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Poland


After an unpromising start, the Polish roads rapidly became rather good. There was a cycle way for m... I want to know where I can get a lolly that size. The only slight flaw with the cycle paths in this area. I saw a sign like this once in Sweden. That's probably quite a helpful map. Unfortunately, some idiot has put it in the middle of a big flo... No trouble reading this sign though. My guide book warned me that Poles are fond of big dogs and made it sound like I would be in constan... Planning my next day's route in the hotel in Gorzów Wielkopolski. Storks. There are nests on the tops of telegraph poles in every village but I didn't see many of the... My careful plans for today rather revolved around being able to cross this bridge. Unfortunately, a ... I think these photographers had come here because of the lorry crash but they now seem more interest... Taking a detour through the woods as a result of the blocked bridge. Cobbled bridges now. How does that happen. Unlinke in Gorzów Wielkopolski the previous night, I had no difficulty in finding my hotel in Pila, ... The view from my window in Pila. A pleasant Saturday morning in Pila. The view in the other direction along the River Gwda. Some Polish scenery. I didn't have far to go on this day so I spent a while just enjoying the view. Good flat countryside. One of the roadside shrines which are quite common in Poland. Apparently, this cycle route goes from Calais to St. Petersburg. It looks like it takes an unnecessa... Central Bydgoszcz. The Bydgoszcz Opera building. Another view of Bydgoszcz. Actually, I'm having difficulty finding my hotel but taking a lot of phot... The streets in the old part of town are rather pretty. Not that pleasant to ride on though. This will make finding the hotel easier. Every building has an official sign like this with its stre... It's not very easy to see the sign up that pole from here but I was just bemused to see that Poland ... I've found the hotel now. It's a bit odd that a room with only one single bed had space for four peo... The view from my window. You can see the railway station if you know where to look. I'm now wonderin... Quite a big hotel, this. I decided against dinner, as usual. I'm not sure what this picture was meant to show. Just the colou... Here are some guests arriving for a wedding. They rather dominated the hotel, especially in the midd... Look, there's the bride. And part of the car. Today's ride was the shortest so far (except for my rest days in London and Berlin), which was lucky... A tourist boat on the Vistula. Copernicus lived in Torun. John Paul II didn't though, as far as I'm aware. The bike safely locked up outside another hotel. The round building, apparently a former gas holder, is now Torun's planetarium. This place is like t... I hadn't expected quite this many tourists. Since they had gone to the trouble of posing, I thought I should take a picture here. A view of the main squar. No idea what that is. Another view of the main square. The building on the right is the Town Hall. The statue, of course, ... That's the bridge which I crossed on my way into Torun. I seem to have caught a duck in flight on th... One of the gates of the old town. Torun's leaning tower. A final view of the old town, through that arch. Fairly obviously, this is the cinema. I'm just on my way back from the supermarket at the moment. I didn't realise when I booked this hotel that it would have its own facilities for horse riding, ca... That's just the car park. Here's another view of the car park. There are a couple of reasons for it this time. Firstly, you ca... This was an interestingly twisty elevated passageway running through the woods between the hotel's t... The hotel's reception. This area is known as the Polish Lake District. I thought this village was very pretty. The weather has improved since Torun too and the air was sti... Now that's a Post Office. One of the gates of Olsztyn's town centre. This is pretty much the hilliest part of my route. This is a place called Lutry. I don't know why there is a stop sign at a level crossing which clearly hasn't seen a train in years... A view of Reszel in the distance. The address of tonight's hotel seemed to have bits missing, as did... Just a random factory. There were a few other cyclists on this road. Just round the corner was an en... Reszel Castle. This town has a surprising number of tourists and several hotels. No sign of the Hote... Reszel's Town Hall. If I had needed booze, any of these shops would have been perfect. Unfortunately, sweets are rather ... Reszel's main square seen from a different angle. I'm in the hotel now. It turns out it was in Swieta Lipka, along with that church and not much else,... The Hotel 500, also known, inexplicably, as the Hotel w. I'm just trying to show that there are a couple of other buildings in the place. The church, reflecting the warm evening sunlight. Apparently, all sorts of miracles have happened he... The last remaining visitors, and a few tourist shops where I was able to get some useful maps. I've got a very short ride scheduled for today and it's not even raining so I think I might do a bit... At the moment, we are being treated to a lengthy demonstration of the organ. Another view of the church's interior. Look, there's a priest. Looks like it's going to be a lovely day. This is the Wolf's Lair, the secret headquarters of the Nazi High command during World War II. All o... A less substantial brick bunker. More trees, more bunkers. Most of these trees would have been here when the bunkers were in use. Tha... Look at the size of this bunker. Are those twigs really doing anything to support that. This was Hitler's own bunker. He spent most of the war in here. This was Herman Göring's bunker. Hello. I like the way it says ATTENTION, NO ENTRANCE next to that really inviting entrance. The voices comi... This looked better in real life. As today's ride is so short, I'm taking an opportunity to service the bike. It should be okay to go ... Another lake. Behind me is a swing bridge. When it's open, traffic lights let boats through in one direction at a ... This is Gizycko, where I will be sleeping tonight. The waterfront area int Gizycko. There's some kind of jazz festival going on here. I'm just enjoying the warm evening. It looks like I'm not the only one. Just a pretty picture. The harbour. The Gizycko sunset. Scenery in the Gizycko area. A road through the woods. Eating Jaffa Cakes at a rest area in the woods. There are boards like this in woods all over Poland. Perhaps people tend to forget which telephone n... Very flat scenery as I approach Suwalki. A lot of the major towns in this region of Poland are currently having cycle paths installed. Unfort... The view from the hotel room in Suwalki. The hotel was a bit strange. Its back looked a lot better t... The road out of Suwalki, and a petrol station which was to provide tonight's dinner. The road to the Lithuanian border.