TRAVEL. ROAD TRIP. EASTERN EUROPE.

Driving East — Escaping the Work Routine

Day one of our short road trip to Poland

It was around midday when we got the message from our boss the day’s work had been canceled. And then it didn’t take more than half an hour and we were inside the car. I had packed all our essentials during the morning already so we were good to go.

We had three off days and were planning on driving East. Colleagues of ours gave us some tips on which cities to stop in and what to eat in Poland, but except for that, we were pretty clueless about what to do and where to go.

It had been a rainy and windy week and we didn’t expect the weather to get any better as we were going further East but the weather wouldn’t stop us from enjoying our little road trip.

The city of Stettin was our first stop. I followed the signboards but as we were crossing the border at 120kph (high five to the European Union and abolished border crossings), Stettin wasn’t written anywhere anymore.

“Szczecin” it was now. Of course, the German name of this place was abolished after the second world war. I should have known. However, we found our way into the city center and then parked the car somewhere underground.

We headed towards the old town following google maps at first and then the signboards we managed to read. Many old churches and historical buildings were to be found on our way.

What appeared to me to be the center of town was a square of many historical buildings. Several restaurants were in the storefronts at the bottom but to my surprise, they were offering “traditional Thai cuisine”, “Japanese food” and Caucasian dishes.

We wanted to eat some traditional Polish food but we were clearly at the wrong place.

Just around the corner we found a small café and decided to sit down for a bit. I ordered a hot chocolate since I don’t drink coffee and chose a piece of cake I had no idea what it was.

Neither German nor English was helping us in communicating with the waiter but we were used to it and still managed to get what we wanted.

The café was decorated with love to the detail. I loved the paintings on the walls and the old lamps hanging from the ceiling. The chairs were basic but comfy. It was quiet inside. People were whispering while chatting with each other.

And I got marshmallows on top of my hot chocolate. That was a first for me.

After having warmed ourselves from the inside thanks to the hot drinks, we headed back out into the chilly air. The rain clouds had disappeared but the sun wasn’t strong enough to warm the air.

We decided to head back to the car on a different route than we came on. Walking through a small park and mainly on old cobblestone roads gave us a feeling of being in medieval times.

While we knew we wanted to eventually make it to the Baltic Sea, it was too far of a drive for the day since it was getting late in the afternoon. I was telling my husband to find a place to eat and sleep somewhere on the Szczecin Lagoon.

The lagoon is right at the border between Germany and Poland and goes North of the city of Szczecin.

My husband was the navigator while I was driving for the day and he directed me into a tiny fishing village called Stepnica. The roads weren’t really paved anymore and I was driving through potholes filled with water I didn’t know how far my tires would sink.

He said there was a lovely restaurant by the water and he shouldn’t be wrong.

Just as the sun was nearing the horizon, we arrived at the parking lot. An icy wind was blowing off the water and the temperatures were dropping rapidly. We still walked down to the lagoon to smile one last time for the day into the sun's rays.

Hundreds of seagulls were sitting ashore. It was clear to see, they were cold too.

We turned around and headed into the warm house of “Smażalnia Ryb” a local fish restaurant. We both ordered a fish sandwich or whatever they called it. It was delicious.

We also still had to find a place to sleep for the night even though we chose this parking lot as a backup plan. It was just a bit too bright for us with all the lamp poles.

I spotted a tiny road right next to the water leading up North on google maps. My husband guided me back through the construction work and past more potholes filled with water.

The sun had disappeared by now and it was getting really dark as we drove off on a lonely road in the backcountry. No lamp poles and no light whatsoever.

I was driving slow not knowing what would come behind the next corner and also didn’t want to hit a pothole in the road with too much speed. Not many but a few cars came past.

And then there was that one car behind me who didn’t want to overtake me disregarding how slow I was driving. It was pitch black outside, the road was narrow but not too narrow for locals to overtake me.

We got quiet inside the car. Both hanging in our own thoughts we imagined the worst possible. Someone was clearly tracking us. The more turnoffs I took the creepier it got. The car just kept on following us.

There was no way he was going to the same destination as us. David had selected a tiny campsite on the side of the lagoon with the hopes we’d still get in there.

But now this road was leading us away from any kind of civilization and this car was still behind us.

I decided it was time to talk. It got eerie quiet inside our car and I started telling the story when a car in Namibia was following us and David, my husband, just told me not to stop. Luckily we had a full tank and so I just kept on driving until finally, a police checkpoint came up where I pulled over and waited until that other car drove 3 times past the checkpoint.

David said it wasn’t very smart to bring up such a story in such a scary situation. I’d say, I was scared and didn’t like the silence. And this was the only story coming to my mind.

Back to the road. I was told to turn off.

I turned off the tiny backcountry road onto a gravel road.

The other car behind us turned as well.

Now we got really quiet. I even stopped telling the story from earlier.

David said the campsite should be here somewhere but it was really dark and I couldn’t see much. There was a dead end in front of me. That much about don’t stop.

The car behind us turned off 5 meters further back.

What a relief. We both sighed, then looked at the map.

I guess that's where we also should have turned. I reversed and drove into the side street. Then I stopped behind the other car. A young German man just opened the gates of what appeared to be the camping site. He asked me if we also wanted to enter.

I nodded. I couldn’t talk.

Of course, they didn’t overtake us. They were tourists too.

I never checked the number plate when the car was driving behind me. It should have let me guess that we weren’t being followed by some locals somewhere in the backcountry of eastern Europe. Just another German couple driving back to the campsite after dinner.

We set up the mattress in the back of our car and opened a beer. It was what I needed after all that stress.

More about my travels through Europe:

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