Looking For Rollo - First Days In Poland | Jenny And Ewout's Motorhome Adventures

Monday 18th May 2015
We are getting into the holiday mode with Jenny not getting out of bed until 9.30.(mind you she did not have a good night) I did get up a bit earlier but not much. We left Greifswald and headed along the coast in the direction of Poland. At morning tea time we stopped in a small carpark and after coffee walked along the beach. The people at the beach were all in jumpers and the thought of swimming had not crossed anyone mind. The beach seemed to be sectioned off and may belong to different hotels or resorts during the summer.
Plenty of people were riding bikes along the track near to the beach. I’m sure this quiet setting will become mayhem in a few months when summer hits.

Beachside just before the Polish border. Quite now but in a few months it will be full of tourists jostling for a good spot.

Small seats for two, to be rented out, there storage-room underneath while you go swimming.

A couple of old Trabant's that have been restored. They may not have got around to restoring the engine as they sounded awful when they stared and drove off. — A couple of old Trabant’s that have been restored. They may not have got around to restoring the engine as they sounded awful when they stared and drove off.

We drove further across the border into Poland with stalls selling cheap tourist ‘tat’ and every second selling cheap cigarettes to the Germans crossing over the border for the day. To go further we had to cross a ferry and luckily we didn’t have to wait long and we crossed over near Swinoujscie.

Sign at the ferry crossing. A gentle reminder not to drive of the edge and into the water.

From this town large ferry’s go to Copenhagen [Denmark] and Ystad [Sweden] which explains why we encountered many German motorhomes coming from that direction during that day. On the other side of Swinoujscie we saw only the one motorhome for the rest of the day.

The gates to the Viking village, Jenny is eager to take a look around.

Looking for Rollo – Wolin

The first thing we needed to do after crossing the border was get some Polish Zloty’s, as it’s hard to get by without cash. We drove until we saw a town just of the main road and went in search of an ATM machine. As in most cases the parking is limited for a motorhome in the middle of town and when we did spot the ATM we then had to look for a carpark. The carparks are always on the wrong side of the road and we had to go further to turn around and get back. Before we turned around there we saw it ‘A Viking Village “on the side of the river, let’s go find Rollo!!. The ATM machine could wait and we drove to the entrance and parked up.

Inside all the building were furnishings as they would have been in the Viking times.

Is that Rollo? No it's only Ewout ! — Is that Rollo? No it’s only Ewout !

When I went to the ticket office I asked if they accepted Euros and how much was it “2.40 Euros” she said, a real bargain and we went to explore the village. We were impressed to see how well it was presented with people dresses in costumes assisting in activities for school children. Our unexpected turn off into the town turned out to be a few hours of entertainment, you never know what is around the next bend! And no we didn’t find Rollo but had a good time looking.

We were impressed with the quality of the village.

At the harbour a boat lay ready to sail off for some raiding and pillaging.

If you want to know who Rollo is he is a character from the latest Viking TV series.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5jhDFzso-w
I think he is Jenny’s favorite, could be his many words of wisdom or the fact that he is often without a shirt on??

Could this be Rollo? No it was one of the staff who dressed in costume. — Could this be Rollo?
No it was one of the staff who dressed in costume.

Some of the friendly staff at the village.

We did eventually get our money and continued on to the town of Cerkwica where we parked for the night near to a sports field with views of the local church and cemetery. The cemetery was immaculately kept with flowers on nearly all the graves and even small garden beds planted between them. At night we could see the glow from numerous candles which had been lit in the glass candle holders.

The church in Cerkwica. Made out of stone except for the spire.

Our overnight spot for the night,next to the sports ground overlooking the church and cemetery.

Scene of the countryside, lots of canola field.

Kolobrzeg

The next morning on the road again and heading along the north coast we came to the town of Kolobrzeg and for some strange reason it had been circled on the Polish map book we have. No idea of who circled it so we decided to drive through and have a look. Near the centre of town we saw a market and found a park nearby in a secure parking place, at 6 Zloty’s per hour it was a good deal.

Marketplace. Very big and plenty of the local were there to shop. — Marketplace. Very big and plenty of the locals were there to shop.

Near to the center of town was the military museum. Not what I expected in the middle of town,

The "Bunyip" is safe in the secure parking spot near the center of the town. — The “Bunyip” is safe in the secure parking spot near the center of the town.

The market was teaming with people all buying groceries, clothes, furniture, bikes, toys etc. we left with some vegetables and a matchbox toy motorhome. After the market we walked past a military museum located in the town centre, complete with tanks, fighter jets, helicopters, rocket launchers and many other trucks and vehicles. Not the usual thing you see in most town centres. We visited another church of course and then a café, after coffee and cake we headed back, paid the car park attendant 12 Zloty’s and drove to our spot for the night.

Driving through Poland, one of the towns we went through. The roads are not really very busy and the driving is easy. Some of the roads are a bit bumpy.

Surfcamping, Lake Gardno.

We arrived at the campground early afternoon and decided to make the most of the sunny weather. Time to do some clothes washing, some inside housekeeping and some outside cleaning. Ewout set up the solar panels to make the most of the sunshine and then we settled down for a quiet afternoon. The surfcamp is set up mainly for windsurfers on the lake and the only other people around are workers getting set up for the season. It is very quiet and we are taking the opportunity to do a few small jobs and to have a break from the road.