Poland
There are many exciting places within reasonable distance in Europe. As we sit and think about where to go for the summer holidays, we joke that we are going to visit Count Dracula in Transylvania.
The more we sit and laugh at it, the more it dawns on us that it would be great fun to see if a Dracula castle actually existed. Google says that there is a castle in the town of Bran that has inspired the story of the grim vampire. Now we suddenly have something concrete to run after.
We are going to Romania and find Dracula's castle.
The car is packed and we drive to Ystad. There we take the night ferry to Swinoujscie in Poland. The route is planned through Poland and Slovakia, further through Hungary and into Romania.
After a good night's sleep on the ferry, we come ashore and don't have to drive far before we see dozens of storks. In the villages, nest stands have been set up on top of lampposts and electricity masts. There are really many nests and they are all fully occupied.
The last time we were in Poland, we wanted to see the wild bison at the Bialowieza forest. But unfortunately time ran out and we discovered that Poland was a big country. Now it was time to catch up. Bialowieza is right over Belarus, so the course is set to the east.
We stick to the small roads so we get through the villages. It's nicer than just grinding away on the highway.
We have made an agreement with Mateusz Szymura, a local biologist and nature guide, he would like to show us around his home turf. The trip starts at 03 in the morning, where we will visit several places - in the hope of finding the big animals
Very excited, we meet up and drive into the forest. We have brought our small handheld GPS with us so we can track the route. Then we can take the trip ourselves again without a guide. The car is parked and we walk quietly around the forest. Suddenly Mateusz says "can you smell it"?
At first we can't, but after a while, we can smell what he means.
They are wild boars, he says, they have a really strong smell.
We don't get to see the wild boars, but notice a heavily plowed forest floor where they have messed with their snouts. Further ahead there is a clearing with some large dark shadows. Mateusz takes a closer look via night binoculars. We list closer and can now see bison. What a sight. Impressive animals.
We sneak even closer and get some pictures taken. The bison do not notice us but quietly go back into the forest. Mateusz tells far and wide about everything we see in the forest. He is a fantastic guide. After the forest walk, we turn our noses back towards the car and thank them for a fantastic morning.
We enjoy ourselves in the small village and go out into the forest again. There is a visitor center here, where you can climb a tower and look over to Belarus. The visitor center has an exhibition about how life was in the old days and how people worked and used the forest.
Late in the afternoon we decide to drive out in our saved GPS tracks. We will then just see if we can find the bison again ourselves. Unfortunately, there is not much luck. But as we drive in the ruts, between the fields, a family of wild boar darts across the track. Little piglets with their tails straight up in the air. Little bacon pigs as Johnny would call them.
We drive further south and find a good place to sleep in a forest. Dinner is cooked and the bed is made.
It's time to watch a good movie. As darkness falls we get this strange feeling that someone is watching us. It is very strange.
Johnny gets out of the car to see what it is. They are fireflies, he shouts, and Sus curiously jumps out of the car and looks. The whole forest is teeming with little twinkling green lights with wings. It is one of the most beautiful and funniest things we have seen. It's the very first time we've seen them and we certainly hope we get to experience it again.
Johnny takes out the camera and tries to take pictures, but it's like they're a little shy and turn off their lights. They are experimenting with a long shutter time on the camera and then a green line is also captured.
The next day the trip goes to Krakow. We have always been very attracted to caves, caves and mines. A little southeast of Krakow is the Wieliczka salt mine. It is a whopping 327 meters deep, with more than 287 km of passages. The mine opened in the 13th century and was active until 2007. There are large halls and an underground cathedral carved out of salt rock.
Fortunately, we don't have to go round and visit all 287 km, but settle for half a day of sightseeing.
There is a lot to look at. In addition to the spectacular decoration and decoration of the mine itself, there is also a lot of exciting history.
Due to the climate in the mine and the high salt content, there is no major occurrence of bacteria and vermin. The horses that came down into the mine as foals therefore lived a long time and were up to 30 years old - they worked all their lives underground.
Due to the high prices of salt in the past, the mine contributed about 30% of Poland's total economy. It was a major prestige project that the royal family used as a representation, no one else in the world could present anything similar.
The salt mine was added to UNESCO's world heritage list in 1978, i.e. a year before the pyramids were considered to be similarly important enough to be on the list.