I have done a few things right in my life but the best thing I ever did was marrying my favourite girl 40 years ago today!  There is nobody I would sooner travel life's journey with than the love of my life, Leslie.  Happy 40th, I love you BABE!!!  

Today we drove from Gdansk to a little village in the Czech Republic and booked into a luxury golf resort hotel.  We were very surprised to see that golf was so popular in that region.  There were plenty of exotic cars in the parking lot from Maserati's, all makes of BMW's & Mercedes. The resort had a lovely fine dining restaurant that we enjoyed a great anniversary dinner.  

The famous tournament Sberbank Golf Masters from the Ladies European Tour was held at the golf course from July 21 - 27, 2014.  Tomorrow morning we are off to Dachau,Germany to tour the Dachau Concentration Camp.

I think Leslie and I would both agree and boldly state that Gdansk was our favourite destination in Poland.  And to think we had our minds made up to avoid this place until our friend Adam convinced us it was a Polish destination we could not miss.  

We arrived yesterday mid afternoon with a welcoming blue sky and sunshine, something we hadn't experienced for over a week.  That certainly helped to bolster our opinion.  We checked into our apartment that was pretty basic, moderately clean but certainly acceptable by our most recent experience.  We checked into the apartment and decided to take advantage of the great weather by visiting the seaside village of Sopot which was well worth the 20 minute drive.  Sopot is quite a trendy spot with some beautiful oceanfront resorts and beautiful beaches.  The Poles were taking advantage of the limited sunshine by sporting there "Speedo's" and bikinis while we wimps were dressed in jeans, sweaters and shell jackets.  We were definitely overdressed for the occasion.  We were thoroughly impressed with this location and if it were up to me, I could have easily spent a few days in Sopot in one of the beachside resorts.  Leslie however cannot wait to starting heading south toward the sunshine and heat...HOPEFULLY!

Today we tour Gdansk and were equally impressed.  The city is very cosmopolitan, much more than the others we have visited.  The economy here appears to be pretty brisk with lots so cranes can construction going on.  You will see quite a number of exotic cars driving around and at times you would swear your in Vancouver or LA.  No tacky tourist trains or pesty street vendors here.  There are lots of expensive restaurants to chose from but unfortunately, we chose the wrong one for lunch today.  Oh well, a small price to pay for the overall enjoyment we had today.  Thanks Adam for giving us some great advice!

We returned to our apartment late afternoon to start preparing for our departure from Poland and back to Germany via, the border towns of Poland and Czech Republic, not sure of where we will hang our hat tomorrow evening.

We suspected Wrocław would be a tough act to follow and it was.  Our first disappointment upon arriving in Torun was the accommodation!  I am quite certain that the apartments were old tenement housing from the Communist era and not much had been done in terms of improvements.  After 40 years of traveling for business and pleasure you would think you would have mastered the art of selecting appropriate accommodation and that the brochures & photos do not always depict a true representation of the property.  Leslie & I are pretty diligent when it comes to screening our stays and in spite of our best efforts, you never are guaranteed what you will arrive to.  When traveling to certain regions in the world you have to be a little more tolerant and understand that not everybody has the same high standards when it comes to cleanliness and expected amenities.  My initial draft of this blog was going to include the website address of this accommodation which I felt was totally misleading and let you be the judge.  I changed my mind after receiving a call today from a distraught landlord who was very distraught and disappointed with the review I left on Airbnb.  She seemed like a very nice person and after some serious thought, I decided against posting her site.  I truly believe she thinks her place is a palace.  We just come from two different worlds. 

We are into our 3rd month of our European Adventure and all of our accommodations have been booked with either Booking.com or Airbnb.  Our youngest son referred us to Airbnb which he uses extensively and highly recommends.  I would estimate that at least 90% of our bookings this trip have been with Booking.com. We have had one minor incident where the host did not honour a reservation we completed with Booking.com as a result of a double booking through anther site.  Booking.com resolved the issue within days to our total satisfaction by offering us a generous credit that they applied directly to our credit card.  We have been very satisfied with our bookings through Booking.com but unfortunately not quite as satisfied with Airbnb.  Not sure why but maybe it has something to do with the billing arrangements.  Booking.com charges the host a fee which I am told is between 15-20% of the billing.  Airbnb bills the client upon booking and from our experience it appears to be approximately 12%.  We have been told that Booking.com has strict rules when it comes to accepting a host and I am not sure if Airbnb has the same guidelines.  For example, booking will not accept a host if their accommodation is within so many meters of one of their existing clients.  Bookings reviews are a "one time" format meaning that you have one opportunity to post a review with not replies or rebuttals by either host or client.  It seems with Airbnb, the host always has the final say but I could be wrong.  Airbnb encourages you to settle any dispute or problem you have directly with the host.  Booking.com appears to take more of a "hands on" approach.  Also, try contacting Airbnb!  It is next to impossible!!

In any event, I think the client is basically left to due their due diligence in gathering all the information they can about their accommodation provider outside the booking site to try to obtain a totally and honest opinion and review of the property.  Airbnb tends to specialize more in apartments where Booking deals with hotels and guest houses, although they do have some apartments.  From our experience, Airbnb has a better selection of apartments in the bigger centers around the globe.  We always try to obtain a review from TripAdvisor before finalizing a booking with any site but you cannot obtain a review on an individual apartment unit.  Therefore, you have to rely totally on the reviews you read on the site and I really question the authenticity on many of the reviews we have read.  I am not sure what sort of screening process these websites have in place to police the accuracy and source of the review but there definitely is room for some major improvement.

But to be fair to these sites, not everybody share the same opinion therefore it becomes an impossible task to try to provide a review that will accurately describe everybody's wants and needs.  We will continue to use both Booking.com & Airbnb but remember... "BUYER BEWARE, CAVEAT EMPTOR".

We are thoroughly enjoying Wrocław, beautiful city, fabulous apartment, great host, what more could you ask for.  The weather could be a little better as it has been raining off and on for the past couple of days. Thanks again Dorota for allowing us to stay in your stunning apartment and stocking the fridge for us. You are a wonderful host!

This morning we woke up to a "blue blazer" sunny and warmer...YES!  Good thing as we decided to extend our stay here another day and basically relax.  Yesterday we spent the afternoon touring the town center, which was probably the best we have seen yet.  Some amazing architecture and colourful buildings.  Lots of people milling around despite the crappy weather.  These Europeans are hardy souls!  We may head out this evening and stroll in the square again.  Dorota tells us it is an incredible place to be in the evening when the buildings and bridges are lit up.

Off to Torun tomorrow.  Our apartment host has has a friend Ela who has graciously offered to to show us the town and provide us with some history.  We are looking forward to that.  She is also an distributor for a Belgian Chocolate company and has offered to bring us some free samples.  Now that we are really looking forward to.

We left a beautiful hotel in Srebrna Góra this morning to travel through the hilly countryside to Wrocław.  Initially, we were a little reluctant to visit another big city but a young Polish couple we met in Slovakia insisted we visit this place.  They were bang on!!  Just when we thought it couldn't get any better, we rolled up to this gorgeous apartment completely restored inside and out.  I wouldn't even want to guess what they spent on the reno's but I can assure you, it was plenty.  The entry, the halls, new elevator, hand painted artistry on the walls...5 Star Plus!  We were greeted at the door by our host Dorota and the moment we walked through the door of the apartment, we immediately wanted to extend our stay.  Absolutely fantastic!  She gave us the tour and opened the fridge to show us the sausage her husband had made for us, fresh bread on the counter,  We couldn't believe our luck.  So at this moment we are checking to see if we can extend our stay here and delay our visit to the next apartment and keeping our fingers crossed.

Okay enough about the apartment and the great people that own it.  After dinner we decided to take a walk to the village, a 5 minute walk from the apartment.  Undoubtedly, this is the most beautiful historic village we have visited to date.  Unfortunately, we had to end our walk a little early to get our internet connected but tomorrow should be a fabulous day.  You will have to check our Travel Album on Wrocław tomorrow.

Okay here is our take on Poland after a week.  The bigger cities we have visited so far just north of the Slovakian border are dirty, look a little sketchy and often difficult to navigate due to road closures or re-routing.  We are seeing a lot of abandoned buildings, most in total disrepair and often occupied by squatters.  It often looks like something out of a war zone.  The countryside is very pleasant, clean, friendly and some lovely areas to tour.  The drivers here are very polite and you seldom hear a horn honking even when I am sitting at a green light day dreaming for 30 seconds.  They are so polite they are borderline whussy's, driving 60 kms in a 90 zone which is very common.  You certainly don't seem to see the psycho drivers you do in some European countries.  Food here is ridiculously cheap and you often wonder if it is worth the time and effort to buy groceries other than to try to get a healthy meal in.  They love their breads, perogies sausage and lots of other high carb foods.  We love them too but we are beginning to feel the effects with the pants starting to tighten around the waist line.  Seems like a large majority of the population here smokes.  It is pretty disgusting when you go to a restaurant in some of these countries and people are blowing smoke in your face while your trying to enjoy your meal.  Getting back to dining, you can go to a nice restaurant here and dine for $10-15 for two including wine or beer.  No such thing as a free glass of water with your meal and that applies to most of Central & Eastern Europe.  You will be charged for tap water and bottled water is often more than beer or pop.  So the lesson here is don't drink the water, drink beer!  The food in Poland is fabulous with the exception of the meal we had tonight, the first time we have been burnt since we started this trip.  Should have taken the hint when there was nobody in the restaurant at prime time.  Accommodation is very cheap as well.  You get a beautiful room which often comes with breakfast for $40 to $60.  I don't know how they do it in these countries.  Gas at the pump is over $2/litre, groceries the same price or more than North America on an average wage of $400 to $500 Euro a month.  
We have found that very few  speak English in Poland and it has been a little challenging from time to time trying to communicate.  Ordering food in a restaurant is always an adventure when the menu is in Polish. so hand signals and improvisation is quite common.  It's always worth a good laugh and you often get a surprise but always in a good way.  We have found the Polish people to be great sports with a big heart!  All this being said, we are really enjoying our time in Poland so far.

Once again, we have discovered a bit of paradise in Poland.  We arrived early yesterday evening at our hotel at Srebrna Góra, a tiny mountainside village in southwest Poland.  Both the region and the hotel we are staying at are magnificent.  Our room is huge beautifully appointed, like most of the others we have had in Poland.  I cannot stress the enough the bang you get for your buck in Poland but I would suggest staying away from the bigger cities, especially if your on a limited timetable.  Like usual, most of the hidden gems are in the countryside and your are avoiding the crowds and tourist traps.  The people are incredibly kind and helpful but not many are speaking English so that is a bit of an obstacle but often proves to be pretty entertaining and comical trying to get your message across.  We have had many good laughs.

We are going to spend the day hiking and site seeing in the surrounding area.  It is going to be a great day for it.

We always look forward to leaving the big city for the countryside and today was no exception.  Bytom was an ugly city with many areas looking like the ghettos of NYC.  The hotel was great and close to Auschwitz so all in all, it was good.  We made three stops today, 2 were great and the other was a turkey!  

Our first stop was Castle Moszna, about a 45 minute drive from Bytom.  Many call this the Disney Castle for good reason.  They look identical.  The exterior was very impressive but the interior had nothing but some beautiful hand carved woodwork.  It took no more than an hour to cover the place but it was still well worth the trip.  

The second stop was Klodzko that is home to the historic fortress.  This was a turkey and definitely could be on the miss list.  

Third and final destination was the Skull Chapel that house the remains of over 23,000 people killed in the 30 Year War (1616 -1648).  It was both fascinating and gross at the same time.  The skulls of the family that build the church are on display at the front alter. 

We capped off a great day by checking into another wonderful hotel in Srebrna Góra perched on a hilltop overlooking the lush countryside and small village below.

I want to start by commending Leslie on organizing our daily site seeing itinerary and accommodations for the 4 months we are on the road.  This is no easy task and she has done an incredible job, as she always does in everything she tackles.  Every afternoon and evening, she spends hours on the internet, reading brochures and studying maps, researching where we should go in the upcoming days.  Even though we are here for 4 months, we are only seeing a fraction of what there is to see, so filtering through all the info and deciding what to visit is an extremely daunting task.

Today she took us to Jasna Góra Monastery, a working monastery approximately 1 hour from our apartment.  This was probably one of the best tours we have done to date.  Jasna Góra Monastery is spectacular.  The architecture is outstandingly beautiful and the priceless artefacts are on display in abundance and best of all, it is all FREE!  Donations are excepted.  We climbed the 516 stairs to the top of the 109 meter tower and took advantage of the fabulous view from the top.  The weather cooperated with the skies opening up for the entire day and temps in the mid 20's...beautiful!  We were back at the hotel in time for happy hour and polish food...another great day!  Tomorrow we head to the mountain region for a couple of days.  Great job Leslie!!!