Christmas in Poland

You may not have a choice. So much depends on the judge. In our case we were required to stay in the town where his orphanage was for the bonding period. Some people only get to visit thier children during the bonding time while others get to take them. You will want to see what you will be allowed to do before making your plans. Also another thing to keep in mind, if your children are older there may be festivities planned or programs that they are involved in.

The bonding will take place between Dec. 6 and 22nd. The final court date is on the 22nd. We opted to stay in Poland while the birth certificates are being done, so in essence we can go wherever we like as long as we're in Warsaw by Jan. 7th to meet the attorney and get the passports going. The children will be with us the entire time, and will not be returning to the foster home, therefore the festivities and programs are all up to us.

We were in Poland in January. We spend 3 weeks in Katowice and 3 in Warsaw. Since we had not intended on staying the entire time, our arrangements were last minute and I was staying by myself with two toddlers and my Polish is terrible at best, so we opted for Warsaw for convenience as own lawyer could drive the girls and I there. Had we planned ahead, we would have done 2 weeks in Krakow as it has more cultural activities. I know there are many traditional activities in Krakow during the holidays. What are the age ranges of the children -- with two toddlers in a double stroller, it was hard to see many museums and cultural centers both because of the stroller and their attention :) Congratulations! Please keep us posted.

The ages of the children are 3, 4.5 and 6. My parents, who are Polish, will be joining us after the court date, so that will ease the Polish aspect a bit. I understood from my mom that Krakow has more interest during the holidays and it's also cheaper, so I think that's the way we'll go.

If you get the chance visit Auswitz, but don't bring the kids! I think you will be fine as long as you are pretty flexible. You will have to kind of go with the kids feelings. It will get dark earlier than it does here and it will be cold. Perhaps your parents can ask around about indoor playgrounds and such. I would keep the gifts small since you have to transport it all home. Take lots of pictures! We took lots of walks, it will be harder with three, but if you have enough adults to hold everyone's hand you should be fine. There may be some behavior challanges the first few months, so you will have to see how well the kids will do in public.

I preferred Warsaw for all reasons. I have no idea what to do in Winter, but I loved Warsaw!

One thing I would suggest is letting the children pick out some ornaments and other decorations that you can use in future years. Imagine the memories they will bring back of your first Christmas together in Poland. One thing I did, since I was there in November, was, as I got to know him well enough, I ordered some toys and things that he would like from Amazon and they were waiting for us when we got home. (also I was able to replace a couple of toys that he had been given by people in Poland, but that were too big to take home in suitcases). Things we did included games (things like connect four that don't need language skills) and we did flash cards for learning English vocabulary. I had brought several new toys, but I rationed them, so that it wasn't till he was totally bored with an old one that I would bring out a new one. We also played videos on our computer. I let him watch some kids shows on BBC and it helped jump start his English.

We were in Poland last year Dec 20th until Feb 12th of this year. Our new son was 2 in Jan. We were in his region through the holidays. It was very cold so we bundled up & took lots of walks. Once in Warsaw there were lots of playgrounds. We just bundled up & played outside, there were always other kids outside. Have fun!

Krakow is just magical in the winter. Standing in the Rynek Glowny, a cup of hot mulled wine, the snow falling, people crossing to and fro, music and lights.....Some of my very fondest memories are of Christmas in Krakow. I wouldn't go anywhere else. :-)

MY advice is to plan your meals and activities for evening of December 24,31 and whole day of December 25 and 26, January 1 ahead of the time. Every store and business will be closed and only few restaurants will be open. So do some food shopping ahead or make reservation for meals. I would recommend going to tourist information center and asking them for advice. Congratulation.