Tallinn!

Tom spent last weekend on a boys trip with a good friend of his.  Sadly, these friends are finishing up their assignment in Warsaw, so it was nice that they got to squeeze in a final trip together.  They headed to Tallinn, Estonia for the weekend and loved the old and medieval feel of the city.  They got a bit of rain, but still had a fun weekend.

Fall Colors in Northern Poland

We spent a lovely October weekend exploring more of Poland.  It was the perfect time of year to take in the "golden autumn" as its known in Poland.  The colors  in the trees were amazing and it was great to get out of the city for a couple of short days!
We stopped by the town of Gietrzwald on our trip.  This city is famous because their were sightings of the Virgin Mary here in 1877.  It was a beautiful shrine and very peaceful even though there were lots of other tourists and religious pilgrims around.
It was a great weekend and lots of fun exploring more of Poland!
A bit more about Gietrzwald:
In the year 1877, according to the Catholics, Virgin Mary revealed to two little girls, Barbara Samulowska and Justyne Szafryńska. Virgin Mary appeared for several times, spoke Polish (this fact is important, as during that time Poland was under the German occupation), and explained how important it is to pray and say the rosary. Since then, pilgrims from Poland and foreign countries, have been coming to Gietrzwałd to see the picture of Virgin Mary and a miracle spring. The Catholic Church has acknowledged in 1977 the Vision of the Mother of Christ as real. The town is now an official pilgrim area.

Charlie had so much fun playing and running around!

The old castle where we stayed

Gorgeous fall colors

A morning stroll around the lake

So much natural beauty

A morning stroll around the lake

Taking in the holy water in Gietrzwald

More holy water...

Charlie loves holy water too!

Family photo from a great weekend!