Blogs from Warmian-Masurian, Poland, Europe - page 2

In the forest 10 km. before Stanica Wodna, 20-07-2001. It's only 10 more kilometers to Stanica Wodna, an easy 20 minutes with the late afternoon sun slowly sinking in the west but the shape of a huge but strangely formed bird out on this small lake stops me dead on my pedals, my hands gripping the brake handles in a death hold... It takes me a few precious seconds to get my small binoculars out of my daypack - a prized birthday present from lovely Amanda back in Amsterdam. For a short moment I search the lake's dark blue water before seeing HIM again, surrounded by spoonbills that sift their weirdly shaped beaks through the water hoping for small aquatic life, wading slowly through the water on incredibly long legs, his wings standing slightly up giving ... read more

Mazurski Park, wedland biosphere, 19-07-2001. My breakfast in this buzy litte eatery is Russian and the name henceforth totally unpronouncable to me though it came highly prized by the cook. I am unsure how to tell him my true feelings about this, though no doubt highly nutricious meal considering the sheer amount of veggies and egg yolk, but still very bland Russian morning enhancer. Have to admit though that the ´Vodka On The Rocks' - as it is named on the biligual menu, Russian and Englsih but no Polish - included in the breakfast deal, does give my morning a serious start. Despite the early hour the Russian yacht crowd is having a ball ordering the most exclusive on the menu, a huge bottle of Don Peringon arriving at the next table resting in a silver ... read more

Camping near Wierzbiny, 17-07-2001. A bit like the tough is getting into overgear today with the temperature well into the thirties centigrade and the hilly country side offering me some steep badly mantained roads winding uphill and down again - after all...all that goes up has got to eventually go down again. Roads lined by ancient oaks that seem to groan in extasy while I cycle underrneath them, the sounds of wind blowing through huge tree crowns responsible for the eerie sounds that bring me back in the here and now...back from far-away travels inside my own Dutch mind, wandering off to the inner sanctum sanctorum of my being, hardly noticing the ocassional tractor or ramshackle trabant ferrying day workers to fields full with golden colored crops, overtaking me and leaving in big clouds of dust. ... read more

Camping at Lake Goldab, 15-07-2001. Die Wolfsschanze as the Germans called The Wolf's Lair in their harsh language, the place were Mister Hitler The Big Jew Hater was holed up most of the war orquestrating the horrors befalling his own precious Das Deutsche Volk as well as the rest of Europe - Wasn't that little sh*t Austrian himself...makes you wonder what his fasciantion with the Germans was. Maybe he felt born in the wrong body...a bit like a Kathoey in Thailand but then more on the nationality side I guess.... Dozens of bunkers and assorted structures set deep in dark and impressive pine forests and surrounded by massive defence works, thousands of foot soldiers, a private airstrip ect ect...all that to make sure that the destruction of Europe went smoothly and according to plan... Nowadays the ... read more

Near Ketrzen on some illegal camp ground,13-07-2001. A strong wind is coming in from the Baltic Sea while I wait for the ferry across the Vistula Lagoon. Local young kids in woolen pants of indefinite color practice their English and German on me, curiosity having the better of them, no big surprise considering my old rusty iron lady burdened under 35 kilo of survival gear, my dufty old tent and mouldy sleeping bag, my ragged old clothes my eight days old beard and general rugged appearance will probably give them enough blablabla material for days to come...get their friends back in the village jealous of the sight of this crazy dirty unkempt foreigner on his crappy bicycle that looks so old it might well collapse at any given moment. Out at Vistula Lagoon I see enormous ... read more