Leroy and I just took a quick bike trip to the town of Kazimerz Dolny. We left on Friday morning and returned home on Saturday evening about 10:00. We left home about 9:00 am and poked around on the 30 Km ride to Piława where we caught the train to the city of Puławy. As we were biking out of Puławy, we got the brainy idea to stop at the Wistula river, which runs close to the road, to go swimming. Wow, was that great!
Bad news awaited us after our swim, however. My bike tire was flat! Now that is not good news on a bike trip. So, we pushed our bikes out to the road, and asked two Polish gentlemen where we could find a "pumpka" or a "rowerem serwis" (bike shop). They indicated that we had to go two kilometers back toward Puławy to find a pump. Let me tell you, two kilometers seems alot longer when pushing a bike than it does riding one. Well, to make a long story short, we finally found a bike pump, and made it to Kazimerz Dolny about twenty minutes before sundown. After camping out by the river Friday night, we walked around the town and toured the castle ruins high on the hill above the town.
What a gorgeous town! I was impressed to find that while this town is somewhat of a Polish tourist destination, it certainly isn't a high-pressure tourist town. In fact, it seems rather sleepy. There are plenty of little hole-in-the-wall polish restaurants, with a quiet market square that simply oozes charm. The "Dolny" of the town is the castle situated high on the hill above the rest of the town. Above the castle ruins is a massive stone tower that is thought to have been erected at the end of the 13th century. There's not much left of the castle, but the tower is in good condition and offers a spectacular view of the town and river.
After getting my bike tire fixed on Saturday afternoon, we retraced our route home; 15 Km to Puławy, an 80 Km train ride to Piława, then 30 Km home.
I had the thought as we were biking, that this trip is somewhat surreal. Taking a bike trip in Europe, however short a trip it might be, is something that seems fairly exotic. It was an incredible privilege to do this trip. I'm not just on vacation here in Poland, but I do have the opportunity to act like it sometimes:) I'm very grateful for that.
See pictures on my Photobucket.
Oops, I just discovered that "dolny" means lower, bottom, or under. so it's illogical to have a "dolny high on a hill":) Probably the best meaning of "Kazimierz Dolny" is something like "under Kazimier" (Casimir III was a influential king of Poland during the 14th century)
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