Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poland. Show all posts

Krakow. August 7-8, 2014

Thursday, August 7th

Move day with a drive from Warsaw, south to Krakow. The road was good, fast and most importantly had by-passes around most of the small villages. We got a little rain along the way. Also along the way we met a couple from Belgium on a tour of the Baltic states in their very lovely Land Rover Defender and custom made ruggedized and color coordinated trailer/camper. You never know who you will meet in a McDonalds car-park.

We rented a small apartment for our 2 days here. Lovely little place and the bus only rattled past every 10 minutes or so. Earplugs came to the rescue.

Friday, August 8th

A big day of exploration. We walked around the Old Town visiting various churches, the Castle and Dragon and generally enjoying the place..

Old Town.

Old Town.

Castle Courtyard.

Castle Courtyard.

Lunch.

Warsaw. August 4-6, 2014

Monday, August 4th

Hello Poland! It was a long drive, but still managed to make it to Warsaw in time to get into the executive lounge and gobble up a free meal and down a few drinks before closing time. We did not get a room upgrade and had to do some fast talking to gain access to the lounge. Hilton Honors Gold cards are not as special as they once were.

The days drive was nothing special, just a lot of countryside and small townships to pass though. However it really does feel like we are back in Europe. We also got a little rain to prove it.

Sterlin was too tall to fit into the Hotel Carpark, so we cut a little deal with Bell. We could park the car outside the hotel for 3 days, avoid the horrendous hotel charges (USD $45 per day) and just give them a whopping tip. Worked for us.

Tuesday, August 5th

Rain was forecasted for the day, but kindly stayed away. We went on a long walk into the city including a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage listed Old Town. Warsaw is a real mix of old and new. There is construction going on everywhere with high rises springing out of the ground. And makes the Old Town feels tiny in comparison. And unfortunately there are massive multi-lanes highways buzzing in, around and through it all. We very much liked Warsaw, but it is different and more grown up than Tallinn, Riga and Vilnius. For example, Starbucks can be found in Warsaw. And yes, we found one. It was a good day and when we finally made it back to the hotel we were quite exhausted. Just enough energy to gobble up dinner and down a few drinks in the lounge.


Famous Solidarity poster, Pope and soldier.
Probably have our bases covered here.

Old Town

Nice Buildings

Yep, UNESCO for sure!
Wednesday, July 6th

Another day, another city walking tour. This day we headed away from the Old Town to see the "other side of the tracks" and the area near the train station. Turns out, the other side of the tracks is full with Shopping Centers. We spent 3 or 4 hours wandering around before Stephen decided to head back to the hotel and Caroline went in search of some last minute summer sale bargains. We were both successful.

Surprise surprise, dinner was in. The lounge had free food and drinks. Over drinks we planned the remaining 10 days of our trip until Eeklo. Gdansk was dropped in favour of Krakow and Berlin was added. Hard to belief we will be in Eeklo in 10 days.

Now that was a nice Latte.

Shopping anyone?