Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

[WszystekPoTrochu]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Dark, eh? But that's not because it's late (or early). It's because that photo was taken in mid-winter, and Poland is pretty far north.

How did you feel about getting to work when it's still dark and leaving it when it's already dark?

[McMike]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Love the murals, reminds me of Iceland.

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

How did you feel about getting to work when it's still dark and leaving it when it's already dark?

That's not new for me. We get that in Wisconsin where I taught for 10 years. Even moreso in Alaska where I attended university one year. But I can see where, if you're not used to it, the Long Dark of Winter could be hard to take.

Tom

[AndyG]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Poland is pretty far north.

Tom, I'm at nearly 56°N. And we're just over a fortnight from the equinox. Accelerating, every day, towards the twelve dark, twelve light. You can feel the change up here, literally daily, and you are going to love the next six months.

Andy

[Jimmy W]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Thanks for the thread Tom. You can also tell how far north it is by the angle of the satellite dishes.

[AndyG]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Fair point. In Ancient Luxor they'd be much more pointy-uppy.

Andy

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Thanks for the thread Tom. You can also tell how far north it is by the angle of the satellite dishes.

Interesting point. I hadn't thought of that. Less than 2 weeks to the vernal equinox now! Had snow on Sunday, melted right away.

Tom

[John Meachen]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Out of curiosity,with that detail about latitude,I was nudged into checking and a little surprised to learn that I'm 1.3 degrees nearer the North Pole.

[Ted Hoppe]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

I am still waiting for a Polish EBS invitation.

E3B006AD-A088-41DC-9CF4-8AD32ED1A015.jpg

Wroclaw Beer garden:

3E81DC98-9F61-4CDB-A26C-D549B97F84AF.jpg

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Well, I had an interesting neighborhood encounter last weekend--might as well fritter some time away describing it here. As some may know, I don't have a boat here with me in Poland. This is the longest I've lived without a boat since 2008. There are all kinds of reasons why it doesn't make sense to have a boat here. We have no car, and no trailer. We have no perfect place to store a boat. Even with a boat launchable from a trolley or hand cart, it's a long way to the nearest launch point. But still. I want a boat.

There are a few places on the river where you can rent cheap crappy plastic kayaks. I don't like them. I want a rowing boat. And then, kind of by accident, I noticed one day that one of the kayak rental places--Zatoka Gondoli (Gondola Bay)--actually has a few rowboats for rent. I mean, like, not aluminum fishing boats with fat transoms and crap oars, but actual rowing-boat hulls that look not bad, kind of wherry/whitehall style. Just three rowboats in a harbor of ugly plastic kayaks.

Gondola Bay.jpg

So I set out last Saturday morning with a mission: rent a rowing boat, and row up the river (upstream leads you out of town) and explore.

For instance, there's one little branch of the river that angles off to the south that looks interesting. And the farther upstream you go, the less citified it gets. Less citified is nice sometimes.

Wrocław boating.jpg

The weather was beautiful. I packed a bag of water, snacks, a book, and walked over to Zatoka Gondoli. And before I even made it to the rental dock, I met a woman launching a looks-suspiciously-like-a-skin-on-frame rowing shell, and packing it with gear for what looked like a long, multi-day cruise.

boat launch.jpg

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

I asked (while she was loading the boat and getting ready) if the boat was a SOF design, and if she had built the boat herself. Yep, from plans from "an Oregon designer"--Dave Gentry? I asked. Yep. They (her husband and daughter were there to see her off) were amused and surprised I had heard of him. (Actually, I have plans for his Chautauqua sailing canoe--never built it, but we exchanged a few emails while I was considering a SOF build in the Marshall Islands).

Turns out the boat she was launching--"Bloody Mary" is the boat's name--is Dave Gentry's "Racer X" design. And that the woman has done some long-distance rowing trips already, on the Vistula River, kayaking around Berlin in a canal-to-canal circumnavigation, etc. Pretty cool.

This time around she was heading upstream--north--on the Odra River (Oder in English or German) for 500 km to the Baltic coast, at Szczecin (sh-CHETS-in). Very cool!

I didn't want to be in the way while she was getting ready for a big trip, but I did snap a few photos as she left. A nice chat. It sounded as if, like me, she needs to get away in a boat by herself for a long trip from time to time. I get that.

boat launch 3.jpg

So she headed off downstream, a route that would take her through the heart of downtown. (The photo above actually shows her headed upstream, coming back from downtown--more on that later). The center of the city is a confusing array of little channels, defunct (or not?) locks, bridges, and lots and lots of tour boat traffic. The bridges all have "no rowboat" signs. No sailboats either. Apparently they don't want boats without engines getting in the way of all the tour boats. I've never quite been able to figure out whether it is even possible to boat through the center of downtown--or if it is possible, what routes to take.

But she set off downstream and I finally checked in at the rental place to get my own rowboat for the day.

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Well, I found a rental staff person and asked about renting a rowing boat. Nope.

Why not? I asked. All the paddles were broken. (Arrgh! They are oars, not paddles--but then, not a native English speaker. Or, probably, someone who knows anything about rowing. Worse yet, he said the rental place had no plans to fix the oars.

So, Plan B: I walked along the riverside promenade for a while. And then, as I was crossing the Most Grunwaldski bridge, I saw her rowing back upstream:

boat launch 4.jpg

Turns out, you can't row through the city center--there is no passable route. So, later in an email, she showed me the route she had to row to get out of Wrocław:

rowing out of town.jpg

[bluedog225]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Good stuff. Thanks!

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

Thanks for the comment. Here's a map of the Odra:

Odra map.jpg

300 miles, more or less, from Wrocław to Szczecin. Plus the extra 10 miles it took to go around the Wrocław city center. A nice little trip.

The next day, curious to learn how the "Bloody Mary" got out of the city, I followed a set of walking trails around one of Wrocław's big islands (much of the northern parts of the city consists of islands divided by various strands of the Odra, most of them non-navigable). A short tram ride from the tram stop nearest my apartment (which fortunately is a pretty major stop, with access to lots of tram lines going to places I want to go), and a 10-mile walk in beautiful spring weather--a nice way to spend a Sunday:

overview map.jpg

The Odra enters Wrocław from the SE, and flows generally NW to the sea. The rowboat had to go around all the dams and enter a canal at the southeastern corner of the city, transiting a really big lock there. Actually, 5 locks total to get through (around) the city and continue down the Odra.

[WI-Tom]

Re: Welcome to the BROTM's Neighborhood

I walked around anti-clockwise. There's a long footbridge connecting the south bank of the river to the Wrocław zoo--I had crossed that bridge before, and seen a sailboat from the local sailing club trying valiantly (and somewhat hopelessly) to sail despite very little wind, dodging one of the tour boats that give riverboat tours out on the farther stretches of the river.

sailing.jpg

The dams do make the main river channel completely impassable, unless you want to portage. But there's a nice walkway (actually a road for cars, I think) along the top so you can cross over. This is the view from the east bank of the Odra, between the main river channel with the dam, and the canal and lock behind me.

dam 1.jpg