Spending the night in Berlin and making a mad tour of the city.  Oh, and don't forget that a good German beer cures all!

Wow!  What a weekend!  The coffee and dessert reception thrown by the Kozal family for Nick and me on Saturday was a very emotional one...lots of tears and sharing of old photos and memories.  I could not love and cherish my family more.  The concert following was amazing.  Nick ended up playing the Emperor's Fanfare by Soler for the entrance of the Bishop of Kalisz during the installation of the new rector during the evening Mass at the church of Saint John the Baptist.  They were blown away!  The concert immediately followed and there was a turn out of about 100 people, mostly Kozal family members.  In short there was success for Nick at the organ and for me with my selected vocal pieces; I am grateful for that.  Everyone enjoyed the concert and did not stop talking about it.  Then the rector provided a dinner reception afterward complete with soup, meats, sandwiches, salads, and wine.  It was lovely and once again filled with emotion.  Sunday we spent the day in the car visiting the villages from where the Kozal family in the America emigrated and where many of the Kozal families still live.  It was truly an amazing.  Following are some photos...

Stress...We had to modify the concert program a bit because the church is getting a new rector today.  This means the bishop of Kalisz will be here not only to install the new rector but also will be at the concert.  It will be quite the event!  So Nick will be playing the Emperor's Fanfare for the bishop's entrance.  :)  Following are a few pics of the church...

We had nice afternoon with Szymon at the National Museum in Poznan and then at the Museum of Musical Instruments in Old Town.  The evening then culminated with a family dinner at a hunting club restaurant.  The dinner consisted of steak tartar, czarnina (duck soup), dzik (wild boar), kaczka (crispy duck), dziczyzna (venison), salads of many kinds, and of course, ginger vodka and red wine.  What a delicious meal!  And finally to the Fara Church in Poznań for an organ concert.  Please enjoy the photos that follow.  Click on each to enlarge them.  Tomorrow we leave for the village of Krotoszyn where we will give our concert on Saturday.  Time for sleep.

Sitting at my favorite coffee house...Da Vinci

We had a fantastic day in Poznań.  Spent some time rehearsing at the collegiate church  and then had lunch with the family followed by a little shopping and a cold beer at a local cafe in old town.  Later we had a delicious dinner with the family, a little more beer, and before we knew it, it was after midnight.  Below you find a few photos of the sites around town.  Just click on the photo to get a full view.

After a long trip via plane and train, we are now in Poznań with family.  What a nice and relaxing trip so far!  After all, what can one do beside rest on the plane and train, right?  We passed through a number of villages, so I decided to post some photos of the village train stations along the way.  And since there is so much construction going on (good construction), you will get a glimpse of Poznań's new train station.  All is good in the homeland.  Rehearsal in the next hour at kościoł farny in Poznań.

Today I had the pleasure of celebrating the accomplishment of my cousin Lilly (Kozal) Anderson as she earned her Doctorate in Educational Leadership.  What a wonderful afternoon and what a lovely way to spend time with our great family!  Congratulations Lil!

We recently celebrated the graduation of Casey Doyle, son of Theresa Kozal and Tom Doyle.  It was so great to see so many aunts, uncles, and cousins again.  And I have some great photos to take with me to Poland tomorrow.

Today I had the opportunity to enjoy a conversation with my cousins James Kozal, Jacqueline Kozal, and Marilyn (Kozal) Ende.  In our conversation, they provided me with this beautiful photograph of a painting of our cousin Blesssed Bishop Michal Kozal.  What a great surprise!  I also received some additional photos of family members whom I do not know.  I am sure my father knows them, but our family has grown so much that there are just too many family members for me to fathom.  A special "thanks" goes to my cousins for sharing their photos with me.