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 ;-)

A weekend in Kraków

A shame to admit prior to the last weekend I had never ventured to Kraków for purposes other than in business. I did not make it to the memorable (who of the attendees remembers it today?) blogosphere meeting in 2010, then for years there was no other reason to visit it, so keeping company to my girlfriend who ran the Kraków marathon last Sunday was sufficient to spend nearly the entire Saturday and Sunday in the former capital of Poland.

For years I have always had some sort of dislike for Kraków. Firstly because of the stereotypical conviction the city’s inhabitants are toffee-nosed and hold their heads up high, secondly on account of difficulties in finding a common tongue with workmates from Kraków several times during my career, thirdly driven by slow-flow and churchy nature of the city.

Unsurprisingly, we got there by the brand-new car, the journey duration was comparable to the fastest intercity train, but and here shame on the Polish railways, the petrol cost (with economic driving Octavia consumes mere 5 litres per 100 kilometres) was over 50% cheaper than train tickets. But I must admit driving around the city centre (only to reach our apartment and get out of it) was a big nuisance – thumbs up to the authorities of Kraków for their efforts to discourage private vehicle usage in the city centre.

Over two days I walked around 45 kilometres sightseeing the city and two days were still not enough. To the right – the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz, being a blend of old and refurbished architecture. The market square of the district could have done without vehicles.

On Saturday afternoon we strolled down the boulevards along Vistula. River banks are full of greenery and are a superb hangout in the warmer half of the year. Spring in overdrive (those were the last two days of near-summer weather) lifted spirits!.

In the evening we roamed to Cmentarz Rakowicki to visit a grave of her friend who passed away in August 2023. The historic cemetery located in the city centre (which is a rarity) is worth visiting, if even you have no explicit purpose as we did have.

The main market square on Sunday morning was partly choke full of runners, but on the other end empty. Absence of crowds adds to the place’s charm. The morning was abnormally warm for mid-April, temperature at 9:00 a.m. was already above +15C.

To reaffirm my church-oriented associations, I need to pop by ulica Franciszkań- ska and snap the edifice of the Cracow bishop’s office (in Polish: kuria biskupia). You should know who appeared in the window above the door several times…

Not much later I scrambled to the Wawel hill, also do discover the courtyard of the Wawel castle is open to visitors free of charge. I have finally somewhat made up for my lack of familiarity with Poland’s former capital.

Down the Wawel hill, I came across a cross commemora- ting the Katyń massacre which until 1990 had not functioned in the public discourse. Recently laid wreath remind the anniversary of the genocide has just passed.

Around noon on Sunday I reached Zakrzówek on south-western edge of Kraków. The green areas have been redeveloped in recent years and now the city can definitely boast about them. I climbed a quite steep rocky mound to find myself on a natural terrace with a picturesque view on the city’s panorama.

Not far from the viewing point is the Croatia-like Zakrzówek pond with man-made beaches and nature-sculpted rocks, a spot jam-packed in summer months (the city had to place limits on number of visitors), was moderately crowded on a spring Sunday.

After the short trip neither have I grown fond of Kraków nor has the klimat of the city enchanted me, but once another opportunity arises, I will strive to explore it better.

Next post on 12 May (off to Wisła for the long May weekend and the days ahead of it).

Toruń, just before turning thirty

Off to Toruń and nearby over the last weekend. The purpose of the trip was to take a break from everyone and everything, from all thoughts and tribulations that could bring us down. If you are to forget about the daily grind, the best recipe is a short foray to a nice destination, as at home your mind-bothering stuff keeps you company.

The very trip, except for the fuel, was a birthday gift, the one which I kind of extorted from my girlfriend, yet the idea was brilliant. On Saturday morning I only knew we were about to head for Torun, but had no idea about the details of our accommodation.

Instead of taking A2 and A1 motorway, I decided to take a shorter and more picturesque route via DK7 and DK10, both not actually congested on Saturday and Sunday. Landscapes of Mazowsze were much more eye-pleasing sights than drab noise barriers fencing the motorway off.

I visited the very city for the first time since June 1998 (counting out one business trip during which I turned up to a warehouse somewhere within the administrative borders), when Toruń was a school trip destination. Finding a place to park a car near old town was a challenge and one of less efficient methods of wasting some twenty minutes, but we took our time. Then we took a walk around the historical part of the city.

To the right, a Christmas tree, lit up by LED diodes. By dint of late-autumnal weather, the place still lacked typical Christmas climate, yet we should have got used to it (last truly wintery Christmas in Poland was in… 2002). The day was dull, grey, short, yet unforgettable.

We strolled further to come across a Christmas fair, a festival with German origins, getting increasingly popular in Poland and staged in most bigger cities in Poland, usually on market squares. Maybe not the best place to do the shopping, but it does not hurt to catch the climate, scents and the scenery.

After eating a lunch and finding the car, my better half programmed the navigation so that it led me to our destination, but somehow showed only directions but not where it guided me exactly. Thus until the last moment I did not know what the destination was. Finally it turned out to be Pałac Romantyczny in Turzno (here snapped on Sunday morning after most of the snow fallen on Saturday evening has melted) – a lovely place, now the object of lovely memories.

For posterity, a short (and duly incomplete) record of my probably bestest birthday ever. The good has come, hope the best is still to come :)

Out and about

The spring of 2017 will likely go down as chilly and wet. The current weekend is the second one this spring (after the first days of April) when both on Saturday and on Sunday temperature neared +20C and sunshine was not sparse. While the weather was not high, outdoor did not beckon, unlike this weekend.

The first stopover during my short (20 kilometres or so) bike trip yesterday was the site of airplane crash in Las Kabacki. I visit the place each year around the anniversary of the tragedy. This year’s is a round one, it has been already 30 years ago. Oddly enough, most people hanging around, sitting about, praying or contemplating silently the memorial plaque were youngsters, who just like me have not had the chance to remember the day Il-62 crashed into the forest.

On my way towards leisure park in Powsin. I am heading east yet meet quite few fellow cyclists, runners and pedestrians on my way. Though the weather is conducive, lots of people are either too burdened by duties put off until weekend, or simply too lazy to get up from their sofas and take a few breaths of fresh air. Sadly.

The clearing on the southern edge of the forest is one of favourite hangouts for barbecue aficionados. Weather permitting, one can come across scores of people either burning bonfires or making barbecues, indulging in Poles’ favourite sport (grillowanie) and the place is filled with smoked and characteristic smell of grilled meats.

Having turned up at my destination I spot several traces of boars’ activity. Looks like flocks of wild boars ventured here when few humans were around and digged around the grass. Disturbingly, boars in droves are not afraid to approach humans’ dwellings and might attack if incensed. My mother, while walking to her spine rehabilitation classes in Konstancin on Friday, was surrounded by a flock of boars who fortunately only looked around (at her standing still) and ran away.

Klubokawiarnia is the focal point of the leisure park and a spot where visitors coming here for more than an hour can sit back, have a drink or a snack. I must plea I don’t know whether lunches are served to whet appetites of hungrier guests. Comparing to how it looked in 2009, little has changed. The place has its spirit and a whiff of modernity is absolutely redundant if the spirit to be nurtured.

The amphitheatre where concerts are played on Sunday afternoons, also a popular dating hangout for teenagers from Ursynow, Wilanow and northern parts of Piaseczno. In the foreground, my bike, I have had it nearly for a year, replaced a saddle to add comfort to my backside, had it overhauled (or rather serviced) before the high season and after overcoming ailing spine (though I stay cautious not to overstrain it), I can enjoy longer and longer trips (this year I intend to take at least a 50-kilometre day tour).

The further from densely inhabited district of Ursynow, the fewer individuals one can run across. Here, on the south-eastern corner of the forest one would sooner have an encounter with wild deer (heaven forfend!) than with a fellow human. While cycling there I felt a bit guilty, as if I trespassed someone’s home.

As I grow older, I learn to cherish more the days in spring, summer and early autumn when I do not have to toil away in the office. Clement weather is something one should make the most of, so on such days, I attempt to confine staying indoors to absolutely essential time dedicated for house-related duties which I could not handle over the working week. Some people enjoy themselves on parties on Friday or Saturdays and then spend a large part of a weekend fighting a hangover. What a waste of life! Given a choice between night-time revelry and day-time leisure outdoor, I would opt for the latter for most of weekends (some partying is essential, since a human cannot be bodily fit but socially dead). Actually while working long hours Monday to Friday, a decent dose of physical exercise over the weekend is essential to keep an office worker and let them recharge batteries.