Wroclaw (Vrotswarf) another 3 day catch-up

Monday started out well with a pleasant drive through some attractive countryside towards Wroclaw. We arrived on the outskirts of the town around 12.30 and started trying to follow the directions in our campsite book to a site near the centre of the city on the bank of the river.

To be fair, even the book's author said it was hard to find! After circling the town and getting back to where we began, we pulled into an LPG station, filled up and asked for help. The young man had no idea but did an internet search and found out where it was. He gave us precise directions which got us straight there ….. except the site had closed down! (Our book “Alan Rogers - Central Europe - Quality camping and caravanning sites” is the 2007 edition.) Eventually we drove into the centre and found a carpark from which we were able to walk into the old market square (Rynek) where the helpful lady in the Tourist Information Centre directed us to another site at the Olympic Stadium. Somewhat basic in the facilities department but now the only one in the city and very conveniently situated near a tram stop. We arrived somewhat hot and bothered and tired.

Tuesday morning we caught the tram into the city centre and then spent the day exploring.

Wroclaw has a very large town square, big enough to have the Town Hall and two streets of houses in the middle. It has been very attractively restored and has many bars and restaurants in the surrounding buildings.

The city is a candidate to be a European Capital of Culture in 2016 and there was a marquee up in the square for a concert this weekend in support of the bid.

We visited a church, dedicated to Elizabeth of Hungary, which had a tower with a viewing gallery 300 steps up! I was happy to give it a miss but Edith was keen to go up, at least she was until about half way up! We did eventually puff our way to the top and the views were very good. We also walked across town through the University to the main Cathedral on what was once an island in the river. It was rather dark and gloomy inside unlike St Elizabeth's Church.

We ate in town at a nice pavement restaurant Edith ordered the Farmer's salad and I had Hungarian potato cakes with beef casserole. Both were delicious and we decided that Hungarians and Polish farmers must have huge appetites!

Today, Wednesday, we got the bikes out again and rode from the campsite through a large wooded park to the grounds of the Centennial Hall, built for an exhibition in the early twentieth century, when Wroclaw was still German and all the later unpleasantness hadn't started.

The centrepiece of the Centennial Hall grounds is a huge lake with a computerised fountain that performs to music. The Japanese Garden was also made for the exhibition and had become derelict but was rebuilt with Japanese help in the 1990s. It is very impressive and was a good quiet way to spend an hour on a very hot day. 

Dresden and then Poland

On Saturday we left the campsite about 10 o'clock and got to Dresden about 12.30. Drove into the centre and luckily found a convenient free car park within a short walk of the Old Town. The "Old Town" has been largely restored in the last twenty years after remaining as a bomb site for most of the fifty years since it was destroyed by the RAF just before the end of the war in 1945.
The quality of the restoration is amazing when you see the pictures of what was left.
We spent about 4 hours there and then got back on the road and drove through into Poland and on to a small town in Silesia called Jelenia Gora.
The campsite is quite close to the centre so not quite so quiet but convenient for a short walk into town which we did this morning. A very picturesque old centre which is reasonably authentic with some churches and other buildings dating from the fifteenth century. 

We needed refreshment and found a delightful little cafe where we had to choose our tea or coffee from a bewildering selection of teas and coffees from all over the world.

The cafe was in the old Market Square (Rynek) which is unusual in that all the buildings surrounding it have sort of cloisters running along underneath with wide arches onto the square and the shopfronts (mainly cafes and restaurants) set back under cover.

We explored thoroughly then had lunch out at a restaurant and eventually headed back to camp around 4 o'clock.

The plan is to head off tomorrow to Wroclaw (pronounced Vrotswarf!) and perhaps spend 2 or 3 days there to have a more relaxed exploration and maybe some more bike riding.

3 day catch up

Wednesday 8^th June

Well here we are on the European mainland once more. The crossing, by P&O from Hull to Rotterdam, was very pleasant and relaxing. A very calm sea, comfortable cabin and good food. That was the first time we had crossed that way and probably won't be the last.

The drive from Rotterdam was a bit of a slog. We were able to fill up with gas in Holland with no trouble, as most filling stations had it. Unfortunately the same is not true in Germany and by the time I began to think it was time to start looking again we had got into a barren area. This meant changing over to run on petrol which meant the usual carburettor problem which meant waiting for about 20minutes for the petrol to seep through and free the sticking float valve. Fortunately we did it at an autobahn service stop so it wasn't too traumatic.

We eventually only made it nearly as far as Kassel in Germany. We found a nice little site on a lake in a National Park, so nice that we may stay for a second night so that we can get out and explore tomorrow.

Thursday 9^th June

No usable wifi here so unable to post but we had a good day out today on our folding bikes. We are camped across the road from the National Park centre for the Edersee National Park. We called at the centre and got a route to follow through the park and down to a village where we got lunch at a restaurant before returning by another route to the campsite. 

Should sleep well after all the exercise.

Friday 10^th June

Packed up and left the site by 11 o'clock and spent the rest of the day travelling east. Made generally good progress apart from about an hour in the late afternoon when we were stuck in about a 5km tailback on the autobahn due to road works. Autogas was much more available the further east we got. Arrived at a campsite near Gera to the east of Erfurt in the area of the former GDR. There is clearly less money about here judging from the site and the campers but all very friendly in spite of almost no English being spoken. We will just stay the one night and head on to the Polish border tomorrow. I have found a free wifi connection so should be able to post the blog.

Liberator all set to go!

The Liberator went for her MOT test yesterday and passed with flying colours, thanks to a bit of preparatory work over the past week. A slight hiatus over the road tax which falls due at the end of June but I think we've worked our way around that one.
The ferry tickets are booked and we are ready for off, so it's all systems go on Tuesday.
We sail to Rotterdam and then it's a case of how far and how fast we want to go. The general intention is to head for Krakow in southern Poland to start with and then see how we feel from there.

Preparations for 2011

I am currently in the process of getting the Liberator serviced, prepared and ready to set out early in June on a five week excursion to include southern Poland, Slovakia and possibly across to the Black Sea. Watch this space for further news of the trip.