At first when I drove in Poland, it was very unnerving to me. It reminded me of when Pennsylvania had three lane highways. The middle land was for passing. The two outside lanes used that one middle lane. Am I dating myself? I do not think they have them anymore. In Poland, they pretend they have a middle lane for everyone to pass. In some areas there were solid lines in the middle, which to me means that no one should be passing. They used it for passing anyway. I saw no accidents. Although benzene is more expensive, I found that the mileage the 2006 Ford Focus, which I rented, got better mileage than my American 2002 Ford Focus. The first time I went to Poland we traveled mostly on paved roads. My cousins took me to Szeszkupka and Wodzilki, which have unpaved roads. That area is a high tourist area, and the roads are well maintained. This time I rented a car, drove myself to several other remote villages. There was no rain, and the roads were okay. Most of them were of decomposed granite, which is like riding on thicker granules of sand. It drains very well. I could tell in some low areas, which were in forests as probably having drainage problems in the winter. The soil had more loam and decomposed matter in it. NE Poland has a lot of granite outcroppings. There are many lakes, which were formed in the iceage. It's very beautiful. When I came back from my first trip to the Suwalki area, I told everyone it reminded me of the Amish country in Lancaster, PA. NE Poland is all rolling hills and many lakes. They call it the Polish Siberia. Wizajny is usually the coldest place in Poland in the winter. We have a cousin, who recently married a man from Stankuny, not far from Wizajny. They are almost next to the Lithuanian border. Those hills are a lot taller than the rolling hills south of that. Tina Original Message: ----------------- From: Jack and Rose thankgod@optonline.net Date: Wed, 18 Jul 2007 14:30:23 -0400 To: polandbordersurnames@rootsweb.com Subject: Re: [PBS] Driving in Poland Hi Sandra The drivers in Poland are absolutely crazy and daredevils LOL They drive on an average of about 95 miles an hour,,, on two lane " expressways" One lane each way.... so its a STREET TO ME IN THE USA and these little cars PASS THREE 18 Wheeler trucks at the same time with ON COMING TRAFFIC... (Oh God was great and certainly protected us while we were there, prayers certainly were heard and answered) Thank God we had our wonderful friend Anna driving us all around... We did take a few taxi's around Warsaw and that was okay. But I could not imagine renting a car and driving around Poland I grew up in the NY METRO AREA and I thought we were " Crazy nutty drivers" Route 22 in New Jersey, especially for those that know what I am talking about.....and also thining about the Taxi Drivers in Manhattan..........but these people drive worse than we do. I read in a newspaper in Warsaw on the average there are 47,000 ( yes thousand) car accidents each year in Poland and many are FATAL..and. I can see why... but on the " good side" they have their steering wheels like us in the US on the LEFT SIDE OF THE CAR... not like other countries in Europe.. So if you dont have family or friends to drive you around in Poland, I highly recommend hiring private drivers ( private tour guides) or tour buses They are everywhere....and available. There is also mass transit ( these buses and trolly cars in Warsaw) but they are PACKED LIKE SARDINES and very hot and cramped. So we did not try that................... Gasoline ( "Benzyna") is VERY EXPENSIVE,, and we in the USA have NO RIGHT TO COMPLAIN ABOUT OUR GASOLINE PRICES! In Poland,,, its around 4+ Zloty per liter,,,,, if you think you need 4 liters to make a gallon of gasoline ( thats 4x4=around $16 zloty) its about $16-18 USDollars per GALLON.....................So one can see why mass transit is what most residents of Poland use to get back and forth to work. One US dollar is worth about 3 times( or a little less) of what a Polish Zloty is worth,,, so US Dollars go very far..... So I hope that answers some of your questions Sandra Ask away if you have any more God bless you all Rose Zydel Olson ----- Original Message ----- From: "Sandra" <skbdesign@yahoo.com> To: <polandbordersurnames@rootsweb.com> Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 9:16 PM Subject: Re: [PBS] My trip to Poland > Hi Rose, > > Glad you had a wonderful experience! > We would like to go to Poland next year... did you drive at all? If not , > how did you get around? I've heard that driving in Poland is worse than > driving in Italy! We survived that, but wonder if we should try it in > Poland. > > Thanks, > Sandra in sunny CA > > Jack and Rose <thankgod@optonline.net> wrote: > Hi Noreen > Thanks for asking > IT WAS BETTER THAN MY HUSBAND OR I EVER ANTICIPATED.... > > LOT air is great, I would highly recommend it to anyone thinking of > traveling to Poland or Eastern Europe > > We stayed in the Warsawa Westin Hotel in Warsaw > EXCELLENT, expensive, but well worth it > We had a banquet there for 20 family members that I have never met before > What a family Re-union or should I say UNION.... > > Family came from Belarus and all parts of Poland to meet my husband and I. > > Saw Warsawa, Krakow, Concentration Camps in Auschwitz. etc....Bialystok, > Poltusk, oh so many towns ( mostly Center of Poland, Southern Sections and > some Northern Sections of the country) > And the FARMLANDS ARE AMAZING.... > > I thought Lancaster County PA was beautiful, but nothing can compare to > the > rye, wheat farms in Poland > > Hugs and God bless you all > Rose Zydel Olson > > > > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: > To: > > Sent: Tuesday, July 17, 2007 6:57 PM > Subject: Re: [PBS] Enough Golobki Already!!! > > >> Hi Rose, >> Welcome back and how was the trip? >> Noreen >> >> >> >> ************************************** Get a sneak peek of the all-new >> AOL >> at >> http://discover.aol.com/memed/aolcom30tour >> >> ------------------------------- >> To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to >> POLANDBORDERSURNAMES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' >> without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message >> > > > > ------------------------------- > To unsubscribe from the list, please send an email to > POLANDBORDERSURNAMES-request@rootsweb.com with the word 'unsubscribe' > without the quotes in the subject and the body of the message > > > > --------------------------------- > Get your own web address. > Have a HUGE year through Yahoo! 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