10 August ’04, Tuesday. A “Road Day” and I use the word “Road” with a good deal of sugar to make it sound good. I’ve mentioned it before since our arrival in Poland, but the roads are the pit’s (or should I say one big chuck hole) !!!! We did have a pretty decent road for the first hour, but after that time we and “Bumble Bee”, shook, rattled, and rolled until we thought we just couldn’t take it any longer. Our destination for the day was almost due north to Toruñ. What should have been a 3 hour trip took us 5 which included a gas and lunch stop. The day was absolutely beautiful for traveling, and it also gave the wheat farmers of the area a chance to harvest the grains or in some cases, bale and stack the hay. Toruñ is set on the banks of the Vistula River. After checking into the campgrounds, setting up the van, having a small beer at the camp “Bar”, we headed off walking across the bridge and into the “Old Town” part of Toruñ. Louise and I had already made a pact, “we would only stay here for the night and a little of tomorrow” then back on the road to Gdañsk and the Baltic Sea. Let me tell you, when we saw the town from the bridge and as we walked into it, we realized just how easy it would be to toss our “pact” into the river and stay here for a long time…..Toruñ is stunning and looks like it could be a lot of fun. The old city walls follow the river before making the sweep back to make a large enclosure. The architecture of the wonderful buildings, both residential and commercial, the striking cathedral and the churches, and of course, the ruins of the Teutonic Castle from 1233, the birth place of Nicolaus Copernicus (what more can I say than that?)….It really is hard to tell you just how beautiful we found this town of Toruñ. As a member of the “Hanseatic League” it prospered in the 14th and 15th centuries. Some of the churches go back even before then, back to 1100. We even saw the “Leaning Tower”, one of the many city gate’s, but in this case, the foundation slipped and the gate is leaning quite a bit….it’s still is used as a luncheon/bar. Why not, if it fall’s down, the patron’s most likely wont even know it. Ok, now for a little homework; Who is Nicolaus Copernicus? And, what is he known for ? Tomorrow….”On The Road Again”