It wasn't a long drive from Poznan and it was a glorious late August day. There were supposed to be three trees. Not just trees, of course, they are three of the oldest and most venerable oaks in Poland, named after the mythical Lech, Czech and Rus. But still, only three trees. So it was a bit of a surprise to find ourselves, after following the signs for a while, at the gates of an old mansion. A pleasant surprise, because it was a very pretty mansion. A long drive led use to the front steps. On this monday afternoon there were very few visitors, and the whole setting made a great impression. The silence of the atmosphere, with only the sound of birds and footsteps on gravel to accentuate it, the warm yellow frontage of the building, the deep blue sky simply combined to perfection.

We walked past the main building, past a curious French garden centered around a small hill, though a small wood, and finally reached the oaks. And very impressive they were, Rus being about 900 years old and still alive and metaphorically kicking. Although outside the main garden complex, the presence of the ancient trees also added to the general atmosphere. We walked around the enclosure containing the trees, admiring Lech's elegance, mourning Czech's demise (although the dead tree was still standing tall) and baffled by Rus's size. After that, we just roamed the park. There were a few other visitors, a father with a couple of kids, a young couple kissing on a park bench under the watchful gaze of classical statues.

After leaving the park, there was one surprise left. Completely unexpected, the small village (or rather hamlet) had a fabulous little restaurant which provided us with a much needed cool pint of Lech (not the tree this time, the beer) and a delicious venison stew. An afternoon to wax lyrical about, as I did just now. And one that's hard to convey in just one picture. I chose this one, because hopefully it shows something of the peaceful summer afternoon atmosphere. Oh, and the village is called Rogalin, should you want to visit it.

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