Visiting Beautiful Poland: Wadowice–a Saint’s Hometown in Pictures

Wadowice. Have you heard of this little town in southern Poland? How about Karol Wojtyła. Do you know him? Before he was canonized by the catholic church (that means before he became saint for us common people), he was a much loved Pope. And before he became Pope he was just, well, an ordinary boy.

*Forgiveness. Pope John Paul II with the man who tried to kill him.*

And that’s a good thing about visiting Wadowice–the birthplace of this very special man in Polish and world’s history (and not only for catholics): You get to see the boy, the man, the ordinary person who did extraordinary things out of kindness.

*Nuns pay their respect in front of Saint John Paul II, overlooking the town square.*

We wanted our children to see where the Polish Pope John Paul II grew up and learn about his home environment which nurtured him to become a person to admire.

*Posing boys at the Wadowice “rynek” (square) with the Basilica of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Yup, it’s a looonng one!*

We visited Karol Wojtyła’s family home which has been converted to a museum. Touring it took us on a journey throughout his life. Kids got very interested too, which made this experience even more memorable.

*Inside the Wadowice Basilica which is basically the Pope’s church. Text on the Pope’s banner reads “I am happy and may you be happy too.”*

Wadowice is a charming town and one of the must-visit attractions in Krakow, Poland. It is only about an hour drive away (53 kilometers) south west from Kraków.

*The boy who became pope who became saint*.

#wadowice #JohnPaulII #podrozezdzieckiem #zwiedzamypolske

“The Skiing Pope”–one of the Pope’s nicknames–loved the outdoors. Apparently he was also called “Lolek the Goalie” for his football skills. . . errr, that’s “soccer” for us ‘Mericans!

*It looked like the Pope was also a Marvel Superhero! I wonder what his superpower was.*

*In the living room of the Pope’s childhood family home*.

*The Pope’s family kitchen with almost Zen-like simplicity.*

*“Solidarnosc”. At the Monument of Solidarity Movement that, with Pope John Paul II’s as its spiritual head, brough down communism in Poland.*

An interactive room at the “Family House of the Holy Father John Paul II Museum in Wadowice” (What is up with all these looonng names?!?!?) that kept the kids engaged about the life and childhood of the Saint-Pope.

*Katyn Monument in memory of the Polish inteligentsia, military officers and others massacred by the Soviets. Did you see the movie of the same name?*

*The boys were reading. Hip, hip. . . Hooray!!!*

*Hoping even a little of calm would rub on these two young ones; at the Pope’s family home-turned-museum.*

The Pope’s museum’s hall to commemorate the Solidarity movement and the revolution that started in Gdansk shipyard and tore down the walls of communism. They say that there would not have been “Solidarnosc” without the Pope’s blessing.

The Pope’s cake. The Pope had a sweet tooth for this Papal cream cake called kremówka that he and his schoolmates would used to buy at the town square. You can only get it here in Wadowice, at least the authentic ones. Oh, so sweet!

### That’s it. Thanks for stopping by! ###

Next Stop:

*21 days of family camping road trip number 5. This time it’s all in Polska–the beautiful land of Poles*.

Here’s the rest of what we plan to see and do in Poland’s south/southeast region on this year’s family camping road trip:

Olsztyn and the trail of the Eagle’s nest,
Black Madonna of Częstochowa,
Krakow and the nearby attractions (Energylandia, Wadowice, Wieliczka Salt Mine),
Pieniny mountain,
drive through Slovakia’s southern Carpathian mountain,
stop by the Saint Magdalene church in Dukla,
do some trekking in the Bieszczady mountains and cross over into cross over to Ukraine (… maybe ; ),
go see about a famous beetle in Szczebrzeszyn,
and a charming art town of Kazimierz Dolny.