Next Stop - Krakow

Leaving Warsaw we head south, stopping first at a strange roadside joint - a huge and quite new-looking log cabin hotel/restaurant complete with windmill and very little else except some great slabs of meat in a fridge in the lobby. It’s a loo stop and it’s a mission to find them in this vast and empty place.  

Onwards to CzÄ™stochowa for lunch. It’s hot and the restaurant is underground which is cooling. We like the mosaics and railings on the steps down. We also like the chips they serve here which have the perfect amount of crunch.

We go across to Jasna Gora Monastry with its iconic Black Madonna and various lovely treasures. This is where thousands of Poles come in pilgrimage, on foot, similar to El Camino de Santiago in Spain.
Father Roman takes us through this vast Monastry; he is delightful in every way and as impressive as the building itself where he has lived for 40+ years. We drink fresh water from the wells; it’s the purest tasting water ever and quenches the thirst on this very hot day. 

We continue on to Krakow where the sky is brooding. We are staying at the Vienna House Anders Hotel - a stylish modern hotel on the edge of the old town and next to a giant shopping mall. After a quick check-in and change, we head into the Jewish quarter for a wonderful dinner in a homely restaurant where the service is excellent. The kosher wine is pretty good too.
Another full day comes to a close. 

OBSERVATIONS OF THE DAY: Krakow’s population is 600,000 it gets up to 30+ degrees in summer and down to -30 in winter. 95% of people are Catholics. Vilnius, in Lithuania, was part of Poland until WW2. Apart from Warsaw and Krakow, Poland is a country of towns and villages. 

Our Polish driver Mariusz is a superb driver.

There are very strict EU regulations for bus and truck drivers which dictate rest periods and maximum driving quotas. These must be strictly observed or the bus/truck will shut down automatically. Apparently it’s a nasty thing, noisy and utterly debilitating, not to mention awkward and disastrous. A large fine will be imposed upon the driver and the engine needs to be officially unlocked. It’s all computerised, there is no hope of cheating or hoping to get away with a shortened break or a few minutes more driving - the bus’s computer will shut down automatically and the bus won’t be going any further. 
This protocol meant that our toilet stops were generally 15 minutes’ duration and timed to coincide as much with the driver’s log as with the need for a loo. No problem, the extra wait time gave us a chance to enjoy an ice cream. 
These regulations may be rigorous but drivers take them very seriously; thereby reducing the chance of driver fatigue and hopefully ensuring safety for all. I suggest we introduce a similar regime for NZ bus and truck drivers. No one would flout the regulations if their bus/truck is effectively going to seize up beyond their control and they have to cough up big bucks to get back on the road. 












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