It isn’t a famous place. I doubt that many people who have not been and don’t live in Poland have ever heard of it. Yet it has played a pivotal part in my journey and I think it will do for many years to come.
It is located in a valley in the Beskid Sąndecki, which is an area in the foothills of the Tatra Mountains which forms part of The Western Carpathian mountains. It lies just north of the river Poprad on the Slovakian border and is just about as south as you can go in Poland. The town next to Łomnica is called Piwniczna Zdrój which is derived from the word Piwnica, which in turn when translated into English means basement. Zdrój, means spa and so any places with this in the name are spa towns.
Like many villages in that region it follows a valley carved out by a small river that pours into the Poprad, it has one main road that starts on the highway and finishes as more of a track in the mountains, it’s roughly 2KM in length. There are many houses on each side, with quite a few sub communities branching off from the main road. You will often find that the people in these sub communities are related and that they have come about because of inherited land that had been passed down and divided through the generations.
It is a beautiful place come sun or snow and many walking routes can be found going through the village or in the surrounding areas, a short walk in any direction and you can see some amazing scenery, I would recommend it to anybody wanting to take a walking holiday off the beaten track.
Take a look at the village Facebook page for some amazing photo’s
Even though Ania was brought up in the city of Tarnów, much of her childhood took place there, in fact when she was a teenager, as soon as school finished on a Friday, she would rush home, pack some clothes and then jump straight onto the train to travel and spend the weekend there. The reason for this is that all her family on her father’s side lived there, including 8 actual cousins and some of their cousins who kind of became cousins too. Some were older, some younger but they where all of the same generation and hung around in the same circles and doing what kids in most cultures do, they got up to mischief.
People often say ‘home is where the heart is’ and if there is one place in Poland where I truly feel at home, it is here. In fact it is the only place anywhere, that I can truly fully relax. My love affinity with the place and more importantly the people started from my very first visit and I have a number of memories of this time;
The very first visit
November 2008, we arrived on a blustery Autumn night, most of Ania’s cousins where away working for the week. We sat talking (well I couldn’t speak polish, so I sat whilst they talked) for a number of hours as Ania caught up with her Aunty Krysia and her cousin Asia. They were both very polite and kept me fed and watered. The very next day her other cousin Staszek, his girlfriend Patty and Asia took us to Zakopane often referred to as the winter capital of Poland. We had an excellent day in a beautiful place and spent time in the town as well as up one of the ski hills. Whilst there, I remember trying a dish from one of the street venders, I wasn’t impressed, much the surprise of the others. The very next day Pani (Mrs) Krysia made us a beautiful meal of potato cakes topped with goulash, it was one of the best things I had ever tasted and on impulse I said “Bardzo Dobre” which means very good. As soon as I said this Pani Krysia’s head flew up.
WARNING: complementing food will quickly result in another portion, so be careful.
Ania took great pleasure in informing me that this was the same food I had tried the day before. Amazing how a bit of home-made cooking can transform food. The dish, Placki Ziemniaczane .
Majerzanka
By the weekend the rest of the family were at home. We were enjoying drinks at home with some of the cousins, the conversation was lively but at the same time it was a bit awkward, because we couldn’t really communicate. After our supply of alcohol had run out, Mariusz, Tomek and Adam (much to Ania’s reluctance) decided to take me to a bar at the end of the village called Majerzanka.
It is fair to say that the night was very much fuelled by booze, but……. I had such a fun night. Everyone in the pub wanted to meet me (for some reason they were under the impression I was the new signing for local amateur football team, Ogniwo Piwniczna) and at times I was on the table singing “I’m forever blowing bubbles.” The next day whilst nursing our headaches and reminiscing over such a good night myself and the boys despite not speaking each others languages insisted that we understood everything each other said. A tale we stick to this very day.
In recent years Majerzanka has had a major extension and upgrade and also serves as a restaurant and hotel. It would be the perfect base for anyone wishing to explore the area. Click here to get to their Facebook page.
City Cop
The local police officer is a guy known as City. He is a friend of some of Ania’s cousins and gets his name because he moved away to the city when they were kids. They started calling him this as a laugh, but as you know nicknames sometimes just stick.
He saw us walking through the village one day and stopped us to insist that we came around his house that night. We duly obliged and joined him and his family for a nice evening grilling freshly caught fish on the BBQ and of course any get together wouldn’t be the same without a little vodka. This small gesture really made us feel welcome and gave us a lot of respect for this family.
These are just some of the many examples I could give, but in general I have found Polish people to be very welcoming. they always introduce themselves to new people, shake hand with acquaintances, are more formally polite to elders.
For more information about visiting this region of Poland please visit the website;
http://www.visitmalopolska.pl/Strony/main/main.aspx
I knew from the very first visit that this extraordinary little village would play a big part and I invite you to sign up and join me on My Polish Journey.
Malenki
P.S. Enjoy some of our favourite pictures below from Łomnica and Piwniczna below
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