Poznan in Poland

Poznan: fourth stop (3 days?)

We're snuggled down in the 'van in Camping Malta on the edge of  Poznan.

Into town tomorrow; let's try the tram.

So, it's tomorrow now, er, if you see what I mean. A great day in a attractive, interesting city full of history. We travel in and out by tram and bus, have a great lunch and absorb the culture. Nice people.

The old market square: Stary Rynek

Crowds wait for the 12 o' clock spectacular as two metal goats emerge from the clock tower and lock horns. Really!!

Try this if you dare:

Crazy? Made by my Huawei phone. What else is it up to?


Church of St Stanislaus (mid 17th Century)

 Again

Monument to the victims of the crushing of the 1956 workers strike by force, including tanks.

The Poznan Citadel Museum in the park which was once the last stand of 200,000 German troops in February 1945.

The Cathedral to the east of the town.

A day in Gneizno
Around 45minutes NE of Poznan, historic Gniezno makes a fascinating day trip, despite the drizzle. Poland's Duke Mieszko was baptised here, starting the nation's Catholic journey. We take in the historic buildings, eat in the square and take an audio tour of the cathedral and museum complex. We finish it off (and us) by climbing the 240 steps the top of the cathedral's right hand tower.

See that right hand tower?

Well, here's the view from it

These little chaps are all over the place; perhaps they come alive after dark...

We've decided to head for Torun next. See you there?

Under Way

That moment of excitement and slight apprehension has, at last, arrived. As we haven't shaken down the 'van since its winter lay up and service, we take a short hop to just across the border into Belgium where we stop at a small ACSI-listed site, Camping Kindervreugde. We've stopped here before as it's close to the motorway but quiet: an ideal 'over nighter'.
The point of shaking down the 'van is to make sure everything works and we haven't forgotten anything.... So if we had I wouldn't now have a satellite receiver with the wrong power supply, now, would I?

Second Stop
Venlo  in the Netherlands - and a very nice little Riverside town it is, too. Can't believe how busy it is on Sunday afternoon.

Coffee Stop
Breaking up a long day crossing Germany

Third Stop
We decide to do a long day so here we are, nine hours after setting off, just south of Berlin at Campingplatz Krossinsee on the Krossinsee lake.... well, not on the lake, obviously; we're under the trees, as you see.

...and here's the lake:

Ok, that's it for this post as we head for our first objective, Poznan, in Poland. There's just one hurdle in the way and that's obtaining a ViaBox to automatically pay motorway tolls as our outfit exceeds 3.5 tonnes.... and we don't have the Euro 6 certification document for our Touareg because VW's system had a meltdown and there's a backlog.  Could be fun.

Post Script

Obtaining our all important ViaBox (see last post) is no problem once we locate the Via Customer Service Centre - which turns out to be a small office at the back of a large building full of small offices. No signs. Lots paperwork and signing but we breathe a sigh of relief as we attach it to the windscreen having paid our deposit and loaded it with 120 Zloty. Despite the process, everyone helpful though.
All this underlines the importance of planning because we saw no indication of a box being required or where to get one as we rolled into the country. We understand the fine for not having one is around £800....

Almost Ready..

It's been slightly hectic since we've arrived back in the UK but it's all coming together...

We've got our coveted  Russian Visa, sorted most of the other stuff such as RAC recovery, travel insurance, servicing of car and caravan and the plethora of caravan jobs. We still need to get the international driving permits and sort our Polish ViaBox for motorway tolls, which we need because the outfit is over 3.5t. New tyres for the 'van; thank you Kwt.

On a completely irrelevant note - sliding van doors can be quite amusing (or scary)... I still remember the shock when I arrived back at college after a meeting to see a large ESSEX LIBRARIES van parked near the entrance with the first letters covered by a partly open sliding door...  

Anyway..
The route and stops are almost there so, cross fingers, we'll make our pre-booked Eurotunnel on Saturday the 11th..

Stay with us for a pen picture of the places we visit; there are some interesting ones on this trip.

Due back on July 18th... If all goes to plan.