Can you say "Szlak Orlich Gniazd"?
⬅ previous ⬆intro next ➡Day 9 ~ 6 July ~ Olkusz to Tomaszowice
Another travel day.
The breakfast area at Hotel Victoria isn't exactly a romantic setting, but it's clean and functional.
A few km into our ride, there's quite a grand looking domed church seemingly in the middle of nowhere. It's not though. You can't tell from the ground, but if you bring up a Google Maps satellite view, it becomes clear that the use of land here is very different to that in the UK.
What you can see is that 'villages' are formed in lines along roads by properties on extremely long thin plots. Some plots only have a single house, while others have three or four. I'm guessing that these are family smallholdings, at least in origin, although some are clearly not used for agriculture any more. [The red pin is where I took the previous picture from, and the church in question is Kościół Rzymskokatolicki, a little way below and to the left.]
Oops, got a problem! Our ride today should be about 50km plus any diversions we make, so when my chain breaks about the 15km mark, that is a potential lost day. However, in my toolkit I have a device that's normally used for removing a chain, but can be bodged into re-fastening the broken link.
What's happened is that one of the link plates had somehow got slightly bent outwards and the pin no longer held it. Creative use of the pin extractor lets me bend the link back.
Back in business!
And, spoiler alert, despite a certain lack of engineering sophistication, my repair will hold for the whole of the rest of our trip!
Another of the wooden churches.
Behind it, a lady watering the flowers to keep the place looking nice for Conchita.
This looks a bit too deep to cycle through, but we can push our bikes throught the grass at the side.
Ooh, now this is a nice cycle path!
Pieskowa Skała Castle is now a museum and gallery, so we don't think we'll visit, but the surrounding area is supposed to be worth checking out.
A rock known as "Hercules' Club" where everyone seems to have to stop and pose. Who am I to be different?
It's a pleasant little walk around the rocks and along the river below the castle.
Another roadside shrine, and quite a big one. We don't stop any longer than it takes for a quick photo, but others, obviously more spiritual than us, give it rave reviews and 4.8 stars out of five on Google Maps.
"The statue of Our Lady Immaculate in the rock of the Prelate is an extraordinary place that attracts both pilgrims and tourists. Placed in a picturesque setting, the figurine is a symbol of spirituality and local tradition."
So that's us philistines told.
A few minutes further down the road, this church spanning the river is far more our kind of thing.
In the nearby village of Ojców, they have a sort of village green fringed by woods with a path running around it. Boards provide information about the various trees.
Another black cat just like Oberon and Titania!
As I have mentioned, Poland -- the Jura at least -- seems remarkably lacking in cats. This is one of its few bad points.
A little stream where we sit for a late afternoon break.
After this, it's another couple of hours riding, but it's starting to get a bit more built-up. Our destination is our last stop before we return to Kraków and it's obvious now we're getting closer to the city. Not unpleasant by any means, but relatively little that's photogenic between here and the hotel.
We arrive into Tomaszowice and the hotel Dwór w Tomaszowicach, "Tomaszowice Manor".
There's a private party occupying the restaurant indoors, but it's a mild evening for sitting out. Amanda studies her map while we wait for our order.
Another fine Polish wine.
Starter.
Mains.
Pud.
After dinner, we have a little stroll.
Naturally they have a helicopter museum.
I mean, what self-respecting hotel doesn't have an open-air helicopter museum?
Slightly surprisingly, I don't seem to have any pictures of the main hotel building itself, but I think the setting makes it difficult to get a good vantage point for a decent shot.
Ah well, that's it for the night.
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