421adventure

We would have never imagined to be so well welcomed and treated in Poland ! People have been so nice to us and we want to share with you those amazing stories !

Marina works in a bank in Krypno Wielkie. We were in this small little village in Eastern Poland and we couldn’t find any bar or restaurant to have a coffee so we decided to buy some snacks in a supermarket and have a break outside this bank where there was some shade to protect ourselves from the sun we had all morning long.

So, this woman comes out of the bank and starts talking to us. Of course we couldn’t understand anything and our first thought was that we shouldn’t stay here on the steps… but no! She was offering us a coffee!!! We could not believe it!! How unexpected and how nice of her! She even ran to the supermarket to buy some milk so that we could have a coffee with milk!! What a great surprise 🙂

A couple of days after this first amazing experience, at the end of a rather long and hot day, we were looking for a place to camp for the night but no campsites around. There was a hotel in Wygoda nd we went there to ask if it would be ok to set our tent for the night in their garden. The recepcionist asked her manager and after a few minutes she came back to us saying that there would be no problem at all and that we could stay and use the shower… for free!! Really?? Wow!! We were ready to pay something, so you can imagine our faces when she told us it was free ! We love Poland and how people think and react in the most logical and human way.

In Lublin we stayed at Michal’s appartment. Michal is on couchsurfing and we contacted him via this platform. He answered positively to our request even if he had a tight schedule because it was important for him to meet us. Right away, we felt good about this behavior and we were not disappointed! The day we arrived he invited us to go with him and his friends to the Cultural Center of Lublin and watch an Italian movie (really good by the way “Finché c’è prosecco c’è speranza”). After the movie we went for dinner, still with his friends, and we were even invited to dinner! We had a really nice dinner with lots of laugh and asking ourselves questions all the time about our respective lives and cultures.

The day after Michal put us in contact with one of his friend who is a journalist at the local newspaper and she interviewed us about our trip for the following day’s edition. Exciting! Michal insisted a lot that we would stay one night longer to watch Poland’s first football game with more of his friends. It was not our plan to stay that long in Lublin but Michal and his entourage were so friendly, and being able to experience another evening into the Polish environment was such a nice feeling that we couldn’t refuse! Unfortunatly Poland did not win the game and we hope we didn’t bring them bad luck… Thank you again Michal for all these moments!

In Dubicze Cerkiewne we stayed at a campsite along a canal. Not very fancy but it had the all the minimum facilities a biketouring cyclist need to spend the night. There was a group of students from 11 to 16 years old with their 2 teachers spending a few days there before the end of the school year. We were doing some update for our blog, and a young boy came to talk us in English with what he has learned so far at school. Then another boy came, then another one, then all the class! We are surrounded by children willing to learn about what we are doing and proud of practicing English and realizing that they can actually have a conversation with what they have learned! We had a lot of fun and ended up filming some parts of our next video (to be coming soon). Again, we shared great moments together and we will never forget them!

Beata, Sebastian and Urszula are young family who hosted us in Krakow. Not that easy with a 2 years old little girl so we are very thankful that they opened the door of their flat AND tap dance studio (!) to us (and again longer that what was planned). We enjoyed being with their so loved baby and we actually learned a lot of Polish words thanks to her!! Thanks again for your hospitality!

The last but not least. We were in a small village called Maruszow, we had a really long day and we had seen earlier that there was a bed and breakfast at the end of a small road by the lake. Perfect! But getting there, everything was closed 😦 We started asking the neighbours about this hotel (definitely closed) and if they knew any place where we could set the tent for the night. Difficult to understand each other so they called another neighbour who spoke English to come to the rescue. He told us we could stay by the lake and spend the night there. That was perfect for us. BUT after a few seconds he came back and said “Actually, it is better if you stay in our garden, you will be more comfortable, … and you can use the shower”. There was no way we could argue with him !

He was with his wife, family and family in law on holiday. We could only understand him and his wife as they know English from leaving in Southampton for 13 years, and they were kind enough to do all the translation with there family who does not speak any English and we who do not speak any Polish. They invited us to share a bottle of wine and made us a very nice snack. We had the most enjoyable time of the trip ever!! We laughed soooo much!! We were all very happy about this situation. In the morning, they even prepared us a nice breakfast before leaving. Wow wow wow!!!!

We also have an amazing YouTube channel with lots of different videos (in lots of different styles) from the road; 421adventure on YouTube

And please don’t forget that part of our adventure consists of fundraising and raising awareness for two incredible NGOs so please help us to spread the word and, of course, if you’re feeling generous, donate here; DONATE