Polski

From 27 July and still there

 

First stop was Poznan, which if it wasn’t for Marek from Berlin we would have driven straight past. A beautiful little city. Has a lovely old market square with buildings with different coloured and styles of facade. Enjoyed sitting and having a coffee and watch the world go by. Easy to see in a couple of hours. We ended up staying 2 nights. First day it just rained so caught up on a bit of my travel diary, did some washing (free clothes dryer) , worked out a bit of a plan for the rest of our days in Europe, just chilled, then rode in to have a look around the town the next morning. Stopping off at the Westfields like shopping centre on the way back for a few supplies.

 

Stop 2, the religious centre of Czestochowa, which is home to the miracle of the Black Madonna (the one with tears). So many pilgrims, bus loads and bus loads just kept on arriving. We didn’t queue to see the Madonna up close, but did see it from a distance.  Only stayed the one night then further south to Krakow. A bit like Prague, a beautiful city with a great old market square and a castle, but again rain and groups on hens and bucks parties. Again, great if you’re there to party but not for a peaceful stroll around town... Why is it that we always end up in these places on a Friday night?!!

 

Then further south towards the Tatra Mountains and the ski resort of Zakopane. Would be a great spot in the Winter. In Summer it just rains! We could only see to the first group of mountains, only about 30% of the way up when we looked at the postcards. But a very lively town. Lots of street markets and performers. Lots of hikes you could do as well. Unfortunately no mountain bikes allowed in the national park though.

 

Random stop last night, again at what seemed like a popular spot for the locals. Near a lake called Roznowskie. We ended up having to do a bit of 4WDriving to get there as part of the road we were heading along had been taken out by a mudslide. AutoRoute came in handy to show us the local road around, which turned into grass and then mud, with a big locked gate blocking the entrance at the other end. Small steep gap between that and the tree.. got round it eventually, with a ‘Bravo’ from the guy who was picking fruit nearby.

 

Now in Warsaw, haven’t been into the centre of town yet. Need to catch up on a few things, like an oil change and find the Russian and Mongolian embassies to get a bit of admin sorted out.