WHEEEEWWWW! I made it back from a travel extravaganza through the Greek islands, Turkey and what turned out to be more of a family history lineage cruise trip, then just seven days of mayhem with the Aussies! But I will write about that trip another day as it does pertain to my Great GREAT GREAT GREAT, maybe more greats Grandfather Mimar Sinan, one of the ‘Great’ Architects of his time! (Mid 16th Century)

Back to my ride around the world! I left my bike in Krakow and the BMW dealership, and all was good when I got back with a fresh bike ready to ride.

Exhaustion had set in here. The day-to-day travel is getting to me. As I seemed to have put too much into the last 2 weeks of travel. While I would love to post up here in Krakow a while…I do need to move on! I arrived on July 19th, 2023, and stayed in this nice Airbnb right in a small square where the oldest synagogue in town was.

It felt like most places that have that 15th century feels. OLD! But it had something more, with the Jewish history here. I decided to walk across a bridge which was known to have had momentous past. One of the difficult struggles related the Krakow Ghetto history.

These bridges served as a significant historical importance as they served as the primary crossing points for the forced relocation of the city’s Jewish population.

It led me to go to a place I remember studying in school by way of a particular movie “Schindlers list”. We were of course forced to watch growing up………

Oskar Schindler’s Enamel…..

Schindler’s enamel factory where he employed around 1200-1750 workers (Mostly polish Jews from the Krakow Ghetto) He essentially protected them from deportation to death camps by providing them work.

It is now a museum, and it was just one more reminder of the history around me. Beyond the ancient part of Krakow, this was more of a recent sad history that was taught in school and still fresh in mind!

This last pic is the furniture used in the movie “Schindler’s list”

I spent one more day recovering and relaxing before I needed to gain some ground. Destination!? Northeast Poland. But first I wanted to have lunch in the capitol, Warsaw.

I left pretty early so I could get there by lunch and pretty much hit nothing but farmland with a few small towns. Really nothing to see. Lunch in the capitol was my primary goal.

I like to find historical restaurants and bars, of course, and this was one of them. “Kameralnej“

Original Kameralna (1940s/1950s–early 1990s)

It had branches on Rakowiecka Street and near Na Rozdrożu Square. In the post-Stalin thaw of the 1950s–1960s, Kameralna became a key literary café and social hub—one of the few places where intellectuals, artists, and bohemians could gather, discuss literature, philosophy, and life amid cramped living conditions and limited private spaces. Alcohol (especially vodka with snacks like cucumbers, nicknamed “cognac with southern fruit”) played a big role in the lively, sometimes rowdy atmosphere.

I tried the famous….. Beef tongue!

and Duck Sausage wrapped in bacon!

I rode into Warsaw needing to handle two things have lunch and find a motorcycle shop for gloves. My last ones were lost and on days when it’s cold or rainy things sting a bit. No tears here but it is a necessity. The Harley dealer I stopped at had them but for an arm and a leg so on my way out of town I found a small spot where the price was right.

The roads here in Poland are pretty flat with nothing but farmland, and prior to leaving Warsaw I found a small town near a lake that looked just like the right spot to stay the night. Elk, Poland.

As you can see in the pic, I had a well-deserved pint upon arrival! It was a small but lively lake town, and the room was spacious at this polish appropriate hotel.

And a nice, peaceful lake setting….

I’m still tired and have very little energy to socialize so even the slightest moment someone says more than hello I shut down and revert to the shy and less than enthusiastic human. My true nature if you can believe it :). So, to bed I went at sundown so I can plan my next route.

Next up Vilnius, Lithuania!! Yep, a new border crossing, weeeeeeeeeee!!

I woke up that morning to a downpour, a wet bike, and no matter what it puts a damper on things, no pun intended!

But I would quickly find out how much of a damper it would be on the road.

It was raining off and on and as soon as I was approaching the Lithuania border, I noticed cars slowing down, sliding when they were stopping and a ton of debris. Upon getting closer I noticed an overturned car.

My bike was starting to slide as well, and I can only assume there was gasoline or oil on the road. Either way I stopped to see if I could help, and soon as I approached I started moving things to the side. The girl squatting in the grass was screaming at me. I can only assume by her tears and anger it was her car. She then started to yell at me in English and told me to “Go away!!” Confused I looked at her but continued to move and help, she then yelled louder! “Can you not help? We have enough help!” Honestly while I’m concerned for anyone who gets in an accident, if she has enough energy to be worried about what I’m doing, I didn’t feel as bad for her and I was less concerned. Either way I wasn’t going to be riding through the debris, so this was not only about her safety but others on the road. Especially on a motorcycle.

So, here’s a picture of me walking away. 🙂

As you can see below the accident was not a fender bender and I would say she’s lucky, she wasn’t seriously hurt. Either way this was my welcome into Lithuania.

There is always something to be learned here, and at this moment it just made me realize I needed to stay vigilant.

A few moments later….

Hitting Lithuania was an interesting feeling. It feels far, but I’m not far from my destination. I feel far from home in California. If that makes sense. Sometimes you realize there is no one here to help you if you need help and that’s a lonely feeling. The place just felt so foreign. Either way the initial scenery did remind of places in the states. Like this river spot. It reminded me of trips Ive made to Montana.

It just had that vast feeling…. Carrying on I finally made it to my destination. VILNIUS!

Vilnius is the capitol of Lithuania, and one of my friend’s wife’s hometowns. I only have a day here, so I really have no time to do any serious site seeing. To be honest as soon as I arrived, I was looking for some comfort food. For some reason that’s all I could think about.

I found my Airbnb close to the city center and immediately unpacked and walked into town. The cobble stones immediately caught my attention.

I found what felt like a medieval restaurant, very much like the ones in Brno, Czech. Meat, Bread and soup were exactly what the doctor ordered.

Little did I know after my exhaustion from my cruise trip with the Aussies, I would end up rebounding in the town of Vilnius and would be thrust into a surprise encounter and have an all-night nightery.