A few years ago, when I vaguely worked for a living, the firm I worked for organised a few Polish lessons for staff because we were having an increasing number of Polish clients. Not being a born linguist I cannot remember much of it, but I’m so excited that we are visiting a country where I can say “hello” in the local language! Dzien Dobry to you all.
Yesterday we finally escaped from the cycling race restrictions at about 7.30, but not before disaster had struck. While we were parked up at the cemetery in Levoca I went to place a beer in the fridge for my delectation when we got back to our campsite. Imagine my shock when I found that the beer purchased by Sarah earlier in the day was not beer but something called “alcohol free beer”. What kind of heresy is that? So on the way back to the campsite we had to make a quick call at LIDL to rectify the catastrophe by buying the real thing to sooth my frayed nerves.
Today was a travelling day, from Slovakia to Krakow in Poland. The first part of the drive was over the High Tatras mountains. These are the highest part of the Carpathian chain which we have kept bumping into since Bulgaria. Here they rise to nearly 9,000 feet and at this time of year still have plenty of snow. An American based Englishman we had met at our campsite yesterday had told us the route through the mountains was very tortuous, but now we are veterans of such roads it ranked only 3 out of 5. Spectacular views revealed themselves at every turn, with wild flowers yet again sprinkled in the mostly uncut meadows.
High Tatras Mountains
The border to Poland was a non-event. Sarah had her iPhone ready to capture it but any formal demarcation has disappeared with Schengen. We think we entered the country when we crossed a river but we were not sure.
I had always envisaged Poland as one big flat plain, but the journey from the border to Krakow has shown me that at least this southern part of Poland is mountainous. We saw the reappearance, on a very small scale, of horse powered agriculture, when we spotted a farmer turning his hay using a horse drawn machine.
Every country has its own little idiosyncrasies which are immediately apparent. In Poland it is advertising hoardings. The roadsides, on the main roads at least, are dotted with huge advertisements in an almost US fashion. About 50% of them seemed to be selling medicine, often plastic surgery. I’m not sure what kind of medical system there is in Poland but it certainly looks competitive.
Krakow turned out to be much bigger than I had imagined as tower blocks loomed on the horizon. We headed to Camping Adam (50.046846, 19.903052) which was recommended to us to by the Anglo American we met yesterday. It is very small, with only 20 or so pitches, but is perfectly formed. It sits on the banks of Krakow’s main river about 3 km from the centre. Public transport into the old town looks straightforward, but we will see if that is the case tomorrow! At €22 a night it is our most expensive campsite to date, but it’s cheaper than the other campsite we had in mind and as we move into wealthier and more northern countries I expect twenty euros plus a night will become the norm, although more wildcamping looks an attractive option in the nordic countries, where it is a right enshrined in the law.
Basil can put his feet up for a few days at Camping Adam
I am very excited by the restaurant at the associated adjacent Hotel Eva, where I have already got my eye on various Polish dumpling dishes. Sarah is not so keen given that her meal of choice is a heaped plate of shredded lettuce!
I’m a bit slow on the uptake. I just re-read the last sentence I have just realised what the owners have done with the names of their properties. Camping Adam and Hotel Eva! Clever hey?