Olesno

Once upon the late 1800's, a lady in a the faraway village of Zalipie was decorating her chairs and dining table with floral patterns, as was customary in her region. She liked it so much, that she started to paint her cutlery, dishes, pots, pans, teakettle, and everything she could find in her kitchen. But why stop there? Don't the oven, her bed, and even the walls deserve some folk art love too? As the years passed, her whole house and her shed were covered in flowers - inside and out. The other women of the village watched in awe and wonder. They too wanted to have beautiful homes! So they all started painting flowers on everything they deemed worthy until the entire village was in perpetual bloom. Except for the cat, who just wouldn't have it.

The tradition of painting houses, pottery and just anything, really, and of making flowers of any material imaginable still is alive today, as can be seen in the community hall and the church. Many facades around the village still have their floral patterns. The original house now is a museum honoring the woman who started the tradition.

There was no way of getting here by public transportation, so I rented a car at the airport and drove towards Tarnow before turning onto a country road. At one point, I had to cross a river l but there was no bridge. Instead, a small cable ferry would transport two cars at a time across to the other side.Read more