16-17/08/2023

J started the day with a mini run. I did Pilates overlooking the dessert … my mat has come out in some lovely locations.

With Kerstin joining us on Friday night, we have delayed visiting some of the main sights, such as Krakow, Auschwitz and the salt mines.  It seems disrespectful to call Auschwitz a sight though.   So we drove slightly north to pick up some of the Eagles Nest Trail. A line of Middle Ages castles on limestone rocky outcrops, largely ruined during the Swedish invasions during the 1650s. Bet that was news to you, too.

We only visited the first castle we planned to visit, as we spent most of the afternoon waiting for the RAC. Unhappily, Jez just wouldn’t start. We checked what fuses we could access, and then decided we were clueless, so called the RAC in the UK. Who passed us to their EU partner in France. Thence to Poland and then a local mechanic. The longest time between each stage was 50 minutes, and we were kept informed all the way. They were our Knights in Shining Armour. So the moral is, based on our experiences, break down in Poland, Greece or Portugal, but NEVER in France.

Jez kindly obliged us by starting when the mechanic arrived. The old chap laughed and said it was just because he was here … again my German came in useful. We followed the lowloader for 30 mins, breaking all speed limits, to the garage. The boss had a quick look at the engine and tested the battery. All seems well, and we hope it will stay that way! I can only think I’d left the electrics on whilst I plotted the sat nav and the air con drained it. Then, after a couple of hours, the solar panels put enough juice back in. At least, that’s what we hope!

Given the time lost to Jez’s tantrum, we aborted our 2nd planned castle and headed to a carpark in the Ojcow National Park, Poland’s smallest.