A chance encounter with a stranger in a small town in Poland led me to the world’s tallest statue of Jesus.

I was on my way to Berlin after spending 10 wonderful days devouring pierogies and visiting castles and cultural sights in Poland. But my train departed late and I missed my connecting train. I wound up on a train headed in the wrong direction.

You can read about what happened next in my story in the latest issue of Food Wine Travel magazine.

Poland can be overlooked by tourists, but I found the Central European country to be a place of remarkable beauty with some of the kindest people I’ve met while traveling the world.

Thanks to the Polish Tourism Organization for hosting my extraordinary visit to Poland.