1 - 7 June 2012
- Gdynia to Gdansk via Sopot: 47km
- Rest day Gdansk
- Gdansk to Malbork: 67km
- Malbork to Grudziadz: 82km
- Grudziadz to Toruń via Chelmo: 85km
- Toruń to Trzemeszno: 133km
- Trzemeszno to Poznań via Gniezno: 81km
Cyclists are few and far between in Poland. This was especially noticeable for me as I had spent the previous two weeks in the cycling meccas of Denmark and Sweden. The locals in Poland who do cycle use mountains bikes - a wise choice given the quality of some of the roads and cycle paths. I quickly realised that main roads were to be avoided at all cost. So I spent the five days cycling from Gdansk to Poznań on back roads in the countryside, which was an enjoyable experience. My guidebook tells me that 52 percent of Polish territory is agricultural, with almost 30 percent being forested. That pretty much tallies with what I found.
In general, taking the lesser-travelled roads, where I spotted several deer, a couple of eagles, and dozens of storks perched on their huge nests, worked out well. However, one road I took, which started off as a nice quiet country road, soon turned into a sand track suited more to tanks than to heavily-laden bicycles.
When signs warning of unexploded missiles appeared, I realised why it was such a quiet route.
But I figured it was safe when I saw deer grazing, so I continued and safely reached the end. There I surprised a soldier posted at a barrier to stop vehicles entering (nothing had been placed where I had joined the road).
It wasn't all just the rural side of Poland that I saw. I started on the Baltic coast with the Tri-City of Gdynia, Sopot and Gdansk. The latter has held a fascination for me ever since secondary school when I first learned about the League of Nations-controlled Free City of Danzig, as Gdansk was known between the World Wars. It didn't disappoint and I'm happy to go back there for Ireland's second Euro 2012 match.
My journey south to Poznań (where Ireland play their first and third matches) was all about castles, churches and cobblestones, with the highlights being Malbork and Toruń.
I happily spent nearly three hours in Malbork Castle and I camped within view of the impressive building (note how my bike doubles as a handy place to dry my hand-washed clothes).
And I had an afternoon and evening in the attractive walled town of
Toruń, where I enjoyed the local speciality of gingerbread (where better to eat some gingerbread made in the likeness of Copernicus than in front of a statue to the great Pole himself).
After five enjoyable days, during which I saw some last minute building and flower-planting for the upcoming European Championship and I discovered that in Poland cobblestones (the nemesis of the cycle tourer) are not just confined to the centres of old towns but can appear on country roads too, I rolled into Poznań on the eve of Euro 2012. That day happened to be a public holiday for Corpus Christi, so I came across multiple processions and streets covered in flower petals. After spending a lot of time recently in predominately non-Christian countries (India, Nepal, Turkey), it was interesting to be travelling in such a traditionally Catholic country.
So having successfully completed the first part of my cycle trip, it was now time for a change; no more cycling for a couple of weeks, and instead of the early-to-bed and early-to-rise routine of a solo cycling tourer, I was about to be one of thousands of Irish football supporters in Poland to support our team and have a good time.
No comments:
Post a Comment