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After a good rest the previous night, we loaded the bikes after breakfast and prepared to head out of Warsaw. We saw the buses full of Israeli soldiers and contemplated following them on their journey out of Warsaw. We actually would have done so had we be been quicker to prepare and leave. We also rationalised that their leaders would probably not be so pleased to have a couple of kibbitzers hanging around on their important journey. Our journey was just as important so as we headed out of town we stopped at the sight of the Pawiak Prison ruins. We had seen this on a tourist flyer in the hotel highlighted by one of the brochures. Unfortunately, once again very little credence was given to the Jewish contribution in the Ghetto fighting and in the assistance Jews provided in the various partisan groups fighting the Nazis in Poland. We headed out of town with no cops impeding our progress as we headed north east some 115kms to the first death camp we would visit...Treblinka. I made a mistake in the video voice over mentioning the distance to Treblinka was only 60kms when in fact is was roughly double that distance.

The video tells you enough about the walk we took to find the Warsaw Ghetto memorial area about 20 minutes or so walk from the Hotel. A very depressing site for more reasons than merely remembering the disaster that befell most of the inmates of this terrible place. From our perspective, this so called memorial is a sick joke. If you are commemorating nearly half a million Polish Jews fate in this place and then consequently the fate of those that survived here only to then be transported to the fully mechanised killing camps all around Poland. As a memorial of this, the Government of Poland should be condemned for their omission in providing a true historical record and more importantly recognition of the brave uprising against the Nazis that occurred here. A relatively small band of young Jews with a meagre supply of smuggled in small arms like rifles, handguns, ammunition and some small amounts of hand grenades and explosives. These heroes basically agreed that their ultimate fate was death by starvation, disease, shooting or worse in the death camps so they chose to fight and if necessary die with some semblance of dignity. This uprising was the first of its kind in any city throughout Nazi occupied Europe. The Germans said they would put the uprising down in a day or two. It took them over a month and with many losses of their own. It's very interesting how German reports of their casualties during the month long battle are only about 110 while we know for a fact that over 7000 of the Jewish fighters died. The fact is, plenty more German and Ukrainian (Nazi sympathisers) soldiers died in the fierce hand to hand battles fought in typical Guerrilla Warfare fashion than the Nazis would ever admit to. After all, how could a bunch of Jews defeat or even delay the powerful Nazi juggernaut. Well, when Sol and I walked into the Novatel Hotel lobby and saw a large number of Israeli soldiers emblazoned with their Star Of David insignias we became elated and euphoric. We later spoke of..."if only this army existed when our people were being rounded up and butchered". Our Guardian Angels were once again at work, saving our day and providing us with the strength to continue on our mission.

It had been an incredibly difficult day in Warsaw. The weather was fine but cold and the city of Warsaw was quite impressive with only a few exceptions. The local Police took us back to the Soviet days of corruption and abuse of power but we did not let that define our viewpoint of Poland or indeed Warsaw. The fact is, the local bikers were wonderful young people who were more than willing to help us. They also prevented us from experiencing a potentially very dangerous situation on our sojourn to Wolamin. Local knowledge is always important but the right people need to be willing to assist and share their knowledge even to total strangers. To that end we were eternally grateful to these youngsters for their assistance in guiding us correctly to our destination and arming us with the right information to avoid a potential catastrophe. Our return ride from Wolamin to the center of Warsaw and our Novatel Hotel room was pleasant and thankfully uneventful. The weather remained good and we negotiated our way into the hotel car park to store the bikes and distribute our hefty baggage into our room. It was now late afternoon, early evening and I asked the person at the hotel desk for directions to the Warsaw Ghetto area. We had changed clothes and left the hotel to walk to the Ghetto area which appeared to be a 20-30 minute walk away from the hotel.

I was extremely angry as we rode off from the cops. I went back down the same pathway we had arrived up to the cops and knew we were "breaking" the same BS laws. I accelerated hard and after a minute or so noticed a large petrol station with food outlets on site and a large gaggle of local motorcycle riders were sitting there and talking. I rode ride into the midst of them and asked them for some help. "Can you help us find the correct freeway entrance to take us to Wolamin?" I explained the cops had just pulled us over and fined us for basically doing nothing. The young rider who appeared to be the leader of the group immediately asked..."how much did the cops charge you?" I replied..."50 Euro". He then replied..."you guys got off cheap, they usually charge more". He then said..."do you realise Wolamin is dangerous Mafia area". "Are you sure you must go there?" I replied that we really need to go there for just a very short time and have no choice. He then said..."OK, one of our guys will take you to the correct freeway entrance and will leave once you are on the right road". He continued..."You must make sure when you arrive there that you do not leave the bikes alone there, both of you stay together and do what you have to do as fast as possible, then get out of there as fast as possible. It's a dangerous place". We thanked them all and followed the volunteer who took us to the correct freeway entrance and then turned back to his group.

We had to do a quick summary of our days activities in Warsaw and Wolamin at a petrol station in Wolamin before our return ride. It was now time to find our way back to Warsaw and the Novatel Hotel for a night of rest. Little did we know there was more to happen on our day in Warsaw.

After a long run on the freeway the Wolamin turnoff signs began appearing. There were no freeways out here. The roads were now pot holed, the homes were dumps and the whole area looked as seedy as it gets. The sun disappeared and cloudy overcast conditions rolled in as though to herald our imminent arrival in a darker less friendly area. It certainly was less friendly. Peering eyes everywhere as we negotiated the smaller and narrower streets as we approached Sol's mother's street and hopefully her original home. The GPS was spot on this time and a small roundabout took us very slowly into the correct street. It was narrow with not a soul walking there. I found the correct number and pulled over, Sol did so right behind me. I told Sol get in front of the house and I'll take your photo in front of it. All of a sudden a young man came out of the house holding onto a leashed dog. Sol let him pass by. I told Sol keep your helmet on.

We came, we photographed and we got the hell out of there. Sol, got to take a photo in front of his mother's actual original family home and we avoided the crowds of unfriendly individuals who obviously represented nothing but trouble for us.

We left the Novatel and headed out into the heavy Sunday traffic following the GPS commands. In some parts it was bumper to bumper and we lane filtered for some long distances only to be taken back close to an area we had already traversed. At least the weather was fine and sunny if a little on the cool side.

After doing a large circle on the freeways and then returning back to a point under the freeway we had previously passed I decided to head under the freeway and take what appeared to be a different entrance to the freeway east. To our dismay and grief the highway there was blocked by road works and a Police car sat there in waiting. Sol was behind me and the officer waved us down. I pulled up and told Sol..."don't say anything to him". The cop began gobbling away in Polish and I interrupted him telling him we spoke English since we were not locals. He immediately said I will be giving you a ticket for breaking some road law. The amount was 330 Polish Zlote or about $100.00 Australian Dollars. I told him we were not from around here and did not mean to break any road laws. He continued with his diatribe and said we broke a second law and the fine for that was 500 Zlote. I told him we were from Australia and he asked for our passports. I told him our passports are back at the Novatel. There was no way he was going to see or touch our passports, which we actually had with us. He then asked for other ID so I said I have a drivers license. I handed him an international drivers license and he walked to the rear of my bike and looked at the bikes and at Sol. I was very glad Sol was keeping his mouth quiet. He then came back to me and said..."I know you are not from around here" to which I replied "yes we definitely are not". Then he got to the punch line..."you know we issue tickets on the spot and they must be paid on the spot". I replied..."OK, give us a ticket and we will pay". Then he waffled some more and I knew where this was heading. To put him out of his misery I asked him..."OK, how much NO TICKET?" He immediately asked do you have Zlote? I replied..."No, I have Euro, how much?" He thought about it for a moment and said..."50 Euro". I handed him the cash and then said to him..."For 50 Euro you need to show us how to get on the highway to take us to Wolamin". He began speaking instructions but I then said to him..."No, you take us to the correct freeway entrance". He laughed and walked off. At that moment I turned the bike camera on to catch him walking back to the car and his buddy. I had turned the camera off as soon as he pulled us over. The camera has a red LED light on top to verify the camera is recording. I simply did not want the cops to see the camera recording or G-D knows what he might have done. Anyway I captured this short bit of footage of the corrupt cops earning an afternoon bonus.

We made good time from Lodz. Great weather and great highways meant we arrived before midday into the very center of the Polish capital, Warsaw. The Novatel Hotel is right in the central part of the city next to the main underground railway hub servicing the entire city. Unfortunately, after trying to book a room for the night we were told that rooms will not be ready till late afternoon. They were almost booked out and the cleaning, room preparation staff were way behind schedule. At least we would have a room that night. We now had time to take care of the main reason we were in Warsaw itself. Sol's mother and her family had lived some 25-30kms east of the city of Warsaw prior to the war. Sol knew her actual home was still standing and inhabited in the city or suburb of Wolamin, pronounced Volamin. I didn't think this would be such a difficult chore considering the GPS till now had aimed us reasonably well to all the destinations we had hitherto visited. In fact the only thing reducing this perfect record were several of my mistakes along the way. They were never major mistakes, just small annoyances till now. This would soon change.

Only 30 minutes or so till we were to enter Warsaw. The final fuel stop and a Polish biker was very interested in our story. Bikers everywhere have a close affinity with one another and our Polish comrade was no exception. The weather had cooperated today even though our total riding was relatively short in comparison to some of the previous days long and difficult conditions. We were thankful for the respite.

Our Vitamin D levels were boosted as strong sun shone through periodically. As we approached the outskirts of the city of Warsaw we were more and more apprehensive about what we may find and experience there.

We hit the road again in the mid morning. There was no need to rush so we had a good rest, had breakfast and loaded the bikes in cool but dry conditions. An occasional light shower fell but literally there was no need for wet weather gear today. The sun broke through the cloud patches from time to time. The roads once again proved to be quite boring but nevertheless highly impressive in terms of quality of surfaces.

A long rest in an almost brand new Novatel Hotel in Lodz Poland. The staff at the hotel were wonderful and the amenities and rooms were almost brand new. A great place to stay to try and recover from the previous day of torture on the roads and in our emotional state.

This video is self explanatory. Sol is visibly upset. He saw my attempts to ask the local Zoo worker questions relating to the area where we were standing. The lack of response only added to the anguish Sol was feeling. It was time to find a hotel for the night and try to recover physically and emotionally. Our ride the next day to Warsaw was relatively short at about 160kms so we could avoid an early rushed start We would be there for a few days to recuperate and find Sol's mother's home in an outer suburb of Warsaw.

Sol was clearly emotional when reflecting on what was originally his father's family home location. The Germans had created a Jewish Ghetto in Lodz with the view of transporting all the Jews from the town to either death camps or slave labour camps. This had been a Europe wide modus operandi for the Nazi "Final Solution" to the "Jewish" problem. As Sol spoke I sensed the apprehensive tenor in his voice and the realisation that there was nothing to see here of the past flourishing community. I interrupted Sol as I saw a worker leaving the Zoo through the door I had pointed out in an earlier photo. I wanted to question this person regarding the Zoo and the original residential center it replaced. He refused to talk to me. I knew he understood every word I said to him. He was a very well dressed individual with a brief case and credentials tag. As he bypassed us and heard me questioning him he moved away from us as much as he possibly could and ended up in the middle of the road where there was a tram stop. There was a woman at the stop as well and she definitely heard me screaming at him and telling him to "get fucked". Gutless piece of vermin.

A long hard day of riding. Torrential rain, 100kph winds and ambient temperatures below 10 degrees C all day. Any sunny breaks we experienced were very welcome. Unfortunately they were quite few in number. The Polish highways were mostly very good quality. Petrol stops were not plentiful but at least they were available right off the highway as we commonly see in Australia or the U.S On one of our food stops as shown in the photo where Sol is eating some hot soup, we had an interesting welcoming committee on the short road leading to the restaurant. A young lady was sitting on the edge of a brick wall, rather scantily clad and openly displaying her genitals to all and any passers by. This young lady was a working girl waiting for clients and openly used her bodily features to promote her services. Sol had asked me as we parked at the restaurant..."did you see the girl displaying her wares?" I told him I did notice the girl but actually missed her promotional display. We were on the road again soon enough. On the final late afternoon food stop we were watching a middle aged man selling all sorts of "tax free" products mainly to passing truck drivers. He had alcohol, cigarettes, perfumes and more. After arriving in the center of Lodz in the early evening our physical condition added to the emotional realisation that Sol's father's original home and that of hundreds if not thousands of their Jewish neigbours were now only a memory. The sight of their original homes were now the Lodz Zoo. A convenient way to reduce the memory of a whole Jewish Stelt (town) that stood there for probably several hundred years, to zero.

A very tough riding day but we were closing in on the Polish city of Lodz. Sol's emotional baggage grew as he knew we were approaching his father's home town of Lodz. This also happened to be my Uncle Abe's home town. The huge Jewish populations here were quickly decimated by the invading Nazis. After 600kms of riding in all manner of weather conditions I took this fuel/food stop opportunity to do a quick video update. At one point while Sol and I were riding on some magnificent highways almost alone in the middle of no where the calm dry skies darkened quite abruptly as the heavy rain clouds decided to empty right above us. We had absolutely no cover and quickly pulled over, stopped and began to don our wet weather gear. While sitting on the edge of the roadway a small truck pulled up behind us and began blabbering to us in Polish. I told him we speak English so he immediately told us to "get out of here NOW". He said "you cannot be sitting on the road". They have hidden cameras along the roads everywhere and he was told to go out and move us along.

The weather stopped cooperating the closer we headed towards the Polish border. Truck traffic grew exponentially and the drivers were aggressive and pretty stupid most of the time. The roads were relatively new and of high quality, something which surprised us. Polish tolls began to remind us of the French toll booths. A rough calculation actually proved we had spent as much on tolls throughout Europe as we had spent on fuel in total. A sobering thought.

With our successful departure from Magdeburg and relatively dry Autobahn roads headed due east towards Poland, we once again entered the fuel scarcity situation. The only saving grace was the recollection of a phone call Sol had received in Magdeburg while in our hotel room. To put this in perspective, Sol's daughter's boyfriend had spoken to his girlfriend about asking Sol for his daughter's hand in marriage. Before our arrival in Amsterdam...the daughter told her husband to be that he was never to ask Sol this question. This gives you an inkling into the father daughter relationship prior to our visit. Strangely enough, when Sol's phone rang in Magdeburg it was the boyfriend. He had mustered the courage and asked Sol the forbidden question. This of course was not entirely accurate. Because the relationship between father and daughter had now blossomed as a result of our brief visit, the daughter asked the groom why he had not asked the father the question. Like a typical male fool he replied "because you told me not to do so". Her reply, now that the relationship was renewed was..."you idiot! ask him!" The moral of the story as always is you are always wrong if you are the man. Sol, was elated with the call and dutifully granted his blessings to the newly betrothed couple. So out of the Magdeburg hell hole Sol and I always fondly remember that "phone call". Nevertheless, we were dangerously low on fuel...again. Finally, I noticed a sign pointing to an exit which showed a fuel and food stop. We got off and of course I turned right when I should have gone left. We made it into the station only to be confronted by more evil people. There were truck loads full of young men filling up and feeding their faces. They looked at both of us with angry gestures and very unfriendly attitudes. They had noticed a small Australian flag on the back of my roll pack and immediately equated us with the British Union Jack. I told Sol, fill up and let's get the hell out of here. After Sol filled his bike he moved over to the forecourt when a middle aged German began speaking to Sol enquiring about us and our trip. Sol kept the details to a minimum but the sneers and loud protestations from the young punks continued. The middle aged man laughed it off and told Sol..."don't worry, they are all excited, they are headed to Berlin for a big football match". We could not wait to get out of there with our hides still intact. These animals were just looking for trouble. It's amazing how even the younger generations are still pissed off about losing the war.

A cold morning greeted us. We had a nice breakfast in the hotel after spending the night. Our bikes had been perfectly safe overnight despite the Nazi hoons who had scared the living daylights out of Sol the day earlier while I was checking us into the hotel. Sol had been confronted outside while guarding the bikes by a bunch of nazis fielding fighting dogs. After I had checked us into the hotel and came out to see the pale, stressed face on Sol he related to me what had happened. I immediately ran back into the hotel to tell the young man behind the desk we could not stay here for the night. The very pleasant young man obviously knew the local situation well and before I could go into much detail he pre-empted me by offering us free storage of our bikes in their secure basement car parking facility for the night as a gesture. I accepted graciously and thanked him profusely. There was a reason, that in the city of Magdeburg at this time there were absolutely no Mosques or Synagogues. We had learned why this was so and our guardian angels protected us once again. When we left the roads were mostly dry. It had rained overnight but we were very glad to leave regardless of the weather conditions. We needed fuel but decided to get out on the highway and stop at the first roadhouse we could find.

The reality is, I have relatives and friends who continuously told me Germany is a reformed nation. I have many people telling me this after their vacation trips to many parts of Germany. We also had a local Australian organiser of the Annual March Of The Living (a trip to Poland and Germany) which takes mostly Jewish people from mainly Western Countries like the U.S, England, Australia, South Africa and others to visit the sights of the World War II Nazi Concentration and extermination camps. A poignant message to younger generations to remember the Nazi Holocaust. The problem is that this person made plenty of excuses for the modern day Germans, Poles and others who assisted their forebears in the destruction of a whole nation of people. I distinctly remember her bloviating over modern day Germany and others who have largely repented for their indiscretions against the Jews and many other groups during those dark days of the war. Somehow I never believed very much she said. I know what my mother and my aunt had told me about only a fraction of the experiences they lived through in camps like Majdanek and Auschwitz in Poland for nearly four years of their frighteningly young lives. The tour operator official and her sugar coating of modern Europe had zero impact on me. Our experiences in Magdeburg simply taught us we were right all along. The tourists are taken to and fed with the latest holistic impressions of a Europe that has repented and turned over a new leaf. That is undoubtedly true of many of the newer generations of Europeans but the stigma remains as does a hard core inner circle of the same type of maniacal Nazi supporters who still long for the resurrection of their beloved Third Reich.

Magdeburg is a large industrial city which houses large manufacturing plants in and around this entire region. I had never heard of this city before I began researching potential routes across Germany. I chose this city as an emergency stop if we were unable to completely ride across Germany in one full day. The weather conditions during our ride made it effectively impossible to achieve the goal of reaching the Polish border in one day. Despite the better weather in several stretches of riding down the Autobahn, we were no longer young strong men who could be expected to ride for 10-12 hours to reach Poland. Our arrival in Magdeburg created an opportunity for us to be educated in exactly where some parts of Germany stood in relation to its Nazi past. There was no doubt in our minds that the old Nazi regime was alive and well in Magdeburg. Our first impression of this quaint city was the total lack of foot traffic in the mostly well appointed residential streets of the city. We discovered quickly why that was something not surprising here.

A sunny bright start from Amsterdam which progressively led to dark clouds, heavy rain, blustery winds as we approached the German Autobahn. We continued to wonder when the weather would finally cooperate. As the Dutch fuel stops became German fuel stops I increased our rate of speed with the hope of covering the entire 600km run across Germany and into Poland in one day.

Some sunny dry stretches along the German Autobahn were very welcomed. Some vehicles along these unrestricted roads were sitting on 160kmh plus. Cars and trucks passed us quite often particularly when the weather took a turn for the worst on some legs of our Autobahn run towards the east.