apathtosomewhere

It was quite warm in the campervan last night, but we slept okay. We woke up at 8:30 and it was already hot. We’re staying here for another night, so no need to pack up and head to the road. A day to breathe and relax.

However we did have an important morning as we had an appointment with a local vet to give Pupster her tapeworm tablet, so she could return to the UK (all part of the regulations when taking your pet to Europe). The surgery was on the other side of the river, literally opposite our campsite, but with no way of getting to it easily. A walk involved an hour and half route into town, across the bridge and back along the other side. We could bike, but we needed a trailer for Pupster or a taxi which seemed complicated. So we did end up packing the van up to a point – the chairs and table were left to demarcate our spot and we sort of put things away……

We found the vets easily and checked in. Pupster isn’t a fan of vets and hid under a chair, much to the amusement of the other people in the waiting room. The vet came out and asked us if Pupster would swallow the tablet herself and I had to explain that you needed to crush any medication and smother it in gravy to be anywhere near successful. It would a case of pushing it down her throat and hoping she swallows it. So two nurses came along, coaxed Pupster out of her hidey hole and did the deed. Pupster, looking a bit stunned, sauntered off towards the door, while us humans all held our breath. She stood for a little while contemplating before she dropped her head, opened her mouth and quietly deposited the tablet onto the mat. The whole waiting room burst into laughter. So poor old Pupster had to go through the process again and this time, she swallowed! Everybody cheered! She retreated under the chair and wasn’t impressed when we had to slide her out again to have her microchip checked. She looked quite affronted, but she had created a new legion of fans – we all waved goodbye to everyone, who were still chuckling.

Breakfast was now high on the agenda and finding the place that the vet nurses had recommended back in town, we walked in. We asked if Pupster was allowed in and the answer was yes! Though there’s not a lot of dogs around, Pupster has been welcomed in every shop we’ve entered. It’s been quite lovely.

It was fast approaching 11am and getting late for a breakfast. The young girl explained that they were getting ready to lay out lunch items, but kindly let us have a breakfast buffet and a coffee. We were on a corner by the bridge and it was perfect for a spot of people watching. The amount of bikes is amazing – back at our campsite, practically everybody has them parked outside their unit – all sorts of people are cycling too. Just like Ypres, there’s no Lycra to be seen, just people nipping to the shops in everyday clothes. It was just lovely.

After breakfast, we had a wander – this side of the river is the old part of town with many beautiful and traditional buildings and is the hotspot for all the tourists to congregate. It was full of cafes, gift shops and notably lots of ladies clothes shops. After a good wander around (it was quite pleasant actually) we went to the icecream shop and rewarded ourselves with a flavoured icecream and a doggy ice lolly for Pupster for being so good at the vets.

We waddled back to the van, noting several huge tourist buses in the car park and that it was practically full – it was getting quite warm at this point – and decided to go and investigate the Burg Landshut high up in the hills. It’s the castle with the huge plate glass windows that houses the restaurant and overlooks the whole of Bernkastel. Apparently you can walk up to it, but in this heat, it wasn’t going to happen. We drove back through the tunnel, around a couple of hairpins and down off a side road, which we followed until we found a small parking area. It was pretty much full and with someone behind us we carried on up hoping to turn around, but instead to our surprise and delight, came across a big wide car park with plenty of space!

We walked down a steepish cobbled lane towards the castle and the vista suddenly opened up with expansive views up and down the Mosel River. It was stunning with the town hugging the river and the vineyards and woodlands stretching as far as you could see. We spent many minutes taking in the view, before having a wander around the castle itself – the restaurant was closed today and seemed that people lived on site permanently as there were children’s trikes tucked into the corner of the courtyard, but the panoramic views were fantastic.

https://en.bernkastel.de/landshut-castle

We retraced our steps back to the van, and headed back into town. A quick shop in Aldi for a few provisions and a bottle of wine and we drove back to the campsite. It was intensely hot – we put up our awning for some shade and filled a washing up bowl so the Pupster could dip her feet in and have a bit of a splash to cool down. Then we just chilled, shielded from the 34 degree heat, welcoming any breeze that came along, keeping an eye on Pupster so she didn’t overheat. By the time we went to bed, it was still very warm and sticky – it was tempting to sleep with the van doors open. In the end we shut ourselves in and hoped we could sleep.

Tomorrow up and out as we have to be in Calais for our final European night before getting Le Shuttle back to England early Friday. Luckily on a little stroll around the campsite in the early evening, we spotted that one of the campers had accidentally parked their car wheel on our electric lead (to reach our designated electric point, our lead had to trail through two pitches). They were very good and said they would move the car and release our lead. Could have been a bit of a disaster in the morning if we couldn’t retrieve it! Good spot!

Another good night’s sleep and had a bit of a sleep in. Hubby and the Pupster had already been for a walk up to the village and back before I had even started to move.

We had ordered croissants and rolls when we checked in yesterday and went to collect them for breakfast this morning and ate them together with a cuppa, sitting outside in the sunshine. This was glorious. Pupster had a paddle in the river and had celebratory zoomies afterwards.

The road was a bit busier with more lorries passing, but it was okay. We chilled and finally packed up and started to head west. This beautiful valley seemed endless, carrying on for miles, still thickly wooded and the odd rocky outcrop peeking out of the trees. It was stunning and we realised why it was called Franconian Switzerland – it resembled an Alpine valley. There was a little bit of it noticeable tourism – a few hoardings advertising canoeing and kayaking by the towns, but nothing like Wisla in Poland. Just miles of gorgeous scenery.

The valley finally petered out and we went cross country on single carriageways until we picked up the autobahn, the quickest way to get to Bernkastel-kues today – our next stop. We thought the autobahn would be quite boring, but the countryside was fabulous – woodlands and forests as far as the eye could see with village roofs poking through the greenery and small fields with plenty of hills and rolling countryside. It changed slightly to more agricultural and then we started to skirt round towns and cities – Frankfurt and Mainz – and it was getting quite built up, which was a bit of a shock after so much countryside. Eventually we came off the autobahn and joined dual carriageways instead as we made our way to our destination.

We had a thought whilst driving – we had been on the road for nearly two weeks living very simply when it dawned on us that we had a house full of stuff back home and we weren’t really missing any of it. Sort of made us think of what we accumulate in our lives as humans and was it all necessary.

We pulled into a sort of rest area with a large square building plonked in the middle of acres of parking, as we needed the loo and a quick breather. It was 28 degrees. The loos were as utilitarian as you can possibly get – all steel and echoing – with some ventilation system on at full blast, making an incredible noise. (Felt like a scene out of one of those tense film thrillers where everybody creeps around). It was quite grim, to be honest and we didn’t linger, but feeling more comfortable we hit the road again – we didn’t have far to go.

We gradually downgraded to single carriageway roads and with some 7 km to go, turned off and plunged down a valley, with several sharp hairpin bends to negotiate to add to the fun. It was very beautiful. On the final hairpin, there were a cluster of houses and as we rounded the corner, came across the mouth of a tunnel! This road was certainly full of surprises! We entered the tunnel which burrowed its way through a hillside for some 0.5km and then burped us out by the banks of the river Mosel and in the town of Bernkastel-kues. Wow! We had arrived!

We drove along the bank of the river and into town, across a bridge spanning the river and headed to our first possible campsite (not booked again) – it was out of town a bit so we turned around to check another campsite at the other end of Bernkastel. This was on the edge of town too, but seemed closer to the centre and it appeared to be on an island. We preferred this one and checked in – we could go and choose our pitch again like last night, which we did, choosing a spot on the end of a grassy patch which gave us a clear view of the hills and the river. As usual, we went through our little ritual of going backwards, forwards and sideways, undecided on what angle to park the Van, until we finally came to an unanimous decision and turned the engine off. We then went to plug in the electric and found our very lengthy lead was a tad too short – the electricity box was quite a way past two further pitches. Oh for goodness sake! Our Dutch neighbours very kindly let us shuffle our Van even closer to theirs, our lead meandering through their sitting area and finally we were there. They were such a sweet couple.

The wine and nibbles came out almost immediately after our little trauma. We had primarily chose this spot, not only for its spaciousness, but it was under a huge tree and very shady especially with this heat. Pupster laid full length on the yellow grass, trying to keep cool while we relaxed and took in our surroundings. I took Pupster to the river’s edge, literally a few metres away from our pitch, hoping she could have a cooling dip, but the Mosel was quite green and looked like there was algae in it too. We just admired it instead.

Just after 5, we fed the Pupster, had showers and walked into town. We found a lovely restaurant up a side street with a terrace where we had a very nice dinner. The Pupster worked on her adoring public, getting fuss from a Dutch couple and then giving the little girl next door to us a quick lick. We got chatting which was lovely. Pupster is a great ice breaker.

We wandered into the town centre looking for an ATM to get some Euros. We had been wiped out by one of the Polish campsites who preferred euros to zlotys for some reason, hadn’t really needed them while we were in Poland or Czech and thought we could use our card for Germany. Yesterday someone wanted a cash payment and we realised we had lots of loose change, but nothing substantial. After we had remedied that problem, we dropped back down onto the banks of the Mosel and came across a little bar. Nabbing two seats overlooking the river, we ordered two drinks and watched the world go by. A huge river cruise ship, the Viking Hild was docked, all 443 foot of it and as we sat there, it sailed off up the river.

There was a castle up on top of the hill, the Burg Landshut, with huge floor to ceiling windows overlooking the town. Apparently it was the restaurant. You could either walk up there through the vineyards or be lazy and take the car. It looked very intriguing.

This was definitely wine country with vineyards on most of the hillsides, plunging down at extraordinary angles – how they harvested the grapes, goodness knows.

Finishing our drinks, we walked back to the campsite, it was definitely cooler with a slight breeze, but would still be warm in the camper. We sat inside lazing on the bed , with the door open, Pupster crashing out. Hubby slept upstairs while Pupster and I laid on top of the bedding. It would be 34 degrees tomorrow.

Woken by the sound of rain drumming on the Van’s roof. That’s not good, but by the time we got up, it had stopped.

The couple who turned up in a Tesla yesterday and didn’t seem to possess a tent, slept in the car’s boot overnight – quite weird to see the boot automatically opening and somebody getting out in their PJ’s.

We went to have showers in the shower block – a seemingly recent build, but with a strange set-up. You went into the “bathroom” that had two shower cubicles with clear glass doors, two washbasins and two toilets in cubicles. And it was unisex. You could lock the main door into the bathroom, but then nobody else could enter to go to the loo or to wash until you had finished, unless you were happy to leave it unlocked and risk the chance of anyone walking in, catching you in the buff in the shower. Taking no chances, we firmly locked the door to enjoy our very hot and powerful showers.

We toyed with a walk to a nearby pond so the Pupster could stretch her legs and possibly have a swim. We decided to get the van ready to go on our return, but as we were putting the last things away and thinking of putting boots on, a big black cloud appeared through the trees and the heavens opened – very heavily.

With the rain splattering the windscreen and no signs of stopping, we decided to head off to our next campsite instead, driving down to the town of Chřibská which was pretty with its traditional wooden houses, but it had pockets of ugliness – a huge factory and some town planner had allowed a horrible squat flat roofed apartment block to be constructed in the middle of it all. The town as a whole was a little bit shabby and well worn which added to its appeal – the succession of hot summers and harsh winters took its toll on the buildings – peeling render and paint chipped off, (must be a nightmare to maintain) but it had a lovely organic feel about it rather than being spritzed up for tourism. It felt frozen in time, lost in these woods and not touched by outside commercialism. I hoped it stayed that way.

We headed south west, through miles and miles of woodland and mountains with pockets of meadowland as we dropped down to the lowlands. There were quite a few conical hills dotted around and presumed that they were volcanic in origin – they were very distinctive. It was still raining. There were some biggish towns that we drove through, all quite attractive with little town squares, but most of them had some form of heavy industry on the outskirts.

https://grokipedia.com/page/central_bohemian_uplands

It was another day of driving – we could have gone the quick route on the motorway, but wanted to see more of the Czech countryside and stuck to rural roads. Again, the mixed bag of landscapes that changed quickly from woodland to wide agricultural fields and back again. Huge churches dominated the communities and the ugly soviet style apartment blocks regularly blotted the towns and villages, sticking out like a sore thumb. We also kept coming across little village greens and village duck ponds which reminded us very much of England.

Unable to find a cafe for a coffee on route, we finally pulled up in a village car park near Zatec and had a bite to eat from Van’s rations and a cuppa. The Pupster got a quick walk to allow for any canine ablutions. We had not seen any lay-bys, parking areas or viewpoints at all throughout Poland and now in Czech, where you could stop to have a rest or a quick brew. The rain finally eased off and the sun started to poke its head out – we seemed to be on the edge of the weather front and kept dipping in and out of showers and sunshine.

A single track railway line had been meandering alongside us for quite some time, sometimes hugging the road or peeling off into the distance, but frequently coming back and crossing our path. We weren’t sure if it was the same continuous line or several lines serving the towns and villages dotted all around. Most of the time, there were warning lights and barriers but sometimes there was nothing and it was down to you to slow down and look left and right before crossing. Nothing was manned.

We pulled up at one particular crossing with the barriers down, out in the middle of the fields, when a little two carriage sprinter train appeared and stopped short of the crossing, alongside a rather non-descript rectangular windowless concrete building. The train doors opened and two young girls got off, dressed as if they were in the middle of Paris or Milan and stepped straight onto grass. This building was nothing more than a depressing bus shelter, masquerading as railway station and there wasn’t even a platform. The girls toddled off, the train pulled away and crossed the road, the barriers lifted and we were once again on our way.

We cut across the countryside and entered Germany, with no fanfare, just as we came out of a woodland and met a cluster of official looking buildings, now mothballed, which were the only reminder of the former border and a small blue sign. It was like driving from Yorkshire into Lancashire. It was a weird feeling crossing the border, a bit bittersweet – Poland and Czech Republic had been totally alien to us: completely new language, different currency and completely new countries, but we had thoroughly enjoyed ourselves experiencing these countries, negotiating our way round and making ourselves understood. It had been a fabulous and fun week visiting all these places from the coast to the mountains and everything in between. Then suddenly we were back into something more comfortable and familiar – knowing more German words than just “dog” and “thank you”, the confidence knowing that more people would happily slip into English and get you out of a linguistic hole or maybe that we were that bit more closer to home.

You could tell immediately the difference between Czech and Germany – we were now driving through tidy and more affluent looking communities, more managed countryside rather than the more natural, raw and seemingly untouched we had just left. We were gradually getting closer to our campsite and suddenly the scenery changed as we entered a high sided wooded valley with huge outcrops of rock – a little river ran at the bottom beside the road with little meadows dotted here and there. It was absolutely gorgeous and hoped our campsite would be in the middle of it. We spotted what we thought was a construction crane, but soon realised it was a viewing platform and our hearts sank a little – hope this wasn’t going to be spoilt by loads of tourist attractions and hordes of people shuffling around. A little further on, there was a restaurant seemingly built into the rock, a show cave entrance and a little train track, but there wasn’t many people walking around – it was, after all, late Monday afternoon. We held our breath as this beautiful valley carried on. We managed to overshoot our camping ground, the Campingplatz Frankirsche Schweiz and had to turn around in the little village of Tuchersfeld, just around the corner. We checked in with a young man with good English, went to chose our pitch (the campsite was spread out along the little river with the reception in the middle so it was a case of which end you want). We settled for the wider field and soon set up camp – we were only a few yards from the river and the road – thankfully it wasn’t particularly busy and pretty quiet. We then had to call a vet in Bernkastel-kues (our next overnight stop) to get tapeworm treatment for Pupster so she could re-enter the UK later on in the week. I was very brave and spoke my best German to say hello and did anyone speak English (as I am rubbish at German). The receptionist called for another lady who spoke great English and we organised an appointment and to show my appreciation and that I wasn’t totally ignorant, said fabulous (or the German equivalent), thank you very much and goodbye in German. Okay, so it was very basic classroom stuff, but I felt very accomplished.

In celebration, we opened the bottle of wine that we had just bought at reception (it was quite nice) and actually cooked a proper meal rather than munching on cheese and other nibbles. I took Pupster on a walk to check out the other end of the camp and found a woodland footpath that took us to Tuchersfeld within minutes. When we returned, we relaxed together outside in the last rays of warm sunshine until the coolness sent us inside where we set the bed up and had a brew in bed. The campsite was lovely and quiet, the little river trickling by and the road still. It was great site surrounded by the valley and its wooded sides, a feeling of being hidden away.

We settled down for another night and slept well.

Despite being squashed in like sardines, the campsite settled down around 11pm and we had a good nights sleep. We woke around 7am to blue skies and had the same idea – let’s leave this place now and find somewhere nicer to do our ablutions, have breakfast and get sorted out – maybe a clearing in the woods. We were gone by 8.

We drove along the main road, gradually dropping out of the valley. The mountains were stunning if you blocked out the ugliness – the advertising hoardings, supermarkets, petrol stations, the road furniture and signage. It was a long and ugly scar in a beautiful area. Why we are so good at desecrating places especially stunning ones like this?

We came out of the mountains and crossed into the Czech Republic at Cieszyn. We followed the dual carriageway along a broad valley with mountains in the distance. We approached Ostrava and decided to find a cafe. We first pulled into a petrol station to sort ourselves out (so much for the forest clearing) – to feed the Pupster, have a quick wash and a change of clothes so we looked presentable at least. We followed the city centre signs and found ourselves in the broad boulevards of Ostrava – it looked quite attractive. Suddenly for no reason, we lost all internet connection, the satnav blank and were now blindly driving around the streets, unsure whether we should be straddling the tram lines and totally disorientated. We pulled up down a side street with parking notices we couldn’t even translate, desperately trying to figure out what to do. Then suddenly hubby gave a whoop – somehow he got connected back to some 4G and we were saved (gosh, aren’t we so reliant on technology that when it suddenly goes belly up……). Feeling quite flustered, we decided to shelve the idea of a city centre coffee and headed out of town, spotting a Tesco (??) sign in the distance.

Once back on the dual carriageway heading to Olomouc (I’ve been calling them motorways, but think they just dual carriageways – the equivalent of say, the A1 in England – but they big, fast and get you to places with ease) I did a little research on Google Maps and located a possible cafe on an artificial lake just outside the village of Naklo. So we headed there, the village itself trim and tidy and then came across Wake Surf, the inland watersports centre. It boasted a sliver of beach with families and couples either swimming or sunbathing with a couple of bars and a cafe where we sat in the shade and ordered food. It was 28 degrees .

This place had a great vibe and was quite funky – behind us was a big covered area with hammocks, chairs and benches to lay on and have a nap. On the water, you could jet ski, canoe and kayak and even a zip wire water ski set up which looked fun.

My nachos and the drinks turned up quite quickly, but hubby’s burger got lost in translation and we had to ask the waitress. While we waited, we texted our intended campsite for tonight to see if they had room – we didn’t want a repeat of last night, thank you. Yes, not a problem, just turn up. The burger made an appearance and looked delicious and apparently was very tasty and worth the wait. We thanked the waitresses and set off back on the main roads.

The afternoon was spent traversing north east Czech, a mixture of large fields of wheat and barley as far as the eye could see, to rolling countryside, hills and woodlands. The middle bit was a bit tedious – it was like the Vale of York and a bit featureless, but the scenery kept swapping around. The Czech’s were also in the middle of a major road construction project here, slicing through the countryside. They kept popping us onto parts of this new road and after a few kilometres, taking us off again back to the old country roads. It wasn’t far off being opened by the looks of things, but in the meantime they utilised the bits that were finished while they finalised the closed off sections. Seemed a good idea! Sometimes the new road clipped the edges of villages and some residents found themselves staring at pillars of a particular raised section at the bottom of their garden which seemed rather unfair. One unfortunate house, looking quite newly built, was a complete island surrounded by the devastation of construction and excavation of this new bypass.

We lost count how many times we jumped onto dual carriageways and back onto minor roads. As we neared the mountains, we noticed each village had an icecream vendor which seemed quite inviting until we noticed the long queues. The villages starting to get prettier too. As we approached Liberec on the dual carriageways, we found ourselves travelling up and down hills in a corridor of green. It was a fabulous backdrop of woodland. These mountains were getting quite spectacular – we passed the Trosky Castle, two towers perched high on top of two volcanic rock plugs which could be seen for miles. They seemed to like perching things on tops of hills as we saw a couple more, but couldn’t identify them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trosky_Castle

We also found it interesting that the towns seemed to be quite sprawling and industrial and seemed to appear out of nowhere. One moment you were along a wooded country lane and then approached a busy roundabout surrounded by Lidl’s, Makro’s and retail parks.

Finally leaving main roads behind, we found ourselves on quiet, narrow backwater roads in beautiful woods, steadily climbing. As we got nearer to our campsite, CampingSolar near Chřibská, a delightful old town of chocolate box prettiness, we were having to stop and squeeze past on coming cars (they haven’t heard of passing places around here). The mountains seemed more wild, more untouched – it would be unfair to compare with yesterday’s as we had only driven down one part which happened to be the heart of a tourist Mecca. It was slightly sad to see more road building here – trees had been felled as if they were thinking of widening the road. Maybe traffic had increased and warranted such a move, but it kind of ruined the uniqueness of the area. We had seen so many road projects today – it must be EU grants funding all of this as it would have cost millions.

But it was magical here and beautiful. We hadn’t seen a hint of any commercialisation at all which was wonderful and hoped it stayed that way. We had glimpses of long distance views through the trees (the downside of being in woodland – can’t see much). Finally we turned right and after a gentle climb came across CampingSolar, our home for the night. We negotiated the electric gate and parked up – there were two other campers – a little caravan and near us, a couple in a car with no sign of a tent or other shelter, but had a couple of strings of fairy lights hanging up – just perfect. We put up the awning as it felt it might rain, but it was still quite warm. We chilled, fed the Pupster and then fed ourselves – after a while we wandered down the road for a beer at the restaurant on the corner, sitting outside with a few other people. A little girl approached and asked in Czech if she could stroke Pupster. I replied in a combo of basic English and sign language that it was okay when she helped me with my linguistic failings and spoke clearly in English. “Can I pat your dog?” She got rewarded with a big ear lick from a delighted Pupster.

As we were losing the light, we headed back to our camper and relaxed. We had a sort of a plan to head in a south west direction and to stay in Czech longer rather than enter Germany, just to the north of us. We had seen a lot today and wanted to see more of this lovely country rather than give it a cursory toe dip. Roll on tomorrow!

The sun was shining as we woke up on the final morning with our friends. We don’t really want to leave, but at the same time, excited for more adventures.

Our plan was to be gone by 9, but it was more 10 when we said goodbye. We were following a route that our friends suggested and initially followed the country A roads – it was on one of these, that we spotted our first proper hill in days. It was quite exciting! We were heading south towards Krakow which was more mountainous before crossing the Czech border. It was nice to see some rolling countryside.

We were travelling through villages when a couple of oncoming motorists flashed us – a sign that there must be police around. We had travelled a couple of miles more when a police officer suddenly stepped out from a driveway on the opposite side of the road and promptly stuck his hand up to stop the traffic. We were the first vehicle in a long line of cars and immediately our hearts sank – the thought of trying to communicate with a Polish copper with us having no Polish apart from “dog” and “thank you”. But almost immediately, with his other hand, he pointed to the car behind and signalled for him to pull over, walking down the middle of the road and letting us pass. We frantically checked our mirrors to make sure that we had done the right thing and were in the clear and then spent a few more minutes, waiting for sirens and blue flashing lights bearing down on us as we were hunted down. It took a quite a while for our heart rate to return to normal.

We skirted Katowice as the scenery became more hilly and headed to Ojcow National Park, the smallest one in Poland. We turned down a side road from the main carriageway along farmland and fields and wondered what all the excitement was about. But the road dropped and suddenly we were in a wooded valley driving through a tunnel of trees. With the dappled sunshine, it was magical. We found a car park with thoughts of a cuppa and a quick wander, but there were no spaces. So we carried on – it was heaving with tourists and every parking space was taken. It was like the Lake District on a Bank Holiday. So we just drove through, along valleys, meadows, villages and majestic granite cliffs, admiring how stunning it was – it was very beautiful and glad we got to see it. And then, as we pulled up a hill we were suddenly back to farmland with small industry units and warehouses. A little gem hidden away and over far too quick.

But now we can could serious looking mountains in the far distance.

We drove through Krakow, which was very beautiful with elegant buildings everywhere – we decided there and then to return next year on a city break – this city deserved a thorough investigation!

We got burped out of Krakow and headed south west towards Zywiec, hopefully our overnight stop. We hadn’t booked anything just in case we got distracted and didn’t travel very far. We followed the River Vistula out of Krakow and then veered off into the countryside again, through well to do villages and towns. After a while and after yet another left turn down a tiny little back road, we decided to stop for a cuppa and just double check our route. For some reason, Google Maps had decided that it was bored with the assigned route and gone completely off piste. Not that we minded as the countryside and these back roads were a delight and we decided to stick with them, though kept eye on Google in case it threw a total wobbly. And it was a lovely route: pretty villages with big houses nestling in the foothills – the scenery was definitely changing now. We followed the banks of a large lake and crossed some imposing bridges. This was more like it.

We passed some extraordinarily big churches in the smallest of communities – they were more like mini cathedrals and dwarfed everything around them. This is a Catholic country and you could see that the church was very much central to these communities. We also noticed that most of the housing was reasonably modern and rendered with just a few traditional houses remaining – usually in some form of disrepair. We came to realise that these older buildings were probably a nightmare to heat and keep warm – they were mainly constructed out of wood – and had been been gradually abandoned for more efficient housing.

We arrived in Zywiec in the late afternoon and really needed supplies. Tomorrow everything would be shut and a lump of cheese and a few crackers wouldn’t suffice. So I plunged into yet another Lidl (though I had seen a lot of Dino supermarkets and just fancied to shop in one – don’t ask me why). It’s quite stressful in a way – trying to find stuff, figuring out costs and spending time with Google Translate ascertaining what you’re actually buying. Finally with two bags of goodies, we made our escape as hubby had found a possible camping site for the night.

So imagine our dismay at rocking up at this campsite to find a fenced off field with five wigwam tents at the far end and a solitary motorhome. There was nobody about, the portacabin office was firmly shut and a notice board was so full of instructions that even Google gave up. Despite having splendid views high up on the hillside, it just wasn’t our cup of tea – initially we thought it had a solitary port-a-loo which really put us off, but it didn’t really improve as we turned around and spotted three further loos and a washing up area in a ramshackle wooden construction. With its fate sealed, we went off to find something a bit more upmarket.

We hadn’t done ourselves any favours coming here really. In the winter it’s a major ski resort luring thousands to come and break limbs on the ski slopes and adapts itself for the summer hordes. It’s constantly busy every month of the year. But despite this the mountains were truly stunning, really spectacular scenery – with houses scattered amongst the trees and small little villages. It was almost Alpine. After wheedling through the back roads looking for the next campsite, we ended up on a main stretch of road that followed the valley up into the hills. We entered a town that seemed to go on for miles and was heaving with people wandering along, perusing the inevitable gift shops selling souvenirs and other tat, icecream vendors and other tourist attractions. There were even replica Alpine wooden houses dotted around – it was like a Polish Aviemore but without the awful architecture and only slightly better than the Baltic coastal resorts.

We carried on driving, coming across another tourist resort town further along which seemed a bit calmer and a bit more upmarket though it still had a few garish retail outlets. Here we could see more of the skiing side of things with cables cars disappearing through the trees to the top of the mountains.

We turned up a tiny single road as instructed by the satnav (thought it was someone’s driveway at first) and after a couple of twists and turns, headed up a hill on an open road to our second attempt at camping for the night. It was a slight improvement on the first – it was quite small, surrounded by fencing and with another barrier. A noticeboard had both Polish and English which helped. It looked very full so we pressed the call button for some assistance which failed to summon anyone. Unsure what to do and despite the fabulous views, decided this wouldn’t work and set off again. We were getting tired by now and just wanted a beer.

We found a third site some 20 minutes up the road and crossed our fingers that we could stay. It was coming up to 7pm and God knows that we would do if we couldn’t get in. Wild camping was only allowed on National Parks apparently – perhaps we could get a hotel room or at least stay in their car park.

We drove to Wisla along a stunning highway with hairpins bends thrown in for good measure. These mountains were gorgeous. We came up to Kemping Jonidlo and pulled in to reception which was open – that was a good start. It looked very busy with the tops of numerous vans poking over the hedge. Armed with Google Translate Live on the phone, we entered the office and said hello to the woman sat at the desk and followed it up with a tentative “English?” Now in my world, if someone came to me and couldn’t speak my language, I would speak slowly and maybe chuck in some hand signals and do my best to help. I have found over the many years of visiting foreign countries, that they totally ignore your inadequacies and launch into lengthy monologues that last minutes and hit Mach 1 for speed. And today was no exception – she spoke at the speed of an out of control machine gun that even the phone couldn’t keep up. Somehow we got across that we were two people with a camper and a “pies”, my only competent Polish word (she was impressed), proffered some money and we were in. We could park whereever we wanted.

It was more like “you could park anywhere if you’re lucky enough to find a spot to squeeze into first”. It was practically full and very cosy. We slithered between two campers and suddenly appreciated the British regularity when camping. The pitch numbers, the decent space between units allowing you to acknowledge fellow campers , but not necessarily become life long friends or the need to go into detail with their medical records. There was no real personal space here at all.

We were too knackered to do anymore – it hadn’t been a particularly stressful day, but we just wanted a beer and relax. We fed the Pupster, finally cracked open a bottle and fed ourselves. Then I took Pupster for a walk down the back of the campsite where we found a river with a path alongside which was quite pretty. Pupster dipped her paws into the water by the ford and we admired the surrounding scenery.

We waddled back and chilled – with no real room outside, we set up the bed and as the night fell, we shut the door. The stubborn flies of this morning had disappeared but we didn’t want them replaced by any other winged or bitey insect. We were not far off from the Czech border so would be leaving Poland tomorrow. We had a lot of fun in this country and would be sad to say goodbye.

It had stopped raining, though everything was damp and soggy. The Van was full of flies – trouble not having a fly screen on your side door – so we opened the boot and wafted them out in that direction. It reduced the population quite considerably, though there were a few obstinate ones.

We had another slow morning and late breakfast. Tidying the Van, sorting out Pupster, sorting ourselves out – suddenly most of the morning has gone! After sorting the world out over breakfast with our friends and the day slowly brightening and warming up, we took the Pupster for a walk – about 30 minutes along very quiet country lanes to the river – where Pupster had a lovely time swimming after sticks and paddling in the shallows. Then we slowly walked back, setting off all the dogs that lived in the houses (not sure if this area is classed as a village – just lots of properties with huge plots strung out along a very long road). Most gates had “Awaga Pies” signs tied to their gates/fences (attention – dogs) so we imagined slavering Rottweilers straining at leashes, ready to rip any trespassers apart when in reality, it was mostly little chihuahua type dogs that came galloping up the paths, yapping madly, clearly suffering from Small Dog Syndrome. They took their duties seriously, their high pitched barks following us up the road, their fellow burglar alarm systems joining in the fray. Despite their diminutive size, we kept our distance – they didn’t look the petting types, more like ankle biters and snappers of fingers.

Late yesterday afternoon, the bee keeper who said we couldn’t visit, phoned and invited us to visit him after all – we organised to arrive around 6pm. After a quick bite to eat, the four of us and Pupster headed towards south east of Lodz, about an hour away. We turned up at a modest house with a big garden and met a lovely couple. They ushered us to a table with benches and began to talk about their bee keeping, which was great except it was in Polish. We turned on Google Translate Live which kind of worked, but we had to knit the information together as the translation was a bit mangled – but we got the gist of it. We got to taste two types of honey that their bees produced, some honey cake, a honey drink and some seeds, which was delicious. After a while, we donned bee keeping jackets and hoods then followed the chap across the lawn to a wooden shed. It seemed a bit excessive for a bee hive, but this particular one had a bit of a twist. Down the side, he pulled out a hefty drawer where racks full of bees were busy working. It was fascinating. He had no protection whatsoever as he pulled out racks and moved bees to show us the honeycomb. Afterwards he shut the drawer and took us to the front of the shed – we took off our protective clothing and followed his wife inside. It was set up like a sauna with slatted benches on both sides, under which were the drawers full of bees. With the bees buzzing, it sent vibrations up into the room and the concept was, that together with the smell of the honey and the buzzing sensation, the combination had unique healing powers and therapeutic benefits including relieving anxiety, pain and helping mental health. We sat there for a long time taking in the aroma of honey and could hear the bees, but very faintly – the wife explained that it had been a poor year for bees, the weather had not been kind so the bees had been unable to forage to their full potential and the population numbers were down. Also it was coming to the end of the peak season so we wouldn’t experience the full capabilities of the hive, but as we sat there, we could feel ourselves relaxing and becoming still. It was very powerful, nature at its best and we understood how amazing it would be.

The next problem in a beekeeper’s life were now the wasps that seemed to be everywhere and kept appearing in the shed – they couldn’t figure out how the insects were getting in, but she was an expert at catching them and chucking them outside. Wasps can be devastating to a bee community, so the couple had to be being very vigilant, checking the bees all the time. Parasites were another constant worry too – it was like a full time job, she explained, as they used no pesticides, no chemicals or artificial compounds – everything was organic and natural, which made their work even harder.

In the meantime, Pupster sat outside with the husband, calmly laying on his feet and driving their own dogs mad. It set off the neighbourhood dogs off too. We keep passing our poor hound to complete strangers and she doesn’t bat an eyelid.

Our friends decided to check the hive out further – they laid down on the benches inside the shed as they were very interested in this concept – we went outside and admired the garden. Somehow we began a conversation about the herbs and flowers – “mint, mint tea, sage and rudbeckia” some words just cross that international barrier. The wife had a better digital translator on her phone and we chatted more about bees, nature and educating children. It was lovely.

We bought 6 jars of honey between us and bade goodbye to this lovely couple who cared so much about bees. They barely made any money from this venture which depended so much on good years, weather and serious dedication. It was a labour of love more than a viable business, but with bees so important to this planet, we admired their unwavering passion for the little creatures.

We drove back to our friend’s house, discussing about what this amazing couple were trying to do, full of admiration for them. Mist was forming and lingering across the wheat fields in the fading light which was quite ethereal. It was nearly dark by the time we got back and we hung out by our van, shooing the pesky flies that had the gall to take up residence. After a well earned cuppa, we retired to bed. Tomorrow we would be leaving our friends and starting wheedle our way back home.

The day was threatening rain and a couple of heavy showers rattled through as we got up, sorted ourselves out and had breakfast. Our friends helped us plan our route home, pointing us to the hills and mountains further south that we had been missing on this trip as well as trying to organise a visit to a bee keeper. The weather this summer has not been kind to the bees this year with low honey production and bees themselves struggling, so we were told it wasn’t possible. Hey ho.

So our friends decided to take us to Lodz instead to show us a couple of places and to visit her parents. So we jumped into their car for the hour journey as the sky got blacker and blacker. As we entered the outskirts, the heavens opened and basically stayed like that for the rest of the afternoon with scattered and very brief respites.

We arrived at the parents house as the rain became particularly heavy and the Pupster refused to get out of the car. She got unceremoniously pushed out as we were getting soaked. Inside Pupster met the family cat which was interesting as she hadn’t met a feline close up and she was intrigued. She did very well, but later wanted to play which didn’t impress the cat – she upset the cat further by eating its dinner, twice.

The mum had got cakes and gone a bit overboard – three large plates for five of us, but they were delicious and thoroughly enjoyed. She had also very kindly offered to do some laundry for us as we had only travelled with a week’s worth of clothing, planning to use a campsite’s laundry services.

We finally left for Lodz city centre, leaving the Pupster with mum (apparently Pupster just fell asleep). We parked up near the centre and walked around the corner which was originally the main industrial heartland of the town and now was in the middle of a big regeneration project. The Industrial Museum had been built around the old blast furnaces with the remnants being an integral part of the modern building. We had a fun hour or so wandering around and playing with the interactive displays and being in awe of the size of the original furnaces. Later on the way back to the car, we spotted one of the cooling towers, surrounded by the modern museum building – it was really well done.

As the museum was closing we headed next door to the Planetarium and booked for the 18:15 film show. We entered a large dome and got comfy in reclining seats to watch the solar system displayed on the curved ceiling – the first part was in Polish so we just had to guess (basically there’s more water on Jupiter’s moons than we have on Earth, so we’re not the only planet to exclusively have oceans) and then through headphones, we listened to the possibility that micro organisms from other planets started life on Earth. It was very interesting.

Feeling hungry, we found an Italian restaurant down a side street that had been recommended by a family relative. It was small, cosy and a bit quirky. With a menu sporting several languages, we ordered a nice meal and even mum joined us after her yoga class. (The dad had arrived back home to look after Pupster and the pair were snuggling up to each other apparently).

We headed back to the family home to retrieve the Pupster, meet dad briefly and collect our washing before driving back in the dark with drizzling rain. We were all tired.

Back at base, our canopy had collapsed (must of been quite windy) so we quickly set it back up (the poles had just toppled over) and connected the electric using our new connector which had arrived. Our fridge would survive! After a quick cuppa, we all headed to bed and quickly nodded off.

We woke up to clear blue sunny skies, but with a keen wind. We took our time getting up and getting ready – this place was so tranquil and relaxing.

Yesterday we had the unique experience of being part of Poland’s national emergency test. (Alarm system exercise). We had been fore warned by text the previous day (how do they know we’re in Poland?) so wasn’t too alarmed when we heard a wailing siren (sounded like a WW2 air raid siren) around 8am, somewhere in the distance. But it was still unsettling in a way, listening to the drone of the siren waft across the city which seemed to carry on for an inordinate amount of time – the thought briefly flickers through your head whether it’s actually a test or something has happened to the world overnight. Eventually, the siren died slowly and with nobody else panicking and running around in circles, we carried on sorting out the van.

We went to the main farm buildings where you could wash up, get rid of rubbish and sort your onboard loo out and on the way back, the owner’s Golden Retriever decided to join us and followed us back. He was happy with the attention and Pupster was delighted to have a four legged friend to play with. She tried to goad him into a chase, but he just resolutely stood there watching this mad Labrador do zoomies around him. They hung out together as we sorted the Van out, the Retriever almost tempted to jump in and join our adventure, but finally sauntered off. After our customary check of locked cupboard doors and the gas turned off, we headed to our friend’s house.

It was only an hour and a half away, our shortest run since we started this trip, but we thought we might have to do a detour. We needed an electric lead connector for the Van (we have got one back home, but managed to forget to bring it with us – doh) to enable us to connect our English plug into European sockets. Our onboard leisure battery can usually cope with being off grid for a few days, but in recent weeks was showing signs of needing to be replaced. Last night, at the small holding we didn’t bother to hook up (we’ve been borrowing connectors at the previous campsites we’ve stayed in) so imagine our alarm to find a full battery showing red by the following morning!

So my job as we drove away was to locate a camping shop, but after a brief internet search, the three on offer were in deepest Lodz – we didn’t fancy fighting urban traffic looking for shops in a city we didn’t know. Our other option was to order one from Amazon and get it delivered to our friend’s house on next day delivery. As much as we dislike Amazon’s ethics and working practices, it was going to save the day and actually, isn’t it amazing that today, you can press a button on your phone and get whatever you want the following day from the comfort of your chair (or in our case, campervan) and not suffer the trauma of chasing items around town. We all seem to take this retail revolution for granted.

The sky was full of big fluffy clouds, like balls of cottonwool as we wended our way along the country lanes and picked up the motorway – the sun was glorious. The car temperature gauge read 21 degrees. Perfect.

We turned off after skirting southern Lodz and returned to the quiet A roads, through little communities, woodland and little fields. At one point, we came around a bend after going through some roadworks, to find, much to our alarm, two men in hi-vis jackets on either side of the road, with a tape measure draped across the tarmac. As we slowed downed, one of the chaps got up and sauntered causally to the middle of the road despite a black campervan bearing down on him, bent over and made a mark on the road – it seemed that they were marking out the new centre white line after some resurfacing work. No hard hats, no goggles, no cones, no traffic lights, no warning signs, no closing half the road off, no health and safety – just two men with a tape measure wandering down the road, denoting where the centre line should go. Fabulous. Back in England, that would have meant a full road closure for at least a month and a 20 mile detour…….

We found our friend’s house along a lane of houses, set back from the road. It’s the first time we’ve been here and it was fabulous. We set up the Van in their garden, caught up with each other, had lunch and then chilled. Pupster had a big space to run around in and investigate – she could also have some downtime from us too. She also spent quite a bit of time hunting flies that came into the van – there seemed quite a flying insects here and they all seemed to find our van fascinating and didn’t seem to be in any hurry to leave…….

In the early evening, our friends suggested a walk through a forest to some lakes where there would be a variety of birds to look at. We fancied stretching our legs and taking in some fresh air too. That sounded a perfect plan, so we jumped into their car and headed off. The forest had well defined paths through the tall gangling pine trees and we walked along with the Pupster leading the way. The trees were fascinating, shedding their dark bark halfway up their trunks, showing a tan colour up to their canopy. It was quite beautiful, these trees standing to attention in rows in majestic tricolours.

We walked for ages before we reached the lakes – the Pupster was quite alarmed to find a new human at the end of her lead as we took turns to walk her. It made us laugh with her hesitancy and puzzled looks. Our friends started to look for the viewing platforms so we could see the lakes better, but they weren’t so familiar with this part of the woodland and struggled to locate them. But it didn’t matter, it was really lovely – the tranquility, the quietness knowing we were probably the only people there. The sun was setting, dropping behind the distant woods and with the light fading, we decided to wander back.

We had walked quite a way so towards the end of the walk, it was quite dark. We were hoping to see fireflies, but we didn’t see any, though bats were flying between the trees. We saw no deer either – we asked about wolves and bears, but they were located further south in countryside beyond Krakow so we had no worries about mauled by an angry ball of fur. We drove back to base where The Pupster got excited about something in the tall grass and gave a good impression of a leaping gazelle.

We said good night to each other and settled down in the van. Another fabulous day on our big European adventure!

In our van, we sleep with a duvet with two “emergency” blankets tucked down the side to cover us in the middle of the night, when The Pupster who sleeps on the bed with us, decides to hog all the duvet and leaves human limbs exposed to the elements. This morning was no exception except The Pupster had surpassed herself by acquiring both emergency blankets and the duvet. And there she laid, flat on her back, paws up in the air, gently snoring and being a total unmovable sack of potatoes……

It had rained overnight and there were still passing showers. After a fabulous hot and powerful shower, we headed to the cafe for breakfast. The Poles and Europeans in general don’t really make a fuss of dogs and we haven’t really seen many dogs out and about, but practically every establishment we have visited has welcomed our dog in and offered water for her. And the cafe this morning was no exception.

It was a self service affair with a selection of cereals, cheeses, meats, toast, cakes, rolls and eggs with juices, tea and coffee. A little Polish girl wanted to stroke the Pupster and with mum speaking very good English, we struck up a lovely conversation which was wonderful. She even taught us how to pronounce Lodz which is “Woo-dg” – (of course it is). No wonder we had been getting blank looks from everyone when asked where we were heading and we pronounced it the way it was spelt. 🙈.

I had to smile later, standing behind a family of Germans trying to pay. They couldn’t speak fluent Polish, the server couldn’t speak German so both parties spoke English. Fabulous and it made me feel so much better for my pathetic linguistic attempts .

With no accommodation booked for tonight, a quick internet search found a tiny campsite in Chlebów, a little hamlet in the middle of nowhere – it sounded perfect. We made a phone call to the owner to see if we needed to book in. The owner told us he spoke a little English, but was better at German. So we had this bizarre conversation with me speaking the limited German that I remembered from my schooldays and not used since (zwei persons, ein hund und eine campervan) and hubby topping it up with a bit of English. Between us we ascertained that if we just rocked up, there would be space (hopefully).

We took the Van into Torun to the edge of the old town as we had a mission to buy gingerbread (which the town is famous for) from a particularly recommended shop. We parked in a manned car park which didn’t have any English on its two noticeboards of rules and regulations (Google Translate came to the rescue and I figured it was 8 Polish zlotys for an hour) and quickly made the transaction with a rather dour chap in a kiosk who made no further demands. We wandered up to the shop and within minutes had accomplished our mission. With two boxes, we headed across the way for a celebratory coffee – again another Pole with excellent English – and ordered gingerbread coffees. We thought the girl was asking what flavour gingerbread we fancied in our coffee or what flavoured biscuit to accompany said coffee, but the brief negotiations got mangled across the counter and we ended up with another box of gingerbread. The coffees, by the way, were sweet, but delicious.

The day was still overcast and moody, threatening rain all the time as we headed out of town towards Plock. We stopped briefly for fuel and on the edge of Plock, we stopped at a Lidl for a top up of provisions. I spent an inordinately amount of time in there that hubby nearly sent in a rescue party, but trying to figure out the different types of milk and hunting for non existent citronella candles ate up the time as well as an inordinately long queue for the one till that was open (I wasn’t brave enough to do the self service tills – I have enough trouble in England with “unexpected items in the bagging area”). By the time I had got out, a heavy rainstorm had passed through.

We were not in a rush, just gently cruising through the countryside with the weather improving and getting warmer. It was a mixture of woodlands and farmland, gently rolling one minute to being quite flat the next, all very pretty. We hadn’t seen a single mountain on this trip yet – as much as this countryside was lovely, we were starting to pine for a few major hills and valleys.

McDonalds seems to be very big in Poland – regularly bobbing up in towns and on major junctions. It’s one of very few global corporations that we’ve seen here and that’s fine by me.

The hubby had been sorting out directions for the next section of the journey towards our campsite in Chlebow, while I had been faffing around in Lidl, but didn’t really tell me of his plans until we were back on the road. As I was chief navigator and spotter of all speed cameras, pedestrians, oncoming cars and other driving impediments whilst hubby did the driving (we had agreed upon this beforehand and I’m apparently very good at this role). So it wasn’t helpful when I asked where we were going (in case the satnav threw a wobbly) and the reply I received was a mixture of “I don’t know” “I think it begins with L” or just say a made up destination that sounded like you’re bringing up a furball. At any angle, it was not at all useful.

(We had our first “oops we have gone wrong and need to turn around” moment in the town of Wloclawek when the satnav did have a wobbly and kept taking us round the block and refusing to go any further. We took the matter into our own hands and overrode the computer which caused it to have a meltdown telling us to go left, then right and probably muttering an expletive – we found a quiet side road to reset and luckily found ourselves heading in the right direction and after replumbing the satnav, normal service was resumed).

We were heading to Lowicz, following the satnav who now decided that we needed a bit of excitement in our lives (and possible payback for assuming control earlier) and took us down the most bumpiest, potholed, badly repaired, narrowest rural lanes it could possibly find. With hubby driving on the right side, he found it hard to judge how close he was to oncoming cars passing on my side – luckily we were able to drive onto the verge to pass safely. It was a fascinating environment – the earlier woodlands and lakes had given way to flat arable farming land with scattered communities along the way. These villages were a mixture of old traditional housing with fairly new modern ones, some of which were particularly opulent. We wondered who lived here as it was basically farming and it didn’t warrant such fancy housing, but looking at the map, we noticed that Warsaw and Lodz were in close proximity – perhaps these people liked the rural life and commuted into the cities or were retired or worked from home. It was a fascinating combination.

We stopped briefly in Lowicz’s town square wondering whether to go for a walk, have something to eat or go to our campsite and chill. We voted for the third option and finally came across our destination in the middle of nowhere at the end of a row of smallholdings. We turned down a track and found ourselves in an orchard area with little camping bays. We found our chap we spoke to this morning and after telling us about the facilities, told us to find a spot. Our first choice in one of the bays, didn’t quite float our boat and a quick investigation found us relocating to the very back where it opened up with a fabulous view across the cornfields with woodlands in the distance and big skies.

Just absolutely perfect and just the sort of campsite that we love.

We quickly set up as another dark broody cloud threatened to rain on us. We set up the table and had a picky tea, listening to the chickens and ducks clucking next door. The chap came round and charged us £15 for the night which was incredibly cheap. The Pupster had a huge field to burn up all that energy she had stored up on her charging mat – she had a marvellous zoomie moment, found apples to fling around and to chase her ball. She was a happy hound.

There were about another 5 campers down our end of the site, but we hardly saw them. It was so quiet, peaceful and relaxing with the sun setting behind a distant woodland. We couldn’t have found a more perfect place to stay.

Tomorrow we’re hoping to meet up with our friends who started all this a few weeks ago in Spain.

Well, there didn’t seem to be any thunderstorms last night or we slept through them which is entirely possible.

We have tea and biscuits in bed and then decided to have an early start. Handed the key back to our host and I got to practice my only bit of Polish “thank you”. Felt accomplished!

We decided to head to Orzechowo near Ustka further along the coast, but had to go inland to get there – there didn’t seem to be a coastal road to follow which was a shame. We turned off the main road and down into the woods where we found a hotel complex hidden amongst the trees – very discreet. We parked up in the car park and walked through the woods until we reached the sea. The Pupster literally pulled me onto the beach in her excitement. And wow, what a beautiful piece of coastline. The sea is eroding the coastline, eating into the woodland causing the trees to tumble into the surf – there are fallen tree trunks everywhere. But so natural – there were a few people walking along the sand, enjoying the peace and quiet, the stunning scenery and the waves crashing onto the beach. This was what we were looking for and not an icecream kiosk in sight!

It was lunchtime by the time we lured the Pupster out of her watery heaven, so we made a cuppa and had a small snack in the van. We agreed to have a motorway day to get to Torun and headed towards the junction and noted yet again how cycle paths were incorporated alongside major roads and people used them. We had seen them all across Europe and wished we had more of them in England – though saying that, it is very flat around here!

It was a long journey and not inspiring on the motorway, though the countryside was pleasant and became more rolling. We came across our first motorway toll and I had to deal with leaning out of the window and grabbing a ticket and then wondering what the procedure was for paying for it. At the Torun turn off, there were another toll booth which was thankfully manned and took card payments which was a relief. I practiced my Polish thank you on the staff member but she didn’t look impressed!

We entered the eastern outskirts of Torun to be met by Soviet style apartment blocks and wondered if we got the right place as it is supposed to be very pretty. For several miles, it was car showrooms and light industry and other businesses. Our campsite for the night was on the south side of the River Vistula in a suburb, with woodland on one side and a busy road on the other. It was actually quite nice with a hotel and a bar/cafe – breakfast was sorted for tomorrow – and decent washrooms.

We set the van up and put the awning up too as it was threatening to rain – which it did. Short and sharp. We decided to go into town for food and walked to the main road and over the iron bridge into town – about 20 minutes. Over to our right we could see the old town and within minutes, as we entered the town walls, was stunned by the beauty of it all.

It was busy with mingling tourists. There was a large square and a main thoroughfare with little side streets – ir was almost like a fairytale town. A mixture of architecture with a dominant church – it was beautiful. We bought a giant pretzel and pronounced the Polish word for sunflower so badly, that the young server broke into English in sympathy.

We had a wander around the streets and then back to the square for a place to eat where numerous restaurants had outdoor eating areas covered with adjoining parasols. We chose one particular popular restaurant and found a table – it was breezy and a bit cool, but there were heaters. We ordered food and drinks and The Pupster was in the middle of a dream, when the heavens opened! The rain ran down the canopies and in between the parasols, flooding tables including our own. We tried to relocate to another part of the outdoor area, but our lovely waiter stepped in. He dashed inside and secured us a table (which we didn’t expect as we had Pupster) which was a blessing in disguise as inside was so much nicer in decor and ambience.

We enjoyed a lovely meal and our waiter kept popping back to see if we were okay despite being one of the outdoor staff. He was a Torun native but was studying English in Portugal – he came back to work in Poland for the summer to save up in order to go back in September. We gave him a 20% tip as he had been absolutely brilliant looking after us, but when we converted it, it was only £10 and felt a bit miserly. Everything is so much cheaper here than the UK and makes you realise how expensive our country is.

We wandered back across the bridge as the light was going and decided to relax in bed. The main road beside the campsite had calmed down considerably though the adjacent railway line had trains rumbling along who blared their horns. It started to rain again and the rhythmic pattering on the van roof soon had us nodding……