Wabbit in Warsaw - again!

Just in case anyone is still reading, I am still out here, polishing my Polish. The tour ended tonight with dinner in Warsaw Old Town, after an exhausting day - for me, running round trying to take it all in.

We came by train from Krakow in the morning, and had the rest of the day in town. Warsaw looks great in the sunshine (yay! sunshine!). The same can sadly not be said for me. I was here in 1999, and they have done a lot to tart up the town in the last 12 years. (Again, the same can...) It now has gleaming statues, pavement cafes everywhere, and a real buzz. It is Chopin's home city, so there is lots of music everywhere. It really does rival Krakow as an attractive city.

Krakow was great, though. The sun was out at last, and it is a great city for people watching. You could stand in the square and in the space of a minute see a mime artist on a break, a "Sound of Music" nun, a cellist, two policemen, a parade of Scouts, and a stroppy family of Liverpudlians eating giant pretzels. Make up your own list - they will be there!

Off to Wroclaw in the morning for Monday's flight. I'm a bit fed up with all the travelling now - looking forward to my ain hoose!

I'm in Krakow now. Off to Auschwitz in the morning - I have been before, but I think it is worth revisiting. I'll hopefully report back ...

Monday in the Mountains

Back in cyberspace!

As evident from the itinerary, we are now in the Bieszczady mountains. This is the bottom right hand corner of Poland - a finger of land bordered by Ukraine on one side and Slovakia on the other. There was a civil war here after WW2 - I think - fought on ethnic lines in the villages, and many were burnt out.

Anyway, it is cold and wet, although slightly better than yesterday, when we drove from Kazimierz Dolny via Zamosc, and it chucked it down all day. The group have headed off walking in the hills, but I decided against it, given my general dislike of climbing mountains in the freezing cold and lashing rain! I just didn't have the right gear for it. I'm not convinced some of the others are properly equipped either right enough. I just decided that if I want to freeze on top of a mountain, I can do that any weekend in Scotland. I might have tholed the two hours uphill today to walk along the Polonina Wetlinska ridge had it been decent weather, and I'm sure I've missed myself in some respects, but my bed was lovely and warm!

So I got up for breakfast but have spent my Monday morning in the far more congenial surroundings of my bed, with two duvets and a great book. (And The Land Lay Still by James Robertson.) I have only ventured as far as the hotel lobby to do this post. I am going to walk into the village and pick up some food for lunch, and I might do a wee walking trail which is nearby. It's just nice to be in the mountains, to see them when I open my blinds in the morning and to breathe the mountain air. 

I'm also enjoying a bit of a break from the group. With a couple of exceptions, everyone is very easy-going, pleasant and entertaining, but I do enjoy a bit of time just to do my own thing.

So, I am now about to wander off to the supermarket. I will probably have a lunch of crisps and sticky buns, as my menu Polish is terrible, and I can only order coffee, dumplings and beer - which can get boring. 

On Saturday I made a great discovery, though - possibly the loveliest cafe I have ever been in. It was in KD on our free day, and I had spotted its cool garden tables early on. It was a bit chilly for sitting out, so I went inside, and I wanted to stay all day. It had a sort of 1920s vibe about it, with mismatched furniture, silver sugar bowls and huge vases of flowers everywhere. I had a big velvet padded wing chair. It was counter service, and I only wanted coffee, but when I went round to order, the waitress (who spoke English well) said "Cake?" and turned round to reveal cake stands full of the most gorgeous selection of goodies. So, you can all guess what I did ...
(I only had cheesecake. I mean, in cake terms, that's practically salad!!)
I had a comfy chair, coffee, cake, and a great book. I don't know why I left!

Me again with an impressive discovery. There is a couple from Christchurch, NZ in the group: Kelvin and Caroline. They lived in Glasgow for a couple of years, and I was asking him tonight at dinner if he had been impressed to find everything in Glasgow named after him, ha ha. He said no, because he is actually descended from Lord Kelvin! How cool?

Just arrived in Kazimierz Dolny. Great hotel: huge room, fantastic shower, and uncomplicated WiFi, so here I am again.

Today was an inauspicious start. We were doing a pre-breakfast walk in the primeval forest with a local expert - 2.5 hours, leaving at 5am. I wasn't keen on the early start, but I consoled myself that there would be all sorts of cute animals coming up to say hello at that time of the morning - like in Snow White - and the light would be fabulous for photography.

It rained. No, it chucked it down, in bucketloads, for the whole way. And you all know how much I LOVE walking in the rain!! It was cold, I hadn't had any breakfast, and the nature bloke was hugely knowledgeable, but I was the class dunce and couldn't make head nor tail of most of what he was saying. I managed to avoid chucking pine cones at his head for entertainment, but only just.

Still, I really enjoyed my breakfast, when it eventually came! They had made us drop scones with apple in them. Yum. The bread and pastries are good here - very Germanic. Tomorrow is our free day, and if it keeps raining like this, I am spending it in the town's cafes with KuK and my holiday library!

Since my kayaking ecapades (it was a kayak, by the way, not a canoe), we have been doing a lot of nature. We were in a national park with lots of marshes, and we've had a lot of exposure to apparently interesting birdlife. I am struggling to keep up. Our tour leader is apparently one of Poland's leading ornithologists (the forest man told us that today), and I can see the disappointment in his eyes when I am trying not to yawn at the back! He is amazing though - he sees a tiny black speck in the sky and announces "That is a lesser spotted blue tipped moor harrier. Male. Likes Take That without Robbie." (I made that last bit up.)

Got to go - another walk in the rain coming up. And I PAY to do this??

I canoed! No, kayaked!

This is just a quick post to say I actually canoed - no, kayaked - twice! Yesterday was a wee practice, but today was scary and tough, navigating around fallen trees and other obstacles (including Polish neds). But I was being ably led by the interpid Anthea. I reckon she is 70, but she has done Kilimanjaro and white water rafted the length of the Colorado river, and she made me look like a wimp!

It's an interesting group. There are only ten of us, and most are a good bit older. There is only one person younger than me, and she is Brazilian and a bit of a loner. So I'm hanging out with the oldies. They're all good fun, though, and I feel quite at ease. We're off into town soon for some food.

Wabbit in Warsaw

I have made it to the hotel, after an epic journey, and I am making the most of the hotel WiFi. 

I nearly didn't get to the starting post today, as Dad slept in for my lift to the airport. However, he put in a heroic effort, and I just made it through the bag drop queue and the security queue to get to the gate as the flight was called. Then we were delayed by an hour, because of what the captain called "a small problem" - the left hand engine wouldn't start. Rather than fly in circles over Scotland, we switched aircraft, and eventually took off. The pilot was obviously on the same stuff as my dad, because he flew extra fast (didn't know you could do that!) and we were hardly late at all.

The train to Warsaw was crowded and stuffy. Having booked 1st class Intercity, I was looking forward to a DB-like experience, with aircon and WiFi and hardly any passengers. Well, it was a DB-like experience, but one out of the eighties, with those carriages for six, and it was jam packed, with no luxury touches at all. It was fine - I went on plenty of those trains in my time. But I did feel as if I should have big hair and a batwing jumper. 

Made it to the hotel a while ago. The group are out on the town, and I have missed my chance to bond. Oh, well. Group update when I can!

Unterwegs Again - The Sequel

I am off to Poland in the morning, on the Explore "Backroads of Poland" tour.

Early flight from Prestwick to Wroclaw (pronounced Vrotslav - thanks to Patryk, one of our Polish pupils!)

From there, I am taking a train to Warsaw. I hope. A bit nervous about that bit.

I don't know how much time I'll get for blogging, or whether I'll have much access to WiFi, but I'll try. It's always good to have somewhere to talk about the strange people and moments on an Explore tour.

(Hope I can spot the group weirdo. Remember, if I can't, it's me!)