4th Anniversary - Roundtrip to Polanda via Vienna

Saturday, October 11th, 2008 | Posted in Adventure, Family, Photography, Travel by Vanessa

Justin and Vanessa at Castle Wawel in Krakow - Vistula River flowing past

As some of you already know, Justin surprised me with a trip to Poland for our fourth anniversary. While we did things tourists are typically expected to do, such as visiting Castle Wawel and snapping photos in Rynek Glowny (the grand square) in Krakow, and strolling through Stephansplatz and along the Danube Canal in Vienna, the primariy purpose of our visit was so that I could experience, first hand, the land of my ancestors.

For a time I’ve been working on a family website based on research my great aunt,

Justin at St. Stephen's Cathedral - Stephansplatz, Vienna, Austria

Sister Mary Elizabeth Jupe, did that traced the roots of my father’s family all the way back to the 1600’s in Silesia, Prussia in Germany (when our last name still had both its p’s: Juppe). That region has since become part of Poland. For our trip, Justin and I had one night in Nysa, one night in Krakow, and one night in Vienna. Nysa is, consequently, the region where my ancestors are from. The towns that are significant follow: Deutsch Wette, Neissa/Nysa and Lindewiese/Lipowa - German and Polish names respectively for the areas that are still in existence.

Vanessa in St. Jacobus in Nysa, Poland

It was definitely an interesting experience, though I wish we’d had longer than 3 days! I also wish the weather had been more agreeable and that I spoke a little Polish. :) It was surreal to step foot into a church that some of my relatives were married in and another was christened in more than 2 centuries ago. It was also sad, because there is practically no German influence left in the area. I say practically, because there were still one or two German inscriptions adorning plaques within the beautiful church. Check out our seemingly endless supply of photos from Poland and Vienna.

Tags: Adventure, austria, europe, Family, heritage, krakow, life, Lipowa, Nysa, Photography, poland, travel, vienna

3 Comments on 4th Anniversary - Roundtrip to Polanda via Vienna - Add yours!

wii
October 12, 2008

Thanks for getting up pics so quickly! it must be a record.us happy anniversary.us glad it was a success!

Mom
October 12, 2008

Since I’m still working my way through the pictures, I hadn’t seen any of these three. Not only are they really pretty, but, it also looks like you had some sunshine for a little of the trip at least. Great choices here. St. Stephen’s looks like it’s either crystal or needs a visit from Ghostbusters!
It sounds like, even though short and a bit cloudy, it was a great trip. I think the quantity of pictures says the same thing. :D

Kathy
November 16, 2008

Wow! You do not know me; I just typed “Lindewiese” into Google, clicked on your link and saw the pictures of Lipowa (Lindewiese). My grandmother was born in Lindewese, and so every so often I type Lindewiese in and see what I come up with. You are soooo lucky to have had the oportunity to have gone there. I would love to go there someday. Thank you so much for sharing those pictures.

Kathy M.

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