Good morning from sunny Skarzysko!
First day of my physiotherapy and an unusual experience. I handed the gel to the therapist, was told to sit down and uncover the knee. The therapist put some gel on the knee and started to slowly massage the joint making circular movements. Then she told me that I would need to do it by myself, because she had things to do on computer. I was flabbergasted. However, the woman disappeared. Fortunately, another one was going past and told me I wasn't doing it exactly right. Immediately I asked her to take over, because I never expected to be doing that myself, especially with my aching wrists. The other nurse explained to me that when they get really busy, patients are keen to implement the treatment themselves to make things quicker.
...
In the afternoon I biked to the forest by a small artificial lake called Bernatka. The road through the forest was very bumpy. I stopped the bike by a roadside shrine, soaked in the forest atmosphere and headed for the little footbridge over the stream that man forced to make a lake of the name Bernatka, the same as the stream. However, the bridge was in ruin...
When I set off, I couldn't resist stopping to take a picture of the fountain on the corner of Norwida and Sikorskiego Street.
The next time I stopped was after I crossed the busy Krakow - Warsaw road, in Paryska Street leading directly to Bernatka 'lake'. This time the sun was in the right place to let me take a good picture of the frog sign. Following the recent news about the growing population of wild boars, I will need to look around for 'BEWARE OF BOARS' signs. So far only frogs are featured. However, I think there should be signs for the amphibians 'KEEP CLEAR OF THE ROAD'. I've seen too many dead frogs in Paryska Street.
Please see the roadside shrine. You may know that is a typical sight in the Polish countryside. This one is in Bernatka, by the forest road that, as old people told me, had been paved by the Polish labourers forced by The Nazi German occupant.
Having picked but a few wild strawberries and blueberries, I biked back towards the bridge, to ride on along Bernatka 'Lake'. The bridge was not a bridge any longer, though...
Bernatka looked like a mere pond:
The once busy holiday spot, looked almost deserted, with only few people who came for the sun and forest air.
I chatted with an elderly couple in the shade who were very sad that their favourite getaway was in ruin. Than an elderly sunbather approached me eager to talk about the uniqueness of Bernatka and how much he misses its past glory, when there were lifeguards to look after swimmers as well as all the amenities. I remember these days very well. First with parents, then with friends, later with my own offspring I'd come here on sunny days.
Then I tried to find a way of biking around the lake to the right of the road, but that wasn't feasible either, so I started peddling back. I was tempted to take a different route, through the forest, but being on my own and with a lingering headache, I rode along the road. Then I saw a van full of bakery products. People were coming up and buying bread, buns and sweet buns with blueberry filling. I got tempted and bought the plain and the blueberry one. They were very cheap.
Then I stopped to look at these lovely horses:
And I met the baker's van on wheels again. How handy it is for the people who live in Bernatka. There hasn't been a shop down there for years. Those who have cars or can take a bus, are fine, but what about the rest: the ill, the weak, the elderly?
Last Sunday I discovered the place with fresh juices and I headed there after my bike ride. Freshly squeezed carrot juice was delightful.
Then I had a meal next door at The Wenecja Restaurant. It's a family business, now the mother has the juices and deserts sections, while 'the generation next' runs the restaurant, as the chatty lady told me. They had worked in Italy before they opened the restaurant, hence the inspiration.
I'm glad nobody was sitting here. Not everybody likes to be in the picture and I don't blame them.
It was a good day.
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