Today we went on a little excursion to Wadowice. This city holds a lot of significance for a number of reasons firstly it is the place where John Paul II was born and secondly it is my birthplace as well. John Paul II was born in the building to the right of the church. Bronia arranged for us to visit the newly opened museum that describes his life and journey from here to the Vatican. It is quite modern and cavernous and it contains some of the relics that were part of his life including (for a limited time) the gun used to assassinate him. There is a lot of pride in his achievement to reach the Vatican and become Pope. 

The square has been and continues to be a place where people congregate and hang out. This city is also a big tourist draw as many travel here to visit his birthplace. It has changed quite a bit since my first visit here. Some of the stones in the street have names of the countries he’s visited.  

I had the opportunity to meet my dads cousin. She said she remembered me as a little one and said that I had a strong resemblance to him. She is the one who got us the tickets to the museum. It has only been opened for a year. There were no pictures allowed inside. 

It was also time to say goodbye to my aunt, uncle and cousin as I was handed over to another cousin to spend time with my mom’s side of the family. As with all such partings it is quite emotional. I’ve had a lot of them lately and I have a couple of more days of this before I leave on Sunday. As hard as it is to leave I’m happy to have made the effort to get to know all of them and learn a lot about where I’m from.