18th day - July 26th: Rainy ride and unsuccessful search for the Protestant church in Raciborz

Overnight, I decided to make a detour to the old Raciborz (formerly Ratibor) and only later drive to Rybnik. The overview of the Evangelical Diocese Katowice - in Poland the Protestant church districts are actually called the same as the Catholic church districts in Germany - indicated the presence of a Protestant community there, and through Google I also found the location of the church. I got up a bit earlier because rain was forecasted in the region for noon, after several days of heat. However, the rain came already in the morning while I was still on the way, and quite an amount of rainwater came pouring down from the sky. I took shelter under an awning and stood there enduring the heaviest rain of the storm. After almost an hour, I cycled the last 10 km to the city outskirts in "normal" rain. Completely soaked, I first looked for a café in a supermarket on the outskirts of Raciborz, changed my clothes, and wrote some text. After two hours, it was still raining. Nevertheless, I cycled the last kilometers to the city center and decided to look for a simple room. Because, being so soaked and visually unattractive, I didn't want to ask for the opening of a church. After more than 2 hours of cycling through the city, I finally found an affordable room almost in the center. I took a shower first, ate something, and in the late afternoon, the rain finally stopped and even a few rays of sunshine appeared. Then I wanted to go to the Protestant church that I found on the internet. However, the tourist office knew nothing about a Protestant church. I was told that the old church and community had been abandoned after World War II.

So I set out on my own to search for the Protestant church in Raciborz, and there is also a community listed, but without contact details. On the other outskirts of the city, I found a fenced house with a sign in Polish saying "Evangelical Church" and even a telephone number of the pastor and an internet address were provided. I called the given number, but no one answered. After about 15 minutes of internet research on my phone, I found out that this house or community is a so-called "Free Evangelical Gospel Church" with several locations throughout Poland, but it does not belong to the "normal" Evangelical Lutheran Church with Augsburg Confession. Somewhat disappointed, I drove back to the center and wanted to visit the large Catholic church. However, that was not possible because the 6 pm mass was taking place and the church was very crowded. What a contrast, I said to myself. The liturgy lasted quite a while. The believers stood up several times and then followed the communion. Because Protestants are not allowed to participate in the Catholic Eucharist, I left the church again. However, I was surprised by the large number of people and this in the middle of the week. I grabbed a snack because I didn't want to use my gas stove in the tiny room. I used the free Wi-Fi and planned my travel route for the next day with the destination Rybnik, where I originally wanted to go, and fell asleep after 18 days - oh, how nice - in a real bed.