From an idea more than five years to a plan a year ago to a test walking last april (2012) and then first 100 kilometres walking across the Wisla delta from Gdansk via Elblag to the little town of Morag last September (2012). Now, the next leg is defined and organised: Morag-Olsztyn-Ostroleka. From the September stage of four days I will now try to do seven days with three days for rest inbetween. A friend will join me.

Olsztyn is former Allenstein, today a vibrant middle-sized regional centre with some 175,000 inhabitants and a modern university (1999).

 

Finally, my idea developed to a plan, and my plan emerged as a test last April and now I am doing it! After two days of constant walking from the outskirts of Gdansk in northeast Poland across the shores, through the villages and on the walls of the Wisla delta, I reached its eastern city of Elblag yesterday afternoon. Not to damage my knees and feet, I took a break today but will be anxious to get going again tomorrow morning, the sooner the better. Direction Paslek. There are numerous pictures to be published soon. Poland has been extremely welcoming. The people, the landscape, the weather. These two days I have started my walking around 9.30 or 10.00 and following the advice of my friend Björn I take a break every hour (with few exception) to have some bread and Kavli's soft cheese plus a sip of water. Six-seven hours of effective walking has not proved to be to much so far. 25-30 kms per day. Let's see what tomorrow will bring to that piece of statistics.

Hello everyone of you who have been asked to look into my blog for m\"more information".

To quote some of the modern equally provoking artists - everything in this project is art and experimental - I haven't a clue what to expect BUT tomorrow I will start walking on real in Europe (for some of us, Sweden is still not Europe, not the 'continental' anyway). To navigate a blog site in Polish is difficult so I hope to be back with more information and pictures to prove my route along the coast, across the Wisla river etc

Walking to the Mediterranean was from the beginning five years ago just another wild idea. But having tested my body, especially its legs and certainly its knees, I can say that the show has begun! 80k in Skåne in April confirmed my desk operation model of four days 20k each day. Now, flight tickets are booked from Göteborg City Airport Säve to Gdansk in September for five or six days of walking, crossing Wisla at its mouth heading for Elblag and Olsztyn. My friend Björn will join during two of those days. Any tip or suggestion where to stop, to eat, to sleep is welcome!

Fler och fler av familj, vänner och bekanta (nya och gamla) känner nu till min plan att vandra till fots till Medelhavet. Testvandringen i Skåne klarades av i april, 8 mil på fyra dagar. Startpunkten på kontinenten har varit bestämd sedan länge, ja, ända sen jag drog det första strecket utmed linjalen: Gdansk - Thessaloniki. Gdansk, alltså. Trodde först att jag skulle behöva sätta av ett par dagar bara för framresan med tåg och färja) men sic det går direktflyg med Wizzair från både Sturup och Säve. Det blir från Säve dvs officiellt heter den Göteborg City Airport, där gamla F9 låg. Det viktigast är redan inköpt: liten lätt ryggsäck (50 liter) och joggingskorna (Saucony Guide 5) med anatomiska sulor. Nu gälller det att se över övriga utrustningen, främst kläderna. Kanske det behövs ett underställ. Gamla joggingdojorna får bli reservskor, de anatomiska sulorna passar även i dessa. Vattenflaskan. Regncapen. Tips är välkomna! 

Preparing for Poland - in September

My start "from Gdynia in June" has changed to "from Gdansk in September". More friends, old and news ones, say that they wish to join me on my longwalk to Greece. And you are all welcome. What you need is strong legs or a wheelchair and a desire to put some 20 kilometers per day behind, 2-4 days per stage.
If the weather is right, my legs and feet are fit I hope to reach at least Elblag and maybe even Olsztyn by mid-September. Any tip where to walk, where to stay will be appreciated. If you think this could be something for you, do comment and write where and when you'd like to join, preferably after Elblag around 10th September. Or later, e.g. 2013 south Poland (Lublin), 2014 western Ukraine (L'viv, Ivano-Frankivsk).

My idea of walking from Sweden/Poland to Greece has begun to materialize. In the morning of 24 April I left from Malmö Central Station at 09:36 to walk my 'test' distance of some 80 kilometers in four days. And, guess, I succeeded! Not exactly as I had planned (see maps in previous news). The first day, I got bad skin from my new (jogging) shoes and there was no available room after 20 k for the night as planned, so I cut some kilometers by bus and then extended my first day to Trelleborg where I slept rather exhausted at Svea B&B. Thanks to that, I could visit my fathers birthplace Västra Tommarp and my parents grave and the churchyard that same day instead of the next. I had left my excessive luggage in a locker at the train station and with that also my camera (!). So, the only pictures that can prove my walking is from my simple cell phone. I think, they will do. Day 2, my friend Björn-Anders showed up out of the yellow bus from Lund. We met at the Church of Gylle and I told him of my roots in the region 'Söderslätt' with farms lika Tågarpsdal, Torshög, Gylle boställe, Rockhög, Haglösa kungsgård, Gustafsberg etc. We visited Ingrid, my second cousin's widow at Rockhög, a farm house built in the 18th century and very much kept the same way as it was built. - OK, let's see if I can manage to get this published. The pictures will come later.