I was right when I said I will have to watch Lucy while Mom went to the castle. She wasn't gone more than a few hours, so it wasn't too bad.

Mom said it was amazing and well worth a visit 

the Grandmasters overlooking the place

this is a stomp mill

The miller's office

The floor in the grand hall looked like a quilt

Amazing how things will grow

This is part of the mechanism for opening and closing the drawbridge

Everywhere you look there are all kinds of figures

Nope not going there or there, some nooks are just scary looking and Mom is afraid of getting lost somewhere in the underground

How do they know who the finger belonged to? and why would anyone steal it?

this is the restaurant we took a break yesterday, No beer brake today because we're driving south again

we are now sitting in a parking lot in the middle of Warsaw and soon we're going to explore everything there's to see

Lots of wet kisses 

Henry

Good morning, I think Mom listen to me about getting the circadian rhythm wrong because we stayed up past ten last night and it's now 6.30 am ............she's learning

Yesterday morning we had a show for breakfast. Four Poles trying to start a lawnmower and before that figuring out how to put a string in a weed whacker.

OH well, we went on the road early and we weren't spared any road construction today either 

Again we're driving through the gorgeous countryside lots of green and lots of bright yellow rape fields. They are a joy for the eye but not so much for the nose. The scent is like urine which doesn't bother me much but Mom hates it

Poland has a lot of storks, not our wood kind, but the baby-delivering kind, and their nests are huge. We watched for a while and noticed little birds nesting on the sides. Guess they're tenants 

We are now in a town called Malbork ...........surprise surprise, no xyjz in this name.  The campsite we found is almost empty so I get a lot of free runs. Mom set up our seatings but I don't know how she'll fit in that carriage

This was the home of the Teutonic Knights, a German chivalric order established in the holy land during the Crusades and they built this amazing castle.

The brethren knights came to the southern shore of the Baltic sea to wage war upon the pagan tribes of Prussia.

They established their own state on conquered land in the 13th century.

During the 15th century, it was the largest castle in the world, and yes it's huge, we walked around the entire castle and Mom got her 10 000 steps in. It was also one of the most important political and economic centers of medieval Europe.

The Palace of the grand masters build during the 14th century is a masterpiece of Gothic architecture. You can really tell that this building was for the refined residence and not for an ascetic monk.

In the heart of the monastery is the church of St Mary. The most important religious and national ceremonies took place here. Holy mass services are held every day and sometimes flogging of a brethren knight. Maybe they prayed before the beating which will make it ok 

I wasn't allowed inside the castle, so I have a feeling I'll be watching Lucy for a few hours today, and I'll be fine with that as long as it doesn't take all day.

This lady gave off some really good vibes, so I went to sit with her while Mom are taking pictures 

After walking for hours and hours we got thirsty and finally, I'm getting to taste some really nice cold Polish beer.

This bar/restaurant was great with sunchairs placed looking over the water and castle................we feel no pain says Mom

This is a picture from the brochure, the only one Mom could find in English 

Mom am excite about going inside and meanwhile I'll be watching Lucy so she doesn't roll away.

Looks like it'll be another sunny day in Poland

wet kisses 

Henry

I don't know what time zone Mom is in? but going to bed at 7 and up at 4 is not what everyone else does here. Mom doesn't care she likes the quiet morning hours when no one else is around.

Lucy's solar roof gives us enough power, except it does not power the PC so we have to go to a campsite to charge it.

It may be the connection thing that doesn't do its job? it is 160W so ?

Yesterday we visited a very interesting place. Since it's still off-season for vacationers we were almost alone exploring the grounds, which suited us very well.

The town is called Szymbark, Polish language has a lot of zy and j,s together which is impossible to pronounce for us.

This fountain was at the entrance but no tickets for sale and the gates were opened so we walked in without paying.

A house upside down?  Maybe a tornado? you can't live in a house like this............are you sure? they say.

Well Mom's equilibrium made her quite unsteady and I wasn't all that excited about it either

We entered the roof we walked on the ceiling, under the table passing a lamp, which could fall over and ignite our entire world

So why did they build it? as a playground? maybe for some people, but it is a metaphor for how our world has become so chaotic.

Every day people are killing each other in the cruelest way possible, others live in excess dreaming about a pill that would provide immortality others live in poverty and suffering of the family. Entire nations are being slaughtered.

Thus it is not true that we can't live in an upside-down house. 

It is an allegory of today's world and could be erected anywhere in the world, but in Poland, it is particularly justified.

They managed at the last minute to put back the foundation of the fallen house choking in the fumes of communism.

It is still missing many elements, which is a reflection of the larger house, which is still upside down.

this beast scared me to death, I didn't even have the courage to bark at it. Mom whos much braver than I am went up to pet it, trying to convince me it was ok.............noway 

There are several cute little log cabins and they all have an amazing history. Mostly sad stories of how people struggled to stay alive. Forest wood has been a building material throughout the ages. Both Polish and Kaszubian history is engraved in wood. A childs crib is made of wood, and we embark on our final journey in a box made of wood.

Who knew this about Canada ???

This train with carriages represents the fate of hundreds and thousands of Polish families brutally awakened and deported into the unknown by Stalin praetorians.

 Here is the Siberian Deportee house i.e it's the wooden house transported from Irkutsk and reassembled. A Polish traveler visiting Siberia got a request from Poles living there to bring a piece of "homeland" and he gave them a wooden emblem carved with the saying "God-Honour-Homeland". In return, they gave their countrymen back in Poland the oldest house in this part of Siberia which was built by the Polish deportees in the 18th century.

There's so much sad history here and a replica of the prison camp which reminded us of another camp further south 

Just imagine this long trip trapped like cattle in the cold no food no nothing

A missile bear?

The Kashubians strove for years to commemorate the heroes of the secret military organization of Gryf Pomorski.

The choice of the boulder for this purpose was not accidental. The boulders are the treasure of Kaszuby and they are spoken about in their legends. The largest bolder they could find is in the shape of a heart and a stone processing company cut in half. A cold stone and a heart? sounds like incompatible contradictions. However, sometimes the heart has to be as hard as stone to survive.

The bullet in the heart symbolizes physical and psychological torture because if a Gryf member was not killed by a bullet from a German rifle, he was later killed by the gun of a Polish butcher

So much sad history seems to repeat itself in Ukraine, and why? 

After several hours of walking around this beautiful park, I felt something is wrong in the sky, and try to warn Mom we have to get back to Lucy quickly. Mom is kind of slow to notice these things, but eventually, she heard the thunder so we headed back, but not before a quick visit to the souvenir shop (Which was open?) The only shopping we did was a postcard from this nice lady

There's a big hotel on the premises too which is a popular place for seminars and conferences. The restaurant looked amazing...................so ok Mom hurry up before the sky kills us

We drove a few miles and now we are in Przywidz................pronounce that if you can

Wet kisses to ya all 

Henry  

Last night it started to rain and it kept on all morning, so we left very early to find better weather. It's quite a challenge to navigate in Poland when you don't know the language.

They just close a road and tell you in Polish where to go instead? Not very helpful Mom says 

 Mom likes to take smaller roads and it's like driving in a green  tunnel but the pavement can get pretty bumpy at times

The main roads are great but it seems like this entire part of Poland is being reconstructed which means detours to ????  

We are driving through many small villages but the streets are narrow and it's difficult to find a place to park. Not that it matters much because Mom have no shopping itch  ..............yet I may add

we're driving towards Kartuzy, where a lot of Kashubians live............. 

The Kashubians are a true ethnic minority, distinct from the Poles in both language and culture. Originally western Slavs with ethnic links to the Poles, the Kashubians are believed to have settled in the area around 1,500 years ago, although the first records date from the 13th century when the Pomeranian Dukes included ‘Duke of Kashubia’ 

Today we visited the oldest original ceramics museum run by the same family since 1897.

The Kashubians are the descendants of Slavic tribes and even have their own language. That doesn't really matter to us because we don't know Polish either. 

Mom got to try the wheel and even if the instructor wasn't Patric Swaysee she sure enjoyed it

This is the final result with some help from the man of course. It takes a lot of time before it's finished so they said we can pick it up next time we come visiting.

This man wants to meet Michael Jordan 

Every piece is hand-painted with a goose-feather and they make only a few patterns, This represents their family 

This tree is growing just for me to live in I think, but I would have to stay alert and chase away the dogs that want to lift their leg  on it,

yes I think it says no spritzing I get it even though I never spritz anything anyway

Mom is tired and ready to go to bed and I wouldn't mind either so the story will continue tomorrow.

wet kisses to ya all

Henry

Leaving our night parking place we had an easy drive south. It was only a three-hour drive through Sweden's most southern province named Skane which is a drive through rolling hills with bright yellow rape fields and fields just freshly plowed other green crops. It looks like a giant quilt Mom says. It's mostly highway so nowhere to stop for pictures. It doesn't matter says Mom because the camera can never capture what the eye sees unless maybe we had a drone.

In Trelleborg, we had to wait until 21.00 to get on the ferry to take us across the Baltic Sea to Poland.

  Mom has been here many times before and she wanted to show me two statues she likes.

OK, so this one is really cool still looks exactly the same as Mom remembered 

But what has happened to the dragon? no water and he lost his green color?I think his dying

Trelleborg does not look the same as Mom remembered and that was disappointing but they had the most gorgeous tulips we had ever seen in the park

So we got on the ferry and most vehicles are giant trucks with trailers and for some reason, it seems like every single driver of those big things are smokers...We quickly went to our cabin and stayed there for the entire 6.5 hour crossing

The cabin was nice and had a much-needed shower for Mom.

In the morning Mom took me to the deck's pee pad, but it was full of cigarette butts so I refused to go there

I'll wait for a better place to go

I see land ohojjj and here comes the pilot 

We are now in a very small town named Mielno. This is a typical tourist town but it's not season yet and the streets are all under construction. As a matter of fact, so far it seems like ALL of Poland is under construction, every road so far, and the few that weren't dug up is in dire need to 

We found out that no one takes credit cards we had to get cash and in Poland, it's zloty, not Euros like Mom thought. Now we had to walk and find a bank ATM and of course, the one we found close was out of order.

At the other end of town finally a working ATM

Stores are selling typical tourist junk and these shoes made Mom laugh and that costume is just scary looking I should be barking at it

Nothing much is happening now unless feeding seagulls are excitement 

Tomorrow we'll be visiting Polands Riviera

wet kisses 

Henry

As usual, Mom and I are up early and that may be because we went to bed early since Mom is older and have a problem staying awake after 9PM 

We had a great time at last night's grill party, well at least Mom had, I was locked up in my carriage not being able to sit at the table. I did get a little taste of the ostrich that was grilled to perfection by Christer.

As the evening went on there was a guy playing the guitar and ............... hmm............................. singing his version of Sylvias' Mother.

Unfortunately or fortunately Mom has forgotten how to upload a video from the phone. She spent a lot of time trying though 

The performer himself said what happen ar Dalkarlsa stays at Dalkarlsa and yeah I agree I heard the singing

The surroundings are great some of us walked to the lake where there's some petroglyphs. The story is that moose have been traveling here for 1000 years and that this may suggest a wish for good hunting.

well it was too steep for Mom to climb down for a picture so this is gift

gorgeous view over the lake and we couldn't have asked for better weather 

I just loved the run in the woods so I was speeding ahead, and guess what?

Mom is mean she hid behind some bushes and when I turned around she was GONE!!!

I ran back but got confused about how far it could be, so I stopped and listen in all directions, and than I hear Mom giggle 

She GIGGELD! like that was funny, NOT

In the afternoon they played a game of boule and I thought it looked like a lot of fun to chase the balls but nope not these balls Mom said. So can I have just that little one? I asked .............nope 

Next to the campsite was the cutest little old-fashioned "Fika" place and once again Mom indulged in a shrimp sandwich

She thinks it's the greatest sandwich on earth, but this time she regretted not having the waffle with lax when she saw this

We said goodbye to our friends and continued on south.

The next stop was supposed to be a Bison park where there'll be an RV parking and moose and whatever

When we got there we both said noway we stay here, but we did walk around

We paid the $8 entrance via phone, because there was no person in sight anywhere, nor were there any bisons

This is a cabin to rent and stay overnight? Guess it's cool for kids but I don't like it here it's too noisy with cows hollering next door. There were three sad moose locked up and that's sad because in the wild they'll be wandering about 25 miles a day

We said goodbye and aren't coming back

Driving in the countryside the bright yellow rape fields make Mom smile, even though they smell pretty bad. 

Rapeseed is grown for the production of edible vegetable oils, animal feed, and biodiesel. Rapeseed was the third-leading source of vegetable oil in the world in 2000, after soybean and palm oil It is the world's second-leading source of protein meal after soybean.

Those metal cans are the kind the farmer used in the old days for milk. They pulled them out in the morning and a truck drove by to pick them up. Mom says they are really heavy

We were heading to the ferry but it was too far Mom is tired so we pulled over in a small town with free RV parking

No facilities but we have all we need in Lucy so we're fine

The town's name is Gislaved and most famous for making tires

• the Gislow brothers founded the company - named after their Swedish village - in 1893
• they champion an innovative spirit and outstanding quality built on Nordic character and expertise
• the first Swedish tire roll-off production line was in 1905
• the first Volvos are produced – equipped with our tires
• Major milestone – millionth tire produced in 1949
• by 1970 main export markets include Scandinavia, Japan, and North America
• Gislaved joins Continental AG – the global tire leade

Tomorrow we should be in Trelleborg waiting for a ferry to? Poland? Germany?   Whichever comes first Mom says

Wet Kisses 
Henry

Wednesday morning we left our friend and continued south towards the next stop.  It was supposed to be only a three-hour drive, but it was pouring rain, so Mom took it easy. All of a sudden some fluffy white stuff came down? At first, Mom thought it was something coming off a tree but believe it or not, it was SNOW??? and we were going south? obviously not south enough............. 

Mom parked and said we'll wait until this is over, Lucy has no snow tires. It didn't last long and none of it stuck on the ground. 

 The Saab 37 Viggen (Swedish for "the Bolt" or "the Tufted Duck") is a retired Swedish single-seat, single-engine, short-medium range multirole combat aircraft. Development work on the type was initiated at Saab in 1952 and, following the selection of a radical delta wing configuration, the resulting aircraft performed its first flight on 8 February 1967 and entered service on 21 June 1971

 In November 2005, the Viggen was retired from service by the Swedish Airforce the only operator, having been replaced by the newer Saab Jas 39 Gripen.

When we arrived at the destination Mom was so sleepy she needed a nap, and of course, I'm always up for a good rest.

After our nap, Mom did much-needed laundry.

As usual, I supervise from the best seat in the house.

The surroundings at this campsite are lovely. There are many hiking trails through the woods and we are right by Sweden's largest lake Vanern. Many sport fishers come here and spend the day on a boat hoping for a nice catch. 

On Friday more RVs arrive and there'll be BBQ, games, and music to follow. 

This is the owner of the property his name is Bertil and he lent Mom a potato masher.............. What a super guy

He does however own the nasties little chihuahua that snarls and barks the second she sees me, but I'm not holding that against Bertil because when she's not around he's a great man

He may come by with his accordion at tonight's party.

The weather Gods are with us now, with no snow or rain in sight. It's still pretty cool at nights but that's great for a good night's sleep.

Wet kisses 

Henry

, 

We woke up very early because it's now raining very hard and that makes a lot of noise on Lucy's roof. Mom thinks it's cozy but I'm not so sure what to think about it yet. Mom says we're warm and dry so there's nothing to worry about.

Anyway we're awake now and Mom made breakfast for us

What do you guys think about this unfair treatment? 

Mom's breakfast versus mine? I think it's very unfair, so I suggest we trade once in awhile......fair? right?

As always when we visit here Birgitte takes us on a sightseeing around the area. Amazingly she manage to find places Mom had never been to, despite the fact she used to live here as a puppy?

First, we visited Forsvik Bruk which is an industrial heritage site from the 19th century but the industrial history of this place dates all the way back to medieval times.

The flower mill in Forsvik was first mentioned in written sources in 1410. This proves that people were already using water power to grind grain into flour as early as the middle ages in Sweden.

The present building however is from 1807 and situated in the same place as the earlier flower mill
This mill produced flour commercially until 1961.
You can still buy fresh ground flour here during the summer months.

Steam engine for the production of electricity
The steam engine is made by J & C.G Bolinders Mekaniska Verkstad AB  in 1909 and is of the horizontal type with valves for entering and releasing steam. The machine develops approx. 200 hkr and the generator produces 135 kW.
It was in operation until the end of the 50s

I bet the workers enjoyed this spot for their lunch "fika" break 

The old buildings are in very good shape and very rustic

The end ball motor FENIX - is simple, cheap, durable, and easy to maintain!
Around the country's smaller industries and agriculture, there was a demand for an efficient but straightforward, easy-to-maintain, and cheap source of power. In response to demand - Forsviks Aktiebolag chose to manufacture kerosene-powered ignition ball engines under the product name "FENIX".
Kerosene was cheap and was already in everyone's home because it was also used for kerosene lamps. The engines were used to, for example, drive combine harvesters, pumps saw blades, and boats and generate electricity.
The Fenix series was launched at the industrial exhibition in1901 and the range came to include many different 

variants

Fire department tools

 This is the only machine Mom understands the use of..............and that's one more than I know

Who knows what this contraption is good for? But it was interesting looking

There are 600 years of industrial history in this place, and luckily in 1993, an antiquarian was hired to lead work on-site at Forsvik, with continued renovation and development of activities there. With demolition orders on several buildings, the threatened works were gradually transformed into a living industrial museum with showings, exhibitions, guided tours, courses and education programs, music, and theatre.

After the factory tour, we stopped at the oldest lock of Gota Channel located nearby

The Gota Kanal is constructed in the early 19th century. The canal is 190 km (120 mi) long, of which 87 km (54 mi) were dug or blasted, with a width varying between 7–14 m (23–46 ft) and a maximum depth of about 3 m (9.8 ft). 

The speed is limited to 5 knots.

This is the oldest part where the digging began in the year 1810

This is a knot Mom tried to find a translation for, and it came out as "pole roast knot". We're both pretty sure that's incorrect.

After all this sightseeing we had worked up an appetite and still searching for that scrumptious old-fashioned shrimp sandwich we finally came to the right place.

We are at the fortress in Karlsborg which lost its intended central defensive role in 1918 but has been used as a garrison for several regiments and the Parachute Ranger School. There's a nice cafe there and well worth a visit.

Finally, this sandwich was DELICIOUS said the ladies, I did get a taste and thought it was so so,

I think Lilly would have appreciated this more than I............

The fortress is one of northern Europe's largest buildings and consists primarily of limestone.  Construction was begun in 1819 on (250 acres) of land. The fortress was to house a garrison of 6,000 enlisted men and an additional 8,000-10,000 people. The walls were mostly completed in 1830.  

Leaving the fort behind this guy, we never thought this big machine was going to fit? but it worked with a few inches on each side

Last Birgitte took us straight into the forest on a small gravel road? now what?

In the middle of nothing but trees was this cute little church, but nobody was home

Driving on these roads in the forest you have to be alert so you don't hit any of these guys running in front of you without and signals or warnings

This is where we spent the last two nights, tomorrow we'll be somewhere else 

I thought I'll join the herd...........no one will notice 

All is well

Kisses Henry