Poland... you great country

Almost unnoticed, we change countries and enter Poland. First, we drive into the first town, get some zloty's and go shopping. When I see the prices in the supermarket, my eyes widen!! Really? Lithuania was already cheap, but this is amazing. I hear our travel budget cheering and we do a big shopping. Our first destination: The Masurian Lakes. A region with about 3000 lakes that need to be explored and paddled (we have a canoe with us after all). But first, a night at a campsite to settle into the new country.

We find the campsite of Heinz Grundel - yes, you heard right - he's a German from the Rhineland who married a Polish woman and built a great campsite in his huge garden. He proudly shows us around, and we are amazed. There are even water fountains with drinking water everywhere at the campsites - that's really a great luxury. When he shows us the bathroom at the end, I can't believe my eyes and my jaw drops. A luxury bathroom of the highest class. I haven't had one like this in 4 months... I'm already looking forward to taking a long shower, hooray. We park at the very back in the corner of the huge meadow (we don't like it too crowded :)) and in the evening we once again witness something really peculiar. A retired couple from Berlin arrives. As I mentioned before, the place is huge and almost empty. But the retirees park their motorhome right in front of a tent that is set up there. The owners are not there, and we are curious to see what they will say. It doesn't take long, and a young family arrives... with a child and a dog... The father almost has a heart attack when he sees this rude behavior. It doesn't take long, and the two are arguing. The retirees complain about the child, the dog, the fire, and the smoke that is getting into their motorhome. The boss is called to mediate and asks the Berliner to move a bit to the side and keep a respectful distance. He refuses (isn't that cheeky??)... and so the two argue into the evening. We feel embarrassed for such audacity. It's unbelievable sometimes... we've experienced this before.... and it seems a bit familiar. We go to bed early... at the very back in our corner... all alone... and without any arguments :)

In the morning, we exchange messages with Daniel and Susanne. We met the two in Norway, met again in Tallinn, and spent a great evening together... and as luck would have it (the two are also traveling for a year and have a similar route as us).. the two are nearby. And Susanne also has her birthday. We make plans... and off we go to their place. Of course, we have to navigate through the backcountry. The roads here are more like patches of fate than actual roads. It's bumpy and everything is shaking in our van. Our dog is annoyed and has a long face. With all the shaking, she can't find any rest. Our van also takes another hit - in the past months... patches of fate, patchwork roads, and gravel roads... every day! We still have this small, but not insignificant problem with our ABS. It triggers the ABS when braking at a slow speed. Otherwise, we have full braking power (so don't panic, Mom and Grandma :)... but before we drive the passes in Slovakia.. we need to do something about it.

I quickly go alone to the supermarket on the way to Daniel and Susanne. Buying butter and bread. I'm wearing my beloved off-the-shoulder Buddha t-shirt, a Polish guy in his fifties sees me. He comes over... talks to me in Polish... I don't understand... German! He keeps touching my hair and pointing to my cheek. He wants to kiss me?! I keep hearing "beautiful German girl" over and over again. He pulls me into his arms and smells my neck (he should have done that yesterday before the hot shower). Then he keeps kissing my cheeks. I stand there somewhat perplexed, overwhelmed, and helpless (hands full with butter and bread). A saleswoman comes to the rescue and also talks to me in Polish... oh my God... I quickly throw some zloty on the counter and get out of here. Yes, yes, the Polish are very warm-hearted!!

We continue to the agreed meeting point with Susi and Daniel. Our journey takes us, of course, further on gravel roads. At some point, we find ourselves in the middle of a pretty run-down farmhouse in the middle of nowhere and our navigation says: you have reached your destination! We are somewhat puzzled and check everything again. Shit, shit, shit... there was a typo in the address... so we turn around (have I mentioned before... I love gravel roads)... and 30 minutes later we finally reach the two. We have a great spot in a Polish family's garden. Another so-called agro-tourism campsite. These are privately-run campsites by Polish families. Whoever has a garden in a beautiful place... has a campsite... usually at very cheap prices. We check in and then Susi gets a birthday serenade and some flowers. We chat throughout the day. Kilian occasionally disappears into the van pretending to do some office work (yeah right)... and bakes a delicious chocolate cake for Susanne (thanks to our great camping oven... thanks, girls... it's a great piece of equipment). Susie is delighted, she didn't expect that at all. We feast and chat into the evening. Then we have a delicious barbecue and Daniel shows us his great drone videos they made in Iceland (they were already there at the beginning of their trip). We are thrilled and sure... Iceland must also be visited... someday. In the dark, we still sit together by the pond... amidst Poland's intact nature. Frogs croak, fish jump, crickets chirp, the stork next door clacks in its nest, and bats fly over the lake. It can't get any better!

In the morning, we have breakfast together and then our paths separate again (what a shame). It was so nice to be with the two of them... we are sure... it was not the last time... even if it's only after our trip.

We continue to explore the Masurian Lakes. In the far south, after a considerable detour, we finally find a fantastic place. Right on the lake, with direct access to the lake for 5 euros per night. This place is one of the state-run campsites. There is no water or electricity, but there is a great pitch by the water and space... lots of space :) We decide to stay here for two days. A break from driving is great... our dog thinks so too... We are surrounded by Polish locals and realize that we are the only 'foreigners'. But that doesn't matter at all. The Polish people are super friendly and everywhere you hear a friendly czien dobri (hello). We quickly get into conversation with a few people. Dogs are allowed to run freely here. Finally. Amy is happy and immediately finds another dog. We enjoy this great place, laze around all day with reading, sleeping, playing, and eating. In the evening, campfires are lit everywhere. There must be at least 20... all along the lake (the campsite is huge). We also went into the forest and collected firewood and made a fire. Kilian goes fishing, I make fire, sit there, and enjoy the view. You can hear children laughing, dogs barking, music, people laughing... it makes me (once again) aware of the privilege we have to be able to travel the way we do. So many great countries are behind us... soooo many more to come... we have already met so many nice people... and will meet many more. I send a THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU to the universe and I am simply happy (and once again, really arrived in Poland).

The next day, we set up our boat and paddle across the lake. Barely started, we pass a reed belt and see movement in the reeds. Suddenly, a beaver swims by with a supply of reeds in its mouth. Isn't that great? At first, he doesn't see us, but when I try to take out my camera, he notices the movement and disappears underwater (too bad). We paddle across the smooth lake and our boat glides silently through the water. What fun. The next day, we still don't feel the urge to pack up and move on. This place is just too beautiful. We decide to stay another day and be lazy and do nothing.

The next day, we visit the town of Mikolajki. A town geared towards tourists. We are amazed how busy it is and how many souvenir stands there are. We immerse ourselves in the hustle and bustle and stroll along the harbor promenade. Past countless boat rentals, souvenir shops, and restaurants. We have an ice cream sundae (as is customary for tourists), but then we've had enough of the hustle and bustle. Since we need water in the bus, we decide to head to a campsite again (they are so cheap here). We drive through kilometers of beautiful avenues, past meadows, fields, and charming villages. The houses here are all beautifully maintained, and decaying houses or Soviet buildings are rare. You can tell that Poland is on the upswing... a lot is happening in this great country. Then we find another great campground in the garden of a Polish family. Right on a lake with its own access to the lake.... what more could you want? The place is empty and the friendly boss tells us that the season is over (hooray hooray... it will be even emptier in the country now - but okay... then autumn comes - so only a reserved hooray). In the evening, a small family party takes place on the campsite (the boss didn't mention that), but we think to ourselves: live and let live... young people should celebrate...

The next morning, we have a busy schedule: the Wolf's Lair - Adolf Hitler's headquarters and his psychopathic helpers. Once we arrive, we park our Knut, and I already feel queasy!! Some military enthusiasts from East Germany have arrived in a huge convoy. Original war vehicles are also included. Motorcycles with sidecars, jeeps, and more... all in original soldier uniforms... with original canteens... original helmets... just everything in original war gear. In my opinion, they have no business being here... in my eyes, this is glorifying war and I am extremely upset about it. Then we enter the nest of evil. We see huge old bunkers and half-ruined buildings scattered in the forest. The bunkers have walls that are 10 meters thick and ceilings that are 8 meters thick! It may sound like nothing, but you really have to see it. Almost indestructible colossi in the forest. We see Göring's bunker, the building where Stauffenberg carried out the assassination attempt (which unfortunately failed), and then we stand in front of number 13. Adolf Hitler's personal bunker!! Silence spreads. We sit on the bench in front of it and it is a strange feeling to know that one of the greatest psychopaths and mass murderers in contemporary history went in and out of here. I can't find the words to describe my emotions... (I need two days to be able to write about this). We finish our tour in one last building where two tanks are parked. Pictures of soldiers and child soldiers hang on the wall. On a large screen, pictures of soldiers, women, children, and destroyed buildings are played in a loop. In between, famous personalities sing sad anti-war songs. It gives me goosebumps in this room. Then Polish families with young boys enter. The boys are dressed in soldier uniforms. They fool around, sing, and have their parents take 'funny' poses in front of the tanks in photos. I've finally had enough... don't these parents learn anything?? I want to get out of here!! Quickly!! Finally, I see gas masks and similar items for sale in the souvenir shop!! I want to get out of here as fast as possible!! You don't really want to let this gruesome piece of contemporary history get too close to you anymore. I think it's good that the Wolf's Lair is open to visitors as a memorial (even if some people don't belong here), and I take my hat off to the Poles for how open they are about it, and how warm and friendly they still are.

Our journey continues towards the coast. We have the 'great idea' of driving through the countryside (after all, we want to see something of Poland). We pass through beautiful avenues. What we didn't consider with our great idea was the roads. You can't really call them roads anymore. You can't go faster than 40 km/h. Everything shakes in Knut and we rumble across the road (for 4 hours). Frustrated, we eventually give up and decide to look for a campsite: we end up again in a nice Polish family's garden to spend the night. We find a nice spot at Lack (about 80 km from Warsaw) by the lake. We can park here for the equivalent of 7.50 euros. We decide to stay here for two days and explore the area on foot - so the plan goes. In the end, we slept for two days. Our fur baby started throwing up and.... Even we feel tired and exhausted. In the end, we slept for almost a day and two nights. In the meantime, Kilian baked a blueberry cake and blueberry pancakes (we bought them on the road from a poor old woman) - but in between we only slept (apparently it was necessary).

Two days later, we continue towards southern Poland. Below Lodz, we find a campsite (again in a garden with Polish people) with a washing machine. Yay.... our bedding needs a wash. Said - done - washed - happy about fresh laundry on the line - then the neighbor decides to light a fire that smokes and stinks (old hay??) more than it burns - right into our fresh bedding!! Oh great!! After initial anger, our mood turns into resignation - then into "screw it" - and when we didn't care anymore, the wind actually changed and in the evening we were able to make our bed with fresh-smelling bedding. The whole thing topped off with a hot shower - that's when the traveler's heart is happy - that's all you need :)... and later in the evening, the campsite owner (Kashimir) invites us to a Schnapps tasting. His hobby is distilling Schnapps and making furniture. He has set up a great bar in his beautiful courtyard and there are hundreds of different Schnapps bottles on display. Wow! We are amazed and deep down inside, I am already expecting the worst :). We start with a sweet raspberry Schnapps - great - delicious - a woman's Schnapps... then it continues... gooseberry, cherry, grape, lemon, nut, strawberry, mirabelle, and so on.... everything that can be burned is distilled into (really tasty) Schnapps here. We get merrier and merrier and Kashimir's wife Jolanta joins in. The two speak a little bit of German and tell us about their family and their travels. Then two young Dutch guys join us. They accidentally ended up here with an old bus and are immediately excited to join in. We get to know Kari and Jermo. The two brothers are on vacation and their final destination is: Chernobyl!! - Now that's an unusual and interesting travel destination. We continue tasting Schnapps into the evening... and it's a really great evening. We buy two bottles of Schnapps from Kashimir (who, by the way, looks just like Anthony Hopkins - he's probably him... - now living in Poland :)) and the guys also buy some. Then we make a bonfire with Kari and Jermo by our van and chat into the night. What a nice encounter... what a nice evening.

The next morning, we have breakfast together, pity our heavy heads, and then the guys continue towards Chernobyl and we continue towards southern Poland.

We drive through Polish villages and towns. It's the first day of school. Everywhere you see well-dressed children in fancy dresses and boys in suits and ties. Not only the first-graders... even the older ones are all dressed up... probably that's how it is in Poland... on the first day of school, you dress up. We don't see any shoulder bags like we do. On the Jezioro Jeziorsko near Lodz (if some of you are thinking Lodz? I've heard of it before - yeah, there was a song in the 70s: Theooooo, we're going to Lodz - do you remember :), we finally find a free parking spot for the night. A great lake with a beautiful sandy beach. The only downside. A (really trashy) large family has been celebrating here over the weekend (with small children)... when we arrive on Sunday afternoon, they are just cleaning up. But only the good stuff... they leave all the garbage (and that was a huge amount) like schnapps bottles, beer bottles, champagne bottles, paper, tarps, tent poles, etc. just everything on the sandy beach!! We can't believe it... how trashy is that. What an example for their children (they will turn out just as trashy when they grow up). Even the Poles who come here to swim are amazed.... but no one says anything as they leave. We haven't experienced anything like this on our trip so far!!

The next morning, we decide to visit a veterinarian. Our Amy has had red, inflamed eyes for many weeks. We've been using black tea to keep it under control, but it doesn't go away and the eyes keep getting pus-filled. Since you can't get anything without a prescription in Poland, we go to the vet. We find a woman (which is good for our dog)... we are immediately seen. She is once again extremely friendly (they all are here) and gives us an antibiotic eye ointment, and we pay 10 euros for the treatment and ointment!! You can't get any cheaper than that. We have a little chat in English and she asks us how we like it in Poland. We say super good... friendly people... great nature. She gets big eyes and asks us Really? Here? Friendly people? Kashimir (aka Anthony Hopkins) also asked us that and was surprised by our answer. The Poles can't believe that we like their country... Somehow strange!

We spend the night once again by another lake. Free of charge, woohoo... and then we continue. Our destination today: Auschwitz!! Heavy stuff awaits us.... see next (separate) blog...