Days 146 and 147: Oświęcim to Katowice, then Train to Wrocław

Two days ago, I decide to go to Wrocław from Oświęcim to see Magda to go on a date. There wasn’t a direct train so I cycled from Oświęcim to Katowice. It was about 23 miles, or about two hours on a bicycle. The weather was cool and sunny with some overcast. Overall, not too bad.

I arrived at the Katowice train station around noon. The ticket agent told me the only train that can take a bicycle leaves at 8:12 PM and arrives in Wrocław at 10:27 PM. Since this was the only option I booked the ticket.

For the rest of the time in Katowice, I did some exploring, hung out at a library to charge my devices, and had McDonald’s for dinner. Just to be sure that I’ll be awake at night, I also had a cup of iced coffee at the Starbucks inside the station.

The train was on-time and I had no issue getting my bike on the train this time. Magda decided to ride her bicycle from her apartment to the Wrocław train station to meet me. The train arrived around 10:30 PM and after meeting Magda we decided to cycle together to a pub in the main square of the city.

I broke one of my rules of long distance cycling: to never ride at night. But I had brought bicycle lights and Magda is an experienced cyclist so I felt confident enough despite the darkness.

Wrocław is very beautiful at night. I didn’t take any photographs because I didn’t want to be a bother to Magda on the first date. Once we reached the pub, she had a glass of craft beer and I had a bottle of Coke. Magda seemed shy in person even though I didn’t feel it when we were messaging each other. She was born in Wrocław and studied here too. Ten years ago, she bought an apartment about 5 miles away from the city center and has been living there ever since.

Magda told me she could host me so after the pub we rode our bikes to her apartment. It was mostly riding on a bike path, which I enjoyed.

We chatted more over a pot of tea in her kitchen. Between the iced coffee, the Coke, and the tea, I was still awake past 3 AM, which was very unusual for me. I ended up sleeping at 3:30 AM.

After waking up the next morning, Magda and I walked her dog for a two hours in a nearby park. My mind felt like it was in a fog the whole time because I only had about three hours of sleep. I ended up taking a nap later, but still felt my head was in the clouds. 

Magda and I had kebab wraps for lunch at a restaurant before deciding that we will take a tram to the main square again to walk around. We had done that the night before, but this time I’ll take some photos.

At the main square, we were surprised by an impromptu sing-along of Stand by Me. I’ve never experienced this before and it was quite cool. Wrocław is an interesting city indeed.

Magda brought me to the other side of the Oder River to see a church around sunset before we went to get some ramen at ATO Ramen. Even though we had to wait about an hour before getting seated, the ramen was worth it.

We did some grocery shopping before coming back to the apartment and I went to sleep at a decent time.

This morning, my head feels better, but I’m not sure what to do. Since it’s getting cold in Poland already, I’m uncertain if I want to continue cycling in Europe. I still have about a month left in the Schengen Area. Maybe I’ll just stay in Wrocław then buy a plane ticket to get out of the Schengen. Uncertainty is a common part of my adventure so I’ll have to see.

A street in Katowice

The main square in Katowice

Mariacka street with the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary church

Arena Spodek

I'm guessing this is a war memorial?

Katowice train station

Walking the dog in the morning

This is police station in Wrocław. Looks like a castle.

One of many small gnomes in the Wrocław main square

One of several squares in Wrocław city center

Another market square

An impromptu sing-along

One of the singers

Full of people

Crossing the Oder River

A pavilion that looks like a Pringles potato chip

Wrocław Cathedral

Wrocław Cathedral reflected in the Oder River past sundown

At ATO Ramen

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