Joanna's Whimsical Life: June 2013

Sunday 30 June 2013

After The Folk Fest in Kazimierz Dolny' 2013

29 June 2013 was a day to remember. I am so glad a friend invited me to go to Kazimierz Dolny on that particular date. To see all those folk bands on stage and so many folk craftsmen and artisans from all over Poland and Lithuania, in one place and on the same day, was an amazing experience. It was even worth staying till small hours to see the Warsaw Village Band (Kapela ze Wsi Warszawa) perform live! The route we chose to go to Kazimierz involved a ferry crossing of The Wisła (Vistula) River near Solec and Opole Lubelskie. It was quite an experience and good we went, because a bridge complementing a much needed new road is to replace the old-style crossing.

When we were waiting for the ferry to arrive, I saw a basket-full of strawberries in the car in front of us. The family in the car told us that they had just picked them and had more straws and raspberries in the boot, and they were taking them for sale. They were ecologically grown, we heard, and they looked mouth watering.
It wasn't hard to persuade my friends into buying the fruit, as it had to be a whole basket. We could wash them somewhere and keep eating all day. There's nothing like fresh fruit! Unfortunately, the basket was to be kept and the fruit landed in a plastic bag. That was not an ideal transporting vessel.

Hop field

Having crossed The Vistula, we carried on driving to Kazimierz and I tried taking pictures from the car:

Kamienica Celejowska (CelejowskaTenement House) is home to a museum:

It's now hosting an exhibition on tour from Szydlowiec Castle Museum showing a family of violin makers' and musicians from a village of Jagodne near Skarzysko-Kamienna.

Szydlowiec Castle is undergoing serious redecoration works and thus it sends its collections to other places, which I find a neat idea.

The photographs below I snapped were taken by a couple who document folk musicians and their output:

A kind and helpful woman at the museum showed me this miniature of Kazimierz Dolny. The stretch at the bottom is The Wisła River - Queen of Polish rivers.

One of the galleries near the museum attracted me by some pictures of Amsterdam announced outside. Looking at them, I couldn't help hearing some clients discussing the prices with the gallery person and saying that they prefered to buy paintings in Spain as they were cheaper there.

Town authorities are based here:

What made me photograph this shop? ;-)

First time ever I left Kazimierz without buying but one of these bread roosters!

A small bakery I remember from my own school trips seems to have grown into a big business.

It's getting late again, but let me at least add more of the Kazimierz fest pictures:

Mr Piotr Skiba was showing of his ceramics. I liked their simple traditional forms and hues. ou could alco buy a book on ceramics which he wrote.

Mr Czeslaw Sewerynski, eventually followed in his late father's footsteps and has been making clay sculptures like these for years. We had a nice long chat as I discovered he comes from Odrowąż, a pretty village west of Skarzysko, my hometwon.

A talented lace maker from Krakow:

How would you best translate the Polish word 'dziad' into English in this context?:-)

Spotted in Kazimierz...

Cute and colourful paintings by this lady I found truly appealing, especially that they tell so much about the village life on festive and ordinary days of not so distant past. I'm glad I stopped by to talk to her. She told she had always wanted to paint, but only a few years ago did she decide what and how to do it. It gives her a sense of fulfillment and joy. Many people buy her works and there is a man who has over fifty of her works in his collection!

A woman from a Szczecinek band wearing a Lowicz folk costume stopped to chat with me like so many other people met on that day. From Szczecinek? In a Łowicz costume? 'How come?', you may wonder. There is an answer. Any guesses?