Last Minute Scramblings

Four of us were up early this morning to accompany Vlado, the pension owner, to the Zborov Castle which he has been restoring for several years. He oversees the operation and has a crew of around 25 persons that work 10 hour days during the spring, summer and fall. I've been up there two other times and it is wonderful to see all the progress being made.

I ventured one last time into the Centrum in Bardejov...my favorite place on earth!

After packing we headed back for one last trip to Becherov to find the Masley house and graves for Adam. We found the house but it is not the original one however it is on the same property. We spent a few minutes in the cemetery but time did not allow us to find any graves. They are most likely in the older section where the markers have long ago disintegrated.

Back to Bardejov we went to pack our cars and head for Krakow to spend the night before our early am departure to home. As per usual Vlado records our group with a photo on our way out of town.

One last dinner in Krakow and we are now headed off to bed. We will be arriving back in Minneapolis and Boston to see our families and share our wonderful stories!

Until the next trip...

Last Day

Our final day in the village was a cold, damp and rainy one. We went to Stebnik first to look at Slavo's house, a visit to the mayor and then the cemetery.

After that a trip to Becherov was next to visit the house where my grandfather was born. My cousin also had photos of my family as well.

Nina tried to find out information about her families' houses and to try and find information about Nina's family house. One of the son's that is an owner was supposed to be there possibly but we were never able to make contact with him.

While driving down one of the streets we found Mrs Grivna but both her sons that Nina and I know were out of town.

We finished with a visit to the mayor of Becherov.

Dinner found us going separate ways and Slavo, Penny, Adam, Nina and I ate at the Salas.

We enjoyed a dessert of palacinky...and no, Penny did not eat all of this!

The evening ended with a visit to Fr Jan and Monika Pilko's where we surprised him with a Minnesota Wild jersey.

Fr Jan took  Adam to see the notation on the back of the iconostas that lists our great-grandfather's name as a contributor to the parish back in 1935.

After leaving Pilko's we headed to my cousin Stefan's house where another cousin and Stefan's wife prepared a light snack for us.

Back to Bardejov we went for one last quick game of cribbage and then off to bed.

Stebnik Emotions

Yesterday we spent the entire day in Stebnik...a full day to say the least as we visited five family homes.

The first stop was at the old log home where Adam's and my cousin Anna Pidani used to live. Her two sons were there and invited us inside.

Milan had gone mushroom picking earlier in the morning.

They were able to share a lot of older photos with us and more photos from Minneapolis that had been sent to them from the Felegy family!

Our second stop was to visit Mrs Hudak who is Debbie's grandmother's cousin. She was a dear, sweet lady who was full of emotion upon seeing Debbie and the photos she brought with her.  Her youngest son had previously lived with them and renovated the house. It looked like something out of a decorating magazine...quite unusual by Rusyn village standards.

Next we went to the house where Randy's grandfather came from. The original house was no longer standing but a newer one was built in it's place. The Masica relative had died a few years ago but his wife had information along with family photos which she shared with Randy. Turns out that the wife was a Roman and she and Nina figured out they were related as well.

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Their house had an in-ground swimming pool believe it or not

Our next stop was at my cousin Stefan Rusinak's house. I have finally figured out how we are related but it is not on my father's (Rusinak) side but rather on my mother's father's side AND my mother's mother's side. So confusing! No wonder genealogy in these villages is difficult!!! They know how I love mushrooms and sent me home with a huge bag of dried ones. I promise to share when I get back home!

We were able to go inside the church in Stebnik for a bit after the end of the service but not before we sang Many Years to the ladies coming out of church.

It is such a lovely and peaceful place.

Our last stop was at my cousin Jozef Tkach's house. We jokingly call him "Slivo" Tkach as he always keeps our glasses full when we are visiting and doesn't take no for an answer.

They have restored he old house where my grandmother was born so everyone had a chance to see what these houses actually looked like when their grandparents lived here.

Nina departed from our group mid-afternoon to visit her relatives in Svidnik. They had an enjoyable visit with three generations. We also saw a post on Facebook that Cheryl was able to connect with her relatives in Ukraine.

Today we are off to spend our last full day in the village of Becherov and to say some final goodbyes to others. We hope to check out some cemeteries and do some last minute shopping as well.

Day Off in the Big Cities

Yesterday we traveled to Kosice which is the largest city in Eastern Europe. We did some souvenir shopping, sightseeing and had a quick lunch before dropping Cheryl and Karen off at the bus station to head to Ukraine to visit their families.

That's Adam filming with his Go Pro camera. I swear he has recorded every minute of our trip and it will make for wonderful memories to show his family! For someone who has not grown up with our culture, he is making up for lost time immersing himself in the language and trying some of the various ethnic foods.

Where elses but in Slovakia can you find "halushky to go?"

After saying goodbye to Cheryl and Karen we were off to Presov, the next larger city. I introduced them to Michal Razus who is a genealogist friend and as we sipped coffee at a kaviaren he told them about the services he offers researching people in Slovakia and touring visitors. It was fun to see him again.

Off to dinner we went...at Viktoria's Restaurant. The owners are relatives of the Gaydos family in Minnesota. Their daughters, now married with children, were some of my tour guides in past years and the family always warmly welcomes us to their restaurant. Viktor gave a toast to us and thanked us for continuing a tradition started by Jim Brinda. It was fun to see Viki and her two adorable daughters as well.

Whew! I am finally caught up with the blog. The Wifi connection here is very spotty and goes in and out but I am finding if I work on it early in the morning it seems to work better as I think less people are accessing it.

Today we are off to Stebnik where hopefully Adam will find some relatives on his grandmother's side.

Emotional Rollercoaster

Monday found our group splitting up to head in different directions. The majority of the group spent some time in the Centrum as well as driving into the villages.

Debbie, Randy and I, along with Slavo drove first to the small village of Ondavka where  grandfather came from. The village is bankrupt and fairly deserted. We came across a man parked in the street and as we asked where Peter Kalina's house was he pointed to the house we were standing in front of. Sadly, the house is falling apart and we later learned has been unoccupied for the past 30 years. We asked if we could take a closer look and the man indicated that we could. What we found was unbelievable. It was like something out of Great Expectations. Everything was left in this house at the time Peter died. His offspring have also died so the house sadly, just sits there. As we carefully walked from room to room we saw icons hanging on the wall, perinas on the beds, clothing hanging in the wardrobe, a cookbook, utensils, etc. It was very sad to see this.

Ironically, Debbie had photographs of her parents' visit here in 1984. We realized the photos were taken in the same house. It was quite evident the family was well-to-do. But now the same house was abandoned two years later.

After meeting the former mayor and ensuing some humorous moments there (Debbie "watering" some plants with her vodka shots  at 11:00 am) and then realizing there was a security camera directly overhead...some "special" male oriented posters in the mayor's office, etc. we then departed for Sobos to meet the last Dzubay family in the village of Sobos.

We were able to go inside both the Greek Catholic and Orthodox churches. The Orthodox one is new, dating from 1998. In iconography was exquisite.

The Dzubay family took us to the cemetery to find the gravestones of relatives and then warmly invited us into their home for a meal. Debbie and Randy are not totally sure of the connection but are trying to determine exactly how this family is related to them.

We arrived back at the pension later in the evening after a very emotionally exhausting but fulfilling day!

Sacredness, Festivities and a Svadba (wedding)

Sunday presented the opportunity for us to worship in the churches where our grandparents did. We all went to several different churches in our villages. This photo is from the Orthodox church in Becherov.

After Liturgy, the parish here hosted our group for a lovely luncheon and I was able to reconnect with some of my cousins.

I was surprised by a visit from a second cousin I had never met, the granddaughter of my grandather's brother on the Guzy side. Debbie may have a connection to her as well.

After a quick stop at the pension we were on our way to Tichy Potok for a performance by their folk group. To say the performance was fabulous is an understatement as their women's group presented a program involving the preparations for an upcoming wedding and a nearby men's group sang several folk songs for us.

They even had some delightful youngsters singing for us.

After the dinner some of the group were able to try on some of the folk costsumes.

The remainder of the evening found us dancing and singing with the group...plus we finally marrried off Nina!

Lastly, I was able to reconnect with our exchange student's family, including their new addition!

Since it is midnight I will catch up on today and tomorrow's activities after we return from Presov tomorrow evening. It will be an exciting blog as Debbie and Randy discover family homes and new found relatives! You won't want to miss it!