From Mumbai, India we flew to Frankfurt, Germany on Air India, arriving on April 29th. We weren’t too thrilled about flying Air India, since their service isn’t very good, but the 8.5 hour flight wasn’t bad. From Frankfurt we took a short 1 hour flight to Poznan on LOT Air. Ollie, Kasia, and her father picked us up from the airport and drove us to Kasia’s aunt’s place in the country side near Gniezno. It was so nice that her aunt and uncle hosted us for two nights! We felt bad that we hadn’t learned any Polish yet, so we couldn’t even say “thank you” for the meal her aunt had prepared for us when we arrived. After eating it was time to take a shower and rest. We meant to only take a nap, but we were so tired we just fell asleep for the whole night around 6pm.
It was nice spring weather the day we arrived and the fresh air, clean streets, and feel of being in Europe were wonderful! Ah…
The next morning after breakfast there were lots of last-minute errands to be run to prepare for the wedding. We went along for the ride, but weren’t of much assistance ;).
Then on May 1st it was time for the wedding! Ollie and Kasia got married at City Hall in San Francisco exactly a year before, but the church wedding was a much bigger deal! All of Kasia’s family lives in Poland and there are very old cathedrals in Gniezno, so it was the perfect place for their wedding ceremony. We were so happy to be able to join them on their special day, and in such a romantic place!
The wedding was held inside the gorgeous Gniezno Cathedral where the first 3 kings of Poland were coronated!
The ceremony was beautiful, and our favorite part was the angel-like singing and violin, provided by Kasia’s musician friends.
After the ceremony it was time to get the party started! And wedding receptions in Poland are much more of a party than we are used to. For starters, everyone is given a welcome drink, and after the bride and groom finish their drinks they throw the glasses behind them, to break on the floor. Then the feast begins! Instead of just one plated meal, they bring out lots of platters of food for each table, and it continues throughout the night! We took a break from eating to watch the bride and groom’s fabulous first dance. Then it was time for some singing, Finlandia vodka, and dancing!
We loved that all the guests danced! The young guests, the grandmas, the kids, the parents, even the nun and priest! Tons of fun! The DJ would play a set of dance music and then switch back to background music, letting us know it was time to sit and rest, and out would come another course. Then some more toasts of vodka, of course ;).
Bring on the meat! For the past month and a half we had been eating almost entirely vegetarian food in India. I would order chicken tikka occasionally, but George hadn’t eaten any meat in a month. We were afraid it might be a shock to our systems, but we pigged out on chicken and fish, and were perfectly fine. There were also lots of shredded cabbage salads, which are common in Poland.
What do you except me to do when they set a whole plate of desserts right in front of me? This is the platter after I ate 3 pieces of cake :).
Later in the evening (or actually, early the next morning) they brought out platters with cold slices of meat and some sort of chicken broth flavored jelly substance. Interesting…
And we can’t forget the wedding cake, it was delicious! Too bad I didn’t get a photo of the whole cake, which came out with two flaming torches on it. Quite a sight!
Then more socializing, vodka, and dancing! The party continued until 4am! Luckily our hotel room was right around the corner, so we were able to crawl into bed by 4:30am. Good night!