Day 44: Kaunas, Lithuania to Lublin, Poland. 503 km. 11.5 hours

A long day on the road,

A long slow day on the road,

A long, long slow moving queue of many freight trucks, pantechnicons, tankers, bread trucks, anonymous trucks, lorries...

Moving slowly in both directions on the highways, especially in Poland.

A calm and pleasant departure from the lovely Monte Pacis monastery hotel.

Soon we come upon a road sign saying something like don't pass, 

We pass,

Soon we come upon an impasse.

A bridge is being built.

So back we go....

on a lovely scenic ride through the forests on the city edge.

Extensive cropping scenes fill the day.

Large fields of grains,

No peasant farming here, 

This is grand scale.

Presumably collective farming under the soviet regime resulted in large areas under cultivation.

 

The nuns are beyond the grand tower.

 

The scenic route.

 

 

 

We rode through hundreds of km of wheat, barley and corn today. 

Agrarian farming in abundance.

Low carb diets are unlikely.

There are many vegetable gardens in the fields and near houses.

 

Hamburgers for €2. Around $NZ3.

 

More cheap cigarettes.

The border crossing from Lithuania into Poland. There were a couple of policemen near the border but they were happy chatting to each other.

 

Cosying up to the trucks.

A felt a bit like driving between the queues of trucks at the border crossings in Central America or driving among the Tata trucks in India. Slightly more order here, though.

 

The lady on the right was counting her change, recounting it several times. The girl with the  pushchair was watching.

So am I as we waited for the traffic to move.

 

Pierogies- polish dumplings with savoury fillings. A plate each and a drink cost about 12zloty - $4nz

 

 

 

 

Our first stop at a McDonalds in seven weeks.

There were none in Iceland,we spotted one in Norway and one in Finland.

Mind you we weren't in the cities with the population base that successful McDonald franchises need.

Hamburger 7 zloty = $NZ2.45. 

 

 

Apartment buildings.

We saw some with 'for sale' signs on individual apartments.

The sun is out for our last two hours.

The traffic is better,

The wheat fields are glowing in the early evening light.

 

Our home for the night, the Luxor Hotel.

Another delicious meal.

Spinach  with cream cheese roulade, gooseberry, raspberry and red currant garnish, pickled platter (herrings and vegetables), duck pierogi, duck served with barley and vegetables, pear in caramel sauce with cucumber icecream, pancakes with fruit. With two glasses of local beer the total was 158 zloty, $NZ 55.

The service was excellent. 

Fresh flowers - lots of gladioli, smart decor...

A lovely meal, a reward after a long day on the road.