Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Ruined

Not us. We're not ruined (keeping our fingers crossed that that trend continues). It was our weekend getaway that was ruined. Oh wait, it wasn't that either. It was the castle we were visiting. Yes, I knew I'd get it eventually.



One of my favorite things to see in Poland is the castles. There are billions of them (or so), since Poland lies between, um, Russia and Germany. Lucky her. It made it pretty necessary to have castles within view of each other for defensive purposes. In Cracow you have the gorgeous Wawel castle located right on the banks of the river. That one's been restored. Many of them have. I prefer my castles ruined, though.







So this past weekend we decided to spend at the Ogrodzieniec castle. It's gorgeous and is built on naturally formed rocks. Greg didn't get any pictures that capture its grandeur, so here's one I swiped off of google to give you an idea of the scale of it. (There are some much more awesome ones in the search I did, though).

egim1.wordpress.com

The first day we just wandered around outside the walls and picnicked. Pregnant Lisa can walk and pregnant Lisa can sit and lie down. What she can't do is stand in place, which means I was doing this (left leg elevated, of course):


While the kids sifted through the rocks that are everywhere in search of fossils. Those rocks are so full of fossils it's not even funny. It is cool, though. Greg looked up information about fossils on his iphone and gave the kids a little geology and, um, fossilization lesson there.

I was also laying around while the kids helped each other climb the rocks:


It was a fun day



The next day we explored inside the castle. That was fun, too. I love mini family vacations.



23 comments:

Annette Lyon said...

I LOVE me an old castle! Those are some of my favorite things about Europe. Thanks for sharing the pics.

Stephanie said...

That looks awesome. And Greg so sounds like Matt-- he would totally turn it into a lesson. I wonder if your kids "care" more than mine do. :)

Melanie Jacobson said...

Objection #34 to California: no castles!

Barbaloot said...

What a beautiful place! There's something about old castles that makes me wish I could time travel---be a fly on the wall and see what it was all like back then. The countryside, the home, the people---it would be SO cool!

Josi said...

That is so stinkin cool. Seriously, I had no idea Poland was full of castles. Not sure what I thought it was full of, but not castles. Very fun family trips.

MelancholySmile said...

All of a sudden, I'm thinking that homeschooling would be SO much more fun in Europe! J and I loved exploring ruined castles in Ireland {before we had kids} and there's something so romantic about them. What a great vacation-- and how is it fair that you look so stinkin skinny in your pictures? I always forget that you're pregnant!

charrette said...

What a great little getaway! And awesome castle ruins. Reminds me of the one I explored on the Isle of Skye (Scotland). And what a fun way you write about all of it.

Hooray for places where Pregnant Lisa can lie down! I'm all for that.

charrette said...

What a great little getaway! And awesome castle ruins. Reminds me of the one I explored on the Isle of Skye (Scotland). And what a fun way you write about all of it.

Hooray for places where Pregnant Lisa can lie down! I'm all for that.

charrette said...

Oops! Totally didn't mean to be so redundant...i mean, um, hit publish twice out of my impatience.... :)

Anonymous said...

I'm so jealous I can hardly stand it. You live in a place where there are BILLIONS of castles?!? Lis, you lucky, lucky woman!

(P.S. Thank you for sharing all these beautiful pictures. Your children are gorgeous and you look splendid!)

Erin said...

I love that your husband is wearing a Kansas shirt in Poland. What a fun mini vacation. We don't get to visit castles, unfortunately - we visit national parks (wanna come visit? I want to come visit you.)

Kimberly Vanderhorst said...

Wow, those are amazing! I'm a great lover of ruined castles but I've never seen one in person. Somehow I doubt that the pictures do them justice.

And I just LOVE the picture of the kids helping each other climb - so precious!

Nathan said...

In the immortal words of Tina Fey's daughter: "I want to go to there."

And Greg, nice to see you in the Kansas shirt. Hopefully you can visit us sometime here in KS, and I'll take you to a White Castle sporting a Polska shirt. Deal?

melissabastow said...

WOW. Jealous over here. When we go on outings my kids have to deal with the crappy little zoo we have here (that doesn't even have elephants) or maybe the corner park. Not really like seeing an old ruined castle...

Alison Wonderland said...

So cute, so cool, and so fun! In my next life I'm going to do that kind of stuff.

Randi said...

I LOVE the pictures, but especially the one of your family!

What an amazing thing to be able to go and do. Totally jealous.

Little GrumpyAngel said...

I want to do that! Totally!

Kazzy said...

I lu-huv castles. I am a total history nerd and castles just fuel that fire!

Your photos are so cute. I love your little guy pulling on the waist of his big brother! What a cute family you have!

gramalee said...

sorry about that. I hit publish instead of review. BUT now I know how maneuver in blog comments! Yaaay!
Thanks for the pics! brings back memories. xo

Corina said...

Do you realize how LUCKY you are to be able to go the places you go and see the things you see? OK, you probably do, but maybe I'm just a wee tiny little bit jealous...
And congrats on expecting #4!!! Hope all goes well for you.

Jess said...

Thanks for sharing these pictures. I did have the opportunity to visit this castle. However, the day we were there it was cloudy and foggy, so unless we were standing right next to it there wasn't much we could see. But, I still loved being there. And, it did make for some interesting pictures. Glad you all had a good time. And...congrats!!!

Anne said...

nice plug for poland! I SO want to go! I love your family pic. The kids are getting so big!

Jean said...

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for sharing!!!