Polsca Tours

Warmest holiday wishes. May this season bring you peace, rest, and moments of joy. We wish you health, calm, and a bright New Year ahead. 🎄⭐️

From Polonia about a very special and beautiful tradition still cultivated in Poland:

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 The Slavic festival of Dziady (meaning "Forefathers' Eve") is a feast for the dead, believed to be a time when the veil between the living and the dead was thin. Rituals involved appeasing ancestors by offering food, drink, and candles.

🔥As Christianity spread, the church absorbed many pagan practices rather than eradicating them. The tradition of lighting fire on graves was incorporated into Christian observances like All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day.

🕯️Today, lighting candles is a widespread practice in countries like Poland and other parts of Central Europe, where it is a way to honor deceased loved ones, guide their souls, and maintain a connection to the past.

On our way back to Gdańsk from Malbork (which I’ll write about later), our group of travelers from Denmark - who visit Poland every year and whom I have the pleasure to guide - stopped at a truly special place: Mały Holender in Żelichowo.

It’s more than just a restaurant - it’s a beautifully restored historic Żuławy house, rebuilt by its owners in the original layout, with great care and respect for the region’s heritage. They’re passionate about preserving local traditions and bringing old Żuławy recipes back to life in their kitchen.

For lunch, we had potato babka with meat and mushroom sauce, hearty and full of flavor, followed by homemade elderflower lemonade - fresh, fragrant, and perfectly summery.

It was one of those quiet, authentic moments on the road when food, history, and place come together - and you feel grateful to experience it all. 🌿✨

I recently visited the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk with a group from Denmark that I was guiding - and it turned out to be one of those places that truly stay with you. The exhibition tells the story of Poland’s journey from life under Soviet influence to becoming part of the European Union - and it does so in a way that’s both powerful and deeply human.

There are films, recordings, personal stories, and objects that make history feel very real and close. My group was genuinely moved - and so was I. It’s not just a museum, it’s an emotional experience that helps you understand what political changes really means in the Polish context.