Morning at the seaside, Tour to Wima Rally 2017, day 3

At 8:30 breakfast!
This news has shaken us yesterday. How shall we use the day when breakfast starts so late?
Since we have grown accustomed to getting up early, we are naturally awaken too early.
As we didn’t want to wait hours for the breakfast, not knowing what to do, we decided to visit the old Kahlberg and the East seacoast in a morning stroll.
(In the Pension Lotus, there were also many black and white photos from the era before the First World War)
Only a small climb from the hotel is necessary to reach the top of the Spit, and there is the original village.
It has its architectural origin definitely in Germany. Remaining houses and the small Franciscan monastery recall this past very emphatically and take us to another time. The following epochs have left their mark on the outside and are mixed with their architectural condition and architectural quality. 😉
The old town center is relatively small and so the further path leads us down again the ramp to the broad and sandy beach, which is empty and deserted at this time of the morning. Only a few joggers join us there.
The sand is still cool from the rain and so we pull of the shoes to stroll along the sea for a bit. The water feels fresh and does not invite you to a deeper walk in.

The fact, that we face a wonderful day at the Baltic Sea, will be noticed only in our second encounter, but we do not know yet.
Since Kahlberg (Krynica Morska) also has a red lighthouse as a landmark, we are looking for it. We have to search the coastline for a while until we can see it behind the treetops.
So we go uphill again, through a new part of the town, consisting of new luxury apartments, and there it stands in all its red splendor.
Unfortunately, the access is closed. So we can only walk around the foot of the tower, and imagine the view from above.
Meanwhile, the time has went by, therefore we head back to our pension.
There is already a group of German tourists waiting for the entrance (which is possible only from the garden, a strange construction). The door opens shortly afterwards and we discover a truly sumptuous breakfast buffet. The reviews on booking.com, which point to this fact, have not lied, omg! Well, we have already stimulated our appetite through the walk, so we can unrestrained enjoy  the many delicacies.
Later, we are groaning up the stairs to our room, to force ourselves into the – strangely somehow narrow-feeling – motorcycle clothes.
The loading of the machines is all the more speedy, getting used to the routine to strap the luggage to the motorcycle.

We start the engines and roll back the road, we went yesterday, a little way, then follow the course of the lagoon towards Elblag. There, after a short photo stop, we cross the canal to follow it for a short distance. The peculiarity of the canal is that it overcomes almost 90m heights in its course, not with locks, but with a railway similar system, which uses transport vehicles, to carry the ships over to the next hill 😉

At least ,now we are in Masuria.
Yes, Masuria! We had already read much at home about this largely unspoiled area, and of course were anxious to see whether the full-bodied stories would be true. The descriptions of wide arable land, many lakes and woodlands and small villages are very appropriate. In a sense, it is Waldviertel  (NW, Lower Austria) about 60 years ago with even fewer people.
Particularly striking are the many old avenues that line the narrow streets. These are closed by the high alley trees. Trucks are only allowed to drive with reduced speeds, otherwise the avenue is too much damaged.
So we move through the slightly hilly area, always interrupted by woodland and lakes, and sometimes a small village. So we move from west to east, preferably on the small minor roads. So we reached Elblag, there we cross the famous canal – with its railway similar ship transport system over the hills (hey, Fitzccaraldo was right!) and ride further on via Orneta, Dobre Miasto, Rezel,

Swieta Lipka (pilgrimage church holy Linden tree) and Ketrzyn.

Again and again we stop briefly for photos. What we already expected at the departure from the lagoon, at about 1pm onward, it starts to rain.
It is perfect that we have our rain cover handy, because except for short interruptions, the rain remains today and ensures a pleasantly cool, but unfortunately also moist Masuren.
Short before Ketrzyn, also known by the nearby bunker system Wolfschanze, the rain is so violent that we are glad that the next village on our route will be Gizycko (Lötzen), and thus the end of today’s planed track.
We drive through several centimeters high water puddles right in the hotel Masury yard.
Again we receive a large spacious room on the second floor including a perfect view on our parked motorcycles.
 Of course we hang our wet rain gear up to dry, and it looks in the room cozy chaotic already, good, that it is really big.
Afterwards we check the last online news and learn that our second team has been stopped by heavy rain and therefore is  staying in a hotel in Gizycko.  Hmm, Gizycko? Gizycko!

We are pleased to hear  that their  hotel is located about 1.4 km away, and we are organizing a meeting on the canal so that we can look for a common place for an exchange of experiences.

The rain has subsided a little now, so walk on foot to exercise our legs. We arrive at the canal just in time, to cross  the bridge, before it is locked, and afterwards swung for the passage of several boats. The rotating mechanism is still operated by hand. Later we read that the mechanism was operated with motors at some time, but the mechanics of the bridge were damaged by the strength of the motors. So they restored the old manual way.

The second attraction in Gizycko would have been the fortress Boyen, the best preserved in Masuria. But the visit unfortunately rains off.
We meet the CH.AT troop at the bridge and leave enter the nearby pizzeria Mariza. The choice is unfortunately not the best, both speed, as well as quality of the food are, from our point of view, rather mediocre.
This is, thank God, the only time on our trip that this happens, but we do not know yet.

But really, we don’t bother, we chat, exchange experiences  and the time flies by.
Before it gets dark (lol, it is only from 22:00) we are back in our hotel. Back to the route planning for tomorrow and for me there are also another pages in the diary to fill.

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