Had a slowish start today. Lovely, quiet breakfast in the conservatory, and then we set off in to...yes, sunshine. Alas, 'twas short lived, and soon we were reaching for the waterproofs again. The buildings in the towns were very different to the ones that we had been cycling through earlier, and there was a generally a different 'feel' to places. Took a few photos and then set off for the border!
Of course, we managed to the lost the R1, and ended up going a fair way out of our way, but once we got to the River Oder we were fine. A following wind saw us fair flying along the top of the river embankment, bing dive-bombed by swifts who were snacking on the insects that were disturbed by our passing wheels. John's knee was pretty sore today, so it was good that we weren't slogging into the wind, and up hills.
At last we sighted Poland across the river. The wild flowers were something else! Gorgeous. The border crossing was a little scarey, with guys who would not speak to you even when you tried out your best rudimentary Polish (yes we have been doing our home work! :-) ). The border town had that cynical, unwelcoming ambience of most border towns. The road surface was atrocious, no cycle paths, and very fast inconsiderate drivers....Did not bode well.
Managed to get out of town and find a camp site (having successfully got something at the local chemists through dint of bad Polish, a phrase book, and lots of miming!!). John got us a place for our tent through similar means, and we settled down for the night as the temperature hit 13 degrees centigrade).
2 comments:
Keep up the good work.
Thanks for your comment Liza - very much appreciated. We hope to add a Google Earth overview of the trip soon :-) Cheers. Hazel
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