Female garage

The vacation I took during the Corona time. I decided to travel within my country. I booked four accomodations beforehand. No precise plan, however.

12 IX 2020 Saturday

Ready, steady, go!

The first stop - beach in Matyldowo. It wasn't much, but enough for me to rest a little bit on the sand. Sunbathing in motorcycle gear. Some lady asked me if I was ok.

Then the journey went further into Gostyninsko-Wloclawski Landscape Park. I've found a little forest lake. It was somehow a magical place. I relaxed there, the time stood still.

.... and my bike didn't stand anymore, as I was about to discover. I should've put something firm under the side stand, but I had neglected that and there was the effect. This was the first time I saw my bike on the ground. A few people passed by in a car, but they just looked at me and ignored me, even though I gave them a begging look. They were somehow older people though, so maybe they just weren't able to help me. So I thought, whatever, I could to it myself! And I even managed to pick it up... but I dropped it again, because I didn't prepare anything to put under the side stand. What a misfortune. I didn't manage to pick it up again. I struggled for a while until I was completely exhausted. And I thought, whatever. It's such a beautiful day. I didn't care. I layed on the ground and waited for somebody to show up. Nobody showed up for a long time. I stopped the next car that was passing by. It was an elderly couple, again. Without much hope, I asked if they could help me. The man frowned, undid his belt and went to the bike. I suggested for us to pick it up together, but he laughed and said that he was perfectly capable of picking up a 200 kg bike by himself. He tried, groaning loudly, but failed. So then, as I suggested, we tried it together and managed it instantly. The man needed 10 minutes to recover, panting.

With bike standing up straight, I was able to continue my journey. Passing Wloclawek, I had to make a stop, struck by the beauty of this city.

My last destination, before calling it a night, was Torun. First the lunch, then a short sightseeing, and then the coffe and a cake at "cat's" coffee shop. However, I didn't get a chance to stroke any cat as I was told that the cats are most active in the morning and in the evening, shortly before closing.

In the meantime, the host called me and asked if I could come a little earlier. So after dark, 7 p.m., I was already on my way to the hotel. They days are shorter in September, which is rather a downside, especially when you're riding a motorcycle. 8 p.m. I was already resting in a nice, humble abode in Swiecie (Sklodowskiej-Curie 1E). It was a perfect stay, I had everything I needed, only for myself and I could park my bike right in front of my door. This place is in the city center, so on one hand it's good, but on the other you could hear and smell that you're in a city. I generally didn't like the smell of this city.

13 IX 2020 Sunday

I took a curvy route to Grudziadz. It was amazing! Nice road and many curves. The weather was perfect, the landscapes were beautiful.

I arrived in Grudziadz. What a beautiful city! The tower is certainly worth visiting. The view is great.

I took a break in the restaurant "Przebojowe Smaki". Until 12:00, they had only breakfast. I got a coffee for free.

As I was resting on a park bench, some guy asked if I was up for some company as he was also a tourist. I kindly declined, but the guy started stalking me. I managed to lose him at some point, fortunately. I visited the botanic garden and went for a walk into the forest.

When I came back to my motorcycle, I noticed it had company. I got a chance to have a short talk with the owners. They were from my area and they were heading back home that day.

For me, the journey went on to the view point in Zakurzewo. I think it was the nicest view point throughout my whole vacation. There was just something captivating about the landscape and the atmosphere of this place.

The next stop was Gniew and the museum of the bottle cap. A little, yet original museum with a passionate owner. The museum was free, but I so enjoyd the visit that I bought a little souvenir to support it. The owner also works as a local tour guide.

Then I took the side roads to Nowe. I visited the pump station Konczyce.

After that, it was lunch time. The restaurant "Wachlarz Smakow" had a nice view and delicous food. Then I went back home and called it a night.

14 IX 2020 Monday

The host told me I could check out anytime I wanted since the next guest wasn't supposed to check in until Tuesday. So I took my bathing suit and walked through Swiece, along Wda, to Vistula. There were some beautiful landscapes, view points, and peaceful water where I caught a bit of sun and enjoyed simply laying on the sand and letting the time pass by lazily.

I had a crazy occurrence on my way there. Some guy in a car stopped by me. I thought he wanted to ask for a way, although I was suspicious, and I was right. He just wanted to show me how he's masturbating. So, yesterday a stalker, today an exhibitionist.

Then I dined in the restaurant "Stare Miasto", went back to the hotel, packed my stuff and hit the road. I arrived in Sepolno Wielkie at 19:00, right about the time the sun was setting. The place was called Manufaktura. As it turned out, I was the only guest. I had the whole living room, kitchen and... library to myself. There were also six half-wild cats and a dog. Charming.

In the night, I heard the deer rut. The deer were pretty close, so I could here them loud and clear.

15 IX 2020 Tuesday

The breakfast wasn't served until 9:00 am, so I spent the morning in the library. Then I was served a king's breakfast. I got freshly made scrambled eggs with freshly picked mushrooms, home-made bread and other home-made treats. I was delighted. Me likey delicious breakfasts. This is the most important meal of the day. Savoring that meal took me forever. When I was finally finished, I went for a walk in the forest and relaxed at the lake.

Later, I drove to the nearest gas station. What came to my attention were big offroad trucks passing by and tanking on that station. There was a whole lot of them. The stickers on them said: "Breslau-Poland Rallye". On of the drivers told me they were heading to Dretyn. I stood there for a while, watching these impressive vehicles and chatting with a couple of motorcyclists, who were from Kaszuby and recommended driving in that region.

I took side roads to Szczecinek, sweetened my day with some coffee and dessert and relaxed at the beautiful lake. Then I ate lunch and headed back to the hotel.

16 IX 2020 Wednesday

Another day started with a king's breakfast. I got smoked venison roast and even a whole plate of crumpets to go. That was so nice!

I visited the hydroelectric power plant in Żydowo. Quit an interesting construction and nice surroundings.

The next stop was the red bridge at the river Grabowa. Now that was a cool place! It was beautiful, charming and you could feel a bit of adrenaline while walking on the bridge. The river was shallow, so you could cool off your feet in it.

After another one hour drive I got a little tired and made a stop at the nicely looking camping site in Gałąźnia Mała. I nodded off on the gras.

Another stop was Slupsk. I went there for coffee and a little sight-seeing. The waitress in the coffee shop was very nice, talkative and she was making a lot of fun of corona virus. She said she was calling off the epidemic and not serving customers who were wearing masks. She was joking, obviously - she was just tired with all the trouble the epidemic was causing. Like most of us.

The host in Gardna Wielka welcomed me with yeast cake and marmalade. How delightful! Such gestures are little things, but they make you so happy. The bicycle mechanic, which was also on the spot, called me a "sister of the wind". As I learned later, there was a motorcycle club in Slupsk, founded in 1996, called "brothers of the wind".

The building I stayd in was charming. The host renovated it herself.

I also met Atena and her husband, my neighbours. They were very nice, communicative people around sixty. Their son wanted to drive a motorcycle too, but "luckily" the instructor told him he was too tall for that (he is 2 metres tall).

17 IX 2020 Thursday

My motorcycle had a day off today. I could rent a bicycle for free in the house where I was staying. Janek, the bike mechanic, pimped up the bike for me and we had a nice chat about bikes and cars.

I rode to the view tower in Smoldzino where, while admiring views, I waited for my friend Julia, who was riding a bike across the Pomerania. We rode together for a while until we saw a shild inviting cyclists to the restaurant "Stodoła". It turned out to be place with a beautiful garden, cozy athomsphere and a charming, talkative host who told us from the start he could serve us only with either a cod or a halibut. We were fine with that - just like everybody else who was invited with that line in the restaurant, which got pretty crowdy very quickly. I was served a delicious coffee, but unfortunately long waiting time stopped us from trying cakes, which were made by the host's wife. Julia gave the host a tip and he was so happy he told us he loved us and was thrilled that we stopped by. He was talking to everyone on a first-name basis, which was adorable. He said that the long waiting time was a result of young people not wanting to work for 20 PLN per hour, since they'd rather lay on the beach instead of that.

Then we took our seperate ways. Julia headed on to Łeba and I rode to the lighthouse in Czołpino. The view was beautiful and with the binoculars I could clearly see the ships sailing on the see far away.

I rode further through the forest to the beach in Smołdzino. When I was getting close to the beach and starting hearing the ocean, I realised that I couldn't remember the last time I saw the ocean with my own eyes. It must've been at least twenty years! Unimaginable. Somehow the sea was never on my way. I also wasn't traveling a lot since I didn't enjoy it that much before I got the motorcycle.

The first time sunbathing on the beach since twenty years... during the pandemic time with a mask, haha. Well, I was rather alone on the beach, but it was chilly and windy on that day. The waves were big. I didn't go into water.

I continued my trip through the forest and met Janek, the bike mechanic. He was just getting dressed after bathing in the sea. For him, the water wasn't too cold.

The nature in the Słowiński national park is outstanding. The lakes were breathtaking too. Such a shame I didn't have much time to enjoy it before the sunset. I wanted to get to Rowy, have a quick chocolate with cherries, buy something for breakfast and head back to the hotel.

After I got back, the host gave me a goodbye gift. A blueberry jam. So nice! I talked with Janek and told him I wished to see his 1988 Audi 80. He was renovating it with passion. I admired that. I also met his three little kittens. They were charming! He told me his story. I enjoyed talking to him. He was a kind and respectful person.

18 IX 2020 Friday

It was hard, but I had to leave that lovely house with these kind people. Janek gave me some mushrooms to go. In a jar. And he officially named me a "Warsaw jar" (which is a nickname for poeple originating from other cities who bring jars with food back to Warsaw). I also had a nice chat with my neighbours, Atena and her husband. They read a lot of books and she recommended me some. It sounded very interesting, but unfortunately I don't have much time to read books and I have a hard time sitting for a longer while. I'm still trying to finish "The Fall" by Albert Camus. I was carrying it around with me during this whole vacation.

The first stop was something called a "hydrotechnic object" in Galaznia Mala. It was situated at the little lovely lake. I was tempted to swim in it, but I didn't have time for it - there was a long trip ahead of me. Roughly 300 km and over five hours of riding.

In Sierakowice, I made a short stop for a cake. I have a sweet tooth, but these things don't do me any good.

I drove further through Kaszubski national park. I stopped at the windmill in Ręboszewo. The view was beautiful. There was a restaurant, but serving only fastfood.

I decided to visit Malbork. When I got there, it was 5 p.m. and I couldn't see the castle anymore. But I read on the webpage that you could visit the castle for free on Mondays, so perhaps I'll come back some other time. I ended up just sight-seeing and having a lunch. After that, I had to rush to Milomlyn to the last hotel on my agenda. It was already dark and cold when I got there. My bike barely made it on the very sandy road that was leading there.

19 IX 2020 Saturday

In the morning, my neighbours were frying mushrooms and onions for at least two hours. They culled a lot of mushrooms and they didn't want them to go to waste. So I told them that since they were occupying the kitchen the whole morning, they could at least share some mushrooms with me. They kindly agreed. The mushrooms with onion were very tasty and we also had a nice chat together with the host. They were talking about off-road cars.

It was the coldest day of my vacation. I planned a curvy route, but after riding for a while I decided to get back and eat something in Ostroda. I found a nice coffee shop where I had a nice chat with the waitresses about motorcycles. I read a book and then I took a short walk in the city, but there wasn't really anything to see there.

When I got back, there was a dense fog. In the hotel, I met my new neighbours from Germany - Olaf and Sabine. I tried to talk in English with them, but there was no chance - they admitted their English wasn't best. So we chatted in German for three hours. They saw more of Poland than I did. Olaf even showed me some pictures on his computer.

20 IX 2020 Sunday

The last day of my vacation. I'm already overwhelmed, one week would've been enough, I think.

There was some dew in the morning and I also found a nester on my bike.

Without any precise plans, I took off early in the morning. I was thinking about getting to Warsaw early and meeting with a friend. The first longer spot I made was at the historic railway bridge in Glaznoty. Something like a little village was set up there. There were rabbits, goats, a tipi and a buckboard.

I was supposed to leave already, but a little adorable cat kept me longer there. Firstly, it was fawning on my motorcycle, then it jumped on it and felt the bag and the trunks. Then it wanted to feel me too. It even jumped on my shoulders and layed on my lap. Until a group of motorcyclists pulled in and scared it off.

We greeted each other. They turned out to be such easy-going and cheerful people that I liked them instantly. We fooled around for a while and made some pictures and a movie of how we were pulling a buckboard with a motorcycle.

As it turned out, we were heading in the same direction - the hill Dylewska - so we went together. I learned that they were a motorcycle club from Brzeziny - so not that far away from Warsaw. They went on a weekend trip. They "enjoyed" Zenek's concert in the building where they were staying last night.

The next stop was Grundwald. We visited the museum and watched two documentary movies in the little cinema there.

After that, we had lunch in Nidzica's castle. Then we had to head back home, unfortunately. It was such a nice surprise to meet these people on the last day of my vacation.