Today we headed to Poland for some pottery shopping. I had wanted to go with some friends, but the timing was just never right. Since Prague is only a few hours away from Boleslaweic, we decided we might as well go up while we had the chance.

Well, remember how proud I was of our GPS in Prague? Driving from Prague to Poland was a different story. There is still a lot of infrastructure and development going on in this area. The towns outside of the big cities are small, as are the roads. The locals in this area are poor compared to westerners and don't really travel much. They are working on getting a better road system going, but aren't quite there yet....as we found out on the trip. Our GPS must have been a little ahead of it's time or the road projects are way behind schedule because it kept telling us to go down roads that didn't exist. We would come to a dead end and have to turn, but the GPS would tell us to go straight. After a few miles we could see the road crews and construction and they were not even close to having the highways completed. I guess we are witnessing reconstruction and development at work here. You can definitely see and feel how being behind the Iron Curtain really held this area back throughout the years.

We finally made it to our hotel in Poland. It was an old barn that a couple renovated into a hotel. They kept all the original stone walls and wood beams in the ceilings. The rooms were small and there wasn't much for soundproofing, but the atmosphere was cozy and cute. They had animals for the boys to pet and even give donkey rides. I was hoping to let the boys have a ride before shopping the next day, but it rained heavily the entire time were there. I felt bad leaving the boys in the car all day while Ben chauffeured me from shop to shop. I had pictures this differently in my head when I planned it. The boys and Ben could play or walk around outside while I browsed, but the buckets of rain didn't quit. I rushed as quickly as I could, but it was very hard to make a decision about what to buy. I had never seen so much pottery in all my life! I was completely overwhelmed. Thank goodness I am planning another trip with some girlfriends so I can shop without pressure :)