After a brief stop in Kazimierz Dolny I continued on to Lublin. The drive was mostly pleasant. I wish I could capture more pictures while driving without running myself off the road. Maybe one of these days I will invest in a camera that I can mount on the dash or something. Until then, I'll be left with random snaps like these.
I found the address of the apartment I booked. Unfortunately I could not manage to access the parking lot with the instructions provided. And I could not get in touch with the owner/manager quickly to help me figure it out. Here's a picture of the Renault Clio parked in front of the building, documenting the impasse. I think the parking was through that entrance to the right of the car.
So I pivoted to plan B, street parking. The apartment I rented was at Zamojska 12. It's not a main road, but it's busy enough as a feeder into / out of the southeastern part of the city. You can see in the image below that the old town and downtown are indicated by all the map pins I saved (fwiw, here is my "Lublin" list for reference). The apartment is where the heart icon appears. And the pics further below in this post looking out onto the street from the apartment balcony illustrate the general traffic flow. It's busy-ish.
Turned out to be a good spot. Felt local, just a 10-minute walk from the center. But in the moment of arrival when I couldn't access the building's private lot and there were buses running in both directions, cars pulling in, out, etc. I needed to regroup somewhere calmer. I found a quiet part of the street near the Arche Hotel and made my way to the parking meter.
During last year's trip to Bolesławiec we sucessfully pulled a valid parking slip out of a meter, so I had a vague recollection of what needed to be done here. When you approach the meter it is not immediately obvious. This is what you see. A lot of Polish.
However, you will notice a little flag button just to the left of the "A" key. Press that and the screen will give you some language options at the bottom of the screen.
Hit English and you're on your way to buying your 'parking ticket'.
19 PLN for 24 hours is not a bad deal at all. Street parking was plentiful. I used it around the city in a few different spots. And nothing happened to the car. All in all probably more convenient than trying to deal with the castle-like entrance / exit of the private parking lot.
Car parked, it was time to get into the apartment itself. The listing on Booking.com was for "Zamojska Residence - Silver Line Apartment", which I can no longer find available. At least not the particular unit I stayed in. The address was Zamojska 12, 19a. Building itself was fine, apartment was decent. Bargain price of $65/night. My primary concerns were a decent living room space with a couch, a place to sit and get some work done, and a kitchen. Check, check, and check.
(Not pictured here is the electric kettle, but I did have one. Found it oddly difficult in Poland to find places with the holy grail of a working stove, microwave, and a kettle / nespresso machine. And when I did find one, like in Warsaw, the stove didn't work. Induction stoves. Not a fan. But this one worked and I was able to successfully boil some tortellini.)
Of course you assume a decent bedroom, and I thought I had one.
Unfortunately I couldn't use it as I could hear the neighbor's TV loud and clear through the wall. So we grabbed the bedding, closed the bedroom door, and slept on the couch.
And honestly that couch was pretty wide and comfy, so no harm no foul since I was traveling solo here. Snapped a few shots from my balcony while there was still light and sat down for a few hours catching up with work. Somewhere in between I hit the Biedronka down the street for some supplies, but no pics of that grocery run.
After a few hours on the laptop catching up, I ventured out for an evening walkabout. Central Lublin can be divided broadly into Old Town (Stare Miasto) and downtown (Śródmieście). My mission that night was to do a quick orientation spin through the hearts of both. I made my way up Zamojska and Bernardynska, taking pics of things that caught my eye, including the Perlowa Brewery and my first glimpses of the old town towers.
It was around 9:30pm on a Tuesday in April, so things were pretty quiet. I walked and snapped shots of places that looked interesting and maybe worth checking out if I find myself in Lublin again.
I think the Multimedia Fountain turns off by 9:45 ish, so when I found myself on Krakowskie Przedmieście, which is the cool east-west pedestrian street connecting the two sections of the city, I went left/west to check out Śródmieście first.
(View east toward old town)
(View west toward Plac Litewski)
Plac Litewski is easy to spot as you approach after dark. Everything was lit up, looking great.
When I got over to the fountain I took a couple of not great video clips. And while they are admittedly not great, they give some sense of what you're seeing and hearing as you explore the area at large.
Snapped a few more shots of the area, thinking this would be a pretty cool place to live and work. Easy to picture having nice job in a nearby office, enjoying the walk in each morning, then maybe strolling about in the afternoon on your lunch break, followed later by a craft beer and some appetizers after work, etc. My Lublin Śródmieście fantasy.
Turning back to head in the other direction toward Stare Miasto, I took a few more shots of storefronts / restaurants that I found alluringly illuminated as I walked.
I then paused in front of Brama Krakowska, looking back toward Śródmieście and then forward toward the entrance into Old Town.
(View back toward Śródmieście)
(View of Brama Krakowska)
Again, it was a Tuesday evening in April, so not peak season. Which honestly was nice. But that explains why I was essentially solo taking some oligatory medieval scenery vibe shots.
(Per Gemini, Jasza Mazur is the fictional tightrope walker and magician from Nobel laureate Isaac Bashevis Singer's novel The Magician of Lublin. In Lublin, Poland, a resin sculpture by artist Jerzy Kędziora depicts Jasza and a small monkey balanced on a tightrope high above Grodzka Street.)
With some imagination you can picture the Rynek during better weather, more sociable hours, and livelier times. But also nothing wrong with enjoying the setting during more tranquil moments like these.
Also spotted my first goat (google Lublin and the billy goat legend to learn more).
With a successful walkabout complete and the clock stroking sometime after 10pm (aka, about 12 hours after I picked up the Renaul Clio in Warsaw), I wrapped it up and slept cozily on the couch at Zamojska 12, unit 19a.
After 5 nights in Warsaw it was time to hit the road and head out for my next destinaton: Lublin. I had rented a car through Booking.com and pick up was at the Radisson Blu. One more opportunity to take Warsaw's very reliable public transportation via the very useful Jakodjade app.
Overall the pick up process was pretty smooth and soon enough I was in the garage collecting my metallic blue Renault something or other and then out on the highway heading for Lublin.
Lublin is in southeastern Poland, roughly 2 hours from Warsaw by car if you go direct, but more like 3 hours if you go by way of Kazimierz Dolny.
The little detour off the main highway to get to Kazimierz Dolny is scenic.
Some nice rural / bucolic landscapes off secondary roads. Pleasant. I bet it's especially lovely in summer or fall.
As you approach you encounter the telltale signs that you're nearing a touristic/vacation destination: billboards. Many billboards. Promoting restaurants, inns, museums, recreational enterprises, etc.
Having never been to the town before I pointed the GPS toward a parking lot near the castle, as I figured that would be semi-convenient. I suppose it was convenient enough. Parked the Clio and turned my attention to visiting the castle.
After a small uphill walk from the parking lot you've got some stairs to deal with before you reach the little ticket hut where they will disinterestedly take your 13 złoty and allow you to pass.
As castles go, it wasn't the most impressive I have visited. But it might well be the oldest. It dates back almost 700 years, to the 1340s, according to Castles of Poland. (And actually, now that I think about it and google it, I see that Naxos Castle is older.) Either way, it's pretty much just ruins now. And apparently they use the grounds to feature artistic exhibits.
I did not linger to learn more, but the pieces did certainly add some interest to the visit. Took a few more stairs up to the tower where you are rewarded with some views of what I believe are primarily 'Willas' or other types of holiday rentals.
The timestamps in my fotoroll tell me I was on the site for about 11 minutes. That's more than 1 złoty per minute if we're breaking it down. Quick. But I had the rest of the town to check out. Made my way down the hill, stopping for a view back up toward the castle. I wonder if anyone ever toboggins down that hill. Would be some high stakes with those monuments in the path.
I noticed this dog statue in the main square.
Research tells me this is a monument with a nice story and sentiment behind it.
As you get closer you can see evidence of the good luck rubs. Shiny nose. Ears and paws getting some attention, too. Then you might notice, for better or worse, apparently some folks are superstitiously or otherwise rubbing Werniks' unit.
Speaking to the bohemian and creative nature of the town, everywhere you go you see posters promoting performances or exhibitions.
Or galleries. Many galleries.
I continued walking through the town, which was understandably super quiet since I was there early afternoon on a mid-April Tuesday. You can still get a sense of its potential and what the vibe would be like during peak season. Walk around a cute main square with an ice cream, pop into one of the galleries.
The only other people there with me on this day, though, were a school group on a field trip to visit the synagogue.
Looped over to the Maly Rynek (little market square) and, in addition to the older women strolling with their dog and groceries, I saw a photo exhibition illustrating what appeared to be some idyllic summer moments from the early 20th century.
Knowing I had a good hour's drive ahead of me to Lublin, plus whatever time would be involved in finding parking, getting to the apartment I rented, etc., I took advantage of the public toilet before leaving. Fyi, it's around the corner from the E Wedel.
Not the nicest washroom I've ever stopped in, but in a pinch it works.
Having seen what there was to see by and large, I made my way back to the car, resisting the draw of any last souvenirs before leaving. Even the famous rooster bread.
Verdict: Glad I stopped through and saw it and can definitely imagine its charm for a 2 day stay over a long summer weekend. Maybe early fall, after the major wave of summer visitors.
