Wednesday 1st September to Tuesday 7th September
Poland.
After a couple of days at Oswiecim(the second one very wet) we drove to Wroclaw, via a town called Czerma and their Chapel of skulls which is a monument to the victims of the 30 years war. It is a macabre sight with the walls, ceilings, and the altar decorated with human skulls and leg bones. A priest and gravedigger many years ago decided to clean and disinfect the bones and make the chapel a shrine for the people who died. When we finally arrived in Wroclaw it was getting late and the only campsite was situated by the old Olympic stadium, called Stadium Camping and handy to the city with a tram stop close by. (The amenities were pretty old and basic, don’t think they have upgraded them since then.)
We arrived later than we planned as we encountered many road works along the way, which is something quite common in Poland.They must be spending a lot of money fixing their roads as we seem to be seeing the sight of men working on roads almost everywhere we go; so they should be very good in a year or so’ time.
Thursday we took the tram into the old part of Wroclaw. The tourist office had a walking route of the city which we followed. It is a very picturesque city with a church on nearly every corner. We first decided to visit the Raclawicka Panorama which is one of the most popular attractions in Wroclaw. A painting done to be viewed from a platform in the center and depicts the uprising of the 4th April 1794 when the soldiers and peasants defeated the Russian army. Their great hero of the battle was Tadeusz Kosciuzko after whom Australia’s highest mountain has been named. It is a very impressive painting and with the foreground filled with real equipment gives a very good impression of being in the middle of a great battle. After looking a few buildings, Churches, Cathedral etc. we had lunch at a café in the market where a lot of locals were eating. Pierogi is a local dish of Poland and we tried it with some salad, it’s a bit like large ravioli and filled with meat, but it can also be filled with cheese, potato or fruit. In the market Jenny bought a coffee plunger at a small shop which sells coffee and tea cups and utensils, as we had been looking around for a while for a stainless steel one for the camper. Now we have been having real coffee with our breakfast in the mornings. At around 4.00 we had had enough sightseeing and took the tram back to the campground.
Friday morning after again doing some washing we left the campsite and headed towards Poznan. After another lot of roadworks we arrived at a campsite in the late afternoon. A very quiet spot, with again very basic facilities.
Saturday morning we headed off to the other side of Poznan to visit a family that we had met in Croatia. We had camped next to them and seemed to hit it off very well and had been invited to stop by on the way through to Germany. We arrived about 11.00 am after going around in circles for about ¾ of an hour. The motorway Tom Tom took us on didn’t have an off ramp at the place we were being directed and it seemed that the only way to our destination was on a dirt road, we kept trying to avoid it as it didn’t seem right but in the end we had to take the plunge and go along the only way we could see possible and eventually came in the back way of the residential area. (We now know there was a better way, but at the time it was not obvious) So we finally arrived at Kasia and Grzegorz’s (Greg) home. We were greeted very warmly and they seemed very happy to see us again. We were treated to a traditional dinner and then later supper and allocated the main bedroom for the night. Kasia wouldn’t take no for an answer and we felt a little guilty for kicking them out of their bed, but it was really nice to sleep in a “real” bed for a night and to use a very nice bathroom too.
In the late afternoon they drove us into Poznan to have a look around the center of the town which is very nice with a large town hall and many colorful decorated buildings. As it was Saturday it was very busy, café’s were doing a good trade and we were able to see some old car’s which seemed to be in a car rally being waved off. We enjoyed spending some time getting to know the family better, seeing how they live and being thoroughly spoilt and we have the invitation to visit again. (which we would very much like to do)
We left late Sunday morning, Kasia and Grzegorz gave us a book about Poznan, a small Polish flag, a wooden image of the Poznan town hall and it’s goats and a decorative pottery jar [we really were spoilt there]. They suggested that we visit some lakes which were half way between Poznan and Berlin near a town called Lagow.
Arriving at about 3.00 that afternoon we were one of two campers at the campground. A German couple Gaby and Henning were also there. The campsite was next to the lake and was very quiet. The next day we got up late [slackers] did a load of washing, talked to our neighbors for awhile, read books and generally had a slack day. Our neighbors left before lunch and we had the campsite to ourselves.
The next day we headed of out of Poland into Germany on our way to Berlin, taking the scenic route north of the main motorway and along back roads through forests, villages and farmland stopping for lunch and break next to a forest.
We will stay near Berlin with some friends of my sister and brother in law’s, whose names are Regina and Jorg who live just north of Berlin and we can park the camper in their yard and then take the bus or train from there into the city.