So as soon as Kathy Ransdell got back to Chicago where she lives and had access to a computer she went to work. She found out all kinds of interesting things about the area we wanted to visit. She sent us copies of the things she found. Things to see and do plus background information about different parts of Poland.
Claudia and I during this same period of time went to the library and researched books about Poland and looked at atlases and maps. We both read the book Poland by James Mitchner. That book gave us an understanding of the many invasions and changes of power that Poland went through over many centuries.
After all this preparation of studying books and getting the things off the computer of places to see and things to do, we still had a real problem about taking this trip. We had no place to stay and we did not have any transportation. But worst of all we didn't speak Polish, and we didn't know how many people in Poland understood or spoke English. So we thought we might have to forget the whole idea.
But with Kathy's enthusiasm and persistence on looking on the computer she found a man John Kuzmich who had a website, and he had been to Snietnica. Kathy made contact with John Kuzmich by E-Mail. Later we got his phone number. Kathy copied much of the information on his website and sent Claudia and me copies. It was very interesting because there was some information about the Basalygas, much to our surprise. But even with the Kuzmich website we had the same problem of where to stay and the language barrier, etc.
Then I had a call from Kathy who was all excited. She had stayed diligently on the computer and found another website by Andrew and Helina Malecki. The Maleckis were advertising a touring service in just the area we were planning to visit. Andrew and Helina are both school teachers, and Helina speaks English. They would be our guides every day we were in Poland. They have a new van to drive us around anywhere we want to go. Well that took care of our language and transportation problem. We still had to have a place to live. Low and behold wouldn't you know Andrew's sister Danuta and her husband Janic had a two year old Inn which could accommodate us all. All our meals were included both at the Inn and when we were away from the Inn touring all the places Kathy had set up for us to see from the computer. For all this service we could not believe it could be this reasonable. So we set a date and our trip to Poland and Snietnica was now a reality.