Home and a leaving do!

We got up fairly early this morning and after breakfast at the hotel went to a large Auchan hypermarket in Calais to stock up on nice food and wine.  We got our booked “Le Shuttle” at 11.20am which got to the UK at 11am British time.

A slow drive round the M25 got us home in time for me to go into work for my leaving do and drinks.

A long drive to Calais

An unexciting day where we drove 1150 km from Obercunnersdorf to Calais.  The drives through Germany and the Netherlands were easy but there were some bad traffic jams around Antwerp and Ghent in Belgium.  There was also a very slow French police border check on the A16/E40 motorway where it crosses from Belgium to France.  This has apparently been in place since the awful attack in Nice.

We got to Hotel Meurice, where we had started the holiday, around 8.30pm and had a quick wash then went out to eat dinner.

We went to Café de la Tour where I had a delicious andouilette.  After a couple of drinks we had a relatively early night ready for the journey home in the morning.

A day around Obercunnersdorf and area and dinner in the Czech Republic!

We started today by going to a local Lutheran church with our friends in Obercunnersdorf then when back to theirs for a leisurely breakfast.  We spent the afternoon at an inland beach by a lake where we did our first Sunbathing of the Holiday!

After going back to shower and change we went to the Czech Republic for dinner (actually only 20 minutes’ drive away) where we ate at a restaurant called Pivovar Kocuar (The Tomcat Brewery).  Dinner was tasty and copious!

Back to Germany to see more friends

We bought a few presents from the “alcohole” shop opposite the hotel this morning before leaving Zakopane around 11am.

We got to friends in Germany in Obercunnersdorf around 7.30pm after a rather slow drive from Zakopane to Krakow and the A4 motorway, caused by lots of traffic and tractors!

Our friends fed us a delicious barbeque and we were still sitting outside in shorts at midnight it was so warm.

Dunajec raft ride

We went out a bit early today to go to Sromowce Wyzne to do the Dunajec raft ride – a very popular attraction for tourists in Poland.  The river was not exactly choppy but the raft was fun and we saw some great views including the “Three Crowns” mountain peaks.

The ride ended up in Szczawnica where we had lunch and then got a bus back to the parking place at the start of the ride.





Later in the day, after a rest at the hotel We had dinner at a traditional restaurant called Bakowo Zohylina Nizino which was also very tasty.

We went to our favourite bar, the Piano bar, with a very cute cat for a couple of drinks and then came back to the hotel ready for a final sleep before moving on from Poland back to Germany tomorrow.

A funicular, a cable car and the Slovak border!

Today we wandered into Zakopane for shopping and went up the Funicular to Gubalowka.

In the afternoon then walked to Kuznice to get a cable car up into the mountains towards Slovakia at Kasprowy Wierch.  It was pretty cold up at 2000M but the views were stunning and we were right on the Poland/Slovakia border.

We came back into town and had a really excellent meal at a smart restaurant called Gorycja Tradicyja.

A walk in the mountains and a pub with a cat

We went for a walk today, starting at Zakopane going up the Dolina Strazyska and then down Dolina Bialego.  On the way Gordon did the little extra climb up Sarnia Skala.

We had dinner at a great little restaurant very close to the hotel, called Przy Potoku.

Later we had a drink in a lovely little bar in the City Centre, that has a lovely cat that demands cream off the barman that starts at 10pm.  Beer was about £1.35 for 500ml.  Hic.

Onward to Zakopane

After a fairly relaxed start, as Zakopane is not that far from Karkow, we arrived in Zakopane around lunchtime and ate our pre-made lunch in the hotel gardens because we were a bit early to check-in.

We checked in just after 2pm and got settled into our room then went for an explore around Zakopane.  It is definitely a resort town and all the market stalls on the streets reminded me of the Souks in Marrakech.

We visited the wooden church in Zakopane, the Old Church, and then visited an old and well-preserved wooden house called Koliba and the museum of the Zakopane style.

We had dinner at Stek Chalupa in the City Centre where I had a huge pork knuckle.

Wawel Castle and Jewish heritage

We had quite a lazy start and went to Wawel castle late morning.  Sadly most of it is closed on Mondays but we did see the Cathedral there and the “dragon’s den” (which has nothing to do with Alan Sugar).

We had lunch at a restaurant near a sports ground and then walked to the Jewish quarter where we visited the Galicia Jewish Museum, the Rebuh Synagogue and Cemetery (the largest and best preserved renaissance Jewish cemetery in Europe).

Following that we had a beer in a bar on Plac Nowy and then found some dinner in the form of a zapiekanka (a Polish pizza) for me and a sausage for Gordon.  These were followed by delicious lody (ice cream).

We returned to the flat by tram, stopping to buy some food for breakfast and lunch tomorrow and the journey to our next part of the holiday.

Wielicka Salt Mineand Jewish oppression

Today was the day we’ve booked to see Wielicka Salt Mine.  We arrived on time and after quite confusing entry arrangements joined our tour.

We walked down about 60m of steps to see some impressive chambers in the salt mine and even an underground church and several chapels.

We had lunch at the caves and then drove to the "Heroes of the Ghetto" Square where we saw the famous pharmacy under the eagle that was a communication centre for the Jews in the Ghetto, a preserved part of the ghetto wall.  Then we looked at the old Gestapo headquarters nearer to where we are staying.  We saw some quite chilling cells and read about some atrocious treatment of prisoners.

After a wash and change at the flat we went out again and had a Mexican meal on the way into town and a couple of beers in the main square.  We came back to that flat and had a fairly early night.

Around Krakow

It was good to have a lighter breakfast in our apartment rather than another heavy hotel cooked breakfast today.  We spent the morning exploring the main square in Krakow – Rynek Glowny and the Cloth Market.

We explored St Mary’s basilica and then had a delicious lunch in a restaurant (Wesele) on the square recommended by a friend.

In the afternoon we had a look around the flea market and then went to see Schindler’s factory and followed with a beer in a local bar.

We went back to our apartment via a shop and had a light supper of soup & rolls.

Onward to Krakow via Czestochowa

We left Wrocław around 09.30am and had an abortive attempt to visit some modern housing with an architecturally interesting design, the Mieszkanie I Miejsce Pracy housing estate.

Following this we drove on to Czestochowa, and the monastery of Jasna Gora.  This is the most famous shrine of The Virgin Mary in Poland and is the site most visited by those on pilgrimage.  There were some really impressive views, including seeing the famous Black Madonna – the most important item of the Catholic faith in Poland.

After this visit we drive on to Krakow through some quite heavy stop-start traffic, arriving around 7pm to our Apartment Hotel.

We had dinner in the restaurant in the same building, and it was a surprisingly nice Italian meal.  We bought a few provisions for breakfast afterwards including buying some milk from a fascinating milk machine on the street.

Exploring Wrocław

Today was a day for exploring Wrocław.  We saw a covered market, and the Church of the Holy Cross and the Cathedral. We did a boat trip down the Odra river to the City Zoo and back and then visited the Church of our Lady on Sand.

We visited the University including the University Church (Church of the Holy name of Jesus) and some impressive rooms including the Oratorium Marianum and the Aula Leopoldinum.  We climbed the mathematical tower which gave us a great view of Wrocław.  We saw an exhibition about the history of the University then went back to the market square and on to the Botanic Garden.

Our evening meal was Ukranian and was rather hearty and tasty. We had a fairly early night ready for the drive to Krakow the next day

Onwards to Wrocław

Today we drove on to Wrocław in Poland and got to our hotel at a reasonable hour.  It was a really good hotel, named after Pope John Paul II, right next to the botanical gardens and a short walk into the City Centre.

We had a nice meal at a local craft beer restaurant then walked into town for a couple more drinks before bed.

Exploring and a wine festival

We went for a lovely walk down the Rhine from Cornelia’s village, Erbach am Rhein to the next next village, Eltville where we had an explore including seeing a castle with its rose garden and having a sandwich lunch and an ice cream.

After lunch we went back to Erbach to collect Cornelia’s younger son from Kindergarten and then got a train into Wiesbaden where we visited a rather fun wine festival.  We tried several local wines and had some food by way of a flammkuchen and a wurst.

Onward to Wiesbaden

We left Calais around 10.30am to start the journey to Wiesbaden to see some old friends.  It was uneventful and the motorways were relatively clear.  We stopped for lunch at a motorway services just outside Bonn.  We arrived in the early evening at Cornelia and Ross' house just outside Wiesbaden.

A road trip to Poland

We started out holiday straight after church today with the journey to Calais via Folkestone and Le Shuttle.  The service is amazing with us parked and checked into the hotel room in Calais four hours after we left central Oxford in the car.  Amazing!

We had dinner at Au Vieux Fourneau, one of our favourite restaurants in Calais, and it was as good as ever.  We followed that with a drink at a little bar on the main square in Calais.