Poland 1985 #1of4

(Except Gdansk, Kraków, Oswiecim, Poznan, Szczecin, Warsaw, Wieliczka, Wroclaw.)

We had obtained a Visa for our visit to Poland, in Vienna, spent a few days in Czechoslovakia, then drove to the Polish border. While waiting at the border we saw a bus pulling a large trailer used as a motel. The people rode in the bus, slept and cooked meals in the trailer. One side of the trailer folds open for the entrance, and at the back there’s a kitchen. We’ve seen a similar bus in other countries, in both the East and West.

The sun was shining as we stopped in a wooded rest area for lunch. There were two boys, about 10 or 12 years old, who came over to see what we were doing. Emmy gave them each a dollar, a coke with two straws, two sticks of gum, some candy, and gave them two packs of tropical fruit punch powder mix. Wonder if their mother ever figured out how to mix it.

We’ve seen acres of gardens with little buildings, some large enough for a summer home, and we have seen more horses pulling wagons in Poland, than we have seen in all of the rest of Europe. We waited for a train that was pulled by a steam engine. In the tourist literature, the Polish Government states there are no more steam engines. At one RR crossing there was a sign saying not to take pictures.

At one place we saw a truck blocking one lane of a two lane road, and we could see engine parts all over the place — a major overhaul. By the looks of things he may have been there for a couple of days, and could be there for several more. There was no shoulder on the side of the road where he could have parked. In Wroclaw we saw a wheel break off of a truck, and the truck just collapsed to the street with a clatter.

We noticed even the stores in small towns have lines of people waiting to buy food. We stopped a couple of times and found nothing we wanted to buy, and sometimes when we shop in Poland we are afraid we are taking food out of someone’s mouth, though we have seen no sign of shortages.

Most of the fruit and vegetables in the market in Opole did not look too good, but we did get some nice plums, and bought some tomatoes and onions, and there were a lot of sunflowers for sale. People buy a piece of the sunflower, and walk along the street picking out seeds and eating as they walk.