Poland, a new country! Always a source of delight for both of us, new customs, new people, new buildings, new language. However, I know Mike will continue to call me....
"Mein Stumpenfurer!"
A couple of words he has picked up from the war films he watched as a child. When we shared this with Berndt back in Bavaria he laughed.
"You should be saying Stump furer, not Stump en furer. That's the real head boss in charge"
"A stumpen is..."
He made a cutting motion with his right hand above his left elbow.
"On second thoughts, keep saying Stumpenfurer, its much better"
So, after all these years I'm some kind of a bossy half limbed creature!
Last weekend was quite cool and wet back in Schwandorf, Northern Bavaria. It seemed such a shame as the town had their summer festival over the weekend. The main streets closed to traffic, with trestle tables and benches set out in front of the bars and stalls.
We had two nights on our campsite by the lake waiting for the passports and then drove north to Gorlitz for one night. There were very few cars and people making it a very pleasant place for a stroll. Many of the buildings had been restored to their pre war state and were beautiful. All different styles, and painted various colours. Perhaps they were houses previously but now hotels and restaurants. Every turn we took presented itself with something lovely to look at, a square, fountain, or courtyard. While we were there Jon and Linda contacted us to say they were heading to Bad Muskau, another border town between Poland and Germany, a short hop north for us. It was great to catch up with them again, we also made a few plans for our long drive to St Peterburg. While we were at Bad Muskau we spent a day cycling around the UNESCO rated gardens and admired the castle.
Yesterday we drove into Poland, deciding to try out the national roads rather than the motorwary to see the real country and not be battling with the lorries. The roads were in an excellent state of repair. It appears that the Poles spent their EU road building money for its intended purpose unlike the Greeks.