Roslyn in the Town square (Wroclaw, Poland) Hi there (‘Sveiki’ in Lithuanian). Vilnius calling. Here are the results of the Lithuanian vote: Deutschland douze points, Poland dix points and Lithuania douze points. We haven’t quite made it to Latvia yet… ;p We are actually calling from Vilnius today, the capital of Lithuania, but sadly the Eurovision is not here. What we have been up to - Week 3: After thoroughly enjoying Saxon Switzerland in Germany over the Easter weekend and the Bastei (see in pictures), we finally said goodbye to Deutschland and crossed the border into Poland on Easter Monday. We were a little bit worried that the cops were going to tell us off for driving (an equivalent HGV on a bank holiday), but luckily we didn’t get stopped. We crossed the Polish border around lunchtime and stopped at some Polish services to eat and get some Zloty. Later in the day we made it to Wroclaw (pronounced Rotswov) and parked up next to a supermarket just out of town. Tuesday we explored Wroclaw to soak up some Polish culture. It was a lot bigger than we had anticipated, but we managed to follow our noses to the main Market Square which is the second biggest in Poland. It was very impressive and it looked like they were preparing for an Easter Concert. I wanted to try some Polish Cuisine, so we sat outside one of the restaurants in the Market Square. This was our first ‘eating out’ of the trip so far, so we splashed out and enjoyed some chicken soup with dumplings and desert. We left Wroclaw Tuesday night to an epic thunder storm. The funny thing was, none of the locals were even bothered about it, but the lightening looked like it was right on top of us! It must happen a lot in Wroclaw! Tuesday eve, we travelled up the E67 towards Warsaw, and again all day Wednesday and Thursday we were on the road soaking up the Polish landscape. The soil is really sandy and the E67 cuts through lots of coniferous woods full of deer (but unfortunately I didn’t spy any). For me, the most exciting thing to see were the white storks! There are lots of them combing through the fields in Poland (we think, looking for frogs or worms to eat), but even more charming, they build nests on huge electric poles, or on trees near people’s houses. As we drove north, it seemed every village had it’s own friendly resident stork sat on eggs! They are awesome, especially when they do a fly-by. Love it! Ed says its good luck in Poland to have a stork on your roof. I want to take one home ;p By Thursday lunchtime we crossed the border into Lithuania (the land of lakes). The weather has remained kind to us since the lightening storm in Wroclaw on Tuesday, and sat in Vilnius right now, its 17 degrees and sunny, when the average temperature in April is only supposed to be 10 degrees apparently. After crossing the border yesterday, we followed the A16 to the capital stopping over night at a village called Trakai, which had beautiful lakes and a restored red brick castle. We had a lovely mooch about there last night and were charmed by the Lithuanian for 'Thank You' which is Aaci (pronounced Achoo, like a sneeze!). We parked up in car park last night in Trakai, and this morning drove the final 30km into Vilnius and have treated ourselves to some food. As I write this, I am in Vilnius Town Hall (which looks like a mini St Pauls Cathedral) and Ed is snoozing outside in the sun. He's a bit tired today because some of the Polish roads enroute to Lithuania were quite bumpy and potholed. Thank god for suspension seats! Annoying though, part of the truck exhaust has shaken loose. Ed managed to fix it this morning, and we're hoping it will be ok. From now on however, we'll be looking for a DAF dealership so we can buy the spare part in case it gets loose again. Apart from the exhaust - the truck is holding up well. Only minor disasters. We had a water leak about one week in, the hooks on the back of the door fell off (it was too hot and they were stuck with Velcro) and Ed had to rewire the lights. Also the diesel heater is being temperamental, but it still works thank god. One night was so cold (in the Thurungia Forest in Germany) that we had to leave it on all night! So now, the plan is drive further north-east through Lithuania today and tomorrow, and cross the border into Latvia. Then on Monday, the adventure finally begins as we reach the Russian border..... Potentially we could be there all day on Monday. The plan next week is to drive south through Russia to the Kazakhstan border in 5 days, otherwise we will have to register ourselves as being present in Russia. When we get to Kazakhstan (hopefully a week tomorrow) we shall break out the bubbly! So there maybe some radio silence from us the next week or so, as we are not sure if our phones will work in Russia. We may have to buy a sim card. Similarly, we're not sure about the Wifi situation there either! Hopefully though - Ed will enjoy himself immensely watching the Russian trucks next week, and if the roads are anything like Poland, I'll be thankful for the suspension seats protecting my derrier! Until next time. Love Ros & Ed
3 Comments
lucy thomas
4/25/2014 04:33:23 am
Sounds fabulous and say hi to Kazakhstan from me! Stay safe and enjoy xx
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The Batt Family
4/27/2014 05:25:13 am
Hi guys! Glad the trucks holding out, it's going to be a test going through Russia, try not to get squashed by a Russian truck!! Ed, we hope you have your mankini ready to join Borat soaking up the Kazakstahn sunshine, very nice!! Take care, look forward to hearing from you, lots of love x x x x x
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Lucy
5/1/2014 03:08:01 am
So good to hear your news again.. and lovely to have a chat with Ed last weekend. Sending huge hugs to you both. XXX
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AuthorRos: Both Ed and I will be updating the diary blog as much as possible! WTS. Archives
September 2014
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