The last thing I wanted to do after the accident was get into another car, but Kasia wanted to show us around some more, so after a little nap David, Cheri and I squeezed into her car, a yellow Fiat (Gulp!) and drove down to Lask (my keyboard doesn't render the characters properly, but is pronounced "wask"), about 10 minutes from Kolumna. It's about 20:00 now, dusk just starting to fall as the town settles down for the evening. Most places were already closed, so we just wandered around, first stopping by the main church in the center of town then walked through town square. There's a second, smaller church in town, whose name escapes me, but was originally Protestant before being converted to Catholic some time ago, and now serves the armed forces community (I believe there's an air base nearby).
Anyhoo, what's remarkable about this church is that it's made entirely of wood, probably the only such structure within miles of here (I think the forests had disappeared many moons ago, so almost all structures here are masonry). The dark exterior stain smelled suspiciously of creosote...that's a photo of it up top (not mine-taken from this site). We walked around the outside a little and were just about to move on when the front door opened and an older lady stepped out, presumably the caretaker. Kasia wanted to show us the inside so she talked to the lady a little and we were allowed in. We dropped a few zloty in the collection box and wandered around the main floor. It was kind of like being in a log cabin, with big timbers and logs used as the primary structure (we later learn the wood used was larch), the lectern was decorated with seashells and stones, and there were beautiful vibrant paintings scattered throughout. We learn that they are struggling with upkeep, not suprising as we're standing in a wood structure that's several centuries old; we can see water stains in the ceiling above us. The caretaker points a finger upwards: do you want to see?
Sure, we nod, thinking we'll get to hang out in the choir balcony and get closer to the ceiling (maybe she's thinking these "rich" Americans will donate to the cause). We climb the narrow stairs to find the caretaker in the far corner, fishing around for something; it's a string, which she yanks on and a tiny trap door swings open, some 12 feet above our heads. Wait, what? Next thing you know this lady's swinging around a 15' aluminum ladder and sets it in the opening, climbing up like she does this every day. I look up and see a hand beckoning; we look at each other, shrug "what the hell," and follow her up (though it took a little convincing for Kasia).
The attic is dark and everything you touch leaves you sooty. The caretaker points out some of the temporary fixes for the roof, ranging from plastic sheeting to expandable foam spray for the bigger gaps. After the tour, we climb back down, wash up and thank the caretaker. We walk around town a little more, then head back home for dinner with the parents. Not wanting to make K's mom cook after a long day, we head out for pizza. If I remember correctly, it was ham, cheese and corn pizza, which was a bit strange, but not bad. After dinner, they insisted that we stay with them rather than go back to the hotel. That was mighty nice of them, though at the time I was hoping for some Fred time to decompress (plus I was needing to drop a big deuce and didn't want to do that at someone's house). But, we couldn't refuse their hospitality and so we bed down for the night, wondering how much more excitement we could take in one trip.
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