Kazimierz Dolny

28 Sept.
Today we traveled by bus to Kazimierz Dolny, a town some 50 mi. from Lublin, on the Vistula River in the direction of Warsaw. Gary has been to Kazimierz several times in previous years, most recently last year with Irmina and Jarek, Andy and Ian. Previous visits were in the summer, when the town is crawling with tourists, artists, summer residents from Warsaw, and those employed to sell things to them. As we are now in late September, the town has about 1/10 of its summer peak population.

Crossing the town square after leaving the bus, the first thing we saw was a fire truck with a camera crew on top, a man giving instructions to about 20 young people under a large shade, and a number of (fellow) gawkers. We found out a little later that they were shooting a commercial that day. Hard to tell what the product was, but we did see a young couple (stars of the commercial) in wedding dress.

Our visit was divided between having some ice cream and coffee, browsing souvenir stands, walking up the hlll to the castle ruins and tower, visiting the parish church in K. of St. John the Baptist and St. Bartholomew, having a bit of lunch at a deserted, upscale restaurant, strolling for a bit along the river, and then catching the bus back to Lublin. Our trip to K. was on one of the local minibuses, packed and rather bouncy; the return was on a regular bus, smoother but quite hot—Wendy said I’d promised her a sauna on this trip.

Pictures:

Views of the Vistula River and the town from the tower







Here we are at the tower’s top (long climb) and on top of the castle ruins







Wendy in her Viking helmet, prepared to defend the castle



Gary relaxing at lunch, the church and castle in the background



Exterior and interior views of the church. A sign noted that the organ is the oldest in Poland