Ratiboř

This time they were accompanied by the male choir Kosáci, led by Mr. Martin Žabčík, vice-mayor of Ratiboř and vice-curator of the CCE.

The first stop in Poland was the beautiful Moszna Castle, built in the Middle Ages by the Knights Templar. The castle has a large garden with a lime avenue, which is a beautiful place for walks and rest.

From Moszna we continued our journey to the small village of Piotrówka, which was founded together with a group of Czech exiles by their parish priest Petr Sýkora, after whom the village got its name. We were welcomed by the local parish priest and the mayor who told us about the history of the village. In return, the Kosaks sang to them in Polish "Karolinka", a song that is very popular not only in this region but also in the whole of Poland. For the record, the story sung about here comes from the lives of two Czech expatriate families.

From Piotrówka we drove to the village of Jemielnica, which is an important pilgrimage site. In the afternoon, the first concert took place in the beautiful local Cistercian church. The Zvonky played (who also had "Karolinka" in their repertoire), the Kosciuszko sang and both were a great success. The touched audience also applauded the speech of the conductor, parish priestess Wiera Jelink, who thanked them for the hospitality of Silesia during the times of persecution of the Protestants. After the concert, we drove to the village of Kamień Śląski, where we stayed in the primary school. At 7 pm the concerts began. First, the Kosaks sang in the Sw. Jacka. They were a great success, especially when they sang "Karolinka". At the same time there was a concert by the Bells in the Archbishop's Palace Ballroom. At the end of the concert, they were joined by the Kosaks. The concert was a great success and Archbishop Alfons Nossol thanked them sincerely and with emotion. After the concert we had a wonderful dinner in the dining room of the palace together with all the invited guests of the Archbishop.

On Sunday morning, we toured the spa facilities, which are dedicated to hydrotherapy. Then we went to the small town of Gogolin, where in the afternoon there was a festive concert in the church of the Bell Ringers and Kosaks on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the granting of city rights to Gogolin and the anthem of the town, which is the mentioned song "Karolinka". Both were again a great success and the Kosaks duly enjoyed their first foreign performance. The concert was held on the initiative of Mr. Joachim Wojtali, the mayor of the town, who expressed his hope for further musical encounters with these extraordinary teams.

At the end of the stay, we took a joint photo with "Karolina and Karlíček" from the white stone and started our return journey. All the time we were accompanied by beautiful weather and good mood. The Kosaks made our bus journey more pleasant with their singing and harmonica playing. The whole stay was a wonderful experience for us and we are very grateful for it. Thank you very much.