by I’m writing this from Bydgoszcz. I’ve had two days here with two more to go, and then I’ll have the long journey back to look forward to.
I dropped Kitty off at the pet hotel at 9am on Saturday – it was fun to see all the other cats there – then I drove the most I’d ever covered on a single day: 717 km in all. Most of that was through Hungary. There were the expected hold-ups on the motorway – accidents, road works, heavy traffic – but it wasn’t too bad really. Romania’s acceptance into Schengen at the start of the year has helped matters. I paid the road tax as I entered Slovakia, but I didn’t pay the Czech tax so I had to ensure I was off any toll roads before crossing my third border of the day. Avoiding the motorway made for a more interesting last two hours of driving than what had come before. Being a Saturday there were weddings and other events; a lot of people wore traditional Czech costumes. After negotiating torrential rain – the worst I’d experienced while driving since my time in Wellington – I arrived at my perfectly adequate apartment at 7:10. The owner had been very helpful and had given me self-explanatory instructions including a video.
The next morning I drove the short distance to the smallish city of Olomouc which lies on the Morava river. It was many degrees cooler than Timișoara had been. Although it was Sunday I wasn’t sure about parking. Was I parked legally? How could I tell? I wandered around the town centre with its cobbled streets. The main square was a highlight, in particular the communist-era astronomical clock. It had several dials showing moon phases and whatnot, and incorporated mechanical figures representing people of industry who would come out every hour on the hour and hammer away. After an hour I went back to the car which was still there, untowed and unstickered, and I assumed I was safe. I went into various churches, including one in which its Sunday service was in full swing, and also the cathedral. The best bit was probably scaling the bell tower (206 steps), giving me a panoramic view of the city. Back to the car. Mine was still fine, but the one in front had been clamped. Yikes. It was only 2:30 so I got the heck out of there and went to Kroměříž which, like Olomouc, is a town full of splendid architecture. It also has a garden which belongs to some kind of stately home. This time I could ask someone about parking, and having determined I was safe, I had a good look around.
The following day necessitated another long drive – 621 km to Bydgoszcz in Poland. Dorothy recommended I visit Příbor on the way. It’s a very picturesque town – some of the narrow streets are quite beautiful – which sits about an hour from Olomouc. She suggested it because it’s the birthplace of Sigmund Freud, her great-grandfather. There was Freud signage everywhere; the square was even named after him. I tried to park in the square but I had no Czech cash and my card was rejected for some reason, so I parked further out. Because it was Monday, the day when none of these things are open, I couldn’t go in the house where Freud was born. Then the rest of my drive. Not much to say about that, although I got a message from my bank saying my card had been blocked. Over the border into Poland, the speed limit on the motorway rose to 140 km/h. On the stretches with only two lanes, you’re pretty much forced to do that speed too. As it became apparent that I’d arrive rather earlier than I said I would, I decided to check out Bydgoszcz before heading to the apartment. I found a car park, but oh shit, how am I going to pay? No working card, no Polish cash. I had no choice but to race to the mall (a 20-minute walk) which seemed to be the only place where I could get my hands on some złoty at 6pm without a card. (I was able to exchange some euros.) Straight back to the car park having hardly seen the city at all, then to the apartment. Nobody there. I call the number, a woman answered. Do you speak English? She laughed. No. Bloody fantastic. I then got a message full of indecipherable Zs and Ws and Ys which I put into Google Translate. This place is keyless – the doors all rely on pin codes – and I got myself in eventually. Stressful though. Just like the last place, it does the job just fine.
The town centre is within walking distance of where I’m staying. Yesterday I wandered around the river, Mill Island, the old granary buildings and the main streets in the centre. Everything is in very good nick. I also went up a water tower which is already up a hill, so I got some nice views from there. Perhaps the most incredible building is the 15th-century cathedral whose interior has a unique colour scheme with its striking purples and reds and oranges, like nothing I’d ever seen before. When I got back I got a takeaway from the Asian restaurant opposite. Its menu is vast. I took a picture of the Polish menu and went back to the apartment to figure it out before ordering an Indonesian curry. It was delicious and enough for two nights. Today I visited a museum of dirt and soap (why not?). They had a tour in English, thankfully. The guide was perfectly understandable despite his dodgy pronunciation. We started off by each making our own bar of soap by mixing glycerine with lavender and colouring and putting in a mould. At the end of the tour our moulds had all set. In between we had a (rather short) run-through of historical washing practices – both clothes and bodies. The most interesting bit was when he told us about the primitive washing machines and detergents – and even loo paper – that were used by Poles as late as the 1980s. Times were tough then. Later I went to a museum of explosives – it was an explosive factory during WW2 so visiting had a sinister feel about it – but a lack of non-Polish signage detracted from the experience somewhat.
Tomorrow I’ll probably visit Gdańsk, a bigger city on the coast, a two-hour drive from here. Then the following day, my last day, I don’t plan to do a whole lot. About my card, well I called the bank yesterday. I assumed they’d detected some “suspicious activity” because I was out of the country, but it had nothing to do with that. For some reason when I tried to renew my website (through a NZ provider) last week, my card failed. I was still able to make a bank transfer but it triggered something in the system and my Romanian bank blocked my card a few days later. They can’t reactivate it; I have to wait until I get back when they’ll give me a replacement card. Until then I’m relying entirely on cash. Good job I brought plenty of euros (€425) with me. That will awkwardise my stay on the way back. I’ll probably stay somewhere in Slovakia – at least they use the euro there – but booking.com is out of the question. I’ll have to rock up somewhere, after a drive in the high-600s km range, and hope for the best.
