After a long journey, we finally landed in Warsaw and made our way to my hometown, Grajewo. We’ll be staying at Marzena’s (my step-mom) house for the foreseeable future while we wait for our car to arrive in Gdynia — hopefully sometime in early July. My brother, Artur and Marzena came in two cars to pick us up from the airport. I rode with Artur along with all our luggage, while Sylwia and the boys went with Marzena for the three-hour drive to Grajewo.
On the way, we stopped at a familiar spot — Bar Przystanek — for a proper Polish dinner. It’s a well-known roadside restaurant in Ostrów Mazowiecka, about an hour from Grajewo, and one of our favorite stops on the route from the airport. We knew the food would be great, and it didn’t disappoint.
Once we arrived, Marzena gave us a warm welcome and made sure we were comfortable. She even gave us a couple of bedrooms upstairs, including her own, so we’d have plenty of space to settle in. The next few days were pretty low-key — not much happened, and I barely took any photos. We picked up a cheap 100-złoty cell phone at Media Expert, and with a proper (but basic) Polish phone in hand, we started to feel a bit more like locals.
We also visited my cousin Darek, who lives just down the road at my grandparents’ old house — a property he inherited after our grandfather passed away several years ago. He’s kept pigeons there since we were kids, back when we both lived with our grandparents while our moms were in the U.S. This time, he gave Grayson and Damian the chance to hold and release a few pigeons themselves — their first time, and they absolutely loved it.
The next day, the boys spent time with my nephew, Alexander (“Olek”), Artur’s son, going for a walk and playing at the park, and later joined Ciocia Gosia, who took them to visit her friend, whose son is about the same age.
And of course, we had to try some local pizza… which, as expected, doesn’t quite compare to what we’re used to back in the U.S., though the ingredient lists here are always impressively long.
We were eager to check on the condo’s progress — it was nearly finished — and to start ordering our furniture. Paweł, who had been managing the entire renovation for us while we were still in the States, recommended a furniture store just outside Kraków. He and his wife, Patrycja, run a company there that specializes in renovation projects like ours, and we were grateful they took us on.
A couple of days later, we rented a small SUV in Grajewo, stopped again at Bar Przystanek for a quick meal, and continued on the 350-mile drive to Tarnów. Our first stop was at Wujek Krzysiek and Ciocia Basia’s house — Paweł’s parents — where we enjoyed fresh fruit from their huge garden before heading to Mościce to see the condo for the first time. It looked amazing — all the major renovations were complete, though the finishing touches weren’t done yet, and we were already anxious to move in.
Unfortunately, that same day brought heartbreaking news: my beloved grandma had passed away at age 90. It was Sunday, and the funeral was set for Wednesday, which meant our time in Tarnów would be much shorter than expected.
That night, we stayed at Hotel Cristal Park, a run-down spot near the condo. It was late, and options were limited, so we booked two small, stuffy, and overpriced rooms. When the power in ours went out after turning on the AC, the poor front desk clerk — the only person working that night — was completely lost. She even asked if I knew anything about electricity. I didn’t, so we switched rooms and called it a night.
The next morning, eager to get out of there, we went straight to the condo. Seeing all the progress in person was incredible — new walls, plumbing, wiring, the gas lines gone, and everything converted to electric. It truly felt like a brand-new home. Afterward, we stopped by Azoty, the local electricity provider, to take care of paperwork, then went to check on the granite slab we’d picked out for the kitchen. We finished the afternoon at Wujek and Ciocia’s with some homemade soup and dessert before heading to Kraków.
Paweł and Patrycja found us an Airbnb near the city center for the night. We met up later that evening to explore a bit, then stopped by their downtown office the next morning before heading to the furniture store with Paweł. We needed to order two couches, a dining table, and chairs — the living room couch being the priority, since it would double as our bed once we moved in. The selection wasn’t great, but we had to make quick decisions if we wanted anything ready in time and still make it back for the funeral. With the orders placed, we dropped Paweł off at his office and began the long drive back to Grajewo to be there for my grandma’s funeral the next morning.
