I left Kaliningrad early this morning and, as I rode, spent much of the day thinking about the generosity of Valery and his family. Despite their cramped and humble Soviet-era flat, they were extraordinarily welcoming and generous in opening their home (and city) to me, including sending me off with a big stack of delicious blini wrapped in foil. It was really very humbling and left me with warm and certainly enduring memories of Kaliningrad. It is human relationships that truly create meaning and connect us to places.
My cycling clothes drying in the hall outside their flat.
Mailboxes in foyer
Blini parting gift, which really hit the spot for lunch.
As I rode towards Poland, I passed through some lovely countryside with little well-loved dachas,
and passed this hip guy, striking a pose while waiting at a bus stop in the middle of wheat fields.
Fortunately leaving Kaliningrad Oblast (province) was much less eventful than entering. The Polish border guards gave me the VIP treatment and let me ride by a long line of cars right up to the front.
The Polish Baltic Sea coast is dotted with small farming towns, pretty brick churches and country roads.
It made for excellent riding and now I am in Malbork, Poland staying with my second Warmshowers host family, Lucas, Camile and their cute son Adam, with whom I have been playing trains and practicing my Polish animal vocabulary, which totally cracks him up.
“Krowa…moo”
“Kot…meow”
“Pies…woof”
And so on and so forth.
I am not sure how many Warmshowers stays I will have on this trip but getting to meet families and stay in their homes has been a lot of fun and has added a whole different and deeper dimension to traveling through these countries.
smallchainringbigworld 
I imagine, Gabe, the feeling is mutual with your host families. Like the thoughtful choices of our culture aboard the Voyager mission, we are well served by your representation, I’m sure. Of course, the kit hanging in the hallway probably isn’t part of the Field Manual but we trust your quick pick-up of local animal vernacular more than made up for it! Happy riding and say hi to the motherland for papa Kelmak (aka Clem).
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Message for Shannon via Gabe’s Europe tour: Let me look at your Instagram feed so I can follow your trip, man. Ridiculous.
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Yes! Beautiful photos!
No coffee shots recently — what’s the situation?
Everything holding together on your rig?
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Oddly thus far it’s been hit or miss with coffee. Have been drinking whatever I can find (didn’t bring a stove).
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Dude find a camp store post-haste, no?
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Looking good Gabe. Great photos and updates; it’s great to see this unfold. I look forward to keeping up on this and to the next time we see each other.
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That’s right. I used “great” twice in one sentence.
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Omg!!
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Gabe!! Fantastic pictures that give the flavor of people and places. Thank you. Therese sent me the link and posts – am so interested to see them all. Enjoy your ride and the people you connect with. Love, Dana
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Hi Dana! Thanks so much!
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On the 8th photo there is the cathedral in Frombork, where is located the grave of Nicolaus Copernicus.
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