Slovakia...

As we approached southern Poland the hills began to get bigger and turned to mountains as we got to the Slovakia boarder.  The route through northern to central Slovakia was quite beautiful - mountains, creeks and streams and every so often we would pass by a castle up on a peak or hillside overlooking a small town or village.  Slovakia has over 300 castles, some preserved - but many are in ruin.  We got to see both yesterday.  We were also riding through ski country and passed by several ski towns.  The day could have been perfect, but the weather did not cooperate and we pretty much got wet all afternoon.  The other drawback of the rain is not being able to take advantage of the twisty mountain roads which become very slick when wet.  Getting even the slightest bit aggressive and the rear tire begins to step out.  

It was beginning to get dark so we found a roadside hotel/cafe as the road was slipping down into the foothills.  The cafe had an Italian theme and featured pizza - which we had not had much luck with in other countries.  The saying is that there is no bad pizza - only pizza and good pizza.  But with pizza you just have an understanding of what is supposed to be like so are often times disappointed when it doesn't meet that expectation - which happened in pretty much every country we tried.  We found we were better off sticking to the local dishes for that particular country so there is no expectation - but sometimes when you see a familiar food group like pizza, you just have to try.  So we got the pizza and it was GOOD pizza - finally.

This morning we are changing plans due to bad weather in Hungary.  We were going to head south to Budapest but the forecast is for severe torrential rains - not ideal riding conditions.  We will instead head into Austria and stay in Vienna where the forecast is only for light rain.   

Cool castle overlooking the village.

Closer shot of the castle.

Slick roads.

Cool little place we stayed last night.

Auschwitz, Auschwitz II - Birkenau...

We visited the two Natzi death camps outside Krakow today - quite a sobering experience.  Everyone knows and history has certainly shown what happened here from1940-1945, but to see it first hand is a pretty sobering experience.  To visit these places gives a full understanding of the scale the genocide was carried out.  Unimaginable that any human could think  in this way.  To preserve, remember and respect the history hopefully will ensure it is never repeated.  I only took 2 photos to remember I was there and what I saw and experienced.

Auschwitz.

Birkenau.

Farewell to Mark...

We all left Kaunas together on Friday morning and then parted ways with Mark at the turnoff to Kaliningrad - Mark turning back to Russia with Ken and I headed towards Warsaw.  It has been great traveling with Mark - he is a really great guy and fun to be around.  I'm glad we met up in Soul and had the opportunity to travel together for as long as we did.  Mark is spending the weekend in Kaliningrad with some contacts from Dmitry and then meeting up with his girlfriend (wife) and daughter in St. Petersburg.  I'm a bit envious that he will get to spend 5 days in St. Petersburg - one day was not enough to do justice to that interesting city.  So long Mark - best of luck to you and your family as you start a new business in Ireland.  I will visit someday and we will ride together again.

We stopped at the road split to say our goodbyes and take a few photos together.

Old town in Warsaw.

More old town.

Krakow, Poland...

We rolled through the center Warsaw around lunchtime.  I was curious to see Old Town - which was restored to the pre-war architecture after being destroyed by Hitler.  We didn't stop so I only got to see it from the seat of my bike and didn't get any photos.  Old Town is pretty cool looking but the rest of Warsaw is very modern - not particularly interesting.  From what I have read the city is currently in its largest economic boom in history.

We stopped for lunch a bit outside the city at a roadside cafe - our second of this type in two days.  The food both times has been great.  Today I had tomato soup and Pierogi Ruski -  delicious!  The food in Poland is not only good but cheap as well - my meal with a coffee came to $4 US.  

The highlight of Poland so far is Krakow - the cultural capital of Poland.  The city was mostly spared of the destruction that Warsaw encountered during the war.  We had reserved a hostel right in the center of town.  As we entered the downtown area I got the same good vibe that St. Petersburg gave out - that this was a very unique and historic city worth exploring deeper than I had time for in this visit.  I'm pretty sure I will be back to both someday.

We checked into the hostel and walked around a bit to find a pub to sample the local beer.  We had not yet had a beer in Poland - last night we wild camped in a farmers field about 150 km northeast of Warsaw.  We found a cool place built in the old cellars from the war.  They were used by the Jews to hide from The Germans.  The city is filled with these underground caverns and many have been restored and put to use like this particular spot.  After a few drafts of some local brew we decided to look for a place to have dinner.  There was a Mexican restaurant on the same block - we hadn't had any Mexican food in the entire trip so decided to give it a try.  What a mistake - it turned out to be a crap tourist trap.  The food was not completely horrible but certainly not doing any justice  to one of the best cuisines on the planet.  I had read earlier on Triposo about a good Mexian spot in Krakow owned by a chef from Mexico City that served good authentic Mexican dishes and thought this was that place.  After checking this was not that place and the reviews were pretty much what we experienced - oh well, the Corona was cold anyway.

Sunday morning I got up early to walk around Krakow a bit during the day and get a few photos.  It was overcast and foggy so the pics didn't really do justice to the dramatic architecture.  The churches are massive.  It was interesting to see the city wake up this early in the morning.  The shop owners were still cleaning up from a busy Saturday night while getting ready for the Sunday morning tourist crowd.  I was suprised at how many places were already open at 7am.  I found a cup of coffee - the coffee is so good now that we are in Europe.  It was instant crap all throughout eastern Russia and Mongolia - when I could even find it.

Later this morning we will visit Auschwitz - not exactly a happy place by any streach but certainly a must see while visiting Poland.  Then the plan is to ride out of Poland and into the Czech Republic.

My $4 lunch - yummy!

Krakow at night.

The pub down in the WWII cellar.

Some pics from my morning walk...

Kaunas, Lithuania...

We only have about 125 km to the Poland boarder so decided to have a relaxing morning in Kaunas.  Our hostel is in a fantastic location right on the pedestrian mall in the center of town.  We started at a coffee house called Green Coffee.  We walked in and the barista politely described the program - traditional coffee drinks similar to what you would find at a Starbucks or the coffee bar experience.  We chose the coffee bar - a selection of 21 beans from around the world and your choice of 9 different brewing methods.  Our barista professionally asked some questions to determine our individual coffee tastes while also describing how each of the brewing styles would bring out distinct favors specific to each method.  We each chose a different bean and brewing method.  He described each method, where it originated and how it would affect the beans during the brew.  I chose a bean from Indonesia and a Japanese style brewing method through a filter designed to let the maximum bold spicy flavor of the ground beans to pass through.  It was indeed an excellent cup of coffee - bold flavor with a spice and vanilla finish.  It took at least 15 minutes for the barista to educate us on the process as well as individually grind the beans and brew each cup for us - all for about $2.50 US each.  Much less than a Starbucks grande latte and much more interesting.  Nothing like having a cup of Joe with a backstory in a coffee bar in Lithuania to make you feel like a hipster douche!  It was actually nice to have a quality cup of brewed coffee after 2 straight months of crapy instant throughout northern Asia.  The Russians are much more into their tea so it is not easy to find any good coffee in Russia.

We then proceeded on to another cafe to get some breakfast - a huge omelet for only about $2 US.  I also added a latte for an additional $1.25 - Lithuania is very cheap indeed!  Except for fuel of course - about $6.50 per gallon.  After breakfast we walked around the square and snapped a few pics.  Then back to the hostel to pack up the bikes and hit the road - Ken and I off to Poland and Mark to Kaliningrad.

A 120 year old church at the end of the pedestrian mall.

The bridge coming down into the mall.

Our barista giving backstory on the beans an brewing methods.

Choices, choices.

My delicious cup of Joe.