by Paula Giangreco Cullison

Our awesome trip was made so memorable by the warm welcome shown to us by Servas members in Poland, Finland, and Estonia. Gdansk, an important player in the Hanseatic League, was our first stop in Poland. Servas members Ola and Wlod Serwinski met us at the airport in Gdansk, Poland and invited us to spend a few nights in their beautiful home in Kielno.

During the next two days, Ola gave us a tour of the area: visits to Wiezyca, the forested area in the Kashubian region, and to Slawutowo, the medieval folk village. Ola also drove us past the home of Lech Walesa, President of Poland (1990-95) and leader of the Solidarity Movement.

Grazyna Zajder, a local psychotherapist, invited us to her home in Sopot for a delicious dinner. There, we met her husband Mariusz and tourist guide friend Anna Sola, who is also a member of Servas. The next day Grazyna gave us a walking tour of old Gdansk. We stopped to enjoy the local herring specialty at a waterside café.

We also met up with Servas member Wojtek Dabrowski, a retired engineer, who lives in a small house which he built and eats from the garden which he planted. The plot of land was allocated to him and others by the Polish government about 20 years ago. Wojtek met us at our hotel and gave us a walking tour of the Old Town peppered with historic facts. We then took the bus to his home.  Wojtek informed us that anyone who is a Senior can ride public transportation for free in Poland.

Grazyna contacted her colleague Michal and his wife Agata to meet us when we arrived in Wroclaw. Together we visited the Museum of Modern Art and then Tim and I walked through the Japanese Garden. At the hotel, we met a group of women from Ireland who were former marathon runners. Now they enjoy traveling together.

During our time in Krakow, we met up with Ewa and Andrzej Kowalunas at the main square and then headed to a local café that is frequented by members of the arts community. Both are educators. They informed us that education is free in Poland. One can study for as long as one likes – no age restrictions. 

Although we did not have Servas contacts in Warsaw, we did meet up with our friends’ daughter Hania Bethell and fiancé Paul Brzezicki, as well as Matthew Jernstedt, a friend’s former student who now works at the American Embassy, and his wife Kelly, a music teacher. Even though our visit to Warsaw was all too short, we did attend a Chopin concert.

While in Helsinki we met with Servas members Minna and Jarmo at their home for coffee, dessert, and conversation. Both are educators and love to travel. We also met up with Antti Belinskji, an environmental lawyer, whose childhood friend Olli Honkkila is the Honorary Consul of Finland in Arizona. Antti gave us a walking tour of Helsinki with a stop at their new and fascinating Oodi Library. 

In Tallinn, Estonia, we met up with Servas member Jana Reikop, a nurse, and Katrin Alliksaar, a lawyer, whom I’d met via social media, as we shared our interest in opera. Jana met us at our hotel which housed the KGB museum, and we met Katrin for dinner in the Old Town of Tallinn. Both encounters, like the others, made for a special trip.

Note - Click photos for larger view