Poland again!

I set off for England again in early April, and used more airline miles to go first class again. The aircraft from Chicago to Manchester had changed from a 767 to a 757, for some reason, but again the service was excellent. They had an excellent Reisling, and I eventually had to stop them from filling my glass! Mother was OK and in good shape and after 4 days in the UK I set off for Warsaw. Lufthansa to Frankfurt and then Warsaw. Sadly I had to travel steerage, but not bad, the aircraft was a 737, and the service was quite good. I chose the Polonia Palace Hotel on the internet, due to it's location almost opposite Central Station and because it had less appalling prices than some other central hotels. Turns out to be one of Warsaw's better hotels.

I found Warsaw to be a bit intimidating. I didn't speak a word of Polish when I got there (now I can ask for a beer and say "thank you" ) and I find it virtually unpronounceable! I found the railway system to be a bit confusing too, so the first couple of days I took taxi's.  Central Station is completely underground, and since it was the week of the plane crash there was heavy security everywhere, and I decided it might be counter productive to try shooting there. so I went to Warsaw West, where I had an excellent day, except my tripod decided to break, and dumped the camera on the ground, breaking off the accessory shoe and mount that holds the microphone. So I spent the afternoon trying to find a camera store and get the tripod fixed. Which I did, quite inexpensively, apart from the numerous taxi fares! Next day I went off to Warsaw East, again I had a good day, and no tripod problems. The following day I went off to Central Station, and checked out my train to Poznan, since it was an intercity Express and I had to have a reservation. Found out where my coach was, and decided to spend more time at Warsaw West. Where I got to meet 4 policemen, 2 in SWAT gear. Who made telephone calls about me, then made me go away. So I went back to the hotel and sat in the bar! Next morning I caught the train to Poznan, and from there on to Wolsztyn, where I was met by Howard of the Wolsztyn Experience and taken to their guest house. The trains left when they were supposed to and arrived on time. Amazing! My first day I caught the train to Leszno, where I shot more trains, but sadly little freight, since Poland had virtually shut down for the weekend funerals of the president and top officials. However, I did see a number of white storks on their nesting poles, and a lot of deer, so that was quite pleasing. Next day I went off by train to Sbyszyn to shoot more trains, and caught some private owner units as well as freight. the following day Howard had arranged cab rides for me from Poznan to Szczecin and back, a distance of about 120 miles. The locomotives were 300v overhead electrics, EP 07 class, the first in traditional green and the return in the newer red and cream scheme. Both drivers were very friendly, but didn't speak English, so conversation in the cab was rather limited. The driver for the return trip showed me round the interior of his locomotive and explained everything to me. Although not understanding a word, I was mostly able to grasp what everything was. A fun day! The following day was my ride to Poznan and back on the steam engine. I didn't want to run it, I was perfectly happy just shooting the ride and enjoying being on a working steam engine. Another excellent day. Next day I set off back to Warsaw and the Polonia Palace, since I was meeting a group with Bernd Seilor of FarRail for a week on the narrow gauge. The morning we were to meet at Central Station I had plenty of time, so went off to Warsaw East with my SLR to get some shots to use as a cover for "Warsaw's Colorful Trains". Naturally I stayed longer than I should have and had to hurry back to the hotel, check out and drag all my stuff to the meeting place. Almost there it dawned on me that I had left my passport and all my money in the hotel safe! So by the time I got back to the station I was hot and sweaty, and waited and waited at the wrong location! Finally I asked which way was north, and trotted off to the right location, where I was delighted to find the group still there, a flight had been delayed and the bus was late getting to the meeting point. A lucky break for me, although Bernd knew I was in Warsaw and might have sent a search party out. We had a really excellent week on the narrow gauge, including a couple of cab rides. One on a diesel, after I'd taken a few shots I was perfectly happy to lean out of the window and watch the world go by. At one point we had a race with a guy on a bicycle, who eventually won!! The tour ended in Krakow, and I flew with Air Berlin to Berlin and then Frankfurt, where I spent the night. My ride to Dallas was on a 777, and since I was in business class it was all very pleasant. I have to say I was quite impressed with Polish Railways, they seemed to have very good service, were quite inexpensive, and had lots of interesting power.

Poland and Steam!

In October, 2009 I went to Poland for a Plandampf, a steam event, arranged by the Wolsztyn Experience. I flew to Frankfurt, Germany, by way of Dallas Fort Worth, and met Graham, a friend from England. We drove out to Wolstzyn, in retrospect an error, we could have flown to Poznan and saved a day's driving. The rental car was a 1 series BMW, and since I like cars and had never driven a BMW, it wasn't all bad, though we did get ourselves lost trying to find our way out of the airport and getting going in the right direction. I have to say that an 800+ mile drive after being in an airplane all night might not be the smartest thing to do, but we made it OK. On the way, Graham, navigator in chief, found us a narrow gauge railway in Germany, just off the autobahn. As luck would have it, a train was due in a few minutes, so we stayed to watch it.

Wolstzyn seemed like quite a pleasant town, nicer than some of the villages along the railroad. Poland was under Soviet rule for many years, and some of the villages were quite bleak. However, our hotel was very nice, if a trifle odd, and the beer was excellent. We ate in several places around town and found the food to be very good. I actually gained four pounds over the course of the trip. 

The Polish railway company allows access to the engine terminal, for a small fee, so we could wander around and soak up the atmosphere.

Chasing the train was interesting. The Poles have only recently been able to afford cars, the roads were perhaps not up to US standards and the standard of driving was appalling. High speeds, overtaking anywhere, never mind if somebody was coming the other way, or there was a bend. But we survived, although on the day before we left, I actually read the rental car agreement ( I must have been bored) and discovered that we were not allowed to take the car in to Poland. We left for Frankfurt the day before Grahams flight back to the UK, and went along back roads for part of the way, see a bit more of the country. We spent the night somewhere in Germany, in a very expensive hotel, and had a very nice, very expensive dinner. sadly, it was my turn to pay! We set off next morning, took the car back, Graham caught his flight, and I spent the night in a hotel near the airport. Dinner and a couple of beers in the bar and an early night. The flight home was uneventful, no screaming kids and I ending up back home in the late evening.