POLAND SOUTH TO CZECH BORDER

Back into Poland and back to changing money into Zlotys.
The roads are very good and the signage is so clear, good signage certainly helps when driving in foreign countries. These signs tell us the road speeds for various roads and that headlights are used 24 hrs. The 2nd sign tells us if there is a toll card needed(vignette) there is a different system of toll for vehicles over 3. 5 tonne whether motorhome or trucks.

 This is warning us of bumpy roads, and there are plenty.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

This sign warns of air and road surface temperature. We think it may be important if roads may have black ice.

 The country we are driving through is mainly growing grain and it is almost ready for harvesting. We have had good hot weather for weeks now. This old man was crossing the road as we drove by with scythe in hand.



After a couple of nights stopping in 24 hr service stations on the way to Warsaw, we found this great lake camp site. It is in a marina where they hold yachting championships racing and it also has an adventure park with extensive rope courses.

WARSAW
We arrived in Warsaw late in the afternoon and searched for the camper park we had listed. It was impossible to find and knowing we were in the right area Kevin went to talk with a worker in the garage who said it had closed. We couldn't  find out where another park was so with no where to go we were wondering what to do when he suggested we go to his friends 24 hr secure parking station. And this is what we did. A far cry from our previous spot on the lake but one which served our purpose. We were parked right alongside the guard’s office, had a quiet night and felt really safe, even the police cars are parked here and the train and tram stations were about 200 m over the road.

Warsaw was badly bombed in the war and is a mixture of old and new buildings.

This is the old city in ruins.

Most buildings in the ‘old city’ now date to around 1950’s. Even so it is a nice city to visit.

There are the usual squares surrounded by restaurants and restaurants line the main street leading into the old city. The square in the old tow is a place rest to rest the weary feet, have a meal, meet friends.

This couple looked as tuckered out as we were.

This woman was busy crocheting items to sell. And another selling her posies.

There is a very meaningful monument outside the Supreme Courts showing the home army and the partisans fighting for their country.  Visiting museum and monuments has made us realize we knew so little of what life was really like in these countries during the Soviet Occupation and how lucky we are to live in Australia.

We visited the Museum of Warsaw Uprising and I thought the main centrepiece of a wall from which came the sounds of a heartbeat was very poignant.

The plaque says

“The ‘heart’ of the museum beats for those who fought and perished – and for those who survived. It is a symbol of our remembrance and a tribute to the Warsaw Rising and those who participated in it.”

Of course we had to have our cultural trip so it was off to Chopin’s Museum. Some of the crosswalks in the city are a keyboard in memory of Chopin.

I am not sure Kevin enjoyed the cultural experience especially when he had to climb so many stairs to ‘Fred Bloody Chop ins House.’ I am not sure if I did either as it was at the end of a very long day walking around Warsaw.

We left Warsaw to travel to Krakow. On the way we passed this lovely old church made entirely with wood.It is a real pleasure to be able to stop and look at a building like this.

KRAKOW

In Krakow we booked into a great camper park. Included in the cost was wi-fi and washing machines, what a bargain. The public transport was about 200M away and a 3 day ticket was really reasonable. So it is a good break for Kevin from driving and so nice to be able to sit under trees surrounded by grass. We met another Aussie couple also travelling around.

We headed for the old city which has a lovely town square. Of course there are restaurants lining the square which was very busy. We had a coffee with friends then off walking.

For lunch we went to a Polish restaurant. It was in a lovely building on the square. We had stew in hollowed out loaves of bread filled with a kind of stewed beef.

 It was delicious but took some working out the best way to eat it.I decided to dig in with my spoon to get the bread with the stew. It was delicious. As a group of about 25 bus tourists filed out behind us, Kevin said I provided the entertainment as they peered one by one over my shoulder and made comments to each other. Maybe they tried this dish and just ate the stew and thought I was greedy.

Eating indoors was a good choice. Big clouds came over and thunder and lightning gave a great display followed by lots and lots of rain. The square cleared of tourists eating al fresco as they tried to fit into any places that had room for them.

What a dull place it looked after the rain. It only lasted about an hour as we headed back to camp.

SALT MINE

Today we went on a bus tour to a salt mine which has been worked since the 16th century. 

It was amazing as we went down into caverns that had been hued out by hand using candle light.The salt is easily seen as we walk along. Where they have finished taking the salt, miners had made beautiful sculptures out of the salt

 As we went deeper and mining became mechanical the caverns were gigantic and these areas have been made into a huge church. Everything has been made of salt including the chandeliers.

AUCHWITZ - BIRKENAU

Auschwitz Museum and  Birkenau Memorial is the largest Nazi German concentration and extermination camp.

From the moment you walk through the gate at Auschwitz and between the brick buildings you can feel the sorrow and heart ache. Now we see trees and grass, then it was mud.  It is difficult to walk through here but I felt we were paying our respects to those people who had lost there lives here and those who survived who would never be able to forget.

On our tour it was mind numbing and hard to comprehend that what we were seeing was real.

Imagine seeing a glass fronted room 30 metres long filled with human hair roughly shaved from people being sent to the gas chamber. It would have filled a large semi trailer truck. This was to be sent to be sold to be made into cloth. 

 Another room was filled with prosthesis taken from the people who were unable to work and sent to the gas chamber.

One room had shoes to be sent off. It was so chilling to see them. Some were so old and others like the one in this photo had been made out of snake or crocodile skin.

 When you see the electrified fence then see the photo taken of women and children walking along it does your head in to think about it.

From here we went to Birkenau which is a huge memorial park inside the original fence. 

From Krackow we head south then west, we can see the mountains on the Czech Republic border in the distance.

On the way we pas through fields of lavender.

By the time you read this we have been to Prague for a few days then south through Slovakia to Budapest in Hungary.

So far we have travelled  6 910 kilometres since we picked up Harry this year. It may seem far but it is only driving cross Australia from Perth to Sydney and halfway back to Perth.