We caught the bus into Vilnius … but heading the wrong way. I’d tried to ask the chap standing at the bus stop if we were the correct side of the road. The answer was long, in Lithuanian, with lots of expansive arm gestures. We were none the wiser. So we hopped on the first bus … it said Centrum. The wrong centrum, as it slowly dawned on me, as I followed us on the map. A young man on the bus with English and a phone app put us right. Fortunately, each bus fare was only €1 each.
Using GPS.my city app we self guided out tour around Vilnius. A lot of churches. We went into some, but not all. Having been joined with Poland for many years, Lithuania is heavily Catholic.
Of 9 city gates, only the Gate of Dawn remains C16On the other side is the chapel is the icon on the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of Mercy. This and other artefacts are said to protect the city and bless travellers. The lady in purple just wouldn’t move, despite another tourist yelling at her! Inside the Holy Spirit Orthadox Church. Unusual green iconostasis and the bodies of 3 saints. The Cathedral that doesnt look like a cathedral! Remarkable for its simplicity and high side chapels. Reconstructed in 1770s. Really liked the dripping Gothic facade of St Annes’s Church 1495.A school group reluctant to move an risked a shower from the tree watering team. Some really pretty streets. The university was founded originally as a Jesuit college in 1579, making it the oldest university in the Baltics. It has 13 courtyards and we mingled in a few with the undergrads.Palace of the Grand Dukes … only completed 2018 and a museum Views from Gediminas Hill … we caught the funicular up and downWe shared two startersBoth yummyDidn’t manage to eat all of this … potato dumpling stuffed with meat. Called a Zeppelin, but more like a lead balloon than an air balloon. Guess the name is due to the shape.
We considered doing a 2nd day in Vilnius, but it hadn’t grabbed us the way other cities had, such as Wroclaw or Krakow. We also felt that we missed the historical facts being connected up by not doing a paid for walking tour. So that evening I did some planning for the rest of our trip and booked walking tours for Riga, Tallin and warsaw.
A drive from Treblinka to Augustow … home of a canal and 11 lakes. It seemed everyone and his wife, and their 8.6 children, had the same idea. It was rammed. No room at the Inn for us. We tried a hotel with a camper sign. 80Pln, about £15.20 to park in their car park … with no services. An extra £2pp to use the hotel toilet. Not happening. We rang a campsite. Same price, with hot showers, toilets and electricity! We booked on for 2 nights. A bit shabby and tired but showers hot and good pressure, and we paid to use the site washing machine.
On Monday, we cycled around one of the lakes. We spotted, oh, so many places we could have parked up had we arrived a day later. It was chalk and cheese. In season, out of season. Not been on the bikes since Callender in Scotland and Corrie trotted a good section, particularly over gravel and sand, so we kept our speed right down. 30km, and J could feel it in his legs and back, thankfully flattish and he sticks his bike in ‘pleasure’ mode (more pedal assist).
James has a new dance partner Pretty scenery but nothing spectacular. Great for cycling
We’d hoped to find somewhere to have a light lunch, but no. Everything shut up … end of the season. Just before returning to base we found a shop … very little stock… bought some revolting biscuits. I dribbled the jam on my Tshirt and ate most of them! J had better taste. A second shop had a better selection, so I bought a cheese and ham for lunch and the wherewithal for a BBQ.
We arrived at the Treblinka parking at 0830 before the museum opened. I just hoped staff didn’t think we’d overnighted here. The map showed that it was about 3km to the site of the labour camp. J fed Corrie and then I took her with me for the walk. J stayed behind to have his breakfast. Poor Corrie probably wished she’d stayed behind. She is the laziest dog. Once she’s done her business, she hopes to turn back. Every time I read an information board, she hung back in the hope that this was my final destination and that finally I’ll turn! We clocked up over 7km. The sheer size and scale is overwhelming.
Our route took me along the Black Road. Cobbled in the way it it had been. Although the headstones removed from Jewish cemeteries to be used as paving are now in the museum.
Representation of the railway that brought in the undesirables, about 100 per cattle car.Stones with the countries the victims came from. Treblinka was 2nd to Auschwitz / Birkenau in the number of people murdered there. Monument to the murdered. Each small stone, about 17,000, represents a town or village where the victims came fromTteblinka I. A huge area where just the labour camp footings remain. The Germans dismantled and destroyed the evidence The huge gravel pit where people from the labour camp were forced to work 12+ hours a day. Treblinka II. Where the gas chambers used to be. The new chamber could ‘process’ 2000 victims a day. Over 900,000 people were murdered.
The museum was small, with little to add to the information boards at each location. However, there was a very moving film where a survivor talked of his experiences. He’d survived as he’d turned his hand to whatever was needed … brick layer, cutting off womens hair before entering the gas chamber, piling up dead bodies for more efficient burning. He’d escaped in August ’43 and fought with the resistance.
I don’t really know why I wanted to visit another extermination camp. Perhaps it’s something to do with the scale of former Jewish populations in each of the cities we’ve visited. To pay my respects. Treblinka is very different from Auschwitz / Birkenau, where the camps and extermination areas were left intact. But nonetheless, just as moving.
Having been along and crossed over the River San several times, it seemed appropriate to see where it joined the Vistula. We didn’t, in the end. Conscious that we’ve still not made it to the Baltics and our tunnel is on 30th September, we cut our visit very short. We actually commented that whilst we are really enjoying this trip, having a deadline, and a looming deadline, creates a certain pressure.
So our limited time in Sandomierz was walking around the historic centre. Once the capital of the Duchy, it is very smart, with some fine and huge buildings. It would be easy to spend a weekend here going inside, climbing towers, going into the underground tunnels … and trying out some of the smart looking eateries.
We did sample a baked cheesecake each. 😋
We were pleased we’d not planned to stay overnight where we parked up for our visit. We’d arrived at 9.30 am and the garage / restaurant / Circle K shop owner approached us … slurring words, a beer in hand and repeating himself. A self confessed alcoholic. 😔 Having rejected offers of beer, a coffee and bikes to cycle into town, we eventually extracted ourselves. But not before I was told I’d nice eyes!
We drove 5+ hours up to a small town near Treblinka. Used Google Translate to ask at a restaurant if we could have a table at 7.30 and if we could sleep in our motorhome outside. No and yes. The owner wrote on a piece of paper that opening hours were 0900 – 2100. Aah … 24 hour clock! I amended Google Translate to a table at 1930 and sleep outside. All smiles … yes and yes. A pretty average but inexpensive meal … dishes around £8 each, but a bottle of warm rubbish Spanish (no choice) wine was £18!
We exercised before leaving our riverside pitch. And no ill effects from our vodka tasting of the previous night. Lucky, methinks.
A 3.5 hour drive to get to Tarnow, with a lunch stop. Had to buy a few bits from a supermarket for lunch … with no f/f, I am really missing my homemade soup, which I portion up and freeze … normally.
We were both tired on arrival at Tarnow. Now, that might have been the vodka effect! Or it could have been the morning’s exercise. We pushed ourselves out for a quick wander and cold drink before heading off to the intended overnight. However, a leaflet from the TIC showed a few sights worth staying overnight for.
The car park was half empty when we arrived. Full when we walked back, but cleared when the heavens opened. And a full moon.
Our city tour proper started with the Roma museum the next morning. The founder was Roma, so it was ‘Roma’nticised but interesting. I hadn’t realised they originated from North India. Only recently have their dialects been moulded into one official language and books in Roma printed. A sign declared that Roma may be cheats and thieves, but they’ve never set off bombs or started wars. Fair point.
Various men have simultaneously declared themselves King of all Roma!Some info on their skills and trades
300-500,000 Roma were exterminated by the Germans in WW2; about half the Roma European population. It was not initially recognised, mourned, or recompenced, like the Jewish murders, as there was no central Roma organisation. Until 1971, when the first international Roma conference was held in …. Orpington, Kent. A flag and a hymn were presented. With time, the World Roma Union was represented at the United Nations.
Not how we imagine romany caravans and you couldn’t stand up inside. Another attractive large town square and wide surrounding streets. Tarnow historic centre is medieval.Stunning painted interior of a small wooden churchAttractive cathedral Monumentto the intelligentsia murdered by Stalin at Katyn and other places. Monument to the Jews murdered during WW2Monument to the broken lives of the Jews in Jewish cemetary This Jewish cemetary contains over 4000 headstones. Much more crowded than Christian cemeteries.Tarnow’s Jewish population had been nearly 50%. The Germans destroyed huge synagogue. All that remains is this tower from where the Torah was read. In recognition, some manholes have the Star of David
A short drive away was zany Zalipie. A straggling village of homesteads. About a hundred years ago, inhabitants started painted the interior and exterior of houses, barns and fences with folk art. To keep it going, a competition has been held since 1948 for the best painted house. We saw a film where school children were being ‘forced’ (with smiles) to paint in the traditional style. We visited a homestead museum of a famous local painter and then drove around the village, spotting other painted properties. Bit of a samey zany style, to he honest.
Not the healthiest of lunches!But neither of us could finish.
Our overnight was Lake Tarnobrzeg. We drove past the beach and bar area to a viewpoint. Nice and quiet, we thought. I took Corrie for a walk to another viewpoint. Saw an estate car parked up with its boot open. Didn’t think anything of it. Why would I? Broad daylight in a public park. Once I realised what the young couple were up to, I veered off … fast! At 9pm, a disco across the water started. Fortunately, the music wasn’t offensive. Unfortunately, it didn’t finish till 1pm. Could have been worse, but then cars were in and out of our car park – probably to engage in similar activities to what I’d stumbled upon earlier. So, not the best night’s sleep. And not in a good way!
Clune Gap Years 