Back from the wild

This morning we have driven to Lublin from Bialoweiza. Now it's taken me a good two days to even start to pronounce that word but it is a small village out on the Belarus border where we have spent the last two nights. The reason we went there - aside from wanting to get out of the cities - was the primaeval forest - the oldest in Europe and untouched for centuries was there. They strictly protect it on the Polish side of the border - not sure the Belarussians do such a good job. You cannot go into it without a guide so yesterday at 5 am we and a German couple headed into the forest for a long walk. Missed my walking buddies yesterday as knew they would all love it. It was amazing - full of oaks, spruce, elms, lindens, and other trees that we do not see a lot of. These trees are centuries old and the forest is left - no planting no clearing etc. It was a relaxing delightful three hours. We went in the pm to do a walk through the "royal oaks" - twenty oak trees, all of them over 300 years old - named after Polish kings. We also visited an animal refuge because this park has fostered the European bison back from near extinction. So saw some of these big guys at this reserve. Now this might sound like we have lost the plot but it was great to be out in the country, walking and relaxing and to do it in a primaeval forest was pretty special.

We had a couple of days in Warsaw before this. Poor old Warsaw which was totally destroyed during the war as was pretty much all of Poland doesn't really cut it. The Old Town is quite small and pretty unremarkable after Gdansk and Torun. We spent most of our day in the centre exploring the area that was the Warsaw Ghetto. Many moving monuments and memorials have been set up as a reminder of the horror that transpired here. It was extremely interesting. Undoubtedly we have spent a lot of time both in Germany and here exploring the Jewish Holocaust sites. We called into Treblinka on the way out to Bialoweiza. It was the second largest extermination camp and was razed to the ground at the end of the war. They have made a very moving memorial here. It is very remote and hard to find but worth visiting. I am not too good at these sites and it is not long before I am a blubbering mess. John has gone out now to the site of Madjanek Concentration Camp. I am not going and will spend the afternoon catching up on blogging, watching the first English news we have seen for quite a while, maybe if I can find it on the TV watching some Wimbledon or F1.

We have meet some wonderful people. Last night John drank a bottle of Zubra (bison) vodka with a young Polish guy in the next room to us. They drink vodka with apple juice and John enjoyed the company of this switched on young Pole. We have stayed in some really interesting places, mainly done through booking.com. A great variety which having a car has allowed us to access. Poland has a lot to offer and we are heading after Lublin down to the Carpathian and Tatra Mountains. Looking forward to that.

Thinking of you all back home. Take good care.