Ciezsyn: Poland our last country

September 17, 2014

There was no breakfast provided at the hotel so we had a drink of juice and a pastry and were on our way. Ken had researched our route last night so it was surprisingly easy getting out of Frydek Mistek. The decision had been to abandon the 'Greenway" and to take to the roads. The road route on the 648 went directly to Cieszynski and not only was it less than a third the distance of the cycle route it had a good surface and fortunately the traffic was quite manageable - a few steepish hills but nothing like we would of faced if we had been grinding our way on an unpaved track into the Tatra Mountains. It was very pleasant agricultural land and it didn't seem very long at all until we reached the border town of Cesky Tesin.

Cieszyn and Cesky Tesin are really like one town in two countries. The river Olza separates the two. It was ruled by the Habsburgs from mid way through the 17th century until 1920 when it was divided, the left part of the bank of the river becoming Cesky Tesin . Certainly Cieszyn got the best end of the bargain as it got the historic centre and basically all the infrastructure as Cesky Tesin had formally just been a suburb of the historic centre. A large amount of building was needed to provide the necessary infra strucure. The amount of work going on in Cieszyn at the moment is huge and as we entered it we thought that they must be digging up all of Poland!

We were uncertain whether to carry on or stay put for the night. We had only done 26km but we needed to change money and plan our onward route as the cycle maps we had of the Czech Republic had now run their course. If possible we needed to get some better maps. We also knew there was a good place to stop here. It was only about 9.30 but we decided to stop. There was a money changer by the bridge so our remaining crowns became zlotys. The first thing we came across was an ATM so we are more solvent again. The first impression of Poland on this sunny day is that everyone smiled at us and tried to help. The main square of this little town is lovely and our hotel just to the side of the square. I have made the snap decision that I really like Poland - perhaps I am a little biased (3 of our grandchildren are a quarter Polish)

We have researched the route for tomorrow and thanks to Alison and Eddy will follow the route they took, it worked for them so hope it will work for us.

I am glad we are not cycling up there in the Tatra Mountains

Nice agricultural country we liked these hay ricks

Ken thought this Tatra would finish me off - a fitting ending

What a terrible time Poland had during WW2 and beyond - there were fresh flowers on this little memorial

Today's ride: 26 km (16 miles)
Total: 2,452 km (1,523 miles)

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