Every Fall, for the last 5 years or so, the riders have ridden downtown, hopped on a local train and headed south for an hour or so and got off at a small town called Warka (VAR-kuh)... which is more infamously known as the home of Warka beer and the same company's 'Strong Man' competition held annually... but it's also home to some of the largest apple groves in the central Poland area.
Fortunately, we had some jovial train conductors whom didn't seem to mind us piling on our bikes on the train. Apparently they've had some real assholes in the past... but it's legal to carry them on anyway. Our train was crammed, and it was quite a sight seeing the locals crawl over the bikes just to get to the toilet, too!
Warka's a small town, obviously with some WWII heritage. There were two memorials in town, one was a MIG fighter plane and this unique sculpture/memorial:
Perhaps there were several men in the Polish Navy and this represents a battleship's canon... but it also looks like inspiration for Freddy Krueger's claws to me!
Attending this fun trip was Jill and I, Rolf, Beth, Doug, Nic, birthday boy George, Theresa and Lisa. We also got some Polish assistance from Mary, who's Polish, to help us translate our desires to pick people's apples... and that we'd pay them for them, too. This was our first time on the ride and the group was returning to a nice man's home/orchard whom was kind enough to let them pick there last year. In fact, last year he wouldn't accept money, so this year Rolf and Beth baked him a classic American Apple Pie and gave it to him in a beautiful Boleslawiec dish. After Mary left (she had driven down to deliver the pie) I was the sole translator... which wasnt' so easy!
The kind, easy-going owner had 2 kinds of apples-one which was like a Macintosh and he had unfortunately just picked his Ligols, Poland's best, most crisp red apple. We were only allowed to pick from his orchard, but his neighbor's apples were a different variety and were just too good to resist... so we had to grab a few!
We thanked the man and said we'd see him next year, loaded our panier bags and headed on a ride through more scenic countryside and picked the occasional apple while still on our saddles cruising along the rural roads. The weather held out for us, not too cold, not too windy and just enough sun to soak up before the long, dark winter ahead. Plus, we had all the apples we wanted to eat. George and Beth were surely the most aggressive at nabbing (i.e. stealing) apples w/o permission!
We found a nice spot for a communal lunch and showed off our goods:
Bellies and bikes loaded, we continued our tour of the surrounding region, all doing our best to avoid the busier roads... and also avoiding central Poland's dreaded sand paths. The retreating glaciers during the last ice age made a mess of this country, pulverizing and removing its top layers of solid soil. I'm glad this isn't serious earthquake country. Rolf has a knack for finding the sandiest (hardest to ride) paths, so at one point the group split, one taking asphalt, the other gravel and dirt, not knowing the type of terrain ahead.
