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Published: September 23rd 2007
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On the other side
The other side of the lake, after our little canoeing adventure. What a great campsite it was! After a good night's sleep and some breakfast and coffee, we continue along eastward.
We don't get far though, as the Masurian lakes are tempting...calling us to take a break...campsites and hotels left and right, people kayaking around in the lakes, and our legs feeling as though they're made of lead, we soon give in to temptation and stop in Zgon, where we decide to spend the rest of the day and take a room in a hotel. The first B&B we find has no rooms left, so we move on to the next...an ex-Sowiet recreational facility, made into a hotel with walls of cardboard and original pre-1990 furniture, amazingly still intact.
The son of the owners speaks English quite well (as he's studying in Warsaw, just helping out his parents over the summer) and shows interest in the bikes, so I take the chance to tell him all about our trip. He (as most other people along the way) declares us crazy, because Belarus is apparently dangerous. Of course, he's never been there himself.
Since the room will take a few hours to be ready (we're a bit early), we rent
Taking a break
after a strenuous 30 km and the crossing of the lake. out a canoe and paddle across the adjacent lake. On the other side, we tie the boat to a tree and take a break on a campsite. While there were plenty of German tourists all along the way here, Zgon appears to be strictly in Polish hands - full of tourists, but only from Poland. Strangely, the menu in the restaurant is bilingual, while the staff don't speak a word of either German or English. Maybe the owner had the menus translated, just in case some German tourists found their way there. And they succeeded with us! So far, Polish cuisine hasn't managed to impress me though...there are sausages (which are good for a while), pierogi (which are great, but enough is enough), and the fish "Masurian style" I have for dinner is simply fried in a pan, as one would fry fish, nothing interesting here.
After dinner, we take a seat on the pier in front of the hotel, watching the sunset, writing our diaries. Back in the room, I get some idea of what living in East Germany must have been like. Fortunately, we only have three neighbours (we're on the end of the block, and there
1 star?
Great place to spend the night! are only 2 levels), but we hear every word spoken (at normal volume) in any of those three rooms. We even get a bit of the evening's radio programme, at full volume, because neighbour Nr. 2 likes to listen to it.
In the middle of the night, Hans needs to use the toilet (which is out in the hallway, of course) and realises that the lock on the door doesn't work as well as it should - it locks just fine, but unlocking? Why bother! With the help of a knife and some technical finesse, we manage to get ourselves out of our room again. Good thing, as climbing down from the terasse wouldn't have been easy...
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Jacek
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Zgon..
Did you now.. that "Zgon" means in polish "moment of death" ;) ?