Day 4 (June 19, 2018)   Bialowieza

Before   

   We should leave the lake district early as we'll have in front of us the longest road route in this travel, around 500 Km. We must end this day in Warsaw, but we want to stop by Bialowieza to enjoy the landscapes of the forest there and see some of the last European bisons in a reserve.

Route Masuria - Bialowieza - Warsaw

After

   Even having the breakfast at 9 AM, we’re fast and we leave before 10 AM. We’re driving through towns and over lakes until reaching the first main road. We spend the morning in the car with one single stop in a shopping mall in Bialystok. It should be a short ride from there, but the small road we take is full of works with red lights making long waits, so the way to Bialowieza feels like eternal.
Road to Bialowieza
   This area is full of stork nests where we can see one or even the two storks in there. The last part of the road is gorgeous, through the forest and the symbol of the bison everywhere.
Stork in nestBison monument
   We stop in the first restaurant we see at 3 PM and we get another delicious lunch there. A Polish soup and dumplings for me and a Russian soap with olives and duck for Eva. We pay 81 zlotys in total.
Typical Polish dumplingsBialowieza map
   After lunching we go to the Palace Park where we take a short walk enjoying this landscape.

Palace Park in BialowiezaPalace Park in BialowiezaPalace Park in BialowiezaPalace Park in Bialowieza
   In the tourist information office, set in front of the entrance of the park, we’re told there are a few animal reserves there. We choose Zubrow Reserve because we know where it is as we saw the signs on the road, and is the one we checked online, and because we can still get there before they close.

   We’re in the reserve 5 minutes before 5 PM and get the tickets quickly by 10 zlotys each. They close at 5:30 PM, but tickets sale stops at 5 PM, so we’ve been lucky this time.
Reserve ZubrowHorses in Reserve Zubrow
   Once inside, we observe the pack with some of the last specimens of European bison. Based on the prehistoric paintings, is clear it was a time they were everywhere in the continent.
European bison in Reserve ZubrowEuropean bison in Reserve Zubrow
  There are wild boars, wolves, deer, an elk… With this, we’re done with our shorter-than-desired visit to Bialowieza. Now we must head to Warsaw.
Little deer in Reserve ZubrowWolves in Reserve Zubrow
  We drive through long straight roads that are completely empty now. This may probably be because Poland is playing their game in the FIFA World Cup. When we reach Warsaw, we look for the Old Town to park and go to the apartment.
In our way to Warsaw
   Somehow, there is no one in the address of the apartment, only a sort of interphone where you can introduce a code. Nobody answers to the phone number we have for contact and a very kind local woman we can understand speaking Italian starts an investigation to help us. She finally fins a French couple that is allocated in that building and the man tells me we must go to the office for the key. I don’t know a thing about an office so I follow him to it. There, receptionist says mi booking is not with them, but a different company, but even then, she makes some calls until getting the details to get into the apartment. I should receive these details by email and I recall I haven’t checked email since we arrive at Poland.
Our apartment in WarsawWarsaw Market Square by night
   So, we finally get into the beautiful apartment thank of the kindness of all these people we’ve met today and made their best to help us.