The surprising beauty of Poland

OK. Confession time. Having lived in England for six years and only one visit to Poland, the city of Krakow, I believe I have had a fairly distorted view of this country. I know I am stereotyping, but I had images of men in track suits with bumbags, ladies with severe hair and make up, shoddy building work, Polish Delis and an all around gloomy disposition. Now don’t get me wrong, I saw all of these things (except Polish Delis, but I guess in Poland they are just delis), but I was not prepared for the serene natural beauty.
We entered Poland at the border city of Szczecin (try and pronounce that) and was surprised to see such a large marina with a huge variety of boats. It turns out Poland has a huge network or waterways and plenty of yachting and kayaking adventurers. Day two of Poland saw some less than average roads. The tracks left by lorries on the poorly tarmacked roads meant that Hayden was getting a full body workout just keeping Maggie in a straight line and away from oncoming traffic. It was soon apparent that Maggie was not running as she should and that the engine was not holding enough oil. We decided to press on to our destination as carefully as possible so that Hayedn would be able to take a good look at what is going on. You wouldn’t believe that this was the time that we came across ‘Land Walcz’, a Land Rover mechanic and specialist in the Polish town of Walcz. A quick U-Turn later and we were driving into a yard full of old Land Rovers and experiencing instant relief! Hayden’s Polish is limited to a few unpleasantries he has learnt on building sites and the mechanic’s English was virtually non-existent, but who needs words when you speak the language of Land Rovers. A bit of pointing here and there, some shouting from one mechanic to the other, and lots of smiles and handshakes later, we were equipped with the few parts that we needed – not even pushing the budget at about £5! The mechanic would not let us go without a family picture in front of Maggie. Hayden and I posed with him and his two sons and I regret not getting a photo for ourselves. We departed with gifts of stickers and lanyards and feeling some Land Rover Love!
Driving on through the country we were met with picturesque lakes surrounded by sandy shores to make swimming more pleasurable, deep forests with glistening sunlight, smiling gap-toothed farmers, and people hard at work. There were marinas full of handsome yachts, enough to make any sailor jealous. The days were long and warm, although you could feel a hint of autumn in the air. The trees were beginning to get that golden glow and every now and again you would see a flurry of leaves fall like snowflakes as we drove by.
When I used to think of Poland I would think Sports Direct and TK Maxx. Now I think of lakes and forest and fairy tales (and sometimes Polish Delis…)