Twin Cities Polish Festival

Have I mentioned that my future sister-in-law is Polish? (No, this is not the start of a Polish joke...) She is, as my brother and I put it, "Polish, Polish," in that she lives in Poland. Anyhow, she encouraged my brother to go to the Twin Cities Polish Festival and check things out. In turn, my brother invited me to go with.

{Eric and I upon arriving at the Polish Festival}

The TC Polish Festival had quite a bit to offer. There was Folk Music and Dance, Artist Booths, Polish Poster Exhibit, Traditional Food Market, Polish Dog Exhibit, Polka Bands, Polish Beer Garden, Free Polka Lessons and more. {This list was taken from the website and a lot of it I hadn't realized was going on -- like the polka lessons. That would have been fun...}

We walked around, checked out the vendors and their mechandise, asked questions about the Polish-American organization, picked up a flyer for a Catholic church service held Sunday entirely in Polish. It was fun.

{D - I had Eric pose with this. Do you know what it is for?} {Eric pointing out where Dominika went to school}

And then we focused on two specific areas: the traditional food market and the Polish beer garden...

{Beer fresh from the garden}

Apparently I was way too eager to eat the food we bought, because I didn't take a single picture, but here's what we had (all was shared):

- Kielbasa with Sauerkraut

- Pączki (a Polish doughnut)

- Meat Pierogies

- Placki Kartoflane (potato pancakes), served w/ sour cream

*Eric bought a Chleb to take home (a 2 lb loaf of Polish Rye bread)

We also had two piwos (beers) each, one Zywiec, two Zamkowe and one Okocim {Is that even a beer?}

{Before we left we took in some culture and watched these young Polish dancers}

After the festival, we headed to Kramarczuk's, a deli featuring Eastern European foods. And we ate some more...

{Eric eating a Polish(?) sausage with sauerkraut}

{me getting ready to dive into a golabki (cabbage roll) with a side of sauerkraut}

Unpictured we shared two liquor filled chocolates and had our own pastries. It was such a fun day and outside of eating and drinking, I think we picked up some good information for Dominika. After this trip it is official, my aversion to sauerkraut is history. I even picked some up at the grocery store. Yum!