in a pear tree. And Emilia was with us the whole time.



Did I say that her name is sacred in our home yet? Emilia... sweetest doctor of all time. we love her.

looks like McKay will get to miss school all week! :) Lucky dog.
Mckay slept like a baby.

p.s. Just because the medication and care is cheaper here in Poland because they have socialized medicine, it doesn't mean that it is better. And so today I am thankful that the U.S of A. is still not practicing socialized medicine... and I will fight to my death to keep it that way.

On another note:
happy birthday on Nov. 28 to Kaden and Kams. Sure love you.

Coley watched "the village" today. He is upstairs singing "I AM A CHILD OF GOD" in an effort to get that scary movie out of his head... and It is really super cute. I'm going to smooch his face off right now and lay by him since he is obviously scared to death.

Today, I could not be more thankful

Happy Thanksgiving

Today I could not be more thankful. Really... because I have much to be thankful for. Here are 5 of them.
(5) A loving Father in Heaven who answers prayers:
During the summer of 2010 the Mecham's were the guests at the cabin retreat of the Lindley's. They were serving as mission presidents in Australia while we vacationed with their family at the lovely Bear Lake! We learned about the blessing that service was to the family. It made Mr. Mecham and I want to serve in far off lands. We came home with a new goal. We decided we would do whatever it took to put our finances and lives in order to serve missions for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and in small ways return a portion of the love that Heavenly Father has shown to us. We searched out and found a side business to build while Mr. Mecham continued with his career. We prayerfully explained our goal Heavenward and we feel like we worked hard. Great things happened for the rest of that year. Then January 12, 2011 came. I was driving home when I listened to a message from Mr. Mecham explaining that he needed me to come pick him up because he had just been laid off from his work and was walking home. My heart lept followed by a comfort which set in deep. We believed that Heavenly Father was in control. We had been well prepared for that to happen. However, our goal began to look far off. For the next 6 months miracles happened. The sweetest people touched our lives in the most profound ways. We saw the love of heaven pour out upon us. We look back on those 6 months with fondness. It was undoubtedly the best thing that ever happened to us. It lead us to Poland... and an opportunity to live in the mission field with our childrne, tremendous opportunity to serve Heavenly Father and to teach our children exactly as we dreamed of.
Prayers are answered. Always! Sometimes in time. Sometimes mysteriously. Prayers are answered and I am thankful for that.
(4) Missionaries:
Missionaries are amazing! Elders Plumb and Basha were the only reason I could have stayed here. Those first few months kicked our buns... and those kind elders helped out more than I could ever adequately verbalize. We love them like they were our very own. Then Elder Marsing came. We fell in love with him the very same way. We are certain that these little men are tender mercies from heaven. They have blessed our lives with their courage, their obedience, their humor, their love for these people whom they serve and with their inspiring example to us an our children. We will FOREVER love and appreciate missionaries and missionary work throughout the world. They are a huge blessing in our lives.
(3) The prophet Joseph Smith:
The prophet of the restored gospel in the last dispensation of the fullness of times. What more can be said? I am most thankful for the sacrifices he made to bring forth the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fullness... and for the Book of Mormon which blesses my life.
(2) Friends:
I've always known how much friends meant to me. I have the best friends out there. They are treasured in memory, in conversation and in my heart. Their kind acts, humorous memories, huge impact on the lives of me and my children and the efforts that so many still put in to keeping track touch and bless my life EVERY. SINGLE. DAY! And I am also thankful for technology which makes it so easy to keep tabs on each other! BLESS them both!
(1) Family:
Heaven knew how to make life bearable. It starts and ends with family. Our sweet parents who constantly call as if we were neighbors, often just to tell a joke or keep us in "the loop", and who are so willing to travel the world over to come see us. Our siblings who do the same and take a special interest and thought for us clear across the globe. Our dear children who have made monumental sacrifice, shown tremendous trust and believed in us with all their hearts. They deserve a life of happiness and children as wonderful as they are. And a special gratitude for the sweetest husband a woman could ask for. Mr. Mecham is a dream. I love him more than I ever imagined I could.

Happy Thanksgiving!
And To Mr. Loyd... Happy Birthday buddy! Hope it is the best one yet! Love and miss you.

Finishing off Wroclaw

This trip really wasn't forever long... I just did a killer job taking pictures to document it! We arrived Friday, toured it on Saturday and went home Sunday.



Here is the little story of Bailey and me...

On Saturday night after we had walked all day and well into the evening we stopped by the shopping plaza on the way home for pizza. Bailey was still looking for gnome charms for her charm bracelet so she wanted to check out the stores in the plaza but Nate and the boys were SOOOOO DONE! They opted out of shopping and took off for the apartment which was across the street. Actually, there was an alley leading to the apartment but the complex was easily viewed from the street.

We shopped for another 45 min. and then headed for home. We walked down the patio, crossed the street and as we passed the alley I had this great idea to tell Bailey to look up. She is never to look down while walking because she must be alert to what is going on around her. I was telling her to take note of everything going on around her. We noticed the curious group of young adult men gathered mysteriously next to the side walk, and another across the street in the alley entrance talking on his cell phone. I instructed Miss Bailey that alley's were not a good idea and so we opted for the sidewalk next to it which was lit much brighter. Unfortunately, it led us into a parking lot that was gated and our apartment was on the other side of the fence. So we turned to walk back out. We were briskly walking with intentions of getting home quickly. As we exited the parking lot and took a step into the alley I was a car coming up the street which a slowed down as if to turn. The driver looked at the man crossing the street who motioned towards Bailey and me. Then the man turned into the alley. We stopped. He looked directly into my face. We took one more step and then that ever so familiar voice of caution seemed to screem at Bailey and myself, "TURN BACK". The car pulled ahead of us into the alley and I before I could even direct Bay back to the shopping center she knew where to go. I said, "Bailey, I think we need to go back and call dad for a ride." Briskly we walked back to the shopping plaza. But before we could get inside we noticed one of the mysterious men who were gathered across from the alley was following us. We I called nate who picked up on the first ring. I told him to come get us and explained that I thought we were being followed. He assured me that I was and told me to sit tight inside the mall. Only minutes earlier Nate and the boys were laying on the couch telling stories when in the very middle of the story Nate had an impression to call me. He explained it to have been one that he rarely has but definately notices. He went out to the deck (which was facing the alley and could easily see everything that was going on in it) to make the phone call. While we waited for him to come, mysterious man walked around close to us. He walked in and out of the mall several times. His buddy in the car drove past and looked at us from the street while still sitting in his car. But we were safe inside.
While Bailey was having a panick attack, I felt completely safe. I was most thankful for the prompting voice which told me to "go back"... and for life lessons which had taught me to never question that ever so still small voice.
Even though I felt completely safe during that entire experience, when I think back upon it I get the chills. The thoughts that flood my head (after the fact) give me nightmares. Afterall, I was with my 12 year old daughter in an Easternblock European country... and I've heard that body organs are sold on the black market here! YIPES!

Anyway... One to remember... but the trip was not ruined... And the scare of that alley, the mysterious group of young adult men, and one very black staionwagon car whose driver I met eyes with were overpowered the very next day when our travels home took us through some fairytale lands:

Could this be any more picturesque? Driving out in the country in Poland is pretty cool. But driving out in the country on a freeway beats it! A real freeway, with farms and country homes lining its shoulder... Ahhhhhh.....

We still find the churches everywhere. Love them.

And who wouldn't hang this ditty right in their house? I loved this scene. I took it while traveling 150 kph down the road. That is skill!

And to top it off, McDonalds on both sides of the freeway. What could be better than that?!

And since our memories of Wroclaw are now two weeks old...

Today the children were home sick again. Bailey and Cole are better tonight while McKay has coughing, soar throat, sniffling, sneezing, aching and fevers. We are loving new bugs...

And tomorrow while America celebrates a day of Thanksgiving, we will not be preparing turkey and pies here. I do love my family but I don't have (1) enough pans to cook such a feast (2) enough room in my pants to accept the additional 5 lbs (3) the fridge space, though I could just put it out on the deck to keep cold (4) the desire to locate all the fixins in another language.
Call it what you want... the Mecham's are going out to dinner with the missionaries. I think I will make louisa's pumpkin bars though.

I am thankful... for my sweet family. All of them! In Poland, in Arizona, in Utah and in Washington state. I love them so much.

Wroclaw continuted

Just beyond "Hansel and Grettel" was a church. An old church! There were a bunch of churches in this rynek. And since we are religious people, we went inside them!

This church is trying to gather donations to build a new oregon. Theirs was destroyed by fire. It had an oregon tower to house such an instrument which stood lonely and bare... I thought for 2 secondes about making a donation and then walked away... Does the thought count?

and another church... this time it was a Gothic cathedral... from the Baroque period. What a treat!

outside of the Goth church...

Inside that same Goth church...

One of my very favorite things about Poland is the ornate architecture. It is often breath taking! Really... set against the landscape makes for moments of wonder and awe...
Even the doors have particular attention given to them. Their colors and decor, fine materials and aged spots speak volumes of their lives on hinges.

Bailey by a cool old metal door near the University.

Who knew that blue doors could be so wonderful?


McKay and Cole by another cool old door.

The University in the Rynek was unreal! The artifacts inside made me want to go back to school... there! AMAZING!




Just inside was a stair case with painted ceilings... leading up to the 17th maridian.


One of the Professors here made a cyclindar shaped tool which allowed light to come in through the window and marked the 17th meridian right through the center of the university. McKay is sitting by it's masterful display!

The room used for orientation of students, etc was an old Gothic, Baroque style master piece! It was one the very first room we went into. It was so palacial in art with antique furniture. Even the way the wood floors creeked made it seem ancient!

mcKay at the front of the Gothic style room.


At the top of the university was a platform to look out over Wroclaw.

family shot taken from University platform... overlooking Wroclaw away from the rynek.

We were ready for lunch by this point... But rather than stop to eat, we tied ourselves over with a cupcake from the muffin store. I wished I had a business card in my purse to "Sugar Mama Sweets". They could use the phone number and call Michell for some advise on how to make a real cupcake! But I didn't... and so we just enjoyed the cake and then continued with our tour.

Right into the garden at the library...

Since when is their this kind of detail for the library garden? park benches! fountains! pebble stone walk ways! Designer manicured vegitation... so dreamy!

And our next stop was "slaughter alley". haha... from fantasy to nightmare!

This little alley isn't really a nightmare... it has been transformed from a slaughter alley where a bunch of stores once stood as a processing center to butcher livestock to a tourist's shopping dream. And on the patio out front is a memorial to all the animals who's lives were taken to feed the hungry mouths of men. Bless them. Bless them for carrying out the measure of their creation!

From there we took a walk toward the Catholic center. This is where the Catholic church owns all the buildings with an enormous cathedreal in it's center. The surrounding structures are used to house nuns and priests, school them, and I understand some buildings are rented out for other uses... other than church work. It probably compares a little bit to temple square.

The walk over was obviously exquisit. The river gave a nice touch... hence the nik-name "the Venice of Poland".

Could these boys be any cuter? yummy! And they had a blast sight seeing all of it!

We had to cross the water to get to the Catholic center: But it isn't just any bridge... it was the "lock bridge".

People hand a lock on the bridge representing their union... some in matramony and others not... and then they toss the keys in the river. I wished I had a lock to secure representing Mr. Mecham and Myself... and to leave our mark on beautiful Wroclaw. You can guarentee that I will before I leave this country! :)

there were literally thousands upon thousands of locks. Quite a sight!

So appearantly before Russia took over Wroclaw it belonged to Germany. But when the Russians were battling for Wroclaw they didn't quite obliterate it like they did in Warszawa, but they bombed the holy moly out of it... and so much of this little center was partially destroyed... and then rebuilt.


Right outside the cathedral is this little statue... I'm sure it has significance. I couldn't find it... and I forgot to ask Agnieska what is was. AWESOME!

This Cathedral was among the partially destructed buildings! The towers going up were blown off. It has since been rebuilt.

Bailey entering its jaws.


the stained glass is fabulous!


the oregon looked powerful!


Coley looked AMAZING! :) haha.. Many of these old churches remind me of the movies... Like robin Hood... with the concrete floors, old wooden benches, musty smells and long winding brick stair cases and secret rooms.

We went to the top of the church. First we walked the stairs... but only a fraction of the way to the top... Then we waited for the elevator to take us the rest of the way.

The man who ran the elevator was one to remember. He had one googly eye, probably fake, that looked like it might pop out if he held his breath too long. He had a cureous laugh and created a creepy feeling when we spoke directly at us. But once in the elevator that was not big enough to pull a bike into (we fit 12 people in it), he pulled the door closed, it dropped maybe 3 feet before it started going up and I was worried... That old scary elevator man cracked a few jokes and somewhat redeemed himself.


Once on top there was another platform divulging the beauty of what seemed beyond the horizon... I am drawn to platform look outs. They show another side of wherever we seem to find ourselves.

Nate heading down that mystical stairwell... on our way out.

Then we went to lunch at a Polish Milk bar. The fresh apple juice here is every bit as wonderful as the fresh orange juice back home. It quenches thirst and has amazing flavor. The dill potatoes, perfectly shaped into balls, the breaded chicken stuffed with ham and cheese and the cream spinach made us full, fat and happy! WoWzers... these Polish folk know how to use their dill... and it is ohhhh sooo yummy! Agata and Agnieska joined us for late lunch before they headed out. What fun to share an entire day with such kind strangers who quickly became friends.

They told us they are moving to the Lakes region up north in a few years. I didn't know there was a lakes region... and so it is that we uncovered yet another part of Poland to still explore! I think spring or summer might be a better time though... The lake's region is COLD... toward the Russian boarder... close to the enormous Baltic. I can't wait!

We finished off the day by hunting gnomes and purchasing souveneirs. I even found a Polish pottery shop... which I have been looking for since Sister Nielson clued me in on its power to bake impossibly wonderful foods in them. I was simply delighted.

nate and kids with Mr. Fat and Nakey gnome... on the top to of the bridge that heads under ground back to our hotel...

To finish off the night Bailey and I had a little bit of a sureal experience. I will share tomorrow.

On another note:
The kids have been sick. Sniffling. Sneezing. Coughing. Aching. feverish...
Dear Nyquil... where art thou?

Touring Wroclaw with a tour guide!

Touring Poland is pretty cool... I have to admit. But visiting its breath taking beauty, drooling over its lush landscape and flirting with its tasty foods don't make you a pro on Poland. There is a history seeded deep here... it is a treat to learn of its richness. We read things here and there... and typically try to get some info before we skip off to a new place, but we've never known how to get a tour guide. Well, Andrzej knows people... he has friends with friends that have friends... and so it is that he made a few phone calls and next thing you know we had an English speaking tour guide who wore us out in Wroclaw! It was AWESOME!!! to have little trivial facts as well as those with historical significance. Agnieska is her name. She brought her daughter Agata. They were delightful to be with... We are loving our new friends!

They took us on a walking tour of the rynek and then to a great Polish restaraunt for lunch!



This is an old opera house!
It is still is use today. Wroclaw is the cultural head quarters for Poland! I think we've run in to several Opera houses... but we typically don't know what they are and we certainly didn't understand their significance until we did a little research... The Mecham's aren't huge fans of Opera... even though we love musicals... we don't care so much for the drama in the opera... or the high voices.



This hotel is right across from the opera house. During the time when Adolf Hitler would come to Poland he had two favorite places to stay: (1) Krakow (2) Wroclaw. Now I am Hitler's least favorite fan... I assure you... but I love trivia... so here it is: This hotel was where Hitler stayed while in Wroclaw. And it stands pretty today! I understand it is ridiculously expensive to stay in... even in U.S. dollars.


We started noticing little gnomes all over. Agnieska made up a game. She explained that there were dozens of these gnomes all over the rynek. They are symbolic of an anti-communist movement from years past. The Polish citizens were not allowed to assault the Russian Police, obviously, or even be rude to them. However, they could give them flowers or something like that and they did it in a mocking way. This kept them from trouble. The gnomes are representative of this movement. The game was to see who could find the most gnomes in the rynek. We hunted nomes until long past sun set... what fun!



Nate with the professor gnome outside the University



McKay with the worker gnome



Cole with the sleepy gnome... he was very sleepy from walking all day and found it most appropriate to be photographed with this one! Cole also bought a gnome hunting map... we found almost 70 gnomes! There were still more to be hunted!



Bailey with the Piarogi gnome outside a restaraunt. This was her favorite... a gnome to represent Wroclaw and a piarodgi (polish dumplings) to represent Poland.



It sure made souveneir shopping a breeze... anything gnome. :)

The rynek is the town center. Each town has a center where you can find not only housing, but also a church, stores of every kind, a pharmacy and entertainment. In my humble opinion, Wroclaw has the best rynek so far... and I thought nothing could beat G'dansk! The German influence here is quite obvious.

Most of the pics I have in the rynek were of Bailey for two reasons: (1) she looks good. (2) The rest of the fam was far ahead while she and I were relishing every step of the way!



The rynek in Wroclaw is HUGE and the buildings are painted so beatifully! Appearantly, when the country was divided up Wroclaw became a part of Poland while the Ukraine was it's own country... and so all the Poll's who lived in the Ukraine were transported to Wroclaw and given an ugly old flat in the rynek. Today those same flats sell for top dollar and are definately not ugly. I guess there is silver lining in everything after all!



The rynek in Wroclaw is quite big compared to many of the other town centers that we have seen. This part is the "little rynek" which is a side of the rynek. And the colors and attention to detail is exquisit!


Bailey in artistic alley.


Bailey and McKay in the main part of the rynek.


Cole in rynek (old town)


This old cellar is in operation today and has been open since the 15th century! It was once a place mostly for people to come and drink Polish Vodka (the strong stuff!) but has been turned in to a restaraunt today.

The ornimentation on the side of the building was fabulous!


I don't know if I can ever love the southwest adobe homes again! This architecture has truely spoiled us!


This was my favorite building in the whole town square! It is nik-named "Hansel and Grettel." What could be cuter than that? The arch way leads to the cathedral.

Isn't that just story bookish?
Wroclaw will be continued...

On a seperate note:
It is getting dark early.

The moon out my kitchen window at 4:15 p.m. on 11 11 11...

Happy Veteran's Day to America!
Happy Independance day to Poland!