On my recent spring break (mid-Feb. 2006), I discovered the joy of Polish pottery.
Evidently, Polish pottery is one of Poland's best kept secrets--at least from the Polish people who seem to be completely oblivious to its existence and wild popularity outside of Polish borders.
I only became aware of the stuff here in the Czech Republic after expressing my profound admiration of a church friend's hand-decorated ceramic deviled-egg plate, which I had tried in vain to locate somewhere in Prague. Alas, she informed me, it would be necessary to make the journey to Poland to have such a thing for myself.
So, off to Poland we went. Well, it wasn't quite that simple, but ultimately Matt and I ended up in the Polish town of Wraclaw, sitting in an internet cafe copying down train times and directions to the tiny village of Boleslawiec--the Mecca of Polish pottery. By noon the following day, with a combination of Polish, Czech, English, German, and good old body language, we had managed to buy two round trip train tickets to Bolelawiec, find and board the train, buy ourselves a map of the town, and make our way by foot to four different Polish pottery outlets spread across town.
Evidently, this means of visiting Boleslawiec is fairly unusual. Following on the heels of a tour bus full of American army wives based in Germany, we finally reached the check out counter at the Manufaktura store. The woman selling us our pottery was literally dumbfounded to learn that we had *walked* to the factory from the train station and were asking for directions to the nearest bus stop to make our way back. "Well, you know..." we thought to ourselves, "a few years braving public transportation in Europe and we can handle just about anything. No cars or tour buses for us, no sir!"
In actuality, I would have loved to have a car, had it been possible and affordable, because our purchases were limited to the amount that we could carry between us on the several mile long trek back to the train station and on the train itself. However, in the end, we came home with:
*a squatty tea pot with a warming base (you can put a tea candle inside to keep the tea warm)
*two delived-egg plates
*a tiny ceramic bell (which I'll use as a Christmas ornament)
*and a child's tea set in the same pattern as the big pot (after all, we have asked for a little girl...)
Though I am a relatively recent "convert" to Polish pottery, I have to say I have fallen and fallen hard. So, in case anybody else feels like getting some of this fabulous stuff for themselves, here are a few good links I have found to get you started. Of course, if I head back to Boleslawiec some time, I just might be able to pick you up something in person!
A most helpful site if you actually want to *go* to Poland to buy the pottery. Also a lot of useful and interesting information about how it is made, quality etc. : http://slowtrav.com/eastern_europe/poland_pottery.htm
History of the town of Boleslawiec http://www.panorama-miast.com.pl/34/html/boleslawiec.htm
Info about the annual Polish Pottery festival in Boleslawiec http://www.polishpottery-online.com/andy_ceramics/en/whats.htm
Read more about Polish Pottery, especially from the Manufaktura company (the place where we bought most of our pieces): http://www.polish-goods.pl/aboutpottery.php
Polish pottery factory tour: http://munnwerks.com/pottery/facttour.htm
