On the Road

I am making connections and finding the places Jerzy visited on his road trip in 1978, the ones he mentioned in his trip diary.  I am immersed in thoughts of what it must have been like for him, eating very little, often sleeping in his car, and occasionally getting lost.

Czech Connections

My friend Piotr Plachtanski helped me get off to a great start, riding with me from Warsaw to Katowice, and then on to Olomouc and Prostejov in the Czech Republic.

Piotr had found Frantisek Motal, Jr., the son of Jerzy’s Czech friend, Frantisek Motal (who had passed in 2000). We had a great meeting, with Piotr translating. Frantisek gave me correspondence and photos from his father as well as lots of good wishes for this trip. His dad went by motorcycle every year to Poland, and that’s how he met Jerzy.  

Piotr needed to return to Warsaw as he is working out the details of a new job that will take him to Tokyo.  I stayed overnight in charming Olomouc, and set out for Vienna on my own, where I visited St. Stephen Cathedral and the Opera House.

In the Alps

On July 28, 1978, Jerzy wrote in his trip diary that he camped near Mariazell, a Marian pilgrimage site in the middle of the Austrian Alps. 

He described the campground location as “on a wonderful lake surrounded on all sides by high mountains. Perfect silence.”

I arrived in Mariazell on July 28, 2017, hopeful I might find where Jerzy camped. The staff at the local tourist office found me a room north of Mariazell. 

When I asked about a lake where someone might have camped in 1978, they said it had to be Lake Erlaufsee, very close to my guesthouse in Mitterbach. I drove over to see it at dusk, and the original campground is still there. I also saw it again the next morning, full of tents and campers.  

On Elephants

I drove on to Ljubljana, Slovenia, and stayed at the Hotel Slon. (Slon is elephant in Slovenian.)  It had elephant motifs everywhere, just like when Jerzy stayed there. The legend, according to a hotel staffer, is that a sultan came through centuries ago en route to fetch his bride in Austro-Hungary. He traveled by elephant, a memorable event for that region. Supposedly the elephant rested in the exact spot where the Hotel Slon is now, right in downtown Ljubljana. 

I’m now taking a rest day in Crikvenica, Croatia, looking over the Adriatic from the terrace of the Saint Alliance b and b. 

I can see people swimming, and right below this terrace is the Dida Restaurant, all set up for lunch.  I had breakfast there, as it is attached to this b and b.

A Vignette on Vignettes

Yesterday, when crossing the border from Slovenia into Croatia, I bought a vignette (the required car sticker) at the booth on the Slovenian side.  When I put it on my windshield, I noticed that I already had an identical one (from when I entered Slovenia from Austria). Darn!  I peeled it off carefully and went to talk with the clerk. She wouldn’t take it back, but a kind man headed into Slovenia bought it from me. Now I know that Croatia doesn’t require vignettes!

“Ms. Lucy” and the Mini-Cooper

I am getting used to the proper British lady’s voice on the GPS, except for her “half right” and “half left” turns. It is, of course, a total luxury to have this guidance, and I will get lost on my own, I’m sure, despite this help. She often wants to take me via the fast highway route, and I’d rather be on the slower routes that Jerzy likely took.  Driving a Mini-Cooper with automatic transmission is a treat.  I found a Polish review online -- with not the best translation: “…the Mini-Cooper is the perfect cure for boredom. Characteristic and charismatic appearance, insane interior, and superior driving properties effectively bounce off the environment from monotony, stagnation, and lack of desire to live.” 

Yes, my sentiments almost exactly, as I head south along the beautiful Adriatic coast.