Friday    16.08.2013 

For some reason we linger at the hotel and don't get out until around lunch, first stop obviously the caste.
If someone where to ask me what I've seen in any of the cities we've been on this trip I can always default to the castle if I don't really remember because statistically it's probably true.

A nice little walk through a very beautiful building that been painstakingly rebuilt after the war but a lot of the art and inventory was saved so it felt very authentic even though it isn't the same building.
Nazi special ops blew up the few remaining major pieces that had survived the bombings as punishment for the rebellion.

After our castle walk we ate at an Italian restaurant where finally there was a waitress that actually understood what dairy-free means.
She recommended the spaghetti with tiger shrimps in chilli and garlic. Very spicy but absolutely delicious.
I chilled my taste buds with sorbet for dessert. The Bear got some sort of cream with a hint of banana.

After that we had meant to go to the Warsaw uprising museum which we did but unfortunately it was closed.
Probably some sort of bridge day to do with the national holiday yesterday.
Since this was closed it was pretty safe to assume that other sights would be closed as well so we just wandered around town pretty aimlessly with pit stops and refills along the way.

We'd meant to go inside St Annes Church but there seemed to be weddings going on one after the other so even though it wasn't officially closed to the public it felt like really bad manners to crash a wedding so we skipped that too.
The clock tower was still open though so at least we got a brisk walk up those stairs rewarded by a spectacular view of the old town.

We wandered around well and good before settling for what probably was a tourist trap of the greater order of Polish cuisine.
I had roasted duck with apple in cranberry sauce.
It was absolutely delicious but it was a bit strange having apple as the staple of a meal.
To that I had the first Polish weissbier I've come across but unfortunate it was a Hefe (yeasty) and they'd really OD'd on the yeast on that one.
They'd better leave the weissbier to the Germans in my opinion.
Bear had some sort of meat roulade with bacon and what at least looked like bulgur rice.

We stopped on the way back to the hotel at the same Italian restaurant where the same waitress was still working so I had to ask here if she never had any time off.
She worked 14-hour shifts 15 days a month so I guess that's a no.
210 hours a month and she's still fresh a daisy with a smile on her face. I have to say that I'm impressed and perhaps a tiny bit in love.

I ordered an ice-coffee with sorbet at first but when it came it had a large topping of cream so the waitress had it barely even touch the table before apologising and taking it back for a replacement.
The Bear thought about if for a fraction of a second before reprising his cream with a hint of banana.
Bear definitely likes his cream.

Bear washed it down with a Grolsch beer but I couldn't resist it when I found a drink made of apple juice, apple sorbet and apple vodka.
The last supper in Warsaw definitely could have been a lot worse!

Old town with the castle on the right.

The castle

If you've ridding round half of Europe on a Tiger you obviously get to pose with the real thing.

The view from the clock tower.

Saturday    17.08.2013
  471km Total: 4048km   311km Total: 330km

We sleep in until 9 and hit the breakfast buffet before slowly getting ready to ride off to Gdynia and the ferry back home.
We're thinking we have all the time in the world so we don't check out until around lunchtime.

We get out of Warsaw without much hassle and get on the crown jewel of Polish infrastructure, the Autostrada A1.
Polish roads have failed to impress thus far since the road between Krakow and Warsaw from time to time was so bad it could act as Dragon's teeth.
There where so deep ruts in the road that you really had to brace yourself and put some effort into getting out of them.
But this is an epiphany! Straight as an arrow, dual lanes and 140km/h speed limit with light traffic, the odometer is purring like a kitten!

Too good to be true obviously.
The Autostrada is rerouted because of road works and the traffic is redirected on 50-70-50 roads.
We're in need of both nutrition and petrol at this point so we turn off and sort that before heading back on... the wrong way. Dead f***ing wrong.
I think we probably went in the exact opposite direction opposed to the redirection and keep hitting closed on-ramps to the Autostrada.
This goes on for about 100kms before we eventually get back on the lovely Autostrada.
So change of plans.
Instead of spending some time in Gdansk and be stuck there too long we head directly to the ferry port in Gdynia even though this means we'll probably be there unreasonably early.

We get there around 7PM and don't board the ferry until 9.30PM so it was a bit of a drag but we've seen worse.
A grand meal in the restaurant (we hadn't eaten since lunch) followed by a shopping spree in the tax free where we spend our last Zlotys before one last beer at the bar and then it's time to hit the bunks.

Heading for Gdynia.

Gdynia ferry port.

Sunday    18.08.2013
  466km Total: 4514km

We wake up to the sound of Luis Armstrong's "It's a wonderful world" from the loudspeakers in the cabin at 6.15AM.
Stena wants people out of the cabins 1.5 hours before arrival for cleaning so we get ready, pack up and hit the restaurant for one last breakfast buffet.

We get back to the cabin after a sturdy breakfast and it looks just as we left it so I guess the cleaning was just a bamboozle to get people to buy an expensive breakfast but a man's got to eat.

But at least this means we get an early start when we get off the ferry at 8.
Immediately we're met by grey skies and shitty weather.
I'm freezing my ass off and I'm mumbling something about warm welcome home and the twilight of the vacation in my helmet.
After about 40kms the first droplets of rain hit the visor and the Bear who's in the lead now we're back in familiar geography turn off and once stopped says some complete bullshit about the freshness in the air and all the scents of nature and at least it's not cold while I'm suiting up in all the clothes I have in the pack and decide I'll never become so god damn patriotic that I'll start to enjoy the cold and the rain.

We soldier on and actually manage to avoid the rain for the most part and get the dish of the day at the golden arches in Mariestad.
Unfortunately the rain has caught up when we're ready to ride on and the floodgates of heaven has really swung wide open.

But as a whole we've had crazy luck with the weather during this whole trip, during the three weeks we've been abroad we've had perhaps three hours of rain total.
But mother nature sure is making up for it now.
Since I don't remember suffering from incontinence my wet crotch must mean I need a new pair of rain pants.
It can't be completely ruled out that it's capillary effect via my leg-fur from my shoes that are by now so full of water I can feel it shifting back and forth when breaking.

The Bear has now started to feel the scent of his hide so he's passing traffic like it's standing still on the #26 road.
Those who managed to catch a glimpse of the green menace must have thought it was a lost jet-ski with panniers.