A steam train and a giant statue

Saturday morning was one as I have had many times in this part of Poland. Getting up rather early, no breakfast and than … waiting in the cold for things to come. We were waiting in Szreniawa for the 09.05 steam train from Poznań to Wolsztyn. On this particular railway line the last regular steam trains of Europe are running on a daily basis. And that fact attracts lots of photographers (and in summer also lots of „normal“ tourists, i.e. people who are not hard core steam train fans). Since the steam locomotives are not in a perfect condition the engines are replaced by diesel locomotives. But today everything was running according to the plan, after 20 minutes waiting the train rolled into the small station for a brief stop. We followed the steam train down to Wolsztyn, the former german Wollstein, and had a brief look in the locomotive depot. It was already around noon and we still hadn’t eaten anything apart from a dutch snack, so it was about time to eat something.

The class OL49 hauled train leaves Szreniawa

The same train at the semaphore in Rakoniewice

OL49 7 with its two coaches in Rakoniewice

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The lunch was taken in a restaurant where I usually have dinner with other railway photographers. Though the official name of the restaurant is „Smakocz“ we call it „The Police Station“, the latter is adjacent to the restaurant. The waitress remembered me and asked immediately how many buns we wanted to have with our scrambled eggs.

Around 13:00 we left Wolsztyn, because we still had one place to visit before we were to make the last kilometers back to Berlin. On the south eastern skirts of the small city of Swiebodzin a priest had a giant statue of Jesus erected (see also here). He has saved money for years and years in order to build it. The statue is said to be even larger than the one in Rio de Janeiro. Since the statue is brand new we were eager to see it. It is huge and one can argue about how beautiful it is. The size of the building crane gives kind of an impression how large the statue really is. I am sure it will become a big tourist attraction.

Larry shows that the statue really isn’t THAT big (variation on the Pisa theme)

The statue with the building crane behind it

A detail of the statue

Very practical, there is a shopping mall including parking place in front of the statue

From Swiebodzin it is just a small ride back to Berlin. We got briefly stuck in a traffic jam near Rzepin, due to the construction of the last part of the A2 highway towards the german-polish border. We were lucky, we only stood for 15 minutes. The traffic jam from the border towards Rzepin was way worse, over 10 kilometers of traffic jam … So next time I will enter Poland I will avoid this road.

At the end of the afternoon we got back to Berlin, safe and sound. We had had a terrific journey through Poland and Lithuania!

A jewish cemetery and jewish food

In the Gromada hotel in Łomża we had seen on a city map that there is a jewish cemetery in the eastern part of the city. On Friday morning we said goodbye to our hotel, of which we liked the elevator best. Never been in such a fast elevator in Eastern Europe before. The cemetery we visited is the old cemetery in Łomża, there is also a new cemetery which we didn’t visit.

The old jewish cemetary in Łomża

Only on a few tombstones the texts were still readable

Tombstone covered with snow

Impression of the old cemetery in Łomża

We had quite some kilometers ahead of us for this Friday. We had decided to skip the visit to Łódz and to travel to Poznań instead. Thus we could make a lot of kilometers on Friday, do a couple of things on Saturday and still be back in Berlin on time to have dinner with some friends. Furthermore Larry would still have to drive back to the Netherlands of Sunday, so he was keen on making not too many kilometers on Saturday.

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Our Friday route

We got pretty fast in Warsaw, because route 8 from Białystok was perfectly clean. The route has some new by passes which the navigation system didn’t know about. It was funny to see how we were going cross country according the Garmin map on board.

Driving cross country according to the Garmin map

To my surprise there was a narrow gauge steam locomotive standing along the road in Warszawa Maki, for the fans of steam trains, click here for a website.
In Warsaw we got stuck in the Friday afternoon traffic jam, that cost us some time. What was worse was that I made my only map reading mistake here … Instead of taking route 2 + 14 towards the A2 high way we took route 8 further south. Somehow I had in mind that a section of the A2 is crossing route 8. Well, as I discovered it doesn’t. Hence we were forced to take a detour via Rawa Mazowiecka. To make it worse it started snowing again when we were driving on route 72 towards Łódz and the direct road towards the highway was blocked due to reconstruction work.

Once we reached the highway our fate took a better turn. It had stopped snowing and we reached Poznań pretty fast. The last bit of todays journey we didn’t use the navigation system, for it would have sent us through the entire old city – and that would have cost a bit more time. Instead we used the highway as far as possible.

We soon had found our hotel. The night before I had already booked a room in the Orbis Hotel in Poznań. It was a special offer that was worth its price! We had the most spacious room of the entire trip! Furthermore we had a good parking place for the car as well. The only two things we didn’t book was internet (Zł 39,- per day) and breakfast (because that costs Zł 44,-!). Since we had driven 514 kilometers we first took a nap before we went into the old town.

The hotel is perfectly located so it takes less than 10 minutes to walk to the old town of Poznań. The Stary Rynek looked great with all the snow. Larry quickly discovered a jewish restaurant, Cymes, close to the old market square and after a short look at the menu we decided to have our dinner here. It was to be the best meal of the entire trip! If you go there, I can recommend the Szmulganz! A tiny remark is that the food is definitively not kosher, but within the menu map there is a nice explanation for that.

Of course we had brought our cameras and tripods with us, so after our delicious dinner we made a tour through the old town. Below are some impressions of Poznań in the snow.

The tower of the Fara church and the former Jesuit College

Detail of the Jesuit College, seen in the Gołębia Street

The Town Hall at Stary Rynek (Old Market)

The cathedral at the „Dominsel“ (the „cathedral island“)

A snowy ride to Łomża

It was only slowing lightly when we had breakfast in our hotel. The navigation system brought us smoothly out of town and everything looked like a brilliant start of our journey homewards. But after about an hour it started snowing more and more severely. Due to the stormy wind from the east the snow was dancing on the streets – in the open areas the snow didn’t cover the streets. But in the woods and in villages it didn’t take long before the snow was piled over 30 centimeters high.

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Clickable map of today’s route

In Lithuania many villages are located off the main roads. Due to the heavy snow we could hardly see through what landscape we were driving. But shortly before the Lithuanian-Polish border we saw what we had hoped to find: a typical wooden church.

The yellow wooden church in Šventežeris (Lithuania)

The main street in Šventežeris

After we had passed the border, which is due to Schengen no longer in use, we drove on route 16 through the Wigry National Park. I missed a road sign warning travelers for wolfs! The road itself was spectacular enough, in this case I was glad we reached Augustow safely.

On route 16 on the way to Augustow

In Augustow we had scrambled eggs for lunch; we briefly discussed what to do, because it was pretty clear that our original plan to visit two Tatar villages near Białystok was due to the weather and hence road condition out of the question. We would try to get as far as we could by daylight towards Warsaw.
Around dusk we arrived in Łomża. We easily found an hotel which has great communist charm (experienced Poland travelers will know what I mean: the interior, the heating system …). After a nap we made a stroll through the city. It became pretty clear why Łomża is not mentioned in the Lonely Planet. There are apart from two churched no things to see or to do. The city doesn’t have more than 2 restaurants, one of them being closed (and the only one open is in hour hotel). In the evening we saw that the roads have been cleaned rather well, so things look good for tomorrow.

Back to Trakai

After we had visited the Vilnius University we walked by the presidential palace which is situated in the middle of the Old Town. Then Larry and I went different ways. Larry went to see the Vilna Gaon Jewish Museum and after that the KGB Museum, officially known as the Museum of Genocide Victims (one can argue about that name, though …). I had other plans. Wednesday, the first of December was a splendid, cold and sunny winterday – and the winter light was inviting me back to Trakai. In the morning we had already briefly visited the railway station in order to verify the time table. Around 13:00 I made my way to the station again, now to by tickets and to catch the 13:30 to Trakai. Of course I first went to the wrong hall, there they only sold long distance tickets. I ran over to the second hall to obtain my return ticket. The lady at the desk started to ask all kinds of questions which I didn’t understand. It turned out I had to buy tickets for particular trains (the train number is printed on the ticket), but with the help of the good old paper and pencil we managed everything perfectly well.

As most people know I love traveling by train. The ride to Trakai only took about half an hour but it was worth it. I enjoyed the hilly environment of Vilnius, I saw a nice railway bridge, an interesting wooden (!) signal box painted yellow and red – and lots of long, long freight trains. Even though the train was heated I was cold, the reason being that the windows still let the ice cold wind through. Even though all windows were additionally sealed with taped …

Around 14:00 I arrived in Trakai. I marched through the city, knowing that the light would start fading away in about an hour. On the way to the castle I could satisfy me need of pictures of wooden houses in the snow. The castle was beautifully lit by the last glances of sunlight of the day, making the red bricks glow dark red. The lake, that wasn’t frozen when we were here two days ago was now almost entirely covered with ice. It must have been pretty cold in the country site! A coffee and a chocolate cake made me revive from the cold and at 16:38 I was leaving Trakai – happy that I had used the wonderful winter light for some pictures.
Back in Vilnius I saw the night train from Kaliningrad to Moscow, the Jantar Express. I couldn’t go to the platform where the train stopped, because there was a border control within the railway station (the train is running from the russia exclave Kaliningrad to the russian mother country, passing the Schengen area). Then it got too cold and I got back to the hotel, eager to hear Larry’s stories about the museums.

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The route I took by train (clickable map)

A local train at the station of Vilnius

Wooden house in Trakai

Another wooden house with icicles

Winter street in Trakai

The Trakai castle, but now with day light

The castle from another point of view

I like the castle in Trakai (even though this is a replica, built by the Russians after WWII)

The bridge connection the castle with the peninsula on which Trakai is situated

Sunset impression in Trakai

Vilnius – the last undiscovered streets and squares

Two days are never enough to discover a new place. We did Vilnius high speed yesterday already, so today we had just a few white spots on our map left. One of the nice discoveries we made was the Republic of Uzupio (see also here), which one can find in the eastern part of town. It is a republic with its own anthem, for different flags (one for each season) and an army that consists of 12 people. After a brief stroll through this bohemian part of town we were heading for the university. The university is located in the northern part of town and has no official entrance. The buildings are scattered around 12 different squares. We just tried our luck and opened a gate at Pilies Street and were lucky that we indeed had found one of the hidden gates to the university premises. The location is beautiful, and there are lots of beautiful views to discover here!

Street near the Gate of Dawn

The main street in the Old Town

Houses that haven’t been restored yet

The entrance to the Republic of Uzupio (the Republic starts behind the bridge over the river Vilna)

Statue, seen at the river Vilna (it is said to have a link with the Republic of Uzupio)

At the university I

At the university II

Vilnius – some night impressions

Taking pictures in the dark in winter can be challenging, especially when it is cold. We therefore choose just three locations to take pictures. Afterwards we drank another coffee (with warm apple pie, yummy!).

I am fond of the little gate in Kazimiero Street

St. Anna by night

The Vilnius cathedral

Detail of the cathedral

Sunny Vilnius

It is cold in Vilnius, and when I say cold, I really mean cold. Last night it has been around -16° C. and today during the day it was around -11°C. with a strong wind. Just within minutes after having taken the gloves of, the fingers feel like they fall off. But with additional long under ware, scarves and hand gloves we managed to survive. Today was a sunny day and that added to the feeling of being on holiday.

Vilnius is beautiful! There are around 30 churches, many of them Russian Orthodox. The centre of the city consists of a nice mix of broad avenues and small alleys. Most of the buildings are in a good condition, but what adds to the charm of the city is that not everything has been restored (I condition I particularly like). Due to Larry’s good research we made a long tour through the city. Every second hour we stopped for a warm drink, we had a nice lunch with local dishes at noon. Even though the old town is not that big, one can stroll here for hours. There are some many beautiful perspectives that our heads keep turning around like radars, checking for another new and interesting photo motive. A hight light was a fantastic view over the city in the last bit of sunlight.

There is one thing really missing in the Jerusalem of the North and that is its former jewish population. There are -with a very few exceptions- no signs left of the former huge jewish population (pre-war: around 80.000).
The city is however definitively recommendable for a visit, there are many things to see within and around the city. We won’t be able to do everything which is on our wish list. It is probably good to come back one day in summer, just imagine all these streets filled with terraces and friendly people!

Gedimino Prospekt, seen from the cathedral

The Vilnius cathedral and its stand alone bell tower

The Gate of Down, the only left city gate

Inside one of the Russian Orthodox churches

Sv. Kazimiero Street in the centre of the city

St. Anna Church, it consists of over 18 different kinds of red brick

View through Pilies Street towards Gediminas Castle tower

Church in Subaciaus Street in the last sunlight of the day

View over the old city I

View over the old city II

View over the old city III

Sunset in Vilnius with a Russian Orthodox Church

Wolfschanze

Because we arrived in Kętrzyn on Sunday in the dark, we had to move the visit to the Wolfschanze, the former Hitler headquarter in Masuria, to Monday morning. The Wolfschanze is located a few kilometers east of Kętrzyn. In the previous century I had traveled several times past the Wolfschanze, because in those days there were still regular steam trains running between Kętrzyn and Węgorzewo. But we are now talking about 20 years ago, those days do not come back (very unfortunately).

We were the only visitors this morning. Being alone on the premises and with the rather cold weather was a strange experience. Furthermore this is one of the those famous places where important things have happened (the failed assassination of Hitler by Von Stauffenberg). Knowing that Hitler himself had been walking around here is a strange feeling too. I am not sure how this place will come over when there are small children laughing and running around in summer.

The bunkers of the former headquarter are HUGE. They are well disguised in the woods. While walking around one discovers a new building every second minute. At first glance one doesn’t see them. After the russians had conquered the place they tried to blow up the bunkers. But the german concrete was too strong …

Memorial for Stauffenberg and the other conspirers

The memorial, in the background the barrack where the bomb exploded

Larry in front of a blown up bunker, here one can clearly see how HUGE the concrete walls are

The bunkers are well disguised in the woods

Bunker wall with tree

Bunker number 13, the Führerbunker

All in all it was an impressive visit to the Wolfsschanze. But we still had to drive a lot, there were still over 300 kilometers between us and Vilnius. Here is a clickable map of the route we have taken today:

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There was hardly any snow in Masuria, and there was no sunshine either. Nevertheless it was great to travel again through this beautiful part of Poland. I saw several places where I had been in the past, two dutch railway friends will remember them well too!
And thinking about the railways we had to wait for the famous 11:00 freight train from Gyzicko to Ełk … today it was off course running with a diesel engine, but back in the early 1990′s it was exactly this freight train that was one of the last regular steam trains running in Masuria. This called for a foto stop, which we did in Wroniawy. It was so bloody cold that the tears on my glasses were frozen within seconds, nevertheless I managed to take the picture at the right moment.

The freight train from Gyzicko to Ełk passes the station of Wroniawy

After the foto stop we had a pleasant journey via Olecko to Suwałki. One can still clearly see were the former border between East Prussia and Russia (later: Poland) ran. There are still lots of bunkers here too (but it’s only small ones here). The east prussian-russian border was the only border in Europe that hasn’t change for almost 700 years!

After a lunch in Suwałki we continued to Budzisko. Coming from Masuria, Suwałki is a typical polish city, the architecture is entirely different from what we had seen in the previous days. Soon we had reached the border, but within the Schengen-area traveling isn’t that much fun anymore (no stops, no stamps). The landscape changed dramatically after the border. Between Suwałki and Budzisko the landscape was beautiful, with lots of nice hills and some snow. Entering Lithuania there were no more hills and no snow! But therefore excellent roads, that were after we had passed Mirijampole almost deserted! On the way to Vilnius there were some areas that were entirely covered with snow, and strangely enough also areas without any.

About 28 kilometers west of Vilnius is the city of Trakai which is famous for its castle. Since it was on our route we decided to make a brief stop there to take some night pictures of the castle. Butt it was EXTREMELY cold when we got out of the car … there was a strong wind blowing and it was snowing. Hard conditions for night pictures.

Trakai castle, nicely situated on an island (the lights on the right side are from the bridge connecting the castle with the main land)

We left Trakai with more and more snow coming up. But with the help of the navigation system we easily found our hotel in the centre of the city. Now we have to pack warmly, we are going out for dinner right now and the weather forecast looks like this:

Kętrzyn by night

After a delicious dinner at Stara Kamienica (duck, and a superb apple pie with coffee as desert) Larry and I made a brief stroll through Kętrzyn. Here are three impressions of Kętrzyn by night.

The so called „Ordensburg“ (a former Teutonic castle)

Street scene I

Street scene II

Grudziądz and Grunwald

Overnight a little snow had covered the city of Grudziądz. Not much, but enough to give this pleasant winter feeling. The city was still asleep when we awoke before 8:00. We even managed to be the first guests at breakfast! We made a quick tour through the city, our main point of interest was the Vistula-side of the city.

The famous granaries of Grudziądz

Statue in the old town

After another cup of coffee in the hotel it was time to get back on the road. This was the route we took today:

Towards Iława the road was clean, but after we had passed Lubawa the road became snowy. This meant we had to slow down, but it didn’t stop us from enjoying the beautiful landscapes we saw.
We were taking a detour because we wanted to see if there is anything to see at all at the playgrounds of the famous Battle of Grundwald, a battle that took place in 1410. In Poland this is a very famous battle, the polish armies defeated the Teutonic knights. The significance of this victory is still visible all over in Poland: there is no city that doesn’t have a Grunwald Street.

Snowy roads in Stębark (former German Tannenberg)

Souvenirs for sale in Grunwald. We liked the crossbows!

The site where the battle had taken place exactly 600 years ago

The monument with two knights

Larry explains the audience from where the came

The ladies at the souvenir shop were disappointed to see us go without even having set foot in there shop. We still had a way to go. Due to the snowy condition of the road to and from Grunwald we could not drive as fast as originally planned. The situation got better when we reached route 7, however that road was pretty busy for a Sunday. It seems route 7 will be replaced by a real highway, we have seen new 4 lane bridges being built. Another new road is route 16 east of Olsztyn. The old road has been replaced by a brand new road, but obviously there wasn’t enough money to rebuild the entire road to Augustow. So for nostalgic people as myself the good news is that east of Biskupiec the old road still exists. I wonder if the part where the road only consists of cobble stones is still there …

It was getting dark sooner than we had anticipated and during a coffee we decided we had to skip the visit to Reszel and Swięta Lipka. Even our visit to the Wolfschanze (Hitler’s head quarter) had to be postponed, we will have a brief look there on Monday morning.

Let’s hope the weather stays good. I have the impression that we are still one day ahead of the snow coming. Today there was less and less snow the further east we came. Right now it is chilly outside, we’ll see what the weather will be like tomorrow.

The current (18:01) weather condition and the forecast for the upcoming days