Across Poland

Day 160, Mile: 6,784



Mini groceries - no self-service here

 We ended our last update with the warm welcome we got when we entered Poland.  The hospitality of the Polish people has continued to impress us all across the country.  It is really something else to traverse a country and to come away with general impressions.  Concerning the Polish, they are warm and welcoming and insist on being gracious and giving presents.  Really, they insist.  If we ask someone who is standing in their driveway for water, they will also give us food, or an extra bottle of water.  When we try to communicate that we have no room for another 2 liter bottle of bubbly water, they simply won't take it back.  So we strap it on the back of our racks and ride away. 



Traditional haystacks



We realized after we recieved presents from the Librarians we met upon entering the country, that they actually went out and purchased bread, vodka, and a basket of nectarines for us.  Likewise when we left our evening host's house, she went out in the morning and purchased more food items than I could ever list here.  Even our current internet use came from Polish hospitalisty.  The library was closed, but they opened it up for us!  The Polish are delightful, end of story. 





Russian style church



 That being said, the actual bike touring was absolutely dreadful.  The section of Poland that we traversed was full of industry (think raw materials) and speeding cars and coal trucks.  As hard as we tried, we just couldn't shake them.  It really was too dangerous to be riding these roads.  As cars would come barreling upon us (from either direction), I would either say "careful," for Amy to hold on, or "get off!," to jump off the road.  I'm writing this trying to describe just how amazingly agressive and fast and irresponsible the drivers were, and it is just impossible to convey it.  On each day we had a great indidual experience (food, people, etc), but when 90% of the day is spent dodging death, it makes for a trying week.  We even considered hopping a train to get out of the country, but in the end we made it. Whew!



Auschwitz



The most memorable day was our visit to the Auschwitz location and museum. It is eery to be at the actual spot where such horrific things took place. We don't usually visit museums, but this was an experience. Our Polish guide was excellent at conveying the life of the Polish, Jewish and other prisoners. It is actually hard to believe that the Polish people still live and work in the town of Oswiecim, where the death camp is located. All of it is preserved and about 90 percent of the original buildings and barbed wire is still standing. It was haunting.  And, even more incredible is that the town's main industry is still the chemical plant that was built with slave labor from the camp.  Today!  Still in operation!

Traditional transportation

As we rode farther and farther east in the country, there we still lots of houses and crazy drivers, but they would be juxtiposed with a farmer driving a horse drawn cart full of milk cans out for delivery.  We saw HUGE gardens (mostly potatoes) that are clearly feeding the people for the year.  We saw men hand scything the edge of their land, and whole familys out using pitchforks to create the classic haystacks. 



Farmer cutting grass for his animals

 We'd see women shoveling coal into their house, and the smell of it burning permeated the air the whole day. We also saw many, many stumbling drunk men.  We saw daughters holding up their fathers; we saw groups of scary men loudly drunk.  We heard people throwing up in the street, and we actually broke down our camp late one night, which we unwisely put in a town park.  We went to the police station and they found us another place to be.



Apartments in unmaintained building

 One last highlite was the food.  Specifically, Pirogies.  These little Polish dumpings, with different fillings including potato, cheese, spinach, cabbage, or meat are a delight.  What's more, these are a part of Amy's traditional Christmas dinner as she comes from Polish stock.  They were fantastic, we got plates and plates and plates of them (for two bucks, how can you not) and we're going to get one more plate tonight.



Busy pedestrian street of Przemysl
(mysteriously pronounced "Sheemish")



 The old and the new.  The kindness of the women and the intimidating appearance of the men.  The beautiful old architecture of churches and the Communist era apartment buildings. These were all a part of our experience through Poland. We're now safe and six miles from the Ukrainian border, which we will enter tomorrow.  If this was 1989, we would be 6 miles from the Soviet Union, which sounds sexier, but since the breakup of the Soviet Union, we now have more country options to cross!  Regardless, things are getting more and more different the further East we go, and from stories we've heard, we anticipate quite a production crossing the Ukrainian border on bicycles. This is allowed in only a few places as at most crossings the border guards need to write down a car license number.  No license plate, no crossing.  Wish us luck!