Góry Świętokrzyskie for a weekend

Spent the last weekend away, yet not far away from Warsaw in Góry Świętokrzyskie, a hilly area closest to Warsaw, which does not deserved be named mountains. Ventured there with almost the same circle of friends, all current or former volunteers in Szlachetna Paczka with whom I took a trip to Sardinia three years ago.

The quite short time spent in a group of seven people reminded me I had got used to travelling on my own or in a couple. Or maybe it just highlighted divergencies between my friends and me (where the six of them are quite similar to one another). Travelling with my girlfriends, optionally also with their friends seems a whole lot easier.

With my friends for a long time I have noticed two major moot points. Firstly - sleeping habits. I am the only early bird in this group, while others prefer to sit up late (which I don't mind, but get up early next morning anyway). Secondly - eating. I am the one who eats to live, not the other way round and do not take delight in dining. Besides, I eat a large breakfast and a proper lunch and then take up little until going to sleep. They in turn all adore tasty food and a dinner is their main meal over the day. I like their company, but each time I am surrounded by them for more than a few hours, I repeat to myself I am not marrying them, hence my frustrations are useless.

Now a few snaps from the trip. On Saturday we climbed a short trail to Święty Krzyż church. Had I travelled on my own, I would have reached the peak by 10:00 a.m. With my friends we got there in full heat at 1:00 p.m.

The church has a viewing tower (entrance charge: PLN 10), which lets visitors behold splendid panoramas of nearby hilly landscapes. I am fond of looking at the world from above, hence joyfully forked out a tenner to take delight in it.

On Sunday we scrambled up Łysica, the highest hill around, mere 612 metres above sea level. We marched up just past a rainfall, so the ascent, though short, was a bit of nasty. Predictably, droves of tourists on rocks on top.

Later on we drove to Zagnańsk to pass by apparently the oldest tree in Poland, oak Bartek, whose age is estimated at between 700 and 1,000 years. The very tree needs to be fenced off and solidly propped up to retain its monumental nature 

The area is abundant in several tourist attractions and we could have seen more of them, had it not been an overly lazy weekend ;-)

Pieniny

Back from a nearly week-long foray into the Polish mountains, first non-business trip far beyond Warsaw since November 2024. Given my health-related tribulations, I feared how my lumbar spine and other vulnerable parts of body would endure the strain, but to my surprise, they got on well with it, much better with work-related sitting several hours a day. Over five days I cycled 120 kilometres and hiked 50 kilometres, with elevation gain of almost 3,000 metres in total, a quite something.

On the first day I took my new bike for a first ride longer than 50 kilometres. Velo Czorsztyn, a cycling trail around Jezioro Czorsztyńskie, at times is challenging, as one needs to cycle uphill. The section on the northern shore of the lake is most picturesque and flattest. All in all, one-third of the route is enchanting, the remaining kilometres are to be covered to reach the enjoyable spots.

On the second day I drove to Nowy Targ, to climb Turbacz, the highest peak in Gorce. The ascent involved change in altitude of some 650 metres and took me a bit more than two hours. I hiked with hiking sticks, which is an absolute game-changer. My arms were a bit sore after the hikes, but splitting the body load into four limbs brings a tremendous relief to the lumbar spine. The view from the top of Gorce turned out to be impressive, yet my expectations had been inflated by those claiming panorama of Tatry is break taking. It has not taken my breath away.

On the third day I took a break from major strain, drove to Nowy Targ and took a train to Zakopane, a town I had, shame to admit, never visited before. I considered getting there by public transport only, yet in provincial Poland combining two connections is a risky exercise. But even finding trains is a bit of an exercise, as Google shows you services you can choose from, but does not divert you to specific railway operator. As a result I got there by Luxtorpeda fast train operated by Koleje Małopolskie (PLN 7.20 for a single ticket) and returned by Polregio service (same ticket price). In the very town I have not understood what makes it a tourist hangout. Unless somebody explores Tatry mountains, there are very few reasons to spend holidays there.

On the fourth day the bike came into more intensive use, although the Velo Dunajec trail was shorter and easier than Velo Czorsztyn. The route runs also in a wilder area and is far more scenic, especially on bright, sunny days in warm part of the year when greenery is lush.

On the fifth day I did not have to get anywhere to start out a hike, as my lodgings was next to a tourist trail. I climbed to conquer Trzy Korony and Sokolica – two highest peaks in Pieniny. Although the hike was not long – less than 15 kilometres in total, it involved elevation gain of almost 900 metres, at times with steep ascents. Hot and humid air made this trip most tiresome of all.

After the recent election some have posited not to visit regions where Mr Nawrocki won. I am not into such forms of punishment. In Krościenko nad Dunajcem where I had an accommodation the newly elected president received 69% of votes in the run-off, while in nearby Szczawnica only 55%. I would hazard a guess by merely looking at locals around and on standard of housing, one could guess (with a margin error of some 10 percentage points) whether the local community was in favour of Mr Trzaskowski or of Mr Nawrocki. 

Worth also mentioning provincial Poland follows a different clock than large cities. On June evenings streets of Warsaw are full of people. The market square (note the excess concreted over area) in Krościenko nad Dunajcem at 8:34 p.m. was empty.

The foray was the first long-distance trip for my Skoda Octavia since November 2024. I strived to drive as economically as possible, however conditions (rain on my way to Pieniny, aircon on my way back, hilly landscapes along the way, traffic jams near Kraków) were not conducive. I made it there and back without filling up and the “low fuel” gauge went on after 967 kilometres. The car computer is accurate with respect to actual appetite for petrol. I am quite satisfied with it. In flat terrain, drier and cooler weather and lower speed (I drove 105 kmph on expressway) the engine consumption could drop even below 4 litres per 100 kilometres.

In love with Czechia

In 2023 and 2024, on occasions of residing in Wisła, but not only, I have visited Czech Republic a few times year. The Poland south-western neighbour is a country to be either loved or disliked. With each next venture there, I belong more to the former group and with each next trip I see more reasons to fall in love with the country.

I am fond of the country's residents, straightforward, cheerful and laid back. As many Poles, I find their language hilarious, yet with time it gets intuitive, hence despite many false friends, I find it easy to communicate with a Czech, when each of us uses their mother tongue.

Unlike Poland, Czechia is not a flat lowland. Its landscapes and undulating and much better looked after than in Poland. While outside towns the nature beckons, in towns public and private spaces are clean and tidy.

The country can boast of infrastructure friendly to anyone. Elderly, disabled, parents with prams, cyclists, pedestrians - they all have it easy to move about in the public space, whereas motorists are none the worse off it.

Czechs are more keen to take moderate physical exercise as a pastime activity. Stats show 55% of Czechs do regularly at least one sport, in line with the EU average and 20 percentage points more than in Poland. Sadly, my compatriots are third from the bottom in the ranking of most physically active EU nations.

The friendliness of the country spurs fertility. Atheist Czech Republic, where abortion on demand is allowed, has fertility rate between 1.70 and 1.80, while in catholic Poland it recently declined to 1.16.

Czechs tend to spend more time outdoors, including eating, drinking and socialising. Prices at eateries and bars are much more affordable than in Poland. A half-litre beer or a glass of wine for less than the equivalent of 7 Polish zlotys, or a decent lunch with a beverage for less than the equivalent 40 zlotys are easy to find.

We took a trip to the southern neighbour again, for the long weekend. We both had an intense time at work, which prevented us from extending it, so we drove out of Wisła on Thursday morning and returned on Sunday.

Our first stopover was in Pustevny, some 100 kilometres from the Polish border. We hiked through the forests and had a lunch at a beautifully preserved former mountain hostel.

The next stop was a town of Roznov, with a nice market square and a viewing tower overlooking the town. From there we headed for our lodgings in Luhacovice (a sanatory resort).

The region is not as full of vineyards and cellars as the southern Moravia, but still you can find plenty of them. Here, we pass some windowless wine storage huts, on our cycling trip (75 kilometres covered on two wheels on Friday in heat reaching up to +34C).

Given the strain, the heat and distance of over 30 kilometres from our accommo- dation, we resolved to return to Luhacovice by train (our bikes hung on racks similar to those in Koleje Mazowieckie trains). Another thing I adore in Czech Republic is that the country does not leave its citizens car-dependent. Each and every village has a few buses a day running, while the train we boarded connected Luhacovice and Prague, the service runs every two hours on weekdays!

The very spa town of Luhacovice dates back to the nineteenth century and is a heritage of Austro-hungarian realms, with superbly preserved pieces of architecture erected before WW1.

On the second day we took a round trip from Bzenec which is a centre of wine-growing industry in Zlinsky kraj. A three-kilometre ascent to the winery proved rewarding.

The next trip to Czechia is quite unlikely in 2024, yet looking forward to the next voyages in 2025.

Into the mountains for a long weekend

Back from a very intense, nine-day holidays (with only three working days taken off) spent in Wisła (free-of-charge accomodation) and around. In terms of physical exercise, it was a demanding time.

On Saturday, 27 April we had warm-up bike trip south of Wisła, with some significant elevation. 32 kilometres cycling done.

On Sunday, 28 April we girlfriend ran across the mountains west of Wisła, while I kept her company on my bike. Except for uphill sections, when I had to manhandle a bike, a piece of cake. 24 kilometres covered.

On Monday, 29 April, we drove to the Czech Republic with bikes and did a 27-kilometre trip, including an ascent to more than 1,000 metres above sea level. I am falling in love with Poland's southern neighbour even more.

On Tuesday, 30 April we went on a 22-kilometre climb to Skrzyczne, which is the second-highest peak in Beskid Śląski. Due to temperature topping at around +25C, this was the most exhaustive activity during our stay. The snap shows Jezioro Żywieckie, as seen from the final ascent to the Skrzyczne summit.

The first day of May, as a proper labour day, was the time of rest.

On Thursday, 2 May, again we packed the bikes into the car and went for a 47-kilometre cycling trip into Lysa Hora, which included an 8-kilometre uphill section with elevation of 700 metres. Covering it, either on a saddle, or manhandling, was memorable and splendid views from the peak, 1,368 metres above the sea level, came as a reward.

On Friday, 3 March we drove to Górna Rycerka to take a leisury 16-kilomtre hike into Przegibek and Wielka Racza route. With mere 700 metres of elevation, that was a relatively light expedition, with only some breathtaking views. The one to the right shows snow still lingering on northern slopes of Slovakian mountains.

On Saturday, 4 May we ventures to a cosy historic Czech town, Stramberk, located some 80 kilometres from Wisła. The pics shows the market square (or rather rectangle) visible from the historic castle tower.

History of the town dates back to the fourteenth century, however the wooden huts in the central part for which the town is famous, were built in the eighteenth century and remain superbly preserved.

The town has a hilly landscape and the six-kilometre stroll was full of ascents and descents, abounding in unforgettable panoramas (in the background the castle tower from which the first photo was taken).

On Sunday, 5 May, we took a short (mere 28 kilometres) trip to Ustroń by bike. In nearly flat terrain it brought a nice ending to the calorie-burning weekend.

Back to Warsaw to drown in a daily gring, counting down days to the oncoming Corpus Christi weekend.

Italy, Campania, late summer

Back in Poland (since two weeks) from my fourth trip to Italy in my life (I visited the country in September 2017, October 2021, August / September 2022), this time spent with my girlfriend, her friends and their son. This was my first holiday foray longer than 10 days since spending nearly a fortnight in a sanatory in June 2019, however given what has been going on at work, the all-out logout was exactly what I needed.

For the first time in my life I flew somewhere from Modlin. Getting there and out of there is a nuisance, yet I at least departures and arrivals are more likely to be on time (no queues of aircrafts) and the luggage claim is reasonably quick. But next time I will think twice before saving on a distant airport (in this case opting for Modlin reduced the cost of the holidays by nearly PLN 1,000 per person).

Weather-wise, last week of September and first week of October is a perfect time for visiting the Italian province with capital in Naples. Just like in most parts of Europe, temperature in Italy wasabove long-term averages, hence we enjoyed over +25C in afternoons (up to +30C with staggeringly high air humidity), but evenings and nights gave relief from the heat. The sea temperature was around +24C, so swimming was in order on most days.

Our holiday mode was to spend one day sightseeing and then one day on a beach or wandering around. We stayed at Nerano, a relatively quite coastal village, not far from most attractions of the legendary Amalfi coast.

To the right - a view on beaches in Sorrento. Note the cliffs, the Italian architecture and azure skies. The venue has its charm, but you also need to have stamina to walk up and down.

The coast of Campania is rocky and altitude rises quickly as you move away from the sea. The view from the town of Ravello into another town Minori is a breathtaking illustration thereof.

The crater snapped is the inside the dormant Vesuvio. As long as the volcano does not wake up, it is open for tourists. Was definitely worthing climbing up there to see for the first time in my life a piece of nature which nearly 2,000 years ago sent doom on the nearby town of Pompei...

... the ruins of which are also a fascinating piece of heritage. The hot lava has presered well the brick walls, so most structure (except for roofs) survived the eruption and having not been destroyed thereafter, bear testimony to the disaster. Note the volcano in the background.

If you once visit the area, you will definitely want to take a ferry trip to Capri. Do so just not to regret, but keep in mind the posh island is overrated and infuriatingly crowded. Still, some sights are truly enchanting.

From Nerano, we could walk to a nearby town of Termini to watch the sun go down into the Tirrenian sea. The price to pay for such view was the ascent of one mile with slope above 10% (200 metres different in altitude). The island behind the satellite dish is Capri.

If you want to pop over to towns on Amalfi coast, do not think of reaching them by car. A boat is much more practical and offers splendid views of coastal areas. The price for a day-long trip was a reasonable EUR 50 per passenger. To town on the picture is Amalfi (overcrowded and expensive).

The other, much prettier town on the coast of Campania is Positano, also too popular with tourists and horrifcally expensive, but if you are fit enough to roam around the hilly area, eye-pleasing views will compensate your for sweating uphill.

When selecting one shot from Naples I deliberately picked the one taken outside the tourist area, but still less than two miles from the very centre. The photo could have been taken in a post-soviet town and only the lack of Lada cars parked outside hints the shot comes from a civilised world.

Now time for some hints for travellers...

Moving around Campania is most effective by car (buses run very rarely, railway tracks cannot be even built cheaply in such hilly areas), which takes a bit if a skill. Roads are narrow, winding at times steep and locals drive like lunatics. Ensure you buy a full insurance, since risk of returning a car with a scrape is material.

Those fond of eating will take delight in local cuisine. I am far from being a foodie, yet recommend going to local eateries or bars, being on the market for decades, if you want a tasty and decently priced meal.

Large differences in altitude mean you need to be quite healthy and fit to walk a lot there, but those forced to lead sedentary lifestyle, yet longing for exercising, will appreciate the undulating Campanian landscapes.

The area I holiday in has its charm and I would recommend it to be visited, yet... I would not come back, as there are definitely many more interesing places to be discovered.

Warsaw, from guests’ perspective

Skipped last week’s piece of blogging to look after my family (aunt, cousin and his wife) from Jelenia Góra who came for a few days to Warsaw. Heedless of political correctness, I confess living under one (especially one’s own) roof with a few people you meet once in two or three years is a nuisance. Yet, we all endured it without major clashes and their visit egged me on sightseeing trips through Warsaw and around I would not take in such number without third-party incentive.

They arrived on Saturday (over a week ago) before noon by Pendolino. For no apparent reason they chose to go by train, though door-to-door journey is shorter and less costly (for an equivalent of three adult ticket from Jelenia Góra to Warsaw they could buy petrol to come to Warsaw and drive back home.

On Saturday, after unpacking and lunch we set off to Prażmów where several of our common ancestors are buried. We visited their graves, burnt candles and I took the opportunity to discover areas of cemetery I had never ventured into, despite dropping in on there twice or three times a year. To the right, one of such places, a plaque commemorating local insurgents who fought in January Uprising.

On Sunday morning the relatives refused to sit back on a terrace and relax, so I had to take them for a longer stroll to Piaseczno. We inspected the reconstruction of ul. Wojska Polskiego. The scope of works is anything but overwhelming. The street will not be widened, but new asphalt will be laid, new pavements and parking spots built, two new pedestrian crossings marked out.

The major gain for local residents will be the newly built intersection with ul. Sikorskiego, which used to be a cul-de-sac since 2000. The new link might spare local car-ridden residents around one kilometre of detour. Note the florist’s and delicatessen grocery on the left side of my snap. The two facilities have not changed by a bit since 20 years (I lived a stone’s throw to this spot until 2005), resisting competition from posh flower shops and Lidl and Kaufland shops opened nearby in early 2000s.

On Sunday afternoon we paid a visit to Warsaw Uprising Museum. This was my second trip to that establishment this year, so I served as a guide. The museum, as each public one is proscribed to open its doors free of charge once week. Here the day when visitors do not need to buy tickets is Sunday, hence a long queue to the entrance. The wait, fortunately, did not take long and after some 20 minutes we crossed the door of the building. After an hour and a half, as we were leaving, rain was pouring down heavily. Bang went plans of ambling around the new residential and commercial developments of Wola district.

On Monday and Tuesday I escaped to work (refused to take the whole week off and put my patience to such test, imagine my grin when I was driving off bound to be away from home for eleven hours) so my mother took care of the guests, showing them nooks and crannies linked to our family’s history in Piaseczno and on Tuesday they went to Warsaw to Królikarnia Park, Łazienki Park and to Palace of Culture’s observation deck.

On Wednesday morning we headed for Polish Jews’ Museum. The probably most magnificent museum in Warsaw was opened over three years ago, on 70^th anniversary of the Ghetto Uprising outbreak. The exhibition strikes with modernity and gives visitors the chance not just to familiarise with the history of Jews on the territory of Poland (not sparing the shameful pieces of it), but also acquaints them with Jews’ culture and religion.

Walking quite carefully through the exhibition took us more than two hours and if I can hint those interested in visiting the museum (definitely worthwhile), go through the first part of the exhibition, until the end of eighteenth century faster and than slow down, since as you move towards the present, the story gets more appealing.

Having left the museum, we strolled around the very centre of the capital to let the relatives see the recently built skyscrapers (in Warsaw’s terms building having more than 20 storeys) – Q22, Warsaw Spire and Cosmopolitan.

After the lunch the family were tired enough to stay in, while I took a bike for a short trip around the neighbour- hood. In Nowa Iwiczna, next to the station, pavement south of ul. Krasickiego was under construction. Dwellers of roadside houses were overseeing workers to ensure driveways to their properties were assembled properly (i.e. without curbs and not too slippery).

Little was going on close the station in Nowa Iwiczna. The level crossing has been opened, target tracks have been laid therein, yet the old island platform remained nearly intact and the place seemed to be lagging behind in terms of work progress, compared to other sections of W-wa Okęcie – Piaseczno modernised section.

Further north, in Jeziorki, tarmac has been ripped off ul. Karczunkow- ska and literally nothing was going on. As I turned up there, it was just before 4 p.m. so I expected to observe construction crews bustling about. Instead, the only humans at the scene were two men next to gatekeeper’s hut, staring at the desolated place. Besides, not a living soul in sight. Closure of the level crossing is an inconvenience for locals therefore swift pace of works should be ensured to minimise it.

In Dawidy, rail-wise, same progress of works as one station south. However here the level crossing has been revamped, yet gates have not been put up. Passengers can use one new platform next to newly-laid track used currently by trains running in both directions. The northbound track has been ripped and no signs of further course of works could be witnessed.

Cycling home along ul. Baletowa I spotted a ZTM bus, operating a newly launched 737 service. Inhabitants of this part of Zielony Ursynów had been waiting for a bus connection to town for 20 years and had greeted the first bus a few days earlier with ribbon-cutting, bread and salt. Must ul. Karczunkowska have been closed to bring those people closer to civilisation and relieve them from dependence on cars and rarely running trains which do not reach Ursynów or Mokotów?

On Thursday morning we set off to take a walk through Krakowskie Przedmieście. My mother and aunt visited interiors of all churches by the street, then we strolled around Plac Zamkowy. End of August is still a height of holiday season, so majority of people around (just like in Polin Museum) were foreigners.

Then guests took us to a café in Old Town Square to enjoy “home-made” ice-cream. While waiting for my portion, I snapped a bird, plucking and pecking flower petals. Then, I accidentally caught the fellow flying away, shooed by a waiter.

While heading towards the castle to turn right in the direction of the Unkown Soldier’s Tomb and Ogród Saski, I took a picture of the National Stadium. The sport arena looks splendid, unlike my photo which rather resembles an advertisement of Skoda Fabia (I somehow failed to notice the car, whose driver probably did not give a damn about traffic restrictions).

On Thursday afternoon we took the last trip to Konstancin Jeziorna. The place, which I used to pop in on often as a child, has undergone a huge change since I last visited the sanatoria park in spring 2013 (documented visit in 2011). The most dilapidated area near Jeziorka river has been marvellously revitalised, since three years ago where the pavement lies you could see a narrow trampled path, and wild shrubs were overgrowing it on both sides. The old sanatoria building was demolished to give way to a spa facility.

Hugonówka café, opened in 2014, is now the main cultural house in Konstancin, serving both as eatery and as scene of theatre and open-air cinema. Compared to how badly it looked in 2013, the stride made here brings out joy. Konstancin now is one of excellent weekend trip destinations for Varsovians!

On Friday early morning another Pendolino took my cousin and his wife home, while my aunt took a bus to Legionowo to visit her another cousin. The remaining household members could finally have a sigh of relief and after a solid cleaning up could enjoy a slightly longer weekend. Today around noon I set off to the airport to pick up my acquaintance from Germany who played host to me and my friend during holidays in 2005. I promised her to drive her to Wólka cemetery to visit her daughter’s grave, then we are about to eat out and her another daughter should take her home.

The weather these days is truly summer-like, yet +30C heat this time is absolutely tolerable for me. Cool nights and brisk mornings help air out interiors which give shelter from the heat in the afternoons, while the very air is dry and breeze takes the edge off heat. Long-term forecasts predict such weather is to continue until the end of first decade of September and may they prove accurate!