Today my big adventure was a day trip to Jelenia Góra just an hour and a half west of Wrocław. I was planning to meet Jacek Jakubiec who is the curator of the museum for Dwór Czarne (Black Manor). I will explain in a moment why I was meeting Jacek. I also have family that lives in the area. I was hoping to meet some family. As it turned out Andrzej Musiał had a family wedding to go to, but Romuald Fabianski and his wife Izabella (Firkowska) would be able to meet me for a short time. They run an Inn and it was busy and were not able to take much time from their day. As I had learned earlier, it just so happens that Izabella knew Jacek Jakubiec.
The drive to Jelenia Góra was scenic and very enjoyable. I arrived exactly when I had calculated and Jacek, Romuald and Izabella were there waiting for me. Jacek had a friend Mr. Ludorowski who spoke English who would be able to be translator especially for more o fthe technical words. Everyone was pleasantly surprised that I was able to speak some Polish, and translations were not always necessary.
After a short visit, Romuald and Izabella had to leave, but I am happy that we were able to say hello. I must thank them for the gift of a bottle of some good vodka.
Mr. Ludorowski was a big help with translations of legal and technical aspects of the discussion. I was also interviewed for an article in the community newspaper. I will share that article in a future Blog Post.
Now you are probably wondering why I was meeting the curator of a museum. At the end of 2013 I was contacted by Jacek Jakubiec to help with a mystery her had relating to possible someone from my family who is part of the history of Black Manor. I was in fact able to help him solve this mystery and he was able to finally finish writing a book on the hstory of Black Manor. You can read my previous Blog posts about how we met and the mystery was solved from the links below.
Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4
Jacek presented me with an autographed copy of his book, which I was proud to receive. He made sure to mention my contribution to the completion of his book & the Polish American Journal is also mention in the bibliography because they published an article in that newspaper about Black Manor.
Eventually Mr. Ludorowski had to leave and Jacek and I were on our own for translations, but when we needed help with communication, I had the translation app on my iPhone that allowed voice translations. We spent another few hours chatting and I learned more about the Manor and its history. His wife Danuta prepared a delicious snack for us, so you will get another food photo!
Although renovations have begun on Black Manor, due to some legal entanglements due to some corrupt individuals, the renovations have been delayed.
Tomorrow, I leave early in the morning for about a three hour drive to Poznań,
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