IFMR Polska in Magic Podlasie, May 23-26, 2024.
We started this year’s rally season with a trip to Magic Podlasie. This time the organization was undertaken by Kasia and Sławek Zieliński. With the support of a friendly local motorcyclist, Irek.
On Thursday, May 23, we went to the hospitable Korona Park guesthouse in Klewinów near Białystok. It was all for us, because we counted out in a large group. We also had friends with us, Rotarian motorcyclists from Germany, Denmark, France, Great Britain, the USA and… Australia!
Conversations over a tasty dinner would certainly last until late if it were not for the departure scheduled for 8:30 the next morning.
We started Friday, May 24, by visiting one of the most beautiful Orthodox churches, located in Trześcianka and the surrounding Land of Open Shutters. A coffee break at a local agritourism farm was accompanied by a delicious home-baked apple pie.
The next magical place we visited was the skylt (Orthodox hermitage) in Odrynki, incredibly located in the middle of the Narew floodplains.
The next part of the day was devoted to the centuries-old presence of Tatars in this region, exotic for many of us. First, a visit to the mosque in Kruszyniany, and then a traditional Tatar lunch in Bohoniki, the seat of the Association of Tatars of the Republic of Poland.
The last point of the program that day was the monastery in Supraśl with a long, rich and tragic history. The museum of icons and the few surviving fragments of unique frescoes, carefully restored after the destruction of World War II, were particularly impressive.
We ended the day with delicious dishes served by a master grill chef. Then a disco with a DJ and dancing to good old hits. Together with friends from RC Białystok.
On Saturday, we also set off promptly at 8:30 towards Waniewo in the Narew National Park. A local attraction was a footbridge leading through wetlands, interrupted by ponds, which had to be crossed on special floating platforms operated by the visitors themselves. The low water level made these crossings unexpectedly “very attractive”.
We also visited Tykocin with the famous Great Synagogue. We spent a long time there, enjoying coffee and sweets at a local confectionery shop.
After a round around the market square, we headed north along the “moose track”. The name turned out to be false. On the way, driving, we noticed a huge moose that was eating the leaves of a roadside tree, not really paying attention to us.
We returned to the hotel through the Center of Europe in Suchowola, designated in 1775. by surveyor of King S. A. Poniatowski.
The first official declaration of the Centre of Europe was made in 1775 by the Polish royal astronomer and cartographer Szymon Antoni Sobiekrajski, who calculated it to be in the town of Suchowola[9] near Białystok in modern north-eastern Poland.
Important point of the program was traditional support for the Rotary charity project. This time carried out by RC Białystok.
We raised funds, among other things, by organizing a lottery of the items we brought and by auctioning an original icon intended for this purpose by Michał Frelichowski.
The amount of PLN 8,000 was donated to educational support for children from care and educational centers in Podlasie.
Nice conversations among good old friends continued until late night. About the last days together and future motorcycle meetings. In Germany, Denmark, the Jelenia Góra Valley or in completely unexpected places.
Our member #Bendt Haverberg are member of this wonderful fellowship
#Rotary Fellowships | Rotary International
#DONATE – Rotary Club Sopot International
