November has come

Sitting in a McDonald’s and having a coffee is definitely enough comfort to write a new blog entry. The last weeks through the Baltic’s and now Poland were scarce in social interaction. The conversations I had were pretty decent though.

In Poland I saw agricultural areas mostly. To be fair, I didn’t plan a route and happened to not pick the most scenic one by accident. The people I met on a daily basis were not always capable of speaking English and thus I felt a bit isolated now and then. On top of that the roads weren’t very inviting or exciting, so I had a lot of mental work to do, to keep a positive mindset. But that’s a good thing I a way :)

North of Warsaw I saw yet another moose. I didn’t know that they inhabit Poland as well, so I was surprised and happy at the same time.

A couple of days later, I reached out to Matthias and Zuzia over Warmshowers and had a great stay at their place! They offered me to sleep in a small camper, which was a welcome change to my tent. On top of that Matthias took me kajaking on the near Bug river, which was exhausting but also so nice to not cycle a day and still be tired in the evening. They lived very harmoniously with nature, so when having a little exercise in the morning, a squirrel joined me and was very curious :)

In Warsaw I didn’t want to explore the city and just followed the Weichsel river. Some polish man and me had a little discussion about the direction I should take next. He definitely had a point a couldn’t argue with, so I turned around and left his property through the same hole in the fence which I entered through. That would have been the easiest way to get back to the street, but I managed to just take the camping area right next to his place.

Actually at this point, I wanted to follow the river for the next days. But this encounter and the extra kilometers made me change my plans to a route more direct to the Czech border.

Since that day I saw a lot of apple trees and the biggest apples ever! It was easy going, it didn’t rain that much and I still was in a good mood thanks to my stop at Matthias and Zuzia’s. I even had to use my sunglasses as much as I haven’t done in a long time.

Today, I wanted to take a walk in the Auschwitz concentration camp, but totally missed out that you had to reserve a ticket beforehand. Now I’m pretty exhausted because of the starting mountain area and will find me a spot in the closest forest soon.

Tomorrow I’ll cross the border to the Czech Republic and buy a new spoon, since mine broke two days ago.

I really can’t stress it enough, how ready I am to get a longer break. Cycling still is enjoyable for me, but the cold weather and especially the early starting darkness make it hard and more exhausting than it needs to be. So guys, let’s focus the energy for the last week or so and just keep going strong :)

That’s a random bird with a very stylish haircut that wishes you all the best and live in your hearts for the upcoming winter :)