Poland > On the way to Poland

It is already dark when we leave around half past six in the evening. Although the evening rush hour is already easing, the navigation system warns of a significant delay near Amsterdam. We are advised to exit the highway at Aalsmeer and take back roads to the A9. This should save about twenty minutes. Back on the highway, we drive eastwards along with the traffic. Past Amersfoort, an accident has occurred. All traffic must merge into one lane, resulting in an unavoidable traffic jam. After two hours of driving, we cross the Dutch-German border. We have decided to drive today to just past the border near Osnabrück. This will make tomorrow’s journey to Poland shorter and give us more time to explore Poznan. About thirty kilometers before Osnabrück, we turn off at the town of Rheine. Along a dark road through the forest, we drive to our hotel in Mesum. Light mist drifts across the road. We arrive at Hotel Borcharding precisely at half past nine. In the cozy restaurant, we are immediately welcomed: “You must be the van der Veer family.” We are probably the only guests, or at least the last ones. The room is quickly shown to us. In the room, we end the first day with a glass of wine.

Poland - The old merchant houses on the central Rynek of Poznan