Stananya's Polish Wedding

This September, Drew and I had the honor of flying to Lodz, Poland to be a part of Stan and Mananya's big day. We were so excited for this trip, partly because we had never been to Poland and partly because this would be our last trip before parenthood. Some call it a babymoon...and we couldn't be more excited to share part of this trip with Stan and Mananya.

We spent three days in Lodz, Poland and then flew to Krakow where we also got to visit Auschwitz. But let's start in Lodz. We were greeted by Stan and Mananya and quickly got to meet the rest of Stan's family. I can't imagine a more friendly and open group of people. They were excited for us to see their city and for us to experience their culture. Within 15 minutes of checking into our hotel, Stan took us to get some authentic Polish food. What is authentic Polish food? I had the same question. Polish food consists of a lot of soups and meat based dishes. I think it would be very difficult to be a vegetarian in Poland. But it's all phenomenal. So anyway, a great start to our trip!

Drew and I got to experience a beautiful Polish Catholic wedding in a gorgeous cathedral in Lodz. Afterwards, we were served a 6 course dinner which lasted for over 4.5 hours. Even though I was falling asleep at the table, I made sure to make it through to our last course -- chicken stroganoff.

In the following days, we also got an amazing home-cooked meal from Stan's Aunts that lasted nearly as long as the wedding feast! We were shifted from house to house for more food. Needless to say, Drew was overwhelmed.

But it wouldn't be a complete trip without some Thai food. I can count on one hand the times that we have eaten a non-asian cusine with Mananya, so it came as no surprise to Drew or I that she insisted on a Thai dinner. But the fact that her mom from Thailand was there with authentic ingredients made it irresistible. Probably the best home-made Thai food I had experienced. I still dream about that meal.

So as you can see, our time in Poland will be something that we don't forget for a long while. I wanted to share some of this amazing cuisine with you and also some memories. Of course...read on for more about our European adventure...but what a way to kick things off!