Poland Was....Um....Interesting

I went to Boleslawiec, Poland, for the weekend with a group of gals from KB. I know that driving over 8 hours just to buy pottery sounds pretty ridiculous, but it was a chance to see a different country, explore a Polish city, and check out a really cool castle there. You know how I am about my castles. I LOVE them. There were 7 in our group, so we took two different vehicles. All I can say is thank goodness for Tommy (my GPS), because I would have been truly lost without him. When we finally found the hotel, the four of us had some time before we could check in, so we checked out the area. It was interesting. This is the hotel.This is the restaurant attached to the hotel. This is the neighbor across the street, who was very happy to entertain us during out wait. The rooms were very clean. We lucked out and somehow got one of the larger rooms. Our friends got one about one third this size. The restaurant was very nice. They had good coffee, and the ladies who worked there were very kind. We were exhausted from the long day of driving, so we hit the hay. My friends and I were very excited to see the city and check out that castle.
Very early the next morning, we started shopping for pottery. (Apparently this region is known for it's pottery.) I'm not really into flowery dishware, but it was interesting to check out a couple of stores. The prices were reasonable, so I figured I'd pick up a couple of things as souvenirs. Another pottery shop. Another pottery shop.
Another pottery shop.
Another pottery shop.Another pottery shop. I got tired of taking pictures of all of the pottery shops, but I'm sure you get the drift at this point. That's OK. It's time to break for lunch. I was hoping we'd get to eat at the castle, but I was told that they probably weren't open for lunch, so we'd get to that later and eat dinner there that night. So we ate near the....um....pottery shops. Lunch was interesting.

Lunch was over, so we got to.....um...shop for pottery.

Another pottery shop.Another pottery shop.

Another pottery shop. I've never been so grateful for closing time in my life. Now we can get to the castle. There isn't really time to see anything of the city, but the castle is the real reason my friends and I chose to come along on this trip. I saw some pictures of it online, so I'm sure it's worth it. Beautiful, isn't it? So worth all those hours driving....and shopping....and ....um....This angle is even better. You can almost make out the details...and.....um....it....

The staff were very kind to allow us to eat in a private dining room. We could have taken a tour of the castle, but they only do that during the day time. I understand that lunch there, followed by a tour, are a popular pass time with tourists. That's....um.....interesting.
Anyhoo, after many...many...many hours of driving, we made it back home. (Thanks again to Tommy! He rocks!) I picked up a few things. Here they are. I also found these cool boxes. The round one is from Russia. My van mates were an awesome bunch of ladies and we hope to take a trip together again soon. Just not another trip like this one. Or to Poland.