Tourists in Torun

We had such a wonderful weekend.

Saturday

B, our translator, picked us up around 10 am. After a few stops, we were on our way to Torun. On the way, we passed a giant cross memorial for a priest killed in 1984 by members of the Communist regime. And on the way, we were passed by some "crazy Polish drivers."

"This is ridiculous," fumed B. "I must obey the law and these crazy people, ugh, they drive so poorly. My friend from England said Polish drivers are the worst she has ever seen."

Despite crazy drivers, we arrived safely and started walking the cobbled streets of Torun. Our city, as I think I've mentioned before, has a pretty, but small downtown. The rest of it looks more industrial. The apartment buildings are tall and plain. Its history, I'm told, is that it's made up of several different towns that grew together years ago, which explains its haphazard composition. Torun, on the other hand, is gorgeous, and I can see why tourists flock to this area. Although, as B explained, tourists are more likely to go to south Poland to visit Krakow or ski in the mountains in the south.

Cars weren't allowed in certain parts of the city - which I loved. The kids (who should be on those leash thingies) don't look both ways before crossing the street and don't seem to know "STOP!" or "WAIT!" If we make it home without one of them getting hit by a car or breaking a bone, I will be very happy.

Anyway, so we ate lunch at this place that is famous for their crepes. We've eaten so many crepes that I may turn into a crepe. Mine was stuffed with ham, leeks, camembert, and sweet corn, then covered with a bechamel sauce. The kids chose theirs to be stuffed with...nutella!

If you happen to be in Torun, Manekin is a good place to eat.

While we were eating at the outdoor restaurant we watched traditional Polish singers/dancers celebrating something. We didn't understand what was happening, but it was interesting to watch.

Polish singer-dancers

Really old part of the city

Then we climbed a tower to look over the city. Kid #1 is scared of heights, so it was a short view from the top. It was so much easier than the Eiffel tower.

View from the tower

And after that, we bought some special gingerbread cookies. They're covered in chocolate and have a fig-like filling. I thought they were delicious, but Bryan, not so much.

Delicious cookies, depending on whom you ask

****
I need to interrupt this post for a quick minute. Breakfast was one hour ago and Kid #1 just said, "I'm hungry" and opened the fridge. Experienced parents, is this possible? Do your kids eat constantly?

****

After we ate gingerbread cookies, we next went to an ice cream place where I had kiwi ice cream. Scrumptious!

While eating ice cream, we strolled around some 14th century castle ruins. Then we walked to the Wisla riverbank where I proceeded to have several small heart attacks as my children (Kid #2 is especially uncoordinated) had several close brushes with an early shower. They also got dirty.

B said, "I am so sorry. I just don't have kids, you know, and I thought this would be a nice place. But with kids you have to think ahead about everything. And they probably shouldn't be this close to the river."

Thinking ahead about everything? Yeah, that's what we're trying to figure out, too!

Around this time, Kid #1 complained of hunger again. Walking past some yummy-smelling kebab shops probably didn't help. And every five minutes, Kid #2 was saying, "I think we have lost our car."

We found our car easily and headed back home. On the way home, Kid #1 said, "Why does mom take so many pictures of food?"

I explained that I have this blog and can't post pictures of the kids yet, since we're not officially their parents until after court. So, instead, I post pictures of food. (Although I would probably post pictures of food anyway :).)

Kid #1 said, "When is court?" May 14, May 14. One week from Tuesday. I will be glad to be done with that.

We finished off the evening with a quick shopping trip. Kid #1 said, "Cocos!" and pointed to a cantaloupe. Ready to eat more fruits and vegetables, I happily grabbed one for the basket.

After arriving home, I cut up the cantaloupe and handed a slice to Kid #1 who said, "Where is the milk?"

Milk? What? And then I got it...cocos must mean coconut. Kid #1 thought we bought a coconut and couldn't understand why it didn't have milk. But that also means they have probably never eaten coconuts, because they would have known that coconuts aren't orange, right? I wonder why they asked for them.

As I hinted, we have had a lot of struggles with bedtime. We finally came up with an idea that worked semi-well for the first night and very well last night. We gave up our very comfortable bed to Kid #1. Even though sleeping on the couch mattress is not very comfortable, it's worth it.

Sunday

We spent the afternoon with some Americans. And it was wonderful. The Polish people have been generous and friendly, but it's really nice to be able to easily communicate with people. Plus, we met an adoptive American family who gave us some helpful tips and encouraged us. And the kids enjoyed it, too. It was fun to watch them being "kids", if that makes sense with all the other kids there.

I'm not really homesick, but I sure am people sick. I look forward to seeing you all again in a few weeks!