Exploring Lublin and Beyond (feat. Dick Jagger)
That's gonna be a totally photo-overloaded post, sorry!
I met a guy nicknamed Dick Jagger (36 now) as a drummer for the original Polish punk-rock band ZWŁOKI 8 years ago. Our friendship has been building slowly; meanwhile Piotr left his hometown of Wrocław (Breslau) for Lublin in East Poland for personal reasons. Jagger got very interested in my e-bike escapades (which I report on FB), and he expressed great eagerness to ride together. The day has come: I have been preparing for the trip to Lublin (that included taking the Trance and the Vado with my station-wagon and considering the weather conditions) for a week. At 10:00 on Saturday, I met Jagger in the Old Town of Lublin, where he lives in a beautiful loft in an ancient town-house.
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Meet Jagger. Mr. Dick Jagger.
Lublin! The city that is never mentioned as a major tourist attraction of Poland. How wrongly! In the 15th-16th c. the Renaissance city was at the top of its importance and power. Here, King Casimir IV Jagiellon issued an edict giving freedom to Jews. Here, Poland and Lithuania created their Commonwealth in 1569, forming a European superpower state. Here, Prussia paid the Second Homage to the Kingdom of Poland in the same year. The city was saved from destruction in 1944 by a rapid action of the Soviet Army, preserving the city's beauty. Here, Soviet Union created the Communist Poland in 1944, too. The city that was in decline even 20 years ago is
gorgeous now.
Many of you might have heard the name of "Lublin" because it was very important Jewish city before WWII. The author Isaac Bashevis Singer published his "The Magician of Lublin" novel in 1960, and that won him the Nobel Prize. A movie based on the novel (with the title song performed by Kate Bush) was released in 1979.
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However, we rode down the Lubartowska St. to see the Lublin Land at our journey start. A friend has told me the same place was a grim, dirty and dangerous location just 20 years ago. Now, there are flowers everywhere.
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At the border of Lublin and Łęczna counties. Jagger, as an early Millenial is in love with the modern technology so he caught on the idea of e-bike instantly. As a relatively young drummer, he is strong. He rode (on the average) half of the whole distance in the Off mode with the Eco mode for ascents, against headwind, and to ride faster.
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Jagger and me in the park of Zawieprzyce, 22 km from the trip start. "Zawieprzyce" means "a place beyond the River Wieprz". The name of the river Wieprz means "Hog" ![Big Grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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Our Eastern province (voivodship) of Lublin borders with Belarus and Ukraine. The Land of Lublin is mostly a farming country, although the chemical and aerospace industry can also be found there.
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Polish farmland is only rarely fenced, so we could eat delicious redcurrant straight from the plant at road-side.
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Jagger was an excellent ride companion, and he is a humorous person! Here, attempting to do the wheelie next to the redcurrant plantation ![Big Grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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The Land of Lublin is rich with cereals (there's even famous "Lublin Flour"!)....
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...hops, and tobacco. The soil is fertile there. A hops plantation can be seen in the picture. The "Lubelski", "Marynka", "Sybilla" etc. hops varieties contribute to the taste of Polish lager beers (nine hops varieties are grown in the Land of Lublin).
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A family of storks was very interested with us
(Any prosperous Polish village has to sport a stork nest).
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We were able to find an excellent Polish restaurant "Oleńka" in the county-town of Łęczna. The soup called "chłodnik" or the "cold soup" was just delicious! I could describe the food served at Oleńka as "true Eastern Polish home-made countryside meals served with a city elegance". Oh my! That was really good!
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A horse on the Hog (meadow).
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-- "Your Trance is a lot of a bike!" -- mentioned Jagger upon first seeing the e-bike. It doesn't look as big in the picture here, does it. Here, we felt powerful after the lunch. Jagger put the POWER mode on and disappeared at the distance. He hit 51.5 km/h on the flat and also hit the speed limiter
Oh no! I switched to the Turbo mode on my Vado, applied the cadence of 110 rpm and went into the hot pursuit. I hit the limiter at 47.4 km/h ![Big Grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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The harvest has just begun. (Do you call the machine "a combine harvester" in English? If so, the Polish name for it is "kombajn").
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The youngest airport in Europe: The Lublin Airport (LUZ) in Świdnik. I didn't know it existed before I saw it!
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I was stunned with the beauty of Lublin...
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Just remove the cars, road-signs and the antenna, and you are back in the Jewish Lublin...
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Lublin! The city unknown to the tourist crowds!
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The European Centre for Meetings and Culture. You can even find an excellent craft-beer pub there, Browar Zakładowy. And the vista point at the roof.
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Jagger was testing climbing and handling capabilities of Trance E+ there. For your information, the Vado 5.0 could climb to the half of the incline there only.
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Jagger was also testing the full-suspension in Ogród Saski (The Saxon Garden). It is not the Saxon Garden of Warsaw!
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Krakowskie Przedmieście (The Cracow Suburb) in Lublin. It is not the Cracow Suburb of Warsaw! ![Smile :) :)](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
Lublin is a university city. There is the Marie Curie University and the Catholic University of Lublin as well as several smaller private universities in the city. That makes the city young and fashionable.
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Brama Krakowska (The Cracow Gate) of Lublin. It is not the Cracow Gate of Ojców, Lesser Poland! ![Big Grin :D :D](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
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The (Renaissance) Main Square of Lublin. You actually needed a 15 mm ultra-wide-angle lens there to cover the square in it's entirety. My lens wide-end was at 24 mm, unluckily.
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The Magician of Lublin.
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"Święty Spokój" (Peace of Mind), a bookstore and vinyl record store combined with a cafe. Just like in America.
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The Lublin Castle.
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45 miles in Lublin and beyond. The stats have been updated from the Vado's display.
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Within Poland. It takes 2 hours drive from my place to Lublin over the excellent S17 freeway. It will be 1.5 h when the new Southern Warsaw Beltway has been finished.