Lwowek Śląski, Lower Silesia
Postcard #3 - big rocks, ruins, invasive species and something unexpected growing in a river
Hello! How have you been? Are you already looking forward to the coming season or still enjoying the current one?
If you are new here, welcome to Clay on my mind!
If you haven’t already, you may want to read a bit more about me and what to expect from Clay on my mind here and in the About tab.
It’s again been two weeks since I last wrote to you. I accepted and stopped fighting the fact that this month is what it is, and I simply do not have the capacity to write more often. I realise I owe you a Portuguese Expressions post and a Lisbon postcard post, both of which will land in your inboxes soon, I promise. But, since we were away last week, I thought I would first share with you our more recent trip.
A short warning to those reading this in email: Substack tells me that this letter is too long for most email servers/providers and will likely appear truncated. My fault for including so many pictures. If you wish to read/see the full post, you’ll need to click "View entire message" and you'll be able to view the entire post in you email app. Or you can visit my Substack site or download the app and look for Clay on my mind there.
Our yearly trip to the mountains has become something of a tradition we hope to keep for as long as possible. When our daughter was little and could be carried around (sometimes awake, sometimes asleep) we did some more intensive hiking in the Tatra mountains. These days, however, we are happy if we manage to spend some time outdoors at all. This year, we spent a few days in the Lwowek Śląski region and it was quite a success, as we walked, biked and even rowed!
Stupid is the new smart
We stayed in a 1850s building in a small village called Dębowy Gaj.
It was an old (d’uh) house, with creaky floors, low ceilings, small windows and loads of history. The owner was a very nice lady and I just wish we’d had the chance to talk longer and ask her about the house and all the family pictures hanging on the walls. We thoroughly enjoyed our stay. I particularly appreciated the lack of modern electronic “hummings” that seem to be characteristic of modern so-called smart buildings. Give me a “stupid” house anytime!
Another big plus was the container for food scraps for the compost — no need to dump a stinky garbage bag at the end of the stay. On the down side (perfect is boring, right?), there was no oven in the tiny converted kitchen (there were two electric hobs for cooking), and the lady had the habit of watching TV for about two hours from around 9 at night. Because the acoustics were weird, it sounded rather loud and as though it was coming from all around us (our rooms were on the first floor), which was weird.
A bit of town and a bit of nature
In any case, we hadn’t come that far to spend our time in the house. We hiked among big rocks, biked to the town of Jelenia Góra, and visited an old palace and the ruins of an ancient castle.
The walk among the rocks in Szwajcaria Lwówecka had to be cut short for “technical reasons” (ankle pain possibly related to lack of screen time is my best guess) but we made it to a nice view point and managed to enjoy it while it lasted.
That same afternoon, we visited the Lenno castle and palace in Wleń. At the entrance to the ruins of the castle we were given a plan of the grounds and our daughter enjoyed running around (ankle pain gone by then) pointing out what used to be where. Here the kitchen, there they would sleep… It was interesting to see how the fortification had started from a single small building and grown from there.
Further down the hill, we had lemonade in the coffee shop inside Palace Lenno. There are a few rooms that can be visited but the place looks as though it’s still undergoing renovations. The gardens are also a work in progress but I enjoyed peeking inside the large glass houses (filled with tomato and pumpkin plants) and strolling around.
A sucker for pots
The only picture I took of our bike ride was of the place we stopped at for food in Siedlęcin, the modestly named Perła Zachodu (Pearl of the West). The food was unexpectedly good but what made the biggest impression on me was the outside décor. Planted with cabbages, lettuce, leeks and all kinds of herbs, this collection of old fermentation pots and other finds created an amazing display. After some resistance, R agreed to ask where such treasures could be found, but the disappointing answer was “at the local flea market, on Sundays”; we were staying in the area until Saturday only. Next time.
On the afternoon of the day we took the cable car up to Stóg Izerski (rather crowded even though the cable cars had been empty, and hot; we enjoyed the views for some time but then headed down; there had been talk of walking down, but, in the end, we just took the cable car again), we went to Kwisa waterfall. The waterfall itself is not impressive but the place is nice, shaded and cool. It was a hot a day and to stand in the shallow water and look for treasures was just what we needed.
The last day
The last day, we rented a rubber boat to go down a stretch of the river Bóbr.
The river, at least the 10 km we covered, is mostly shallow with hardly any current at all. We are by no stretch of the imagination experienced in this kind of activity (although R has kayaked many times before), but we did ok. I enjoyed more looking around than actually being on the boat, to be honest. Plus, I found rowing the big rubber boat a bit difficult and awkward, having to sit on my side (I am an old woman with a recent history of sciatic pain, after all).
The places in between
While on the road, we passed fields of buckwheat (much nicer than corn fields) and admired the beauty and resilience of Himalayan balsam. I considered for a moment that it would look great in the garden until I found out it tends to take over and is, in fact, becoming an unwelcome “invasive” species in many areas. Apparently, it produces so much nectar and for so long — all the way from Spring and well into late Autumn — that the bees and other pollinators can ignore nearby flowers, including those of fruit trees and other crops, which then remain un-pollinated. In other words, a bit of a nuisance that can become a serious problem if allowed to cover large areas, but a beautiful flower, unquestionably.
So, how was the trip?
Despite the (now) usual arguments about screen time and the occasional “nooo, do we really have to?!?” question about random stuff like walking, sightseeing, starting the day, ending the day, eating, not eating, going to sleep, etc., we all enjoyed ourselves on this trip. This bodes well for next year.
Favourite activity was, unanimously, the bike ride (despite me falling off my at the time stationary (!!) bike and scrapping my knee), and least favourite (despite the beautiful scenery) was the boat ride. The mood was low that day (last day blues?), it was hot and sunny contrary to what had been forecast, and perhaps being on the water was more stressful for R and me than we realised. Still, I think we will not forget the beautiful dragonflies that kept visiting our boat and the blue-black butterflies that flew in kaleidoscope, skimming the water. I, for one, will never ever forget the tomato plant growing in the middle of the river.
I think that is probably one of the weirdest things I have ever seen up close, not to mention totally unexpected.
The next day, we arrived back home after a few hours on the road. It was a good week and it was good to be home.
Next week…
There will be a bit of a garden update. I cleaned up the pots on the front steps and added some new flowers. I planted two new hibiscus to create a bit of a hedge between the front garden and the driveway, and to “force” the passage to be through the two yews instead of all over the place. I will share some pictures.
I also tidied up the studio, removing stuff from the tables and getting it ready. At the time you will be reading this, I will hopefully have started washing and sieving the clays I brought from Porto Santo and will be able to share the whole process with you. There may be a kiln loading too…
But that’s next week. Until then, thank you so much for reading, let me know in the comments if you have ever seen a tomato plant growing in the middle of a river, and I will see you next time!
Sara xx
If you would like to see my work
I’m on Instagram, and have an Etsy store where you can find some pieces created in my small home studio.
And if you think your friends would also enjoy reading Clay on my mind, consider sharing it with them.
Obrigada pela partilha da vossa estadia na Silésia! Gostei muito das fotografias e adorei o tomateiro no meio do rio. Quem irá colher os tomates?
Thank you for this very interesting post. I love to see Poland, you know! Glad you had a good trip and saw some lovely things. The tomato plant in the river made me laugh.