Visit to Poland

Went with some friends to the city within the city, Hamtramck, the city within Detroit that once had more Polish residents than lived in Poland.  Like everything else around Detroit, this city has changed and has financial problems, but there is still a wonderful essence of a past culture available in the form of a new museum, a wonderful art center, a bakery, a meat store, and a really wonderful restaurant.

                           This was a newspaper ad from World War II

                         The art center had lovely amber jewelry, pottery, dolls, and rugs. The rugs were woven, not hooked, but very interesting anyway. They were hung quite high, so I couldn't get a close look at them.

                               This rug showed the Polish national symbol.

                           These trees are some kind of fiber art, a combination of weaving and braiding and I'm not sure what else.

                      This store is a polish grocery - with fresh kielbasa and more kinds of pierogies than I've ever seen.  I brought some home to try.

                       The bakery was amazing - such smells and sights! I avoided buying anything, but couldn't help thinking about eating all of them.

 

This last photo shows my half eaten dinner - in the Polish Village restaurant.  I had kielbasa, stuffed cabbage, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes, potato pancakes, and city chicken - and every bite I had was better than the one before.  I've never had a restaurant meal as good - every single item was delicious.  I didn't eat all of it - I have a great big doggy bag to have for dinner tomorrow (and maybe the next day, too.)