POLAND

FEBRUARY 2009

14/2/09

Hannah and I woke early and had a shower before catching the bus into Leeds.

At Dyer Street we were picked up by a people carrier which was waiting for us. We went to Normanton to get on the feeder bus. We went down the A1 stopping at Cambridge services. Hannah had a KFC and I had a latte.

Once at Hythe we had a Starbucks whilst the coaches were sorted and loaded with luggage. Hannah and I were on seats 1A and B.

We made our way to Dover and caught the 16.45 ferry (pride of Calais). We had a meal on the ferry; I had chicken tikka massala with rice and a poppadum.

Once off the ferry at Calais we headed to Belgium passing Brussels and heading for Aachen. We changed drivers in the middle of the night at Aachen. Mick went and Ron and Keith took over.

We crossed the border into Poland. Our first stop in Poland was at Biekny Wrockawski, which was a shopping centre. We had a look in Tesco and bought Emma some polish kick. We had lunch in McDonalds where the strawberry milkshake was amazing.

We arrived in Zakopane in time for dinner.

The snow was 4 foot deep and everything was still set up for Christmas as they don't take there tree's down until the end of February.

We checked into the Carzny Potok, which means "black stream" which runs by the side of the hotel. The room was lovely. I had a double bed and Hannah had a single. We had time for a quick wash before dinner. For dinner I had an omelettes wrapped in ham, then tomato soup over noodles (I didn't have any of this). For main course there was chicken with boiled potatoes and salad, then cake with coffee.

We went for a quick walk around Zakopane before going back to the hotel where we were both asleep by 9pm.

16/2/09

We woke at 7am had a shower then down to breakfast for 8am. I had ham and polish sausage with bread and salad and a coffee.

After a short walk around we boarded the coach where a guide called Paul showed us around Zakopane. Fatima church was built in 1989 after Pope John Paul II was shot. The people of Zakopane promised that if the pope survived, they would build a church. We also saw a couple of other churches and an Olympic ski slope.

Back at the hotel at 10am we had a coffee before Paul the guide came back and we went on a winter wonderland tour. First we went to Chocholow (pronounced hoe-hove) where we visited a 200 year old house. In one of the rooms a man carved wooden figures which he sold.

We went through Nowy Targ (pronounced nova-tark) to Krosienko for lunch at Walusia. The food was delicious I had goulash potato pancake with salad and a coke. After lunch we drove around a lake, the scenery was beautiful all covered in pure white snow.

Back in Zakopane Hannah and I went for a walk around the town before dinner.

For dinner I had egg mayonnaise with tomatoes, potato and gherkin, then cabbage soup (both of these were delicious). I had bought a drink at the bar to take in, I asked the girl for a beer and a sprite, and she put them in the same glass so I had a shandy. For main course I had beef with mashed potato and sauerkraut. I didn't have any dessert as it was cake with coconut on it. After coffee Hannah and I went to our room where I caught up with my diary and Hannah watched the music channel.

17/2/09

I woke at 7.30 and had a shower before I woke Hannah up. We went down to breakfast at 8.30.We then walked towards the market buying some gifts as we went. The market was nice with plenty of different stalls, there was even a girl there selling dogs. We caught the funicular (15 zloty return) to the top of the mountain. It was very cold at the top but there were many restaurants, cafes and stalls selling BBQ food.

Back at the bottom we made our way down Main Street for a kebab. I had pork and Hannah had chicken, they were delicious. We went back to our hotel for an hour to warm up then back down to Main Street. We walked in the park and took photos of the balloons.

Before dinner we chilled in our room and Hannah had a sleep and I watched a polish t.v. show a bit like name that tune.

At 7pm we went down for dinner. We had tuna and grated potato, chicken noodle soup, pork in breadcrumbs with mash, a cake with pineapple jelly and coffee. Hannah then went for a walk on her own to get some coke for our room and she brought me a box of orange juice. We stayed in for the rest of the night and watched t.v. and read books.

18/2/09

We woke at 7am and went for breakfast at 8am. I had nice fatty bacon with sausage and a breadcake, OJ and coffee.

We got on the coach at 8.30 and set off for Krakow. It was snowing in Krakow but not as bad or as deep as Zakopane. The coach dropped us off and as we weren't taking the tour we walked to the main square. I took some photos and we found a Coffee shop company cafe (like the one in Zakopane). Again we had dark moccocino and cheesecake. We walked to the castle taking photos as we went. We walked to street that I had marked on my map, but there was nothing there so we found a McDonalds and had lunch.

After lunch we walked to the house of Pope John Paul II. It was very nice and we had a look at the garden. We then walked slowly back to the coach passing the city walls.

Back at the hotel we had a little rest in our room before dinner.

Dinner was at 7pm. Vegetables in aspic, vegetable soup with barley, potato pancakes with goulash (not as nice as the one I had previously) to finish, marble cake and coffee.

We had a walk down Main Street after dinner; I bought a takeout coffee from Costa. Then back to the hotel

19/2/09

The alarm went off at 7am; we showered and went to breakfast at 8am.

We set off at 8.30 for Auschwitz. First we went to the main camp where we had coffee; I didn't drink mine as it was so strong. We got our headset and set off with our guide. Anna the tour guide was very good. We had headsets and she talked quietly into a microphone. If you took off your headset all you could hear was footsteps on gravel, it was quite haunting. We saw the prisoner's belongings, the conditions they lived in, the torture chambers and the gas chambers. It was easy to see what it must have been like in the war but very hard to understand why?

We got back on the coach to go to Birkeneau camp. It was massive. It was very stark and they lived under terrible conditions (some prisoners lived there to help kill the ones that arrived and were sent to the gas chambers straight away.

We got back on the coach and on the way back to Zakopane we passed through Wadowice which is where Pope John Paul II was born. There was a statue in the square of him. I managed to get a photo of the church he visited as a boy on the way past.

Back in Zakopane we went to an internet cafe to speak to Emma and Katie, and then back to the hotel for dinner.

The starter at dinner looked like goats cheese so I didn't eat it. The soup was OK but it had pasta in it. The main course was delicious, spare ribs with roast potatoes with cucumber in yoghurt, followed by cake with thick fruit cream and coffee. After dinner we bought two coffees and took them to our room to have with our Marks and Spencer biscuits.

20/2/09

I woke at 6.30 had a shower then woke Hannah before I went on my own to McDonalds to buy lunch for later. I made a mistake and only bought one sandwich so I bought a doughnut and some fruit from a corner shop.

We had breakfast then we set off at 8.30 for the salt mines at Wieleska. At the salt mines we had a lovely coffee then our guide took us down 440 steps to the start of the tour.

The mines were fantastic; everything down there was carved by the miners (not artists) out of salt. We were encouraged to lick the walls (usually I am asked not to). The chapel of St Kinga was really amazing with beautiful statues and chandeliers. We walked for miles and took lots of photos.

We went back to the surface in a lift that was scary. We got back to the hotel and had a walk into town, and then we chilled in our room for an hour before dinner.

Dinner was savoury rice then beetroot soup (YES!!!!) for main course pork burger with egg and potato; I didn't like my pudding which was a cake a bit like Yorkshire curd. We went for a last walk around to say goodbye to Zakopane before packing our bags and having an early night.

21/2/09

We had a lie in till 8am then we finished off our packing. We put our bags out t 9am but we were late for breakfast so we bought a coffee and waited for the coach at 10am.

It was sad to leave Zakopane, which was a lovely town. We drove through Poland stopping every 3 hours or so for the toilet and coffee. We crossed the border into Germany but as it was dark we didn't see much of it. We arrived in Aachen at 6am where Ron and Keith left us with Michael who was taking us back to England. We drove through Belgium and stopped at a chocolate factory just outside Oostende.

Once on the ferry (pride of Dover) Hannah and I had lunch, curry and cake. Then we had a walkabout before Dover. The coach did the short journey down the M20 to J24 where we got on our feeder coach back to Leeds. We sat right at the back of the coach and I slept all the way back to Yorkshire with only a short stop at Cambridge services. At Normanton a minibus took us to Leeds getting there at 8.30pm.