It rained last evening. I rained during the night. It rained this morning. So we stayed in bed until until 10.30!!! The rain had stopped and despite the forecast of only 22°C, shorts went back on.
We’d been told not to miss this area. Our opinion: It isn’t as pretty as the Carpathian Mountains further west. And not as stunning or as high as the High Tatras when we were in Slovakia last summer. If you can stay and get out to walk, it would be a great place. We did stop at a few parkings to read the information boards, but bear warnings and very clearly signed No Dogs. Poor Corrie was confined to the van.
One of these loped across the road in front of us.
So it is pretty, but not stunning. Rolling hills rather than peaks. Pretty haystacks and wooden houses.
I had a quick look at one of the wooden churches.
The main even was the touristy cable car ride at Solina. We would have liked to walk at the top or walk down, but no paths. Just a kiddies theme park and a restaurant. We shared an indifferent plate, and neither of us finished it. Our first not good Polish meal. We had paid £2 to take Corrie up in the cable car, but she nearly wasn’t allowed down. She needed a muzzle! But we weren’t told that at the bottom! You’ll have to carry her. But she’s 13kgs and doesn’t like being carried! We compromised on keeping her on a short lead.
The dam planning started in 1921 but the dam wasn’t built until 1968. Little information on how much hydro electricity is produced. Our drive loop
We decided to stay at the same riverside parking as last night.
The flavoured vodkas were sampled. We like them all!And watched the mist come up over the field.
Having been told by two sets of people that we’d skipped the prettiest part of Poland. And that we would be fine in most of it with dogs. We back tracked along the road to Samok and then south into the Bieszczady area.
A booze store … alkoholes are everywhere, so to speak! A lovely young lady helped us to select vodkas for sampling.
We are really not seeing tourists and their coaches now … relief. The large carpark at Zagorez was empty. An intetesting walk to the Monastery. Alongside a railway track. Overgrown, so I said to J that I didn’t think it was in use. Then we heard the train horn! Corrie was back onto the lead, and we got out of the way as a works engine slowly trundled past. Three small children were playing at the level crossing … The Railway Children? A gentle climb up to the Monastery, passing first the Ten Commandments in stone and then the very beautiful and floral 12 stations of the cross. With increasingly lovely views. If the monastery was a waste of time, it wouldn’t have mattered as the walk was so lovely.
The cashier didn’t speak English and called a colleague who had limited English who offered a choice of tours. We opted for the full package. Initially, there was a film placing the monastery historically in context, with English sub titles. Then, a virtual reality tour of how the monastery would have looked before it crumbled and how the monks lived and worked. Our guide showed us a scale model, artefacts, and a mock-up of a cell… using the excellent translation services of a fellow visitor. I did ask if the Barefoot Carmelite order were, in fact, barefoot? No, they wore shoes, but no socks.
Perhaps Corrie would have liked her own VR experience EU funding has helped restore and build the visitor centre. More funding neededto protect the frescoes and excavate the cellars. All work done very sympathetically. And a tower for views.
Lesko was not far. I left J napping whilst I set off to explore, armed with a map from the handsome Tourist Information chap.
Lesko’s Jewish population was a third of the town. The synagogue tower was used by the Germans as a prison to inter Jews.Badly destroyed by the Germans. It was rebuilt inside, but just as a gallery for local artists.
The most interesting part of Lesko is the Jewish cemetary. It had not been reclaimed by nature but did seem uncared for. The grass at least was cut. However, all the headstones were either listing or fallen. There are over 2000 headstones, making it one of the largest Jewish cemeteries in Poland.
Covered in moss, but I could still make out some ornatecarvingsA few modem tombstones. This one was erected by the family of a Rabbi who knew an ancestor was buried here, but they couldn’t find his grave.
The World War I cemetery was much smaller. A real mix of nationalities had been buried here in 1915: Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, Slavs, Austrians, Czechs, Croatian, Bosnian etc. And with different religions.
We moved to a fabulous riverside parking. The River San again, but much narrower than at Sanok and Przemysl. We watched families picnicking and paddling. A few cars forded the river. We BBQd and just got the meat cooked before the storm chased us inside. The heatwave is over. Much lower temperatures and rain on the long-range forecast.
I’d read an online article about Przemysl, which described a worthwhile train excursion to a nearby town called Jarslow. And we’d have lunch out, again.
The very ornate train station to reflect the once importance of Przemysl. Grace (dinner last night)described how it was full of beds at the start of the Ukraine war. Locals supporting the refugees with clothes, toys, books and food. Our first Polish train. Corrie spent some of it on my lap as she didn’t like the jolts and whistle blowing at so many stations.
The first stop on arrival was an ice cream. For some people, it’s coffee. Each to their own. We wandered the very quiet streets and square. Some interesting buildings but no museums open. Apparently, there are not one but two underground cellar tours. We couldn’t find them. And I’d done the one in Przemysl yesterday.
The inside of the Collegiate Church was impressive. And immaculate … not the conception, but being repainted!
The monastery of the Benedictine Sisters was a huge complex, built in 1614. Dissolved under Emperor Josef II in 1782. It became warehouses and military barracks. During the German occupation, it was used as a prison and an execution site. It has gone full circle as the Benedictine Nuns returned in 1991.
We had noticed a lack of restaurants and enquired at the Benedictine monastery cafe, but they could only offer pork chop and potatoes.
Our food quest saw us sit at one place and peruse the menu … only cakes and more ice cream. Fine in principal, but we do need one proper meal once a day. Google saved the day … restaurants open near me. And down a side street to an Italian trattoria.
J had pasta, but I had potato pancake withpork goulash with a coleslaw side … again. Might be my new favourite Polish dish.
Corrie was happy as the return train was a fast, modern and smooth train. We were happy as it had effective air con.
Back at our camper stop, we showered and I washed the sticky clothes we were stood in. Don’t think I’ve ever done laundry three days in a row!
We coughed up another £7.40 for the camper stop. I did another load of laundry. Then we wandered into town. You’d never guess, but Przemysl is prnounced shirmish, as in skirmish! As well as the guide books, I’d found an online article about the town so had the main attractions pinned on a map. We attempted to climb to the castle, but a sweaty 36C real feal defeated us.
During WW2 the town was split into two along the River San. This is one of the Russian defence bunkers … the Molotov Line … Stalin’s N S defensive line before taking on Germany One third of the population had been Jewish. This is one of the two surviving synagogues. In a bad state of repair. Nothing remains of the Jewish cemetery. Totally reclaimed by nature as no surviving families to tend to it. Cathedral belfry. We tried twice to see the cathedral and crypt. First a service and then a wedding. Local saint statue … guardian angel of Poland. He predicted 2 world wars, Poland gaining independence and a Polish Pope. Award winning ice cream parlour and raspberry lemonade refreshment stopI did the newly opened underground tour … through cellars of the square and then along 150m of sewers. Not much to look at, but lots of interactive screens and a very good audio guide. A bear is the city emblem and apparently bearsdo live in the woods not too far away.
We’d been recommended a restaurant so joined the queue. Got chatting to mother and son, Grace and Nick. They asked if we’d like to share their table. They had emigrated 30 years ago, whilst the USSR didn’t issue passports. Who you know and a brown envelope sorted passports. Grace with two small children didn’t relax until the plane took off. Over a couple of bottles of wine (French), we asked questions.
Poland had been partitioned for 123 years by Russia, Germany and Austria, and I wondered how Polish culture and national identity had survived. They still spoke Polish, and underground schools taught history, etc. A very Catholic country, where abortion is still illegal. 3 women have recently died from sepsis as doctors were not allowed to abort foetuses that had died. An election is due on 15th October, and it’s expected that the right-wing government will be ousted. Rental property and hotels here are full. Journalists covering the war and Ukrainian families live here have pushed up prices. Similar to Germany, many Ukrainians come once a month to collect their refugee monies and then go back to the Ukraine to spend it. Poland does produce some wine, but it’s generally sweet. The availability of medical care was compared between Canada, Poland, UK and Greece. Poland is no longer a poor country, but has a positive GDP and is attracting a lot of investment. A memorable meal … one of those moments in time.
Not only did the metal bridge disturb my slumbers, but so did a drunk who kept belting out the same few song lines. Would have liked to belt him! Despite waking tired, we both cracked out a 4km run, well stagger / shuffle in my case.
Whilst we had breakfast, the cacophony of dog barking was explained. A race was on. Luckily we’d got back before they set off.
In my humble opinion, it was too hot to take dogs on a long race. Afterwards, I saw one lady applying ointment to her dogs paws and another chap pouring water over his dog. Animal welfare not at its best.
We paid our £4.30 for both of us to enter the Sanok Folk Museum. We are finding that now we’re off the international tourist route, entry prices are much lower. We’ve seen enough cooking bowls and shovel museums, but this was buildings. Poland’s largest collection of buildings. Why does it always have to be largest, oldest etc … not always the best! Buildings were grouped depending on where they came from within the region. Some you could enter, others had wooden grills you could look through. They got a bit samey after a while … and it was hot.
Some small doorsAn outside loo … inside a tree trunk!A couple of Greek Catholic churches … don’t know what the Greeks were doing here. Some very impressive huge timbers
Feeling a little drained, after our run and the heat, we decided against driving to dip our toes into the Bieszczady National Park where we knew we couldn’t walk with Corrie. So we missed seeing Poland’s highest dam! We arrived at a camper park just outside Przemysl at the bottom of a chairlift and by a small outdoor pool. For £7.40pn we’ve a key to toilets, showers, water and WiFi.
We went straight into laundry mode … Kerstin’s bedding, nearly all our knickers and clothes … there were washing lines too! Insufficient for all our laundry, so I suspended a line from our awning. Suddenly, the wind got severely up … J hung onto the awning – just – I had visions of him doing a James and the Giant Peach … only in the case James and the Flapping Awning. I got the laundry and line down and reeled in the awning. It’s a new one, a freek gust took the old one last year.
I decided I wasn’t cooking. As J is won’t cook, can’t cook, that meant one thing… we’re eating out. A 10 minute walk to the old town.
A lovely meal: cocktails to start, wine and then we started working our way through the vodka menu … we were always going to do it sometime.
One would have thought we’d staggered home, but Greek Raki after a meal has us in good training. Don’t think we’ll be challenging any Poles to a drinking session … we’ve been warned. And they knock it back … we sip!
Clune Gap Years 