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Poland


The Polish border. Jastrzebie-Zdrój is my first city in Poland. I had a bit of trouble on the way in because the signs ... Pniówek mine. These bars are all immediately across the road from the mine entrance. This is just a picture of the type of countryside which I'm crossing at the moment. I have to say th... That might be the lake which I would have ridden alongside if I had had a better map. Oswiecim. I had to stop here to get some money. My plan had been to change my left over Euros and Cz... For about half an hour, I've been on a well-surfaced road through these woods. I've just taken a pic... Camel camel camel camel camel!<br><br>Camel? No wonder it feels warm. In case you're wondering, I think the top part is warning of a danger in No... This looks like some kind of church. Wawel, the ancient Royal Castle in Krakow. I might go there tomorrow, if it's open on Sundays. St. Stanislaus' Church, seen across the River Vistula or Wisla. This is where my hotel is. Somehow, I happened to end up on this very road without even trying. Actu... One of my windows overlooks the scene in the previous picture. This is the view from the other. The ... Here's a view in a different direction. You can try finding my bike if you want. Even I can only jus... It's pouring down out there now and there's quite a lot of lightning. My bike must be getting wet. I... I'm giving my bike its main service: swapping the tyres, tightening the brakes, adjusting the front ... A dog stand-off. A courtyard in Krakow. This park is called Planty. It's where the city walls used to be so it completely encircles the old ... Krakow. The Slowacki Theatre, seen from across the road because I liked the pattern in the pavement. Looking towards the station. Another marching band. After standing here and playing for a while, this one did march off through t... The Barbican. A model of the street. The monument to the Battle of Grunwald, fought in 1410. Another part of Planty. This reminds me of the Leaning Tower in Torun, a city which there's a small chance that I might be v... Just a few metres away, it reminds me of Oxford. Florianska Street, one of the most important streets in Krakow, dating from 1257. I've never seen a Colonel Sanders look-alike before. I don't think I'm seeing one now. The Cloth Hall. This covered market building dates from 1875 but there has been a market on the site... A street running off the Main Market. The Cloth Hall is on the right. The Basilica is on the left. There are pianos like this in several places in the city, in a range of colours. One had a label say... This parade of cyclists came through the Main Market, led by the police motorbikes which you may hav... The taller tower on the Basilica was once the city's lookout tower. I'm now waiting for it to sound ... The Cloth Hall and the tower which is all that remains of the old City Hall. The Collegium Maius, the oldest University building in Poland, dating from 1400. Popes Jean Paul II and Benedict XVI have both give addresses from that window but it's Krakow's own ... An interesting traffic jam of a tram, a horse-drawn carriage and one of the electric tour buggies of... Two more churches. A strange thing. Ahead is the Castle on Wawel Hill. On the right is a portrait of the young Archbishop Karol Wojtyla,... Here are some Polish flags on motorbikes. I just saw the bikers carrying some kind of wreath up to t... Planty again. The back of the old Pope's old house, now a museum. The Wawel Cathedral, which was used for the coronations and burials of many Polish monarchs. The Castle's ticket office has a good view. Part of the Cathedral. The Cathedral entrance. Another view of the Cathedral. Inside the Castle, with another bride and groom being photographed in the sunlight. Wawel. The view from Wawel. The policeman doesn't seem to like people picking the roses. I'm glad he's not criticising me for ha... That bridge is were I was standing yesterday when I saw the Castle. The view from Wawel. Wawel again. Are those toilets up there? Some of Krakow's twin cities. An old building in Kazimierz, Krakow's Jewish quarter. A more modern building in Kazimierz. Kazimierz has been largely empty since the Second World War. This building has certainly seen better... The building in the middle is a Jewish bookshop. Kazimierz. The Sunday Market is just finishing in the New Square. Bikes for hire. A tandem, and a policeman who's using his whistle a lot. For a moment, I was worried that he might h... If this is part of the same procession of bikes which I saw earlier in the Main Market, then it's go... There are some funny-looking bikes too. The tram lines are being replaced in this part of Krakow. This was possibly a bad choice of route. It's going to take me a while to get all the way along this... I didn't expect Poland to be as hilly as this. This bunting wasn't doing much to brighten up a very dull day. As I noticed in 2006, it seems to be quite common in Poland for information boards to be put where ... There's only one sign at this junction. It tells me where I've been but not where I'm going. Beware of the pies?<br><br>I have been plagued by dogs today. Before my 2006 trip, I read in a guide... It's only been two days since I was on the bike but I had already forgotten about all of the road cl... This isn't the road that's closed. This is apparently normal. The closure on route 786 is where there's work going on on the railway bridge. My plan was to use an... I read a few reviews of the Hotel Mariage while planning where I wanted to stay tonight. One was fro... I've got a large private balcony but it does have these slightly worrying mains extensions snaking a... One of many monuments which I passed. It's turning into a nice day. Yesterday's damp fog persisted until shortly before I left the hotel. ... The road has passed through a pretty forest this morning. That moss is very green, and very soft and... I don't know what these are but there's a whole field of them. I want to be on that cycle lane. The path linking it to where I am now is being dug up but a friendl... One of these wind turbines in the villabe of Baby seems to be missing half of one of its blades.<br>... Scenery. Lódz isn't making a great first impression. It doesn't look very pretty from here, there are several... The trams here are rather older than those in some other cities. I've just seen the answer to a ques... Suddenly, Lódz is looking much better. The traffic has got lighter, the road is lovely and smooth, t... This park looks pleasant too. This is even better. Behind me is the start of a long, largely traffic-free road running right throu... Buildings in Lódz. Anothe view of Lódz' main street. Another statue. There are lots of these rickshaws zipping around. It looks to me like a rather scary ride, what with... One cyclist here seems to have been distracted by the Portugal v Ivory Coast match. I wonder if he w... My guess is that these must be the names of people who have funded the redevelopment of the city cen... A Segway shop! I haven't seen anybody riding these here. There were several in Krakow. I had some trouble at the hotel here. I had started locking my bike to one of these trees when a man... Occsionally in Poland, you come across enormous signs, like this one which is dwarfing my bike at a ... The church in Parzeczew. It's not a very well-composed photograph but I was trying to include the fl... The village of Grabow, seen from where I stopped for a rest. There aren't many pictures today becaus... The town of Kolo. Kolo again. I bought a kilo of strawberries here for 70p. Bargain! They were very good as well. I co... Acer campestre, the field maple. I don't know why this tree deserves a label. This road must be new. It's not on my map and it's in good condition. I'm on another pilgrimage route now. Lichen Stary, where I will be staying tonight apparently has so... Scenery. A view from the same place but in a different direction. Kramsk. Wow! I've just crested a slight hill and this has appeared. It turns out that the Basilica of Our La... It's an impressive building. Where there are tourists, there's always tat. A detail. The Basilica. Lichen Stary with a cloudless sky. I've had to come by a bit of a roundabout way to get this far fr... The colours look wonderfully bright this morning. I wondered if that was an effect caused by my sung... A power station. This Netto has a little dog outside looking just like the one in the logo. I think it's the same bre... The bottom end of the town of Slupca. Somehow, while walking through this town, I've managed to brea... The road on the right is route 92. I planned today's leg of the journey a bit rashly, assuming that ... Roadworks. This is the second set I have encountered in the town of Wrzesnia. The first set started ... Wrzesnia. Wrzesnia. A close-up view of a water tower, slightly blurred, unfortunately. This bridge over the railway lines also gives a close-up view of the upsatirs of these houses. More scenery. This is good weather. It's sunny without being too hot, with a slight following wind. ... I've had all sorts of roads today: urban roads, four-lane dual carriageways with light traffic and a... This section was a little bit muddier but still perfectly passable. This isn't a road. It's a path through a park approaching the city of Poznan. Bikes are allowed top ... There's a proper rowing lake here. I hadn't been expecting that. I haven't seen many water fountains on this trip. I would have re-filled my bottles here but these t... Just a few pictures of the rowing lake now. That's the city of Poznan, beyond the far end of the 2000 m rowing course. Boats! Some people using the lake. Although Lake Malta is an artificial lake, its edges follow the natural contours in places so it's n... The park around the lake features this narrow-guage railway, and apparently a zoo, ice rink and dry ... This looks like a useful sign: "Worth seeing Poznan". As well as other things, it recommen... The Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul with a bridge for pedestrians and cyclists over... This is apparently regarded as the oldest cathedral in Poland, although I think it might only be the... The River Warta. Poznan. By the time I got close enough to the Old City Hall to hide from the Sun in its shadow, it was too b... ...and here's the bottom. The Old Market Square. This little girl seemed to be happy playing with the pigeons. A corner of the Old Market Square. In the bar on the left, and others around the square, people are taking their places in front of the... Poznan is one of 8 cities in Poland and the Ukraine which will host matches in the 2012 European Foo... Poznan. Poznan. The library, I think. I don't think those stalls are likely to sell many of their fur coats and hats in this weather but I... Would that by any chance be "Soft, strong and very long"? Another fountain. This one is in front of the Opera House. This enormous supermarket seemed to have everything. I only came in for some sweets but managed to b... This road would be a lot more pleasant if it was as wide as it looks like it's going to be. Tarnowo Podgórne has one of those rotating stone spheres. I stayed in a hotel 500 last time I was in Poland, although according to the literature about the ch... Just an ordinary village. This is Kazimierz. It took me a while to find my way out of Tarnowo Podgór... This wheat looks like it should have waves rippling across it but there's no breeze at all at the mo... I don't really understand why patches of this track are so boggy when the rest is completely dry. One of today's many leafy roads. Some funny little shops in Sierakow. A small stream in Sierakow. Sierakow's park has plenty of benches. In fact, the scenery in general is beginning to feel increasi... A small fountain in Miedzychód. I also like the balcony on the bank in the background. Route 199 is quieter than I had expected. It started as a very good smooth road but is now gradually... This is the start of one of this afternoon's two cobbled sections, each several kilometres long. Whe... Mailboxes like this seem to be standard issue. I have been seeing them everywhere. Each box always h... This village is Swiniary. I'm approaching Gorzów Wielkopolski. I didn't really want to. I came here in 2006 and didn't much li... Gorzów Wielkopolski. What I liked least about this city in 2006 was the road leading in from the Ber... Gorzów Wielkopolski. Gorzów Wielkopolski. This city isn't any better than I remember it. Gorzów Wielkopolski. Interesting roof. Gorzów Wielkopolski. I'll be in the same hotel as I was in 2006. It's the building on the left, rather smarter than most ... Last time I was here, the hotel receptionist got me to put my bike in the hotel's car park. I rememb... Ah yes, this is familiar. Looking at the view from the window, I think I might be in exactly the sam... Barlinek, with a view to the lake. The cake shop on the corner looks good. Staging being constructed in Barlinek's main square. Buildings in Barlinek. Lake Barlinski. Another view of Barlinek. This must be part of the old town walls on the right. The red and blue flowers have now been joined by some purple ones. Contrary to what I said yesterday, these cows aren't fenced in at all. They must like being where th... The bypass of Stargard Szczecinski, the town where I will be staying tonight. I seem to have got her... Stargard Szczecinski. Stargard Szczecinski. My hotel in Stargard Szczecinski. It used to be a granary. Some of the old technology on display at the hotel's reception. In most of the hotels where I have stayed on this trip, the wireless LAN has been encrypted and I've... Part of Stargard. This is the part of Stargard where you can come to watch the football outside a bar or, in my case, ... This looks like Stargard's concrete district. A statue of the old Pope. He probably came here at some time. Stargard has a park running round the outside of the old city walls, similar to Krakow's Planty. Thi... Part of the park. There is a marked trail for tourists around the Old City, with notice boards giving information abou... The old Town Hall. The Collegiate Church. This building is just labelled as the "Gothic tenement-house". The main square. The old Town Hall is in the middle with the Guard House to the right of it. Under t... The main square again. Not sure what these guys are meant to be. The Arsenal, originally built in about 1500 but re-built in the 1970s. Old Stargard. The water tower, just opposite my hotel. I couldn't find any signs for the road which I wanted to take out of Stargard so I just went for the... When the sand gets too deep, it becomes difficult to control the bike. Here are some mailboxes with "POCZTA" written on the flaps. Another feature of note here i... I'm not sure why this school in Goleniów has a huge dinosaur outside. The school seems to have its o... This is route 3, which I followed for a few kilometres here and for a longer stretch later on. It's ... No holiday is complete without a dead snake. The new bridge at Wolin, seen from the old bridge. The water is one branch of the estuary of the riv... Wolin. Okay, let's have a go at this then: The Danish King Harald Blatad... died... in Wolin in the year 98... Is it just me or are things starting to look a bit Scandinavian? Still in Wolin. I just put this picture in to show that it's not just chevrons on corners that are red and white; it... The estuary of the Oder, looking rather wider than when I first crossed it. I considered going to Ystad. It might have been fun to have a day in Sweden. Instead though, I'm get... The road to the harbour is pretty quiet, especially if you arrive five hours early for the ferry. Pe... The village of Warsów, next to the ferry terminal. It seems that this ferry across the river is only for residents of Swinoujscie, the town on the othe... I've spent the last of my Polish money and done pretty much everything I can do here, including re-a... One of several ships which passed me on their way to or from the Baltic. One of the cross-river ferries seen from the deck of the ferry to Copenhagen. In the middle of the p... This is a busy port. Several ferries came and went while I was waiting for the check-in to open. In ... Swinoujscie. The German border is only a couple of kilometres away so it's possible that the trees i... Leaving Swinoujscie. Leaving Swinoujscie. I'm just enjoying the light and shade now. Swinoujscie is apparently a very popular tourist destination, mainly with Scandinavians. This beach ... On the left is a ship headin into Swinoujscie. In the distance is the Kopernik, which we are followi... Lovely evening. It's a very calm sea.