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11 September 2022

Kraków - Oswiecim - Wrocław and Poznań

I entered Poland near Zwardoń. I didn't notice much of border, only the trucks had to drive to a parking lot, while I went overland to Kraków

The first thing I liked was that the diesel was almost €0.25 cheaper. But other than that, the main difference was that I passed a multitude of lakes, ponds and streams. The closer I got to Krakow, the more there were. Today I know that Poland has over 9'000 lakes that are over 1 hectare. That's probably why there are so many anglers in Poland. You can actually find an angler at a lake at any time of the day.

While individual travelers were traveling in Slovakia, in southern Poland I met more and more bus travelers and many weekend tourists.

I had skipped the Polish part of the High Tatras and went straight to a lively town in southern Poland. Kraków has a charming and large old town and the Wawel. Above the Vistula is the Castle, the former residence of the Polish kings, as well as the Kraków Cathedral and other historical buildings. Despite 30 degrees, I looked at Krakow for 2 days and there is a lot to see.

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As usual, I didn't prepare well because the Kraków Lajkonik procession was on the Friday I arrived. It is one of the oldest traditions in Kraków. Every year around Corpus Christi, a colorful entourage of yarns and tartars, led by a rider on an artificial horse, travels the route between Zwierzyniec and the Main Market Square to the rhythm of Kraków melodies. Each of the spectators is waiting for a club from Lajkonik, which should bring luck for the whole of the following year.

I happened to see the procession <had been annoyed by the traffic jam on the road> and even saw the rider on the fake horse. But since I didn't know, I didn't wait for him 😳😢  My neighbor at the campsite explained it to me afterwards

My next stop should be Auschwitz <Oswiecim>. On the way there I drove through the Polish low mountain range, the Kraków-Częstochowa Jura. What can I say… hills, lakes and ponds

Auschwitz was sobering. I was aware that millions od people had been killed by the Nazis, that doctors had carried out dubious experiments and tests. But when you stand in front of thousands of small children's shoes and are told that around 230,000 children were executed in Auschwitz alone, then I puke

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I literally fled Auschwitz and continued south-west towards Lower Silesia <https://e-niederschlesien.de/>. Castles, fortresses and palaces were now added to the lakes. The further I got into the south-west of Poland, the more I heard about mines and coal mines <Wałbrzych>

In addition, there are also the legacies of the Nazis. For example, Osówka has an underground network of tunnels and rooms dug by slave laborers.

In Sztolnie Walimskie you can see replica rockets and bombs in tunnels from WWII. But I was fed up with the Nazis.

It was more by chance that I came to Kompleks Wyciągów Narciarskich Górnik, a Polish ski area at 860 m. A short walk in the Owl Mountains Landscape Park did me good.

But I wanted to get to know the country and its people, so I visited small Polish towns <Dzierżoniów, Bielawa, Niemcza and Świdnica>. Why those? Because I was recommended. Just like Łódź.

But I liked the Arboretum Wojsławice best at 32 degrees. I relaxed for quite a while. But in the afternoon I went on to Wrocław at the river Oder

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Almost nothing to compare with Kraków. Wroclaw is different. During WWII, 80% of the city was bombed and so there is a beautiful old town with cobblestone streets, churches, islands in the Oder, monuments and cafes, but around it is a hyper-modern new town with high-rise buildings, shopping centers and shopping streets. And in between a few areas where you can still see the buildings of the communist era. Really varied.

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What's really funny are the krasnoludki? They are about 30 centimeters tall and cast from bronze dwarfs, modern dwarfs. I saw about 30 gnomes in the old town. Krasnoludki have existed since the summer of 2001. Graduates from the Academy of Fine Arts created the Krasnoludki. In 2004, the artist Tomasz Moczek was commissioned to create twelve dwarfs, and since then their number has been growing steadily.

I ended my visit to the south-west in Poznań.

Located on the Warta River, Poznań is known for its universities and Old Town, the Old Market Square and the Cathedral of St. Peter and Paul. Well, I would have liked to have enjoyed the old town, but Poznań is a huge construction site. The weather was perfect, but the Stare Miasto is noise and dusty and is only worth seeing to a limited extent.

At noon I treated myself to some pierogi at Pierogarnia Stary Młyn. Now I know that besides the fact that you can boil or fry them, it's all about the sauce. I also found out that the construction work will take at least 1 more year. I saved the money for a camp and drove on to a lake to stay over night