Leaving Poland

It is not down in any map; true places never are. ~Herman Melville

May 7, 2009, Thursday, Bialowieza NP to Gizycko, Poland’s Lake District, P.T.H. Camping “Borowo”. Another long driving day and I promise not to comment on the roads. The Masurian Lake Region has more than 2,000 lakes, which are the remnants of long vanished glaciers and surrounded by green hilly landscape. This is a lovely campground and our spot is right on the lake, calm and scenic. The campground is on Lake Niegocin in the town of Gizycko, the largest lakeside center in the region.
Our search for a Laundromat is in vain. Maybe Lithuania?? It is good we have nice weather and lots of “plastic” clothes, Bob is becoming a good “washer”.

May 8, 2009, Friday, Gizycko to Vilnius, Lithuania. But before we leave Poland, Bob wants to visit Wolf’s Lair one of Hitler’s Headquarters during WWII. It is in the middle of “No Where”, close to the railway, in the lake region. It is a bizarre place with shadowy forest paths leading to the ruins of huge concrete bunkers. Close to the end of the war, the Germans bombed most of the buildings.
It was here that the attempted assassination of Hitler planned and conducted by his General Staff took place. Col. Stauffenberg was chosen to be directly responsible. (There is a current US movie about this event, Tom Cruise plays the Col.)
Wolf Lair click here to learn more


We managed to find our way out of Poland and into Lithuania. We showed our passports and Bob his photo with the Border Guard.
The currency in Lithuania is the Lata, our book says 1US$=2.03 Lts. Perhaps it is just because this is a border town, but the area look very poor. The farmers are plowing the field with a horse, or sometimes by human.
The time zone changes here, so it is one hour later. We won’t be to the campground ‘til at least 7-8PM.so we decide to stop at lakeside restaurant. Using some sign-language, I asked the owner if we could park for the night. “Ya! Ya!” Enough for one day.

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