Travel / Motorcycle tour of Poland [137]

Sweet, right out of the movies (and Kiev is a perfect backdrop)... when you have a rough itinerary, give me a buzz... maybe we will meet at a crossroads somewhere between here and there (Poland's about the size of Arizona, can't be that difficult)... if it works, cool... if not, next time...

Travel / Motorcycle tour of Poland [137]


hey! when you headin' out?

News / Russian air traffic controllers ignored communication protocol of Polish pilots? [194]


sounds a little like: "certain unnamed sources said..." still can't completely buy that one... particularly from a Russian... in the system (I've had some experience with Russians and Eastern Ukraininans explaining to me their version of Polish history - and I'm not even Polish ;-)

On the other hand, a young, hot-shot, indestructible, ueber-pilot isn't beyond the realm of possibilities either (remember what happened to the last pilot who said "no")...

To Jed: thanks for the graphics; lots of good info/details there.. has got me thinkin'... can you tell if there's a rise just east of that secondary road (the 'loop' just east of the main highway)? Looks like the trees got clipped a lot shorter there...

News / Russian air traffic controllers ignored communication protocol of Polish pilots? [194]


Yes, google:
AN/CRN-2 (from WWII)
AN/TRN-45 (MMLS)
D-ILS (Deployable ILS)...

....spent 10 years in the Air Force - RADAR (Radio Detection and Ranging), EW (Electronic Warfare), AC&W (Aerospace Control and Warning Systems), GCI (Ground Controlled Intercept), ACT/DACT, FACP, ASRT, ROMAD, G-FAC... yeeeeaaaahhhh! (god, I am SO gald to out of the world of acronyms and nomenclatures ;-)

...stuff like that...
NOT ATC (Air Traffic Control)... kinda the opposite... instead of keeping birds apart... we put 'the good guys' on target... if you catch my drift...

Mobile or deployable ILS... pretty much child's play these days (depending on the required level of precision/safety/application needed)... personally, I prefer my trusty ol' GPS ;-)

BTW, just Googled/Wiki'd Smolensk airstrip; looks like it's abou tthe size of a regional airstrip in the States... hell, the Russians even had IL-76's (50-ton transporters) staioned there until last fall... hmmm....


I assume we are talking about XUBS (the Airbase)... not LNX (nearby civilian Airport - which was too small for a TU-154)

News / Russian air traffic controllers ignored communication protocol of Polish pilots? [194]


where did you hear/see that? (regardless of credibility... sometimes the origins can be tracked down and thus validated or negated)

Law / Visa Stamp if you overstay (American with a Polish Wife) [29]

Actually, I had a similar situation when my visa was due to expire while awaiiting the paperwork/appointments for our marriage - here in Poland (I'm American, she's Polish).

The Ursąd Wojowódzkie folks here in Wroclaw told me that there is an exception to the Schengen rules for Americans here in Poland (which, evidently kinda pissed off some others, like the Germans); as before, all an American has to do is leave Poland (i.e. not necessarily Schengen) and the 'meter' resets like before (i.e. not 90 days every 180)... but that this is only valid for Poland... I had conveniently just come back from a weekend trip to Czech Rep and had hotel, bank and gas reciepts which they accepted in lieu of an entry/exit stamp (there's commonly nobody at the border crossings to even ask for a stamp anymore)... the fact that I was already registered (at her and her mom's address) seemed to simplify things too.

On my second Karta Pobytu now; first one was for 1 year, second one for 2 years... the third one should be for either 3 or 5 years.
FWIW

News / Russian air traffic controllers ignored communication protocol of Polish pilots? [194]

I'm still leaning toward the idea that the pilot was "encouraged" to operate outside of the reasonable envelope of safety.
I am very curious to know if there was functioning ILS equipment present at Smolensk the week prior when Vlad the Putin landed there... and, if so, what happened to it?

UK, Ireland / Polish opinion of England as a country and the English nation [64]

Helen Mirren, big stone fireplace, bear-skin rug, lots of red wine...
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!! (need to go take a cold shower... or something...)

Travel / Best place to exchange money in Poland? [98]

Generally, your best exchange rate is when you make purchases with your card (Visa?) - it's closer to the "commercial rate" (the rate that large instituions get when exchanging funds - your transactions are handled in a similar way).

Second should be most ATMs - the ATMs for EuroNet seem to give me the best rates
Third is the large kantor chains in the city - NEVER at the airport!! - and the smaller ones have a pretty wide range... could be good, could be horrible.

The difference between ATMs and the large Kantors is a matter of a couple of groszy...
$100 at 2.81 vs. 2.83 is 281zl vs. 283zl... 2zl doesn't (shouldn't ;) make a big difference...
On the other hand, Credit Card transactions (purchases) can be a much as 0.10zl better... each purchase probably not making a big difference (unless you're buying a car ;) but, several purchases can add up... also, some US banks are beginning to charge for overseas transactions/conversions at ATMs but, because of the way the system works, it would be very difficult to process overseas credit card transactions (purchases) separately. (i.e. with the Debit-style credit cards).

I've been living in Wroclaw for over 4 years now, and my retirement check still goes to a credit union in Wisconsin and I have been accessing my money via my bank card (Visa Debit) the entire time (both ATM and credit card purchases)... the only bummer is when the card is lost or damaged... getting a replacement while out of country is a ral pain... and you go hungry 'til the card shows up and you have access to your cash... :-/

Travel / Motorcycle tour of Poland [137]

Just to throw another one out there... kind of a long-shot;
trying to re-locate a biker bar hidden in the mountains in southern Poland... met a Polish rider on the side of the highway a couple of years ago... he spoke very little english and spoke no Polish... we played "fighter pilot" through some great twisties for a while then he led me to this place... it was pretty quiet inside a the time and **** weather outside so the owner just had us park the bikes inside the bar... pretty big place... relatively new.

would really like to find the place again (and the roads around there).
I'm guessing the area would be somewhere... if you drew an arc on a map from, roughly, Karpacz to Wałbrzych to... Zabkowice Sląskie(?)... it took about 1.5 to 2 hours to get back to Wrocław afterward... nuts, should have paid more attention... there was also a small, tree-canopied road that followed a creek in the foothills for quite a while... stopped-off at the home of a a retired Wrocław professor that had moved to a little chata on the "river" there... she made fresh goat cheese on thursdays...

thought I'd give it a shot...
g'nite y'all

Travel / MEDYKA TO LWOW TO KIEV...whats the road like...? [19]


... some photos... jsut for fun...

BTW How are your kidneys? ;-)

Travel / MEDYKA TO LWOW TO KIEV...whats the road like...? [19]

Thanks... been ridin awhile myself... started about 14-15... 52 now... you may be right about the wife though... the bike is a GS... a 1000cc "dirt bike" with a 36 liter tank... the bike and i have been to Prudhoe Bay (the last 400-odd miles was washed-out gravel)...

The trip to Guatemala was... interesting (do cows sleep in the middle of the road in Ukraine? ;-)
...did the bus ride from Donetsk to Lviv last year... the slams from the potholes wasn't as bad as the constant side-to-side slamming caused by the bus trying to climb out of the deep ruttted tracks... and not nearly as bad as "public transportation" in Belize (riding in the open back of an over-populated Toyota HiLux down hours of "washboard")

Ukraine was one of the reasons I brought the GS over... might advise the wife to stay closer to home 'til she gets her "road butt"...

thanks for the info though... might take you up on that piwo and kielbasa (any idea where to pick up a decent chunk of dead cow meat around here?) ...mebbe in the near future...

spaciba... djakuju... or whatever they say over there... ;-)

Travel / MEDYKA TO LWOW TO KIEV...whats the road like...? [19]

hey all, thinking about a short trip to UKR - novostavtsi/rivne... the wife has family around there.
Planned on crossing at Korczowa/Krakovets - heard it isn't normally as backed-up as medyka/shehyni... opinions? oh yeah, the wife's Polish, speaks Ukrainian fluently.

Also, anyone taken a US-registered vehicle across? still runnin my bike on the Wisconsin plates... my green insurance card is from PZU here in Poland but, oddly, not valid outside the EU... wierd... my other Beemer and the VW Polo have Polish plates and the green card is pretty much valid anywhere this side of The Pond...

buy a 'green card' at the border?
hmm...
all my other docs should be in order - even have a certified Polish translation of my US vehicle title on hand...
thanks for any ideas/pointers

"...I know, it's only rock 'n roll... but I like it..."

Travel / Motorcycle tour of Poland [137]

oh yeah, one more thing; I'm fluent in German and can manage to get myself pretty well-fed... and really plowed... in Spanish ;)


ah (duh)... interested, always... might be a bit of a stretch this year... wife needs to see Amerika and I'm planning on abusing myself and the GS in Ukraine if there's anything left... but, ya never know...

Travel / Motorcycle tour of Poland [137]

From Poland to... ZA?

Travel / Which cities in Poland are nice to visit [80]

Wroclaw Wrocks!!
(the Jewish Quarter of Krakow is pretty cool too...)

Travel / Motorcycle tour of Poland [137]

FWIW... American (52), living in Wroclaw for a few years now, been riding for decades... (North & Central America, Continental Europe), bought an '83 BMW R80RT in driveable condition via Allegro.pl (Polish E-bay) from a used bike dealer/importer in Rzeszow (Rzeszów) about 4 years ago for 6000zl (exchange rate was about 3.50-4.00 to 1 USD - now it's about 2.80 :( ... the dealer took care of most of the paperwork - inspection, etc. registered in a Polish friend's name at the time as I was an Alien ;) Insurance - "Ubezpieczenia Samochodowego" - (liability only) is about 166zl/yr. (PZU - the biggest in Poland, or Alliance, etc.)- the bike is insured, not the driver and is based on engine displacement; insurance is good for the EU... you need to ask for a green International Motor Insurance Card - "Międzynarodowa Karta Ubezpieczenia Samochodowego" - for places like Ukraine.

Some notes, particularly for non-EU (i.e. "Aliens")
Brought my '91 BMW R100GS Paris-Dakar over last November ('09) - for Ukrainian highways... and beyond :-0 - from Chicago to Warsaw - Polish company in Chi-town "PolAmer" cost about $750, including crating. Submitted the original, clean title to customs for "permission" to "export"... the whole process, from riding it to PolAmer in Chicago and picking it up at PolAmer in Warsaw took about 5 weeks (by ship) - they FedEx'd the title back to me in Poland - and cost less than $900 and as good as no confusion. Brought it in as a "Tourist", had to run into the city, to the main PZU office to buy the insurance (at this time, branch offices aren't familiar with how to do it)... insurance can only be purchased monthly - currently 11zl/month. Tourist import papers are only good for 6 months, have a Polish translation of your title at all times, particularly if you are non-EU... they get "curious" when you're driving around with a Wisconsin license plate ;)

Drivers are agressive, you should be too, drunks aren't any worse here than Wisconsin farmboys in pickups, splitting lanes is basically mandatory - cage drives look at you wierd if you don't - in Wroclaw traffic ("katastofal"), it's like Moses parting the Red Sea... standing traffic will actually inch over to let you by... prety cool.... even if it's the only "plus". I see alot of crotch-rocket drivers here... typically doing extended wheelies down one of the six-lane main drags... right past the police station... haven't figured that one out yet.

Follow the mountains along the southern Polish border - west to east - turn right (south) into Slovakia and right again, into Czech Republik, stop in Prague, then head north to Gdansk and you probably won't be disappointed. I've heard Masura is pretty cool... you need a shotgun for the mosquitos ;)

That's about it for now, not sure if I'll monitor this forum much... if I get an e-mail, I'll pop back in... feel free to drop me a line... or drop by... cześć, na razie

BTW... my wife is Polish and speaks Ukrainian/Russian fluently