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
