Uncharted Territory

Day 3: Somewhere in Northern Germany (D) – Krakow (PL). Karen and I had our noses pressed onto the dirty glass of the number 510 bus that was taking us from the railway station to the car rental offices. We were keen to take in as much as possible of our new surroundings as this was the first of many countries that neither Karen or I had been to before. The truth was though it wasn't particularly exciting here; a lot of grey buildings dating from the 1960's, the occasional shopping mall dating from the 1990's and here and there piles of snow that the wind had blown together.

So we intended to drive south to the stunning medieval town of Krakow. Making progress on the Polish roads was difficult however; one moment you were driving on nice new tarmac funded by the EU, the next you were back on rutted and potholed streets – the result of years of Cold-War neglect. And then, of course, there was 'Road Chicken' which seemed very popular with the local drivers. This basically involved suicidal overtaking manoeuvre whereby the local driver headed straight for us and the last one to take evasive action won the round. I have to be honest, they beat us hands down every time!

The snow was starting to fall heavy on the S7 as afternoon turned to dusk. The needle on the speedometer nudged 120 and then 130 kilometres per hour. “We need to get to Krakow before dark” I said. “You're missing the point.”, Karen replied with a smile. She continued “This is not one of our break-neck holidays. This is about travelling. This is about experiencing. We don't need to do anything”. Of course she was right. I still had a lot to learn about making this into a travelling experience rather than just another holiday.

We faired much better at dinner however. Having made it to the remarkable city of Krakow and having spent a delightful evening wandering about the Stare Miasto we then retreated to the back streets; away from the tourist haunts and where prices were much more reasonable. In fact, we found a great little tavern whereby we both had a home cooked meal with local beers for 45 Polish Zloty (about £10). Last night in Amsterdam, the same meal would have cost us about 45 Euro's (about £45!)

That was one aspect of Western Europe that neither Karen or I would miss!