Poland

The top of a building in Gdansk

Gdansk

In the Malbork castle

Building in Torun

Old Hala in Warsaw

Prozna street, Warsaw

The Wawel

Wedding in the Wawel

Lublin

The pictures above were taken while traveling with friends who visited us in Poland, namely: Attila and Zsuzsa, Michele and Daria.

With Daria and Michele we traveled to Toruń and then to Gdańsk. It is really worth to visit both places. Toruń is a small city with a very nice downtown, which includes the Mikołaj Kopernikus house (Nicolaus Copernicus) which is now museum. Gdańsk is famous in the world because of the Solidarnośc movement, which had a lot to do with the fall a communism in Eastern Europe. If you are there, please visit the Solidarnośc Museum in the Stocznia (shipyard). We did not visit it but according to Daria and Michele, you should not miss it. The downtown of Gdańsk is beautiful, sometimes because of the architecture you might feel like you are in Netherlands or Germany.

The Malbork castle is simply amazing and the direct consequence of this is that the castle is full of visitors. After a while, it might get annoying… So if you can, visit it early morning. When we were there the entrance fee was around 10 euros, but if you have a student card, you can get a discount.

Ervin “escorted” Attila and Zsuzsa to Kraków. It is useless to insist here about the beauty of this city (there are sites that do this “job” better). The pictures were taken in the Wawel.

It is interesting to mention the picture taken in Próżna Street. For a while we lived in this neighborhood and this is how we discovered the street. The territory where the street is used to be part of the Warsaw Ghetto. If you walk down the street nowadays, you will feel like in a time machine because the buildings from that time are still standing and probably they were not renovated at all after the end of the Second World War.

Bicycle trip in Poland

After we arrived to Kazimierz we found out that there is a
folk music festival going on in the main square.
The following photos were taken with this occasion.

In June, after we bought two bikes we decided to “hit the road” and explore the Eastern part of Poland. Between 25-30 June we were biking mainly in the Lubelskie region, sleeping at night in our tent, at times cooking our own food, but mainly living on maślanka (very similar to yoghurt) and fresh rolls. In total, we did more than 400 kilometers: driving through small villages, talking to people (mainly Ania) and just simply exploring the rural Poland. If you do not like the fact that traveling with car creates a border between you and the outside world, then traveling with bike it is a very good alternative. On the other hand, a bit of physical exercise is always welcomed:).

25 June 2005

At 6.45, we take the train from Warsaw to Puławy where we arrive at half past eight. Of course, the first thing that we do is go and get a coffee. Later we bike to Kazimierz where we leave the bikes at a small shop and we go and explore the city. In the main square, there is a traditional fair along with a folk music contest. We hang around listen to the music and take photos. The atmosphere is great, the people happy and smiley: this is all what we need! Kazimierz is small but very nice and definitely, it has its own atmosphere. After a couple of hours we leave and take a sandy “off-road” which is a bit to much for our bikes, but eventually we make it to Wiklów. Next to Wiklów, we notice that people are picking strawberries in the field so we go there and buy some. These are the best strawberries, which we ever ate! Later we pass through Zagłoba, Łaziska and late afternoon we arrive to Kaliszany where we spend the night in our tent.

26 June 2005

We start the day at 7 and we are on the road by 8. In a rainy weather, we bike through Jozefów, Prawno, Dzierzkowice. In Kraśnik, we stop for a double coffee and try to explore the city a bit, but in this rainy weather, we rather bike on. Late afternoon we arrive to Zdriłowice where we ask a family if we can put our tent on their land. Of course, they agree and when we visit their house to ask for water for tea they show us the real Polish hospitality: sausage and bread on the table along with chrzan (spicy horseradish) and tasty cakes. The daughter of the family gives us quite a “show”: she is singing old Polish songs and playing on the electric org. Strange but funny experience:)!

27 June 2005

After breakfast, we get on our bikes again. We bike through Tokary, Gilów and Nadecznica. The weather is great for biking and it is even a bit sunny. We see amazing landscapes, small quite villages and after Nadecznica, we again buy strawberries from the producer. Yummy! In Szczebrzeszyn (if you are not Polish do not even try to read it:)) we try to find a coffee house but we end up making our own coffee. Early afternoon we arrive to Zwierzyniec, a city with great local and independent beer! We put up our tent in the courtyard of a hostel, eat a bit and then go to the pub of the beer factory. One of the best beers we have ever had! The city is small, but nice and it is a good place to explore the nearby national park.

28 June 2005

We leave the bags in the tent and start to explore the region. We drive through the following villages: Guciów, Krasnobród, Susienec, and Jozefów. On the way back to Zwierzynec, we take a new track and pass through the national park. Ania’s bike is on the verge of breaking down and makes horrible sounds. After we get back to Zwierzyniec, we find a bike repair shop so Ania’s bike recovers. Of course, we close the day in the pub of the beer factory:).

29 June 2005

We pass by Guciów again and have a coffee and a beer at a traditional pub and we start our way to Zamośc. After we arrive, we leave our bikes with a shop assistant and explore the city. Zamośc is full of renaissance wonders and according to urban planning criteria, it is a “perfect city” (just like the downtown of Barcelona). You will find here many coffee houses, restaurants and in general, it is quite touristy. After a couple of hours, we head to Rejowiec Fabryczny from where we supposed to take a train to Lublin the next day. Before it gets dark, we reach Zawody where we put up our tent on the shore of a small lake. The memorable moments of the evening are the cold shower and a can of Zwierzyniec beer:).

30 June 2005

We really have to push hard to make it in time for the train. We arrive just a couple of minutes before the train so we even manage to get tickets. An hour later, we are in Lublin where it is a bit difficult to find the Old City, especially on bike. However, it is really worth the effort because we are amazed by the old part. The architecture is very nice, the atmosphere intimate so we really spend four nice hours in the city. Late afternoon we take a train back to Warsaw.

Morocco: Asilah pictures and diary

Each year Asilah hosts an international meeting
for artists. During the meeting the artists create
and sometimes they paint all walls in the medina.
This was one of the grafitti (?) which we liked a lot.

Diary: coming soon!

Morocco: Marrekesh pictures and diary

Entrance to the mellah

Cooks downtown Marrakesh

Restaurants downtown Marrakesh

In the mellah

Diary: coming soon!

Morocco: Sahara pictures and diary

January 17, 2005

We wake up around 5 a.m., pack our bags and go down to the reception to wait for our ride. In the meantime Mehdi shows up too, so we chat a bit. He is a true example of the Maroccan’s good sense of humor. Our car shows up a bit later: we are a bit surprised that there are already 5 people in the car… How will we fit? Well, minutes later we see that it is possible to fit and (nota bene) it is possible to survive even for 6 hours! Now we really know what does it mean to take a ride in a “grand taxi” :-) Because of a girl who doesn’t take the ride so well, we have to stop 2-3 times, but we are just happy to stretch our legs a bit and take some pictures.

Around 2 a.m. we arrive to Rissani and leave our bags in a shop and go for a walk, but there is not much to see here. When we go back to the shop our driver is still not there, so we have a mint tea with the owner of the shop and we almost buy some jewelry :-) It is quite hard to resist if you start the bargaining game: rarely there is way out!

Eventually our driver shows up and after a 30 minutes ride we arrive to Auberge Lahmada. We can see sand everywhere and the dunes are just 300 meters away. But instead of showing us our accommodation, the owner of the auberge wants to trick us to take a camel ride. We tell him no way, it is too expensive. Let’s just say that we weren’t his favorite clients for the rest of our stay. We decide to stay in tents, probably we won’t have many opportunities to stay in berber tent. The most surprising thing is that in all Morocco you have to pay for each shower, but here on the edge of Sahara the shower is for free!! After a shower and a café au lait we head to the desert. It is amazing to walk, roll down or just lie in the sand. We walk almost for two hours and in the meantime it gets dark. Let’s just say that walking in the dunes in the moonlight can create strange sensations, including orientation problems. But sooner or later we make it back. At night we sleep like babies.

January 18, 2005

We wake up around 9 in the morning and we have breakfast on the roof on the roof of the auberge. Just as usually, we make our own breakfast: we still have fresh vegetables and a lot of bread. After breakfast we drink 4 cafe au lait, so it is a perfect morning!

Around 10 we leave the auberge and we had for the dunes. It is really hard to describe what we see... we hope that the pictures will be able to give back a bit of the beauty that we see here. Warm yellow world, so quiet and so beautiful. Simply no words... Just like in Bertolucci's "Sheltering sky", which by the way, was shot here. We climb the highest dunes and simply the view is amazing. Climbing on the dunes it is very similar to climbing in snow, maybe even a bit more difficult and exhausting. We are in the dunes for six hours and we reach the auberge after 5 in the afternoon. Both of us are phisically good condition, but after several hours in the dunes we are terribly tired. After we get back we cook our food: cous-cous with fish and fresh salad. Later shower and of course again cafe au lait :-) In the evening we go for another short walk and later just sit around and play dices which attracts most of the local guys.

January 19, 2005

On the second morning in the dunes we start again with cafe au lait and later go for another walk in the desert. Before we leave we meet a nice American couple, Barbara and Todd. They are doing a trip around the world and we don't know it yet, but we will travel with them for a couple of days.

Our walk in the dunes is the same great as the day before, though we make it a bit shorter. In the evening we rest a bit, drink cafe au lait and play dices. It is our last night in the dunes, which makes us a bit sad.