Today started very slowly and painfully due to full and enthusiastic participation in vodka bottle passing tradition at the harvest festival.  Thankfully, we had the good sense to have cousin Danuta’s daughter, Paulina, drive us to our hotel last night and she picked us back up in the morning so we could retrieve our car.  Before we left I explained to Danuta that I wanted to walk down to the river and grab some rocks for Dad’s rock polishing machine from the river bed – and I’m glad I did.

The Wisloka River in Zarzecze.

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Today is Sunday so it was obviously a good day day to visit the church in Debowiec where Wojciech Michnal and generations before and after him were baptized, attended mass, etc.  We went to the 9am mass which was well attended.  In fact, it was so crowded that we had to stand in back while dozens of others stood outside the church where audio of the mass is amplified over speakers outside.  The Church is called St. Bartholomew’s and it was built relatively recently (1838-1848).  The outside is plainer than most in this region but the inside is beautiful.

Exterior of St. Bartholomew in Debowiec (where Michnal family would have worshipped).

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Today was about two things primarily:  (1) A return to the Debowiec Parish office to further explore my Lesniak origin theory and (2) the Jaslo Wine Festival

Both were worthwhile pursuits.

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Today was much more low-key than the excitement that was an explosion of new knowledge regarding the Michnal side of my family from yesterday.  While we compile the info (read: while Zen compiles the information) that we learned yesterday, we decided to do a little sight-seeing.

Podkarpackie, the region in which Zarzecze exists, is probably the most rural area of Poland.  It is known for only a few things other than its natural beauty.  First, the area was the center of the Polish petroleum industry as it is (or was) rich in oil and natural gas.  Second, it is the area where Eastern Culture and the Eastern Orthodoxy meet Western Culture and Catholicism.  Third, its border with Slovakia along the length of the Carpathian Mountains has its lowest pass in this entire mountain range meaning it has a long history as a trade route between Hungary and Poland (the good part) and a long history of raiders and major battles over this strategic position (the bad part).

Me and a Russian T-34 tank

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My sleep timing is out of sorts and I woke up at 4am.  I watched the sun rise from my hotel room while I did battle with a bee.  There is no AC in the hotel and it is dreadfully hot in Poland now.  It was near 90 degrees today and there is no relief in sight.  Eventually I met Zen for breakfast. The meal consisted of cold cuts, coffee, fruit, scrambled eggs and a lemon coffee cake.  This is more than I usually eat before 8pm at home.

We set off before nine to meet out local genealogist, Marek, at the parish administration office in Debowiec. The parishioners of Zarzecze, where Wojciech Michnal is from, belonged to this parish and any records regarding births, deaths, marriages, etc. would have been recorded here.

The good news is that the Catholic Church in Poland was very good at recording such things.  The bad news is that the Germans, Russians, Swedes, Cassocks, Tartars, Turks, Ukrainians, Romanians, etc. have had an annoying habit of invading Poland and destroying everything in their paths.  Thankfully, the parish priests in Debowiec are friendly toward those in my situation and are more than willing to share what has survived with us.

>On the way to the offices, we pass through the village of Zarzecze which is little more than an extension of Debowiec across the Wisloka River.  We stopped for the obligatory picture with the Zarzecze sign:

Me as I enter the birthplace of my great grandfather Wojciech Michnal for the first time.

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