The 2010 Holiday Tour to Poland offers many special touches, including specially designed dinners, receptions, “folklore evenings,” cultural activities and city tours. For those wishing to capture fond family memories of a Polish Christmas, the tour also offers visits to some of Poland’s leading Christmas markets in Warsaw, Lublin and Krakow as well as a specially prepared 12-course Polish Wigilia “Christmas Eve” banquet, complete with the moving tradition of sharing the oplatek wafer and Polish koledy Christmas carols performed by the Krakow’s popular Krakowianie Folk Ensemble.
Another distinctive highlight is the annual Krakow Szopka (Christmas Creche) competition on Krakow’s magnificent main market square in which scores of folk artists of all ages present their meticulously hand-crafted szopka creations. This picturesque tradition is found only in the city of Krakow and represents one of Europe’s most distinctive Christmas customs. Tour members will also be treated to a private reception with one of Krakow’s most prominent Szopka Masters and preview his master work first-hand. As a special treat, by special invitation of the City of Krakow History Museum, Motak will be entering one of his szopka works in this year’s Szopka Competition. He will be the first American to enter a szopka in the Krakow competition.
A frequent traveler to Poland, Motak will share many insights and behind-the-scenes additions not generally found on regular tour excursions.
Designed for both the seasoned traveler to Poland as well as the first-time visitor, this custom-designed tour offers a wide range of special features as well as a taste of “romantic Old Poland” that includes tours, fine dining and/or lodging in some of Poland’s most impressive historic landmarks, including two nights in the stately Sieniawa Palace. The tour will visit Warsaw, Kazimierz Dolny, Lublin, Zamosc, Lancut, Krakow, Zakopane and other locations.
Departure is from Pittsburgh and other major cities.
For further information, visit the Holiday Tour to Poland web site at www.cracowcrafts.com or call 412-835-0539.
The web site features a downloadable color tour flyer and an interactive tour map with tour itinerary and site photos. You may also contact Mary Gorecki at PAT tours: 1-800-388-0988.
The annual Holiday Tour to Poland is one of the activities of the Cracow Creche Workshop©, an educational endeavor created by Motak in 2003 to promote the appreciation of the szopka art form. To date, nearly 600 students have studied szopka making under Motak’s tutelage at workshops and public presentations across the country. The first person to develop a teaching methodology for the design and construction of the szopka, Motak is the recipient of the prestigious Work of Art Award by the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council, on of the highest designations that an artist can receive in the state of Pennsylvania and was one of only two Pennsylvania artists to receive the prominent Fellowship in Traditional Arts for the Pennsylvania Council in the Arts in 2009. He has shown his work at various exhibitions, including the prominent Gagosian Gallery in New York City. The artist also serves as Director of Communications for the Polish Falcons of America, one of the country’s leading Polish American benefit fraternal organizations.