We packed up the caravan and were on our way. Our circuit around the Baltic Sea would truly begin in northern Poland after a long drive through Latvia and Lithuania. Somehow, towing our caravan, we made it all the way to Swieta Lipka for our first night. We recently spent a holiday in the Mazury Lakes and Gdansk area so, this time, we began in Leba, a beach town turned capitalist circus with everyone trying to get a slice of the pie. Leba took on the moniker "Tacky Town" for the remainder of our summer trip. Despite that, Slowinski National Park right on Leba's doorstep quickly took the sour taste of that town out of our mouths. The dunes and old villages of the park were a beautiful start to our time in Poland. From there, we followed Poland's Baltic coast westwards, spending a lovely evening in the lively coastal city of Ustka, then just passing by Mielno Beach and Koszalin before settling in for an afternoon in bustling Kolobrzeg. Nearby Trzebiatow was the quiet, historic town we were looking for and where Lauki got his first taste of Polish kielbasa (sausage). Rewal beach was the perfect place to camp out for the night before the busy, historic city of Szczecin and it's neighbor Stargard. Personally, visiting Szczecin was particularly important as I have heard this city's name many times in my childhood. I remember my parents telling stories of Szczecin as a haven of free thought and western traditions during the Soviet era, a place they could travel to to escape the regime. It was fascinating to discover that the Solidarnosc movement was actually born here following the 1980 riots and moved towards Gdansk after that. And, that is it, five jam-packed days in the motherland, getting a feel for what life along Poland's coast is like. Beautiful. Next: into Germany.
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