Kära läsare!
Av någon anledning började jag att skriva min vandringsblogg på engelska men skall i fortsättningen skriva på svenska.
Om tio dagar är jag åter i Polen för att påbörja den tredje etappen på min väg till Thessaloniki. Har precis stängt sajten www.carinaboren.se, där jag läst om Carinas och kompisen Kristinas gång och löpning hem de 300 milen från Istanbul till Stockholm, sista biten från Åbo i kajak. De spelar i en annan division "Prestation Elit"skulle man kunna säga medan jag föredrar divisionen "Långsam Njutning". Min modell som fungerat bra hittills bygger på mellan 20 och 30 km om dagen i två-tre dagar, en vilodag och sen ett likadant pass till, litet beroende på hur många dagar jag har på mig. De första två etapperna har totalt inneburit 2+2 resp 2+2+3 dvs elva vandringsdagar med 27-28 mil under fötterna.
Har denna gång förberett mig bättre med bra kartor, som jag köpte i våras i Olsztyn. Det blir start i Chorzele strax söder om den gamla gränsen mellan förkrigs-Polen och tyska Ostpreusssen. På tre dagar hoppas jag nå Rozan. Tricket är att finna 'pokoje' dvs rum utmed vägen på lagom avstånd. Nätet är fantastiskt på den punkten så jag är inte orolig. Google maps är nog den bästa kartsajten, före www.viamichelin.com som dock har "riktigare" utseende på sin karta. Fördelen med Google maps är att man lätt kan variera sin rutt på kartan genom att bara dra den valda vägsträckan åt sidorna. Sträckan Chorzele-Rozan är 60-65 km beroende på vilka stopp jag måste göra för de två mellanliggande nätterna. Sen blir det en vilodag i Rozan en liten stad med historia se http://www.tachna.com/History_Rozan.html Skrämmande läsning. I Polen påminns man överallt om historien och ofta den grymma. Från Rozan fortsätter vägen ner mot Wyszkow och förhoppningsvis når jag Lochow efter ytterligare två dagar. Därifrån går tåg till Warszawa och sen hoppas jag på en expressbuss tillbaka till Gdansk där www.wizzair.com väntar för retur Göteborg-Säve tisdag em den 17 september.

 

The white stork is common but most couples live a perilous life, the dangers hanging literally under their wings.

 

 

 

 

Another bird specie I met during my walking was the Black Woodpecker: 

 

Source: winter-birds.narod.ru

POLEN (nr 2) APRIL 2013

16 to 27 April.
My second walk in Poland took off from Morag in the north-east region of Warmia-Mazuria in former (German) East Preussia and ended six walking days later in Chorzele just south of the old border between East Preussia and Poland. Wizzair brought me from Göteborg City Airport to Gdansk (45 minutes only) and after a bus 210 (50 minutes) to Gdansk Glowny i.e. Central Station and the evening train to Morag via Elblag (2 hrs) and a taxi (5 minutes), I could finally get some sleep at the E-Lektor hotel that I had booked though www.booking.com some days before.
A simple ** hotel but value for money. After breakfast the following morning, having bought som bread, cheese and water at the Biedronka (Ladybug) store, my walking sticks full lenght, I started my walk. A few drops of rain, I say a few drops, before I was out of town was in fact the only rain I experienced during the coming eleven days in the country, of which I walked six and rested the rest...
My backpack was light: only four kilos plus the food and drink of another kilo. Two sticks instead of only one turned out to be very helpful balancing on the ditches aside the relatively heavy trafficed main roads as on the simple gravel or sand roads in the peacefull woods.
It did not take long to meet with the first couple of white storks. Their show should repeat itself every coming day. At one time south of Szcytno, I spotted six or seven storks. Along with those impressive and proud birds along the road I would identify a large number of frogs even though a majority were only skins on the road surface after meeting with some vehicle's tire.

One week until take-off. Scary because of all snow that still covers the Polish towns and countryside: Elblag 24 cm, Olsztyn 16 cm. I hope it came down recently and will pass away soon or I will have to bring my Le Chaneau 1927. Nice rubber boots but unfortunately 1,3 kilos to heavy. I wish my backpack not to exceed 7,0 kilos.
All overnight accommodation has been booked - on excellent www.booking.com with only one exception - and at very good prices but after Szczytno even Agroturystyka B&B is sparsely represented. I fear more the rain and certainly cold rain and snowy winds. Cross my fingers that this scenario is behind us by next week. During my walk, that I will share for day 3 and 4 with Björn from Lund, I will leave the old Preussian today the Warmińsko-mazurskie województwo region full of lakes and natural beauty and enter the most populated of the new regions (since 1999) the Mazowieckie region including the capital of Poland, Warszawa. However, my way is - deliberately - avoiding the capital area with Ostroleka as my goal this time.

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