Thursday 27 May 2010

Dozing in Domacyny





Hi everyone,

Finally I am here! I arrived at my father's home in a very rural part of south east Poland near the, currently very flooded, River Wisła at 6.40 pm on 26 May. Here are the stats :-
  • 8 weeks in all

  • 41 days cycling

  • total distance on the road 2322 miles, of which 2224 going place to place.

  • Daily average excluding rest days 54.24 miles

  • Overall average distance per day 41.46 miles
  • 6 flat tyres, one worn out tyre and one broken pannier fixing

I reckoned on a daily average of 45 miles or 35 miles including rest days assuming a distance of about 1800 miles, so I managed to do over 400 miles more (not surprising given the way you have to "pick your way" on a bike, so increasing the averages. But no matter, I only found it a strain a few times, mainly in France where both the hills and prevailing wind were against me.

Covering the last few miles was a problem given the state of the river, with many roads impassable and only one bridge for about 50 miles being open, so even on my last day I managed to do an extra 15 miles. But it is great to have managed it, to be here with family, albeit that they can't understand most of what I am trying to say in the few words of Polish I possess, and to have done it unscathed, with both me and the bike intact. There's a picture included of a typical roadsign I encountered which together with the traffic in some places could have served to damage me, the bike or both.

So now a commentary on the last week or so. The first picture above was of Plock. I ended the last blog with Ken and I marooned in Wloclawek as we waited a day for it to stop raining. We made a bolt for it to Plock the following day, but got a real drenching and that didn't help the repair of the two flats that Ken had on the way. But Plock turned out to be very gracious, a bit like Bath, see picture of its skyline by the River Wisla. The hotel was fun though, being an ex Orbis, with Olga Kleb still on reception.

The following pictures show the grey and flooded Wisla as we left Plock - its state of flood was to affect the last days of the journey, but for then it brightened into a wonderful sunny day proving that Ken does not just bring bad weather with him. We had a splended day cycling through sunny meadows past storks on nests, which became an increasingly common sight, there are two huge nests in Domacyny.

These last few road pics also show the decorated crosses that continued everywhere and the dodgy roads with loads of bumps and potholes. Overall though Poland has been a lot better than I expected, generally no worse than Britain, so a good preparation for coming home!











We had another night in Socharzew before cycling into Warsaw on the day Ken was due to leave by train. What a pleasant surprise the city is after all I had read about concrete communist blocks. True there are lots of those, but they are no worse than many I have seen in UK and the city is very green. The next pictures are from Marek, my cousin's son's flat near the centre and he and me in one the many lovely city centre gardens



Marek is a great guide and knows his Polish history intimately. It really is a sad story of a nation fighting for its existence separate from Germans, Austro Hungarians, various other marauding mobs long ago and most recently and in the 19th century, the Russians. The next few pictures show some heavy Russian architecture resplendent with statues of heroic workers and thinkers. The huge tall Palace of Culture was a gift from the Russian people to the Poles and was designed and transported stone by stone from Russia to Warsaw; it houses many theatres, conference halls, opera halls and cinemas and was once the tallest building in the city.








Of course, Poland is most famous as the birthplace of Frederic Chopin. He exiled himself in Paris away from the Russians who controlled Poland in the 19 and 20th centuries until they were booted out by Marshal Pilsudski in 1920. The pics are of Chopin's statue in a huge park where free concerts are given throughout the summer (there's clip of the recital we spent an hour at at the end of this blog), the church enshrines his heart and I am standing in front of the statue of Copernicus, with spinning planets in the ground all around.





Before Pilsudski Polish rebels, many of them from the emerging left were either imprisoned for many years, executed or sent off to Siberia in the wagons that now sit outside the fort built by the Russians to dominate the Poles in the 19th century.



Hving got back control of their nation the Polish again lost it in 1939. The pictures that follow show a young fighter in the Warsaw uprising of 1944 and a monument showing the fighters who went into the sewers to hide in the grim last days as Stalin held his forces across the Wisla away from helping so that the beaten Poles could be "freed" by the Russians in 1945.




We also found the site of the Jewish ghetto wall that surrounded the jews in 19423-43 until many were transported away to their deaths by the Nazis



Bu now Warsaw is really vibrant. It's a party atmosphere on a weekend and we also found some lovely buildings that echoed Warsaw's pre war past. Although 85% is said to have been destroyed by the Russians and Germans, there are elegant tenements and both Warsaw University and Marek's university where he got his doctorate are splendid (that's its central hall in the final Warsaw pics below).




The final days of my journey turned out to be more of a pilgrimage than I had expected. The journey to Radom was fine, but the least said about Radom the city the better, very functional and grey, with huge heating pipes going from the central energy factory to the north to supply the city - a bit like those screen savers we used to use. See below



My last night before getting here was at Nowa Slupia. It is set in rolling hills which form one of the few Polish uplands away from the Carpathian mountains which bound the country to the south. Wooded and undulating the area is mostly national park with a huge monastery on one of the highest points. It is said to contain relics of the holy cross transported here to be accepted by King Boleslav (really). It has been a a place of pilgrimage for centuries. I was guided around by Macek the novice monk, who gets his good English from reading The Lord of the Rings - I think he found me a welcome break from the hoards of school children who seemed to be the only pilgrims in evidence when I was there!


Here's me with a carved pilgrim paid for out of EEC grant!



At last I got to the crossing of the Wisla, about 500 metres wide here, only a few miles from my Dad's village. Everywhere here is very flooded after the worst rains for years, with frogs croaking in all the sodden meadows and everyone complaining that their potatoes are rotting in the ground. There are still many farmers around with plots of only 5 hectares or so. I have seen only one horse drawn wagon, but there are still many small milk churns outside farms and labourers using scythes on their small strip fields. All you can hear is the croak of frogs, a few barking dogs, lowing cows and birdcall. I am sure my Dad would recognise what I am seeing as i cycle around this delightful area. Only the people are different......and most have cars now, often more than one.


I have been welcomed by everyone. I am surethey think I am mad cycling all this way. But there have been lots of hugs and kisses and last night I spent the evening supping vodka and was even given milk freshly tugged from the family cow. The picture below is of my cousin Christina's son Andrej and his wife Katerina (on the right) along with her sister in law and their young babies.


So, this is the last blog. Thanks to you for following it and to those of you who have posted comments. I hope it has not been too sad or boring. I'll look forward to seeing many of you soon and to discussing the possible next stage to Greece via Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Serbia and Macedonia.

Now, here's some Chopin from Warsaw to finish off with!

Bye all!!



4 comments:

  1. Hi John, Congratulations on completing a great ride. Only those of us who have attempted such things know just what is involved and also how satisfying and rewarding it is to do it. I'm so glad you enjoyed Warsaw after I had gone home, I still find it had to comprehend that it is the same city I visited in the 1980's.

    Your dad's village sounds very like the one I stayed in in the 1980's. Then they were also working small plots but almost entirely by human and horsepower. Rather than two cars per house there were only two cars in the whole village, both tiny Polski Fiats of about 500cc. What an amazing change.

    Ken

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  2. Congratulations on completing your pilgrimage. I have enjoyed the blog and photos very much. Enjoy your week of rest and recuperation with Liz and your family. Look forward to seeing you back home.
    Love, Anne

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  3. Dear John, What an amazing achievement - well done! We have so enjoyed your blog - the last detail of you crosing the Wisla and reaching "home" was very moving for those of us reading from afar.We agree with Anne now - get some rest, enjoy time with Lizzie and the family, and then come back to your Dorset home and friends to share all the stories over a glass or two! Much love Sue and Pete xx

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  4. Well done, John. What an amazing achievement! I look forward to hearing about the nuts and bolts of it all when we finally get to see one another again. Until then, enjoy our well-earned rest and have a safe journey back to Blighty.

    Regards,

    Charles

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