Picking Polish Pottery

Polish Pottery from Boleslawiec, Poland

So the real reason that Lady Hiva had allowed me to go to Prague was how close it is to drive to Poland from the Czech Republic. She ended up liking Prague as much as me, but it was the pottery that made the difference. So one morning we woke up and drove through the countryside to Poland.

It was interesting to see the way the Czech and Polish countryside looks very similar to the Bavaria. Rolling hills, green farmland, rows of large trees that connect small villages along a web of country lanes. Each new village we found something interesting to look at. A central church, small homes surrounded by gardens and animals, people strolling along and greeting their neighbors. The town in Poland that we wanted to see was Boleslawiec. It is in Boleslawiec that the Polish pottery is made. This pottery is world famous, very ornate and can be baked, heated and microwaved. It is as ornate as the Turkish pottery but is safe to eat because they do not use lead paint.

The first pottery factory we stopped at

Because Boleslawiec is a small industrial village with nothing large around it, Laura (the name  we gave the GPS woman) took us through several of these villages. I am not sure Laura went the most direct way, but we didn’t complain about seeing the scenic route. We arrived and stopped at the first set of pottery factory stores.

Polish countryside

After a while it becomes a bit overwhelming to see all the pottery. There were SO MANY Americans there shopping. It was like we were in the States. I can see why they did it though, a piece of pottery there was 20-40 USD and online they sale for 50-200 a piece! YIKES…totally makes the trip worth it. Each of the factories had wonderful designs that were unique. We made so many friends as we foraged through store after store, stack after stack of pottery.

So many choices..."I have to look at it all!"

We don't even drink tea! haha

He was trying to remove the lid

Tau’aho and I found places to run while he was antsy…a pottery shop with lids, colors and little items at his level was way too tempting for him to deal with! He is such a trooper. It helped that, as always, people gave him all kinds of free food and candy. I don’t know what it is about him that makes people want to give him things…and we have learned you cannot refuse. Culturally it is offensive to refuse—the other day, a man on the street wanted to give him a whole loaf of bread from the bakery. The other old man with him chided him for trying to give a little guy a loaf of bread and they settled on strawberries instead, which made Lucky Dragon really happy! I have learned to just smile and thank them profusely. They are content to see his excitement.

This woman was so happy about her job. She loved Tau'aho

Lady was happy with all our purchases, however we didn’t realize that many of the stores close early on Saturdays so I am sure we would have been shopping for much, much longer. Sadly, even with all my careful packing four of the pieces did not make it on the trip. I feel so bad because this was her birthday present. I guess she will have to make a quick trip back! 

These tea sets were so cute, Lady had to buy one. Sadly one cup broke, but superglue made it all better!

One of the casualties...