Thursday, September 27, 1928
Am writing by candle. Had quite a day. The first thing was a half-hour’s argument with the gasthaus owner’s wife over the coffee. She must have been dumb not to understand after all of my explaining and diagrams, but I was determined not to pay for it. I finally had my way and left at ten. At 12 I came to Poland, but found my visa had expired three days before. After much telephoning and a two-hour wait, they arranged it so I could get a visa in a nearby city and proceed on my way from there. A man there rode with me and by three I had a new visa. Sometimes Polish is worse than deutsch to understand.
The road along which I rode is one used by Napoleon. The country is very beautiful, hilly with many knolls, many small lakes and lots of woods. The roads are lined with fruit trees. The fields are all well cultivated. They are digging potatoes now. It was a little warmer today than yesterday. While riding along in the country miles from a town, a cop all dressed in a blue uniform and a sword stopped me and wanted to know something. Guess he didn’t get a whole lot of satisfaction as I couldn’t get his lingo.
Got to Pinevy after a 41-mile ride today. Again I ate apples, 12 today and as I have a candle, toast for dinner. The customs made me miss lunch. Spent 49¢ today. Room in hotel being 3.50 croszys or 42¢. Hope living is cheap here. Many people in the country go barefooted or wear a wooden sandal which is about the same. The apples are delicious . It is cold enough in my room to see my breath. I again seem to be the object of great curiosity to the people. My baggage seems to weigh a ton on these hills. I haven’t even enough to fill up my bag. The sun was a big red ball when it set this eve. Looked like a full moon rising. There is a pretty moon tonight but the sky is a little cloudy. Poland is 12th country.