Thursday    3.8.2015
  407km Total: 7508km    18

Luckily we get to the border crossing early because this was one of if not the most time consuming crossing yet where we during two hours of frantic spatula waiving (oh yes, the Poles can do it too) just crawled forwards.
The registration documents where checked by the Ukrainian border police three times so I'm not entirely sure Mr "why you go?!" didn't go ahead and entered it as Trabant anyway just to mess with me.
It is also the most extensive "search" of our gear we've gone through of all the 18 border crossings thus far but it's still not worse than that we had to open our panniers so they could check the top layer.

Considering most of the border crossings would be between non EU countries in my wildest fears before this trip I saw my self with all my belongings scattered across the road desperately trying to explain that I have a prescription for all the pills and trying to mime chronic migraines to a border police just itching for a strip search.
And I could almost feel the gun put to my head and hear the snapping of the latex had anyone found the cartridge shaped pill box attached to my key chain.

It's a long day in the saddle and we're all pretty exhausted when we get to the hotel in Warsaw.
But we at least manage to gather the energy to go to a restaurant recommended by lonely planet called London Steakhouse.

As usual I can't resist weird menu items so I get a steak with a raspberry and Jack Daniels sauce.
It tasted... different.

There was a bit of a cloud hanging over the evening as we'd come to the point of the trip where we're going to spit up and go our separate ways.
The Lady and Bear are going back to Sweden via a ferry from Gdynia and I'm routing home through the Baltics.
Bear was obviously fretting about navigation in the morning as he hardly said a word the to whole evening.
We walk back to the hotel and say our goodbyes.

Somewhere in Poland.

Friday    4.8.2015 

The bear wakes me up since I'd forgotten to give him the clip for the GPS I had loaned him and we say our goodbuys again.
By now the ongoing renovation of the hotel have started so the chances of going back to sleep are pretty slim.
I head down to the breakfast.

I can't really seem to pull myself together to do anything so after breakfast I do some laundry, write about the last few days in this blog and book the ferry home from Tallinn.
It's already afternoon when I finally get the urge to go out and do something.

It was a national holiday the last time we where here so all the museums where closed, the only place I was really sorry to miss out on was the Warsaw uprising museum so that's actually pretty much my entire to-do list so that's where I'm headed.

Heroism is an extremely overused word but the struggle of the Polish people and the fight they put up against the Nazis in this town and country can not be described with any lesser word.
Even though the nazis indiscriminately executed one hundred poles for every German soldier killed the Poles did not surrender until the town was more or less completely razed.
When the red army finally entered Warsaw more than 90% of the buildings where demolished.
The exhibit had a very tasteful sombre tone about it and it was both very interesting and educational.

For some reason I had my mind set that I wanted to eat at a KFC for the first time (if the franchise even exist in Sweden I haven't seen one) but it was a lot further than I had expected (classic: "didn't look far on the map").
I probably made a net loss on the calories with the never ending walk over there but I got my chicken burger eventually.

On my way back to the hotel I go through a park with a ski slope made out of plastic complete with a lift and everything.

I've probably walked at least 10kms when I get to the hotel so I'm pretty beat, I try to watch some TV but I just can't manage to keep me eyes open any longer.
I decide that I've earned to get a good nights sleep so I don't set the clock at all, if that means I'll miss breakfast, then so be it.

Warsaw uprising museum.

A very on point caricature of the situation Poland was in after the war.
The speech bubble says "I'm your saviour from nazism" and the caption reads "with a sickle at our throat".

Names of the fallen.

The ski slope in the middle of town.

Saturday    5.8.2015 

Well I obviously wasn't wrong abut needing sleep.
I quickly grab my phone when I wake up to check the time in the hopes I might make it down to breakfast.
That's definitely out the window since I've obviously been in some kind of coma.
It's half past two in the afternoon and I'm so disorientated I have to fight the urge to call reception to check what year it is.

I crawl into the shower and go out to get "breakfast" at Subway on my way to the city centre.
I was nice enough to get a good nights sleep but since everything closes at 4PM on Saturday it means I won't get in to any of the sights or museums.

No real harm done since there wasn't anything I really wanted to see anyway and wandering around old town was very nice even though I've been there before.
I get to a square where an orchestra was playing a piece by Chopin, he was born just outside of this town which they obviously are (and should rightfully be) very proud of.

The setting was magnificent and the music was beautiful so I decide to stay a while and order myself a beer at the bar.
Just in time for my beer to arrive the orchestra have stopped playing, gotten of the stage and have to my horror and dismay been replaced by a jazz band.
I mean, they didn't give a warning or anything!
There hasn't been a brew made good enough to suffer through this acoustical torture so I get up and leave before I suffer any permanent damage and get out of earshot as soon as I possibly can.

In complete desperation to rinse my ears from this intolerable violation I go to Hard Rock Café.
Normally the music they play in these places are pretty far from Hard Rock but it seems I'm in luck, today would have been Freddy Murcury's birthday so apart from the fact that the staff are sporting amazing fake moustaches it also means they're doing a Queen-medley.

I get a Murphy's Stout and a grilled chicken with fries.
I'm pretty sure the beer actually contained more calories than the rest of the meal since I had to chew my way just to get through the foam.
I take a taxi back to the hotel for a bargain price of just €2.5.

In my room I get pretty briskly called down to reception for "payment of services" of which I could recall I had ordered exactly none.
It was about 11PM and was pretty irritated that they called me down like a school boy to the principals office like I was going to skip on payment.
It turns out they wanted the payment for the parking.
This was the most expensive accommodation of the entire trip and I had already prepaid several hundred euros for the rooms.
They had access to my credit card through the booking and yet they call me down like a potential criminal just to make an advance payment for parking?
I was so pissed off that it all became somewhat of a spectacle but I didn't care.
The poor girl at reception had nothing to do with the call whatsoever and she was so taken aback by my loud indignation that I probably could have just made up any amount as a pre-agreed arrangement and she would have settled for it just to end her suffering.

When this happened I was debating with myself if I should stay here an extra day or continue on to Lithuania and this settles it.
It's time to move on.
When I get back to my room I book my next stay at the Ratonda Centrum hotel in Vilnius.

Warsaw Old town