DAY 5 - A RAINY DAY TO SANDOMIERZ

We wakened this morning to gray skies and rain patting on our windows. At breakfast the older half of the group decided that we would forgo the biking in favor of a ride in the van. This made me especially happy as I did not have proper biking rain gear. We were all shuttled to an incredible little museum run by an older gentleman (not older than us though) who lived in a little house on the property. The yard was filled with Polish antiques and figures of all kinds, which because of the heavy rain I did not photograph.

A small one room building was set up as a school room, complete with this teacher where children could come to learn.

Another building was a Jewish house where medicines were made to be given as needed.

In the "living area" the owner of the museum played music for us on an old Victrola.

From there, the younger group (team Chicago) and Hal from DC headed out in the rain, as we 6 were shuttled in comfort to one of the most beautiful residences in Poland, a richly ornamented late-baroque palace built in the mid 18th century.

We were served a delicious lunch in this exquisite dining room, one of several.

After lunch we were shuttled to our hotel in Sandomierz, avery old town on the banks of the Vistula River that was a prominent town on the medieval trade route between the Middle East and central Europe. This town fortunately was spared by the Germans in WWII

We were given an excellent tour of the Old town by Grace. It began through the only remaining gate through the old city wall.

This lovely lady in vintage dress was just about to get into a car as we arrived and she allowed me to take her picture.

The main event of our walking tour was a visit to the underground merchant cellars that lay below the town square. They had been cleaned up, connected and supplied with a good lighting system to attract tourists.

They also served as an interesting museum, with displays of items used in the towns history.

This primitive barge was used to float supplies down the Vistula River.

The constant cool temperatures made the area a great place for wine cellars, as demonstrated by Grace

It was relatively easy to dig in the clay beneath the town, and the impervious nature of the clay kept the tunnels dry and allowed the use of wood.

We resurfaced in front of the city hall in the middle of the square.

After a very nice tour of the main attractions of the town we landed back in the city square at dinner time.

We joined Susan and Russ at this hotel on the corner which dated back to 1563.

The restaurant upstairs was large and nearly empty, but I liked this "grill" hidden away on the ground floor.