Poland

We had intended to visit Grutas Park which has about 80 soviet era statues and monuments that have been moved there after Lithuania regained independence.  Unfortunately two things put paid to that, firstly the weather has really packed up and secondly the shady attendant the night before tried to get about 6 euro out of us for parking (seemed like a bit of a hustle so i wasn't having any of it and we left- entry to the park would be 12 euro on top as well). Given the weather we were happy that we had some driving to do to get to Warsaw, so we used up the last of our Lithuanian cash and got going.  Fairly uneventful drive, but we must note that the roads once again far exceeded our low expectations of Poland (it seems our first visit in the SW must have been to a very forgotten part of Poland).  A couple of noteworthy observations were a truck so loaded with unsecured broccoli we felt sure we'd be able to gather some supplies down the road (alas they must have been magically secured).  Secondly, we saw a van towing a trailer which was then tied to another van which it was also towing.  Leaving Lithuania we noticed groups of people harvesting potatoes and in one case a horse and cart being used which was quite nice.

After a brief stop in Pultusk (recommended as day trip from Warsaw in our guide) which we really did in 30 minutes and the other 20 was spent walking to a bank to get some Polish Zloty. I would have been pretty gutted if I'd planned to spend a day there but we didn't so it was fine. We stopped a couple of nights in a small but perfectly formed campsite in Warsaw called camping WOK.  We made two trips into the city, which unlike some has features spread out a bit, so we used day tickets on public transport and still walked ourselves into the ground.  We got messed up in Warsaw on a couple of fronts, our Warsaw guidebook was a bit out of date on some facts, meaning a museum we planned to visit was closed for renovation (and will be for like several years!!!).  The guidebook said it would be free on Sunday and the girl on the desk said there was a video in English at 4pm, we ended nearby at about 3.50pm so went back but she had neglected to mention that despite the museum being closed they still want 10 Zloty to watch the video so we passed.

Pultusk

We saw the weather forecast was bad for Monday so we had thought right let's hit a museum or two.  However I insisted our first stop be Lazienki Park as it is 1st on Tripadvisor and it was nice, unfortunately a few buildings were shrouded and covered in scaffolding for repairs.  Then we bused back to the Royal route area (south of the old town where the rich had their houses and were fairly faithfully rebuilt by the soviets).  We got to see firefighters tackling some sort of fire in the Hotel Bristol (all we saw was smoke and they sorted it quick) and a display of aerial photos taken by the Germans during the war (very interesting).  Unfortunately the weather was not playing ball so we decided it was time for the museum we had picked (Warsaw Uprising Museum - free on Monday according to their website).  We had to take the tram as this museum is out a bit and when we arrived we were pretty livid to find that they had put signs out saying as of 1 September their free day was now Sunday, so after our complaints re the website fell on deaf ears we left (unfortunately due to our budget we just couldn't fork out for it).  This was also a point where our building frustrations at tourist attractions in Lithuania and Poland peaked.  In Lithuania the only time staff ever seemed to pay attention to you was when it was time to take some money off you and in Warsaw we were finding the limited opening hours, unexpected closures and continued indifference from staff frustrating. So our 'museum day' actually ended being spent almost entirely outside in what was fairly tough conditions.  We took a break and treated ourselves to an early pick me up dinner of Chinese food, which was excellent value and we got 30% off.  We decided to try and use our travel pass and take a tram to perhaps see some of the town a little further out.  This was okay but we realised we only had zone 1 passes and didn't know where the zones were so headed back in the where the Cemetary is to try and see the Jewish Cemetary, it was supposed to be pretty eerie.  Nicky was sort of tour leader at this point as I hadn't really read the guidebook on this. Anyway we find an entrance (took a bit of walking there aren't that many and it has a big wall says closes 8pm it is 6pm gets dark at 7pm so cool).  We're walking through for a bit and I'm like where is this thing and Nicky's like isn't all of this it?? To which I was like 'this can't be it all the graves have crosses the Jewish ones won't have crosses'.  So we take another look at the map and decided it must be the other end and on the other side of a big internal wall and the book said it closes at 5pm but we thought oh well we've come this far.  This cemetery is massive so we follow this wall down to the corner where we are hoping to find some way through.  Fortunately for us since they are rebuilding the wall they had punched a hole in it to drive loads of bricks around and it popped out in the deepest darkest forgotten reaches of the Jewish cemetery where the trees have all grown up and lots of gravestones are damaged etc.  It was very moving and just like the pictures in the book.  It was also so different from the other side of the wall where those people have surviving family that tend to their grave.
So we thought alright now we can see this then pop out on the street at this end to get the tram.  After a bit of walking we found the parts of the Jewish cemetery which are more well kept and those in current use and the gate (oops closed looks like 5pm was right).  It went up to check the gate was indeed locked and managed to set off some sort of alarm, oops again, so we decided we had to retrace our footsteps to get out which meant an unexpected trek all the way back through the cemetery which by now was getting pretty dark under the trees and at least in the Jewish section we hope was deserted except for us.  We were glad we knew the main cemetery didn't close till 8pm as we ended up in there until about 7pm.

Part of the Warsaw Uprising Monument

 Barbican

 Old town square (the whole square was fenced for works)

 Firefighters at the Bristol Hotel

 Warsaw Royal Palace/Castle i forget

 Jewish Cemetery

 National Stadium (Polish Wembley we were told)

The forecast for the next day was even worse so the plan was to sleep in, use the campsite facilities as long as possible then try and get an oil change of the van before making a dent in the drive to Krakow.  We managed to get the oil done and also to get near Krakow.  In Krakow we drove to a secure 24 hour car park, which we had found on the internet. Krakow was a walking around the town day.  We saw the castle, the cathedral, town square with it's famous market hall called the cloth hall.  Then we trekked out to the site of Oskar Schindler's factory of 'Schindler's List' fame.  I was feeling under the weather with a cold so we tried to take it easy on the way back going along the waterfront before heading back into the market square and watching everything for a bit.  Last stop before heading back was the Barbican.

Barbican

 Cloth Hall

 Tower and end of Cloth Hall

 Castle

 Funky Church

The next day was freezing and on top of my cold I was a pretty surly sausage in the morning but we did make it out to the Polish Aviation Museum which is a very highly rated attraction and has had a major cash injection recently.  It was fairly vast and given better weather we could have spent longer but the cold was uncomfortable in the hangers and bitter outside.  It was a little odd in that they had used all this money on a new main entrance building (nice reception, toilets, cafe, offices, kids interactive displays and space for a couple of planes) while the outer hangers and many of the planes outside were being left to decay despite being of major historical significance.

 The plane the polish aerobatic squad use

 Lots of Migs and stuff

After this we headed towards Auschwitz our next destination.  As we are avoiding toll roads it was a bit of a difficult drive but we got there in the end and the next day was taken up Auschwitz 1 and Auschwitz 2 Birkenau. Nicky:  Auschwitz actually has 3 main sites, the others are Auschwitz Birkenau and Monowice.  We started off with 5 hours at Auschwitz 1.  We deliberately went in before 10am, because between 10am-3pm you have to go with a guide, as the site gets very busy.  We wanted to be able to take things at our own pace.  The barrack buildings are intact and house a general exhibition and exhibitions representing the ethnic groups who were murdered by the Nazis.  It is a very emotional site, and a hard one to really put into words.  There are exhibits there (shoes, luggage, hair, photos of those unsuspectingly on their way to the gas chamber) that are heartbreaking.  A couple of things I didn't know was that, the Nazis used the ashes of those murdered as fertiliser, and the camp had storage warehouses where they stored/processed the possessions (all of them) confiscated from new arrivals.  It would then be sorted through and sent away to be sold.  It just defies belief.  You walk the corridors of the barracks and along the walls are mug shot after mug shot, of these poor people (as until some time in 1942 or 43 every new arrival was photographed and files opened).  You can see the terror in their eyes.  They are innocent people: painters, farmers, carpenters, some of whom are the same age as me. That afternoon we caught the shuttle bus to Auschwitz Birkenau, which is 3 kilometres away.  This was the site of many barracks, but also 4 purpose built crematoria with gas chambers.  These were blown up by the Nazis, but have been kept in their ruined state.  Also on display are 2 barracks unchanged from their original state, the train tracks and cattle wagon, which would have been similar to what transported the people to the camp.  A very somber site, and is testimony to the atrocities that happened here.

The next day was largely uneventful as we stocked up with food and LPG before leaving Poland for the Czech Republic.  As LPG is so widely available in Poland, we stopped at a petrol station to top up the tank.  Usually when filling with LPG, you are required to push a button.  As the instructions were in Polish, Dale guessed and pushed a red button.  However this was a bad move, and somehow froze the screen and didn't give us any gas.  An attendant came to help, by turning a knob.  She seemed to think this fixed it but it didn't. She came back saying it was full but i said no so she put it on again, this time it worked and filled up the tank to the amount we thought it would take (8 zlotys).  Then when Dale went to pay, they were insisting that we pay the 94 zloty (40L).  We knew for 2 reasons that we didn't take that gas, 1, the litre amount was larger than our tank (15L ish), and 2, we filled up one week ago.  After producing last weeks receipt for 12L of gas and Dale having a long, strung out conversation on the phone with the manager, who spoke good English, and two very defiant teapot stances from Dale and I, we were on our way again having paid our 8 zloty. The counter girls seemed to find it very hard to believe i would only be getting such a small amount of gas.  It seems that when i pushed the wrong button some how the previous transaction of 84 Zloty was reactivated and therefore showing on their computer again and they were saying it was mine.

That completed our time in Poland, we are making our way through the Czech Republic towards Vienna in Austria now, will write again soon. Dale and Nicky.

Lithuania

Dale:  Having used up all but 1 cent of our Latvian money we crossed in Lithuania and made our first stop a place called the Hill of Crosses.  This is a religious site where people have been coming since the 19th century and leaving/erecting crosses.  Currently there are approximately 200,000.  It sounds a lot- but they are very tightly packed, with crosses hanging off other crosses in some cases.  It may initially have started as a rememberance to people that died in the uprising in 1863 and it continued as a show of defiance to the Tsarist rule. During the soviet occupation they attempted to destroy it and they removed some but again the Lithuanians would erect crosses in defiance of the Soviet occupation.  Today there are strict rules about adding crosses (eg they must be wooden)

We headed into the nearby town of Siauliai to visit the information centre and get some Lithuanain Litai, their currency. We ended up doing a spot of shopping and while having a spot of lunch in the carpark a friendly Lithuanian spotted our New Zealand sticker and flag in the back window and we struck up a conversation.  Turned out his hobby is sailing and he spends much of his time sailing in various parts of the world.  Currently he is based in Argentina where he works as a fishing tour guide.  He enjoyed the opportunity to practise his English and we enjoyed the friendly banter.  I was slightly taken aback by his rather unabashed racist comments a couple of times.  It was the sort of stuff sometimes people may think but would never dare say.  It appeared clear that Lithuanians really don't like the Russians (no surprises there).  He was also somewhat critical of the Lithuanians in terms of crime (which given our recent experience has further heighten our concern).  He proclaimed with a strange sort of pride/joke that Lithuania provided the UK with the second highest number of immigrant criminals behind Poland and he pointed out Poland is 10 times the size. When we explained that we met a Lithuanian tourist in Ireland he was very skeptical, he pretty much insisted that he must have been an illegal immigrant (which in fairness there is a problem with illegal Lithuanians in other countries).  When I probed him on the issue of crime in Lithuania he said probably many Lithuanian criminals are in Western Europe because there are more wealthy targets, he joked there is nothing to steal here.  Which from our observation seems a little harsh, since independance the Baltic States are Europeanising rapidly and wealth appears present (saw a Bently today).  It is unfortunate however that within each of the country there is a large element of people just out for what they can get.  It also makes us angry that often tourists are seen as someone to exploit.

We decided to head straight to Vilnius as it was the last night the campsite there was open for the season.  We had found a guarded car park online that we wanted to use the following morning after checking out.  However when we got there, the guarded aspect had been replaced by a machine.  After Tallinn, we weren't comfortable leaving the van there.  With only the parking symbols on our map to go by, we decided to check out other spots.  We luckily found another one, about 10 minutes walk to the edge of the old town, guarded by a man and his viscious looking dog.  Vilnius has an old town in a basin and the hills between it and the new/modern town provide excellent views.  Neither view is as significant as say Salzburg or Prague but well worth a look.  We took the funicular (like a cable car) up to the Gediminas Tower for our first view, then walked down and up the next hill which has a local monument called The Three Crosses on it.  This also was actually totally destroyed by the soviets and was only rebuilt in 1989.  The rest of the afternoon was spent exploring the Old town.  Some highlights were:  Cathedral Square, Vilnius University, the Presidential Palace, the Gates of Dawn, St Annes Church and the Jewish Quarter.

Nicky:  That evening we decided to treat ourselves with a meal out.  We headed 500m down the road to a restaurant that the guard at the car park had recommended.  Afterwards, we summed up that we enjoyed our meals and had a great time, but wouldn't return and order those dishes again.  I had Russian pancakes, with minced beef, cheese, spinach and eggplant, and Dale had Pork stuffed with chicken (the pork aspect was minced, and a bit strange), mashed potato and salad.  We shared Chicken and plum dumplings to start.  It was a reasonably priced meal, with 1 starter, 2 mains and 2 drinks for 17 euros.

We left Vilnius the following morning.  We had been tossing up spending another day and going to the National Museum, but I think we were both ready to head out of the city into the peace of the countryside.  We went to Kernave, which written sources from 1279 say that it is the first capital of Lithuania.  Just outside Kernave we stopped at an oak forest and did a 2.2km circular walk.  It was an easy walk- all on flat boardwalk.  Dale was on the look out for the wildlife they proclaim to have- bats, frogs, elk, wild boar, beetles.  We saw some very small frogs, and one larger one which jumped off the boardwalk in front of us and gave me a fright!  The path was also dotted with wood carvings (about 30 or so) used to show the significance of the oak trees.

Our destination in Kernave was the 5 hill forts.  Inhabitants have been in the area since 8,000 BC and the site was given UNESCO status in 2004.  We walked up and down the mounds, but declined a visit to the museum, as we had been to similar sites in Denmark and Ireland.

It was early afternoon, so we decided to head to Trakai, which had been an ancient capital as well.  Also on the outskirts of Vilnius, and about 20-30 minutes away from Kernave.  The castle on an island in the lake is very picturesque when approaching the town.  We had been passing many half full carparks on the way in and we'd got to the stage where we thought we should pull in, when we saw locals selling parking spaces in their front yards.  Dale checked the council prices.  The locals were offering a good rate of 5 litras (1.50 euro) and we felt somewhat more secure using them, as atleast while they were tauting for more business, they would be present in their yard.  When arriving at the lake front we instantly noticed how different the two sites we had seen today were.  In Kernave, there were a few people going to the mounds, at Trakai they were coming in by the bus load.  In total we spent 2.5 hours at the castle, and saw every room.  It was our most expensive attraction yet at 15 litras (a reasonable 4.40 euros each).  Part of the castle has panels explaining the history up to present day.  Restoration has been off and on for the last 100 years, including during the Soviet time.  I found this interesting as restoration of buildings wasn't something they prioritised.  The other part of the castle housed the Trakai History museum.  There were several rooms showcasing all sorts of objects.  My favourite was the final room where they had fans, parasols, trinket boxes and vases on display.

The next day we went to the Open air museum, located near Lithuania's second city Kaunas.  Our guide 'helpfully' listed the address as their administration building in Rumsiskes.  One of the school children waiting for a bus, pointed us in the right direction on the outskirts of town.  The museum spans 176 hectares, and with only a few cars in the car park, we knew it wouldn't be crowded with tourists.  Overall the site is nice, with 80 or so different buildings, and the park separated into different areas to represent parts of Lithuania.  The staff were extremely rude and lazy however, it was demanded that we pay for parking at the cash desk, after no one was even in the booth in the car park to collect money.  Also the room guides were either talking, knitting or playing with their phones.  I don't think they realise that a smile is free!  The sun was shining and we walked around for about 4 hours, ignoring those aspects of the park that we thought could be improved upon.

That night we drove into Kaunas to check out car parks.  Unfortunately at night, the city looked rough and luckily I had looked up the address of the Police station in advance, as our GPS like in Tallinn, didn't have the right location.  We saw a Policeman when we arrived, who said it was safe and didn't think that Kaunas had above average car crime.  Next to the Police station was a guarded car park, so we felt reasonably secure being there for the night, and in the morning we paid the attendant and spent time exploring the old town.  The guide book we picked up the next day described car crime as a 'national past time', so I think it always pays to be careful.

We left Kaunas at lunch time after seeing several churches, the castle and town hall.  We have been subdueing our cravings for kiwi pies, by buying the local pastries called kibinas.  We aren't sure what the traditional fillings are- but we have had minced chicken, and liver and onion (we think!).

We went to the Ninth fort, which is on the outskirts of Kaunas.  Again another very quiet tourist destination with only a handful of people around on a Thursday afternoon.  It was for a long time the site of a hard labour camp, and during WW2 a site for extermination of Jews.  There are memorials to the Jewish and Soviet victims, and a field inwhich they are buried.  The site has two museums, one about the occupations and the other in the fort itself, which covers the prison site, and also mentions the Jews.  We enjoyed the fort museum the most, and was really interesting going into the fort.  I thought it had been preserved well, as you could sense the history.

We were heading south before driving into Poland, and stopped at a lovely town called Bistonas.  There is a mound there, 30 metres above the town which offers pleasant views over the river.  It was inhabited around the 15th century and had a hill fort on top.

The driving here in Lithuania is something to mention.  Again our Kaunas city guide sums it up well, describing driving next to a local as an adventure with 'lashings of tailgating, cutting lanes and dangerous overtaking manoeuvres.  It comes as no great surprise to learn that Lithuania has the highest rate of road fatalities in the European union'.  It also describes the streets of Kaunas as 'a frightening squiggle of badly signposted asphalt full of holes and populated by a high percentage of drivers who give the impression they never took a driving test'.  On our drive out of the city  we also saw mini buses.  They follow the bus routes, and will pick up and drop off passengers along the route for a slightly higher fee, but are able to get there faster and more comfortably as they can weave in and out of traffic and don't have to stop everywhere.

Latvia

When we left you in our last blog we had just visited the town of Valga-Valka, split by the Estonian/Latvian border.  We hadn't gone much further south before we were signaled to pull over by a parked Police car.  They wanted to check our passports and Dale's drivers license.  Upon hearing that they wanted to see the passports, I was all ready to get the computer out to show evidence of the New Zealand Schengen waiver agreements, however this wasn't required and we were quickly on our way again.  After 3 months of no passport checks, we have just had two in quick succession.

Our destination was Cesis.  Our pamphlets described it as one of the best towns in Latvia, which we feel may have been stretching it a bit, however we enjoyed seeing the Victory monument, St John's church and seeing a building which during Soviet occupation (1945-1990) was a Cheka- a place where people were interrogated, tortured and killed.  The main attraction in Cesis is the castle.  There were several price brackets depending on what you wanted to see.  We chose to explore the castle ruins and climb the west tower.  The special twist to climbing the tower, is that you are given a candle lantern to take with you as it is dark in parts of the staircase.

Cesis Castle

We have come to realise that being away for so long requires us to take time out.  Not to relax- but to organise our New Zealand banking, and unfortunately at the moment, to organise our insurance claim.  So when we picked up a strong wi-fi signal the next morning in the countryside outside Cesis, we used the opportunity to catch up on things back home.  We also had an Australian couple in a UK registered motorhome pulled up beside us.  We had fun talking to Marilyn and Andrew as we had so much common ground, and we ended up talking to them for 3.5 hours!  They spend 6 months out of every year in UK and Europe and have done so for 7 years.  It sounds like the ideal retirement to Dale and I.

We had planned on seeing the Gauja National Park that afternoon on our way to Riga, but with limited time, we decided it was more important to reach Riga at a reasonable time.  We arrived about 6.30pm, with Dale doing well to negotiate the roads and traffic.  We had decided to stay at Riga City Camping for the night, as we needed the facilities and Matt and Sarah had arrived the night before.  It gave us the opportunity to catch up and say goodbye to them, as they are going at a faster pace than we are.

The following morning we moved the van 500 metres down the road to a secure, guarded car park.  We set off for the day sightseeing, and I tried to put my worry about the van to one side, as at least this car park was guarded and had a entry barrier.  The van was fine and we had an enjoyable day in Riga.  We visited two museums- the War museum and the Occupation museum, saw some lovely architecture and sussed out the central markets (located in old Zeppellin hangers).  We decided we would return the next morning and buy some meat and vegetables as the prices were once again good value.  It was a sunny day, ideal for sightseeing and we cracked out the shorts and t shirts again.

Dale cruising on the way to Riga

Traffic in Riga- 100 metres from the campsite, the parked cars on the right are blocking our lane

Riga

We set off at 8.30am the next morning and walked to the markets.  Like Tartu, we spent a similar amount and returned with vegetables, chicken, bread and pastries.  I commented to Dale how yesterday, when we weren't buying goods I felt slightly intimidated with the hustle and bustle.  But when we were shopping, it was a different experience.  We wanted to visit the Zana Lipkes memorial, located near the campsite.  We drove around a bit and found it.  It is very close to the guarded car park, but our time there was up, and we found a park near the memorial.  During WW2 the Lipskes family saved 55 Jews in their underground shelter, and by transporting them to other shelters in the countryside, with the help of friends.  The Germans never found the bunker.  The museum is located next to the Lipkes family home, where Zana's daughter in law still lives.  We were treated to a personal guided tour for 45 minutes and learned a lot about this amazing story.  We thoroughly enjoyed our experience and were happy to add to the donation box, as this attraction is free.

We left Riga and went to nearby Jurmala, a beach resort area.  We parked and walked through forest to the beach.  The sand was white, and we sat on towels in amongst the dunes to shelter from the wind.  Dale braved the chilly waters and had a swim.  I was starting to regret not putting on my togs, but it was pretty cold and I probably couldn't have swum for long if I did.  We spent a relaxing 2-3 hours there, and returned to the van to drive south to Jelgava, where we stopped for the night.

Jelgava was a town on the improve, they have had significant investment to improve their public space (riverside waterfront) and the works are still ongoing.  Where once you had a depressing sad soviet town you now get energy and vibrancy.  It is still a long way from being a must see tourist stop but is pleasant enough for a quick visit.

The Holy Trinity tower- the church was damaged in WW2, then blown up by the Soviets.  They kept the tower as it was useful for Military purposes.

At the top of the Holy Trinity tower

From Jelgava we headed to Rundale Palace which is one of the major tourist destinations in Latvia.  It was the summer residence of the Duke of Courland back in the day when such existed.  It is progressively being restored and 48 rooms, about 1/3, are open and they are also in the midst of the restoration of the formal french style garden which is coming on very well.  The entry fee is about right and we found we weren't gouged in the cafe in the garden which was nice as they usually hike the price as your sort of trapped. Tomorrow we will enter Lithuania.

Restored Russian Military vehicles at the Retro Auto museum, opposite Rundale Palace

Bauska Castle

Rundale Palace

Apples picked from the orchard next to Rundale Palace- yum!