Warsaw to Vilnius: Day # 1

My first day from Warsaw to Vilnius was full of cottony clouds and sunshine. The angry tires from the zillion trucks which passed by left me coated in exhaust fumes and with a sinus headache. After about 8 hours on the bike, I stopped at a truck stop for a shower and an excellent Polish beer. Soon after, I tucked into a forest near Szumowo, Poland. There I had a meal of Polish sausages, bread, with local forest mushrooms, blueberries, which I purchased from a roadside stand (picture). Forest moss made my bed comfortable and the sound of the evening rain coaxed me into a sound-full sleep.

Pepiak Family

I left the German-Czech Republic border soaked to the bone and my face swollen from mosquito bites. After 24 hours and 7 trains (yes 7). I am greeted in Warsaw by my dear friend Rafal, who I call brother. He shared his home, his food, his wisdom, and took me home to his mom's flat in Katowice, where Kristen fed me so much traditional Polish food that I could not move. Rafal even understood my mayonnaise addition and insured that I consumed only Poland's finest. I am honored to posses Polish genes and I am so grateful for all the the goodness and heart my peeps from Poland afforded me. Rafal, I'll be back!

Polish Apiary

A roadside sign announcing honey always pulls me off course, as did the Polish apiary just 5 kilometers from the Lithuanian border. We had no translator, but I understood that the elderly lady helping me with my honey purchase had been a bee keeper for many years. She proudly displayed an award for her work and after experiencing this unique honey, I knew this ambrosia deserved many accolades. Eastern Europe has a bee history deep in folklore and myths, which I intend on unraveling while in Lithuania... another country crazy about their bees.

Polish Farmer Jozef Wiaktor and Family

Jozef Wiaktor was born on his family's farm in Sejuy, Poland just a few kilometers from the Lithuanian boarder. This rolling, lake studded landscape is still full of family farms and Tomek and Daniel are the next generation of Wiaktor's farmers. While installing fence posts in a downpour late one evening, the Wiaktor's found me hungry and damp in my tent, in the field they were working. Whisking me back to their house, daughter Anie made me a plate of 6 eggs impregnated with ham and hot tea. Using Tomek's English skills and the translator on their computer, we discovered each others worlds. Jozef described how he saw on television a program through Heffier International for assisting Polish farmers with self-reliance and sustainability. Signing up with this program, he received a productive breed of cow and bull from Heffier International. After several years of successful breeding practices, the Wiaktor farm is producing high quality, organic meat. Their farm also has a rare breed of chickens, with green legs, and a rare pig, which they love so much they leave a radio on at night to keep her from being nervous. I am very grateful to have met the Wiaktor's and the diner and breakfast (fresh fried fish and more eggs!) gave me the fuel I need to proceed onward with my bike trek. I hope to visit this farm again!