Hi, Tomasz. (And everyone else.) I will send you a PDF with some pictures. As for the questions: The experience we had was more than I expected. I speak no Polish (other than a few greetings). I hired a genealogist friend from Krakow to come and take us out to the villages. He was amazing and we wouldn't have had such a good experience without him. As we went from village to village he stopped and asked people directions and they were all so kind and helpful (even taking us there themselves if they couldn't explain it). I think it really helped to have him with us because he explained to people why we were there and then they were eager to see the names I was looking for. Our translator commented several times that they were friendlier there in the country than in Krakow where he lives. We had a priest open up his office during closed hours and show us the very registries I've been looking at for a year on microfilm. When we found our second cousins (we didn't think there were any that stayed in the area), they were elated and begged us to stay with them and not at the hotel. They invited us to stay for dinner and we had one of the most memorable experiences I've ever had (our poor translator had to translate all evening). We sat down and our cousin listed all the family members we were missing and personally escorted us around two cemeteries to show us family graves. Was it a successful trip? Absolutely! Would that happen to anyone going to Poland on a similar mission? That I don't know, but it's worth a try. > Hello Elizabeth - > > Yes, i would like to see any photo's you'd care to send to me. I > appreciate the offer. > > Got some questions if you don't mind taking the time to answer them. > Overall, was the experience about what you expected ?? I know this is a > multifaceted question, but I'm interested in how the people there received a > "long lost" cousin and their thoughts on genealogy ?? Do you speak Polish > ?? If not, did you have language problems ?? Were the people in the smaller > villages a bit leery of a strange visitor ?? > > Tomasz