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I think my sat nav heard what I was saying about AI and was in a strop this morning. The damn thing would not talk to me. I tested all the bike's communication wires, double checked my helmet, and tested other sounds through the same cables. I decided to head off anyway, 30 minutes by the side of the road is too long for such a minor issue. I headed off down the cobbles, then nearly fell off with shock as the sat nav sprang to life louder than ever.
Back on track, I headed out to the motorway and was pleased to see the sun coming through. Nothing to say about the road the surrounding countryside was somewhat featureless. Eventually I reached Poland, having had a heart stopping moment trying to find petrol as my range dropped below 0 miles. Travelling on I noticed no difference between the road in Germany and this one in Poland.
As soon as I had finished thinking this the road ended and I headed off down a ploughed field. I think it was a road but it was so well used it was difficult to make any speed, with huge lorries blocking my way.
Free of the lorries, I entered a town and hey presto a traffic jam. I managed to bypass most of this but eventually had to queue for about an hour. The town itself was beautiful, and I was tempted to actually take some pictures, but thought I would be passing through on the way back and would take them then as not loose my place in the queue.
Leaving this town behind, I passed along more narrow rough roads, and small towns with limited incidents, and screamed with sheer delight when I heard the words 'Take the motorway'. This is the 1st time I have ever been happy to get on a motorway on a bike.
Heading off down the motorway I had a further scary fuel shortage crisis, as I passed the last fuel stop (having about 200 mile range when I entered Poland) the sign informed me it was about 160 miles to the next fuel stop. Needless to say I adopted the old fogey driving style, but still came close, thankfully the sat nav came to the rescue for me once more.
As soon as I had filled up off the beaten track, the rain started. I looked up and the cloud didn't look too dark and thought I could soon out run it, so off I went into another torrential downpour. AS I had rejoined the motorway again I had to just put up with getting wet.
Finally after what seemed like hours, I found a place to stop, put on my waterproof gloves and waterproof suit, then headed off again, into perfectly dry weather. I was soaking inside my suit, so at the next opportunity off it came again. With all these stops I had lost about an hour.
Finally I turned off the motorway to the link road into Krakow, and MORE road works, and a queue as far as the eye could see with no chance for filtering. These Poles have the same fattish for roadworks as those Germans do. Speaking of differences, when there are workmen in the road cutting hedges, the rest of Europe cone off a lane to protect the workmen, but here in Poland, they give them an orange vest and let them take their chances.
After another hour, I manage to get off onto the road into Krakow, well when I say road I mean another ploughed field, which soon changes into a high speed mad race course reminiscent of Barcelona, minus the sun. Turning down a grim looking street out of the gloom was my hotel. A ray of sunshine at the end of my day. I have to say the hotel is fantastic, and I am happy to return here later in the week for a long weekend sightseeing.
Tomorrow is the day the real adventure begins, I am off into the Ukraine. I need to make an early start as I will immediately loose another hour crossing the border and time zone. I wil admit I am apprehensive as I do not know exactly what to expect. I have been practicing my 'do you speak English', 'good day' and 'goodbye' all the way here. Just to add insult to injury I have managed to get a cold, I have to worst cough and my throat is like the inside of a litter box. Lets see what tomorrow brings.
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