Day 14 - Sunday 22/09/2013 Driving back to Ciocia's

We leave early to drive back to Ciocia's, in Szprotawa for a few nights. The Autostrada is a great road, but lots of tolls to pay along the way. The radio keeps us company, with a mix of English and Polish songs. It's not to MOH's liking, but it keeps him awake. I've grown attached to 'La La La' by naughtyboy which seems to be on every time we change stations. So the volume goes up, much to MOH's annoyance.

Sights along the way

The autostrada, speed limit 120km/hr (some cars are travelling at 150km/hr)

We arrive in the late afternoon, and Ciocia has food ready for us already. This time it's a delicious cauliflower and vegetable soup. We show her all our photos and bring her up to speed with what we have been doing.

 

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Day 11 - Thursday 19/09/2013 Drive to Krakow

After breakfast and a walk around the local streets and shops, we hit the road again.

The Palace of Culture, Warsaw - built by the Russians

View of our hotel - our room is behind Franklin Templeton's right eye

This time a four and a half trip to Krakow. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch and realised we had WiFi access - an opportunity to publish another post. I'll post the rest of the entries tonight at our apartment. Some men were hanging around our car so we didn't stop for long, and rushed out before our toilet break.

Sights along the way - an hotel

Sights along the way

The drivers are crazy here, and take dangerous risks. The speed limits seem to be optional. If we have an overtaker in oncoming traffic, we are obliged to move over to the emergency lane. Motorbikes in particular, and some cars, seem to just swerve in and out of traffic at will, and some highways have arrows on the road showing where you can overtake. Risky business!

It's raining today! but not cold.

We had difficulty finding our apartment, even though we were in the right street. We ended up phoning the contact person who saw us outside. She came in the car with us, to show us the way because there are several one way streets locally.

Poster for DJ's - isn't that Dame Edna?

We had to pay up front and thought we could use our Traveller's card, which has euro on it. We were quoted in euro when we made the booking, however, they only accept zloty. (At least I'll have more spending money in Berlin!) Now we'll have fees on our credit card, which we wanted to avoid. Also, withdrawing euro at the ATM is not working here. Instead of giving the option of euros, it only pays in zloty, and converts from Australian dollars - more fees! Luckily there are a lot of money exchange places, and we have been able to exchange Australian dollars for zloty.

I am happy that we have a washing machine here, because some of our clothes can almost stand up by themselves! (Slight exaggeration!)

We went to get food items from the supermarket at a shopping complex nearby, and prepared hotdogs for dinner. We have a big day tomorrow, so need a good sleep tonight.

 

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Day 7 - Sunday 15/09/2013 On the road again!

We drove to Poznan and Slupca (swoopsa) - a 2-3 hour trip. At one stage we wondered why the cars in front had stopped, and realised we were stopped at traffic lights for the first time.

View from the car - trees are very close to the roadside

We needed to fill up the car with diesel, so MOH spent some time looking for the button to open petrol cap. n the meantime STS went outside and opened it manually - thank goodness for tech savvy kids!

Voyek Zenek's farmhouse

Today has been the strangest birthday I have ever had. We are on MOH's uncle's farm, just outside Slupca. They have a very simple life, no running water inside, an outdoor toilet, and no bathroom facilities that I could see. They bring in water from a tap outside, and boil it to wash the dishes. Voyek (uncle) Zenek and Ciocia Janina are always smiling and enjoy a laugh. Ciocia needs two walking sticks to get around. She has very sore legs and hips.

Farming equipment, chicken coop behind

On arrival, we had a late lunch, Polish chicken noodle soup, chicken, meat balls and schnitzel, salads and potatoes, followed by cheesecake and another slice with a biscuit layer and cream. All very delicious. There are lots of flies everywhere this time of year. Wojek and Ciocia spend a lot of time swatting flies on the farm, even on Uncle's own head. We later had a tour of the farm, main building, chicken enclosure, dog kennels, outdoor sitting area.

MOH and Voyek in hothouse

We all sleep in the same room - Uncle, STS, MOH and me. Ciocia was too shy to sleep in the same room as MOH so she slept with her daughter, Danka. On the other hand, I was sharing the room with Uncle! We all slept in our clothes.

The original well

Danka's granddaughter was born a few days ago, and came home today. I hope she keeps well.

This is a real eyeopener and not a day we will forget for a very long time. It makes us grateful for the lifestyle we have at home and realise how lucky we are.

 

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Getting to Poland

So we arrived at Heathrow at 11:30pm, and needed to be checked in at British Airways by 12:30 for our flight to Berlin. Sounds easy, but by the time we did the passport thing and collected our bags, it was too late to get across to the other terminal. At Singapore airport we were assured that alternative arrangements would be made if we missed our flight, but the people at Heathrow were initially reluctant to help. We persuaded Singapore Airlines to arrange another flight to Berlin, but we have now been told by British Airways that we have had to forfeit our return flight to London later in the month. On top of that, we got our car in Berlin later than anticipated, and had to drive in the dark to Ciocia's (Auntie's) house.

MOH driving on the autobahn - very fast

MOH was marvellous with his driving, particularly since we had a manual car. He didn't brief his navigator (me) with the directions and maps, but found his way though Berlin and onto the correct freeway to get us to Poland and on to Szprotawa (Shpro-tova), where Ciocia (pronounced Cho-chu, short vowels) lives. I think he enjoyed the drive, especially driving at 140-160km/hr in Germany on the autobahn (freeway). No-one seems to observe the speed limits there. We had a few minor problems and hair-raising incidents- not being able to put the car in reverse, and driving down the wrong side of the road, forgetting to give way at roundabouts, bumping into curbs etc. I am still freaking out every time we drive around, especially with oncoming traffic, but will have to get used to it. We still have a few weeks to go. I'm just glad that I'm not doing the driving!

We were exhausted when we arrived at Ciocia's at about 9:30pm local time, so after a warm welcome and embrace, and a talk to Ciocia and her daughter, Wanda, who came to see us, we had showers, and a long overdue sleep.

 

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