Pottery Shopping in Poland

I have just returned from a pottery shopping trip in Boleslawiec, Poland, for the fifth time in five years, and this was one of the most enjoyable trips I have ever been on.

A friend and I organized this grand adventure for the women of the NATO base at Geilenkirchen, Germany, booking the bus and hotel and creating the itinerary, and it was a blast. Among the shoppers (all women), we had 20 Canadians and one American (me), plus one Dutch and one German bus driver.

Peter the Dutch driver was a gentleman flirt. He loved talking to the ladies and telling jokes. Michael was our German driver, in his late 30s and very handsome and quiet. We discovered that he had many girlfriends and each one had a different ring on his cell phone. We had ourselves in stitches teasing him about that. (For the safety-minded out there, please note that he never answered the phone while driving.)

We sat at the Polish border for an excruciating two and a half hours. The border guards are very polite, but very wary. We were going through during the World Cup games, so everyone was being scrutinized more closely than usual.

One of the big problems was caused by - if you can believe this - me! My passport had expired and I didn't realize it. The border guard said it would cost 25 euros to get into the country, but by the time all was said and done it cost me 50. Thank goodness for bus driver Peter, who argued with the policeman fervently on my behalf, because the police wanted us to drive somewhere, get a passport photo, come back, and pay for the passport before being allowed into Poland.

Luckily they copied my old passport photo, took my money and let me go. I don't recommend this form of excitement; it took a few years off of my life wondering whether I was going to Poland or wait many hours for my husband to come and get me while the rest of the women went off to shop!

We then went to the tax office to pay our head tax, which is required if you bring a bus into the country. Again, they decided we hadn't paid enough and charged us 100 euros more than what we had planned. They really got us on this trip!

Finally, off we went to Boleslawiec, a little lighter in the pockets but happy to be away from the border. We stopped at our hotel first, the Protea. If you haven't been there, you are missing out. I have yet to find a cuter hotel in Poland. You feel as if you are going back in time to a quaint little hunting lodge, and you cannot

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