Rustic Beauty of Poland
Krakow to Budapest Stage 2 – Oświęcim to Jastrzębie Zdrój 55 Km (Thu 20 Sep 2018)
Weather: 12⁰C min – 27⁰C max, sunny
“Anyone who rides a bike is a friend of mine” ~ Gary Fisher
The day began with breakfast in my apartment consisting of muesli, fruit, yoghurt, freshly baked bread, layered generously with delicious Polish cured meat slices. A good start to the day!
Again I was blessed with perfect weather, a clear blue sky and a forecast maximum of 27 deg C. Days like this are just made for cycling so I was keen to start rolling.
Soon I was enjoying excellent riding conditions, mostly on smooth, sealed, traffic-free, country roads. There were some short unpaved tracks through the forest, but these were very rideable (not like yesterday’s rough tracks).
Everywhere I looked there was lush green grass, but surprisingly there were no animals grazing except for a couple of horses and cows. What a waste of good grass! Even the forests were eerily quiet, with not even a bird to be heard.
Towns were few in fact the very appealing Pszczyna was the only one of any significance (spot the vowel but don’t try to pronounce or spell the name).
For the next 20 km the traffic was very heavy, but thankfully there was a brick pathway you can ride on beside the roadway most of the way. It is just not much fun listening to the constant roar of traffic, so I welcomed turning off onto a country road when I reached Pawlowice.
Tonight I am enjoying peace and tranquility in an impressive mansion called Palac Borynia, set on top of a hill out in the middle of nowhere. The town of Jastrzębie Zdrój is actually 9 Km away, but I have no reason to go there tonight because there is a reasonable restaurant where I am staying and I will be passing through tomorrow on my way to Ostrava in the Czech Republic … another language and another currency (Czech Koruna). Poland is nearly finished, but just as well because I have only enough Polish Zloty left to buy a banana and possibly a cup of coffee.
I guess I am not your friend as my bike is sitting in the garage gathering cobweb as I do not ride
One day I will be your friend! Ride in but be safe
You will always be my friend. Can’t wait for the day when we can do some (non-bike) touring together. 🙂
Just view the garden how beautiful the flowers are!!
Great photos Mr E
Do you ever stop to pick one of those lovely red apples?
Love,
Nancy.
I was very tempted, but then I remember what happened in South Korea … I stole an apple from a tree then my bike broke down!