Day 5: Karnice - Gryfice - Kolobrzeg….

Rebuilt town hall in Kolberg. 95% of the town was destroyed in the battle for Kolberg in March 1945.

Karnice - Kolobrzeg...

… by public transport. Yep, I cheated. I'm meeting someone important in Kolobrzeg (Kolberg) tomorrow. So I had the option of either running from Karnice and stopping at a homestay by a motorway that looked very unpromising on the Internet, or taking a bus to Gryfice and then a train to beautiful Kolberg. My feet hurt and I needed a better map anyway so I chose option 2.

Smoked fish stand in Kolberg

As for the map. A note to fellow hikers. Don't do what I did and rely on Oma's stories, a compass and the official 1:300,000 Pomeranian Way of St. James map to show you the route. The map is fine as long as you walk on the beach or a road, but as soon as you turn into those little paths that cut through the fields, it's easy to get lost.

I just bought a 1:50,000 "comfort! map" for Wybrzeze Srodkowe at the tourist information in Kolberg. I have great great hopes for my comfort map. Apparently the route will soon take me through a forest that's home to two ancient oak trees. One is 650 years old and is called Warcislaw. The other is 800 years old and is called Boleslaw. Boleslaw is *the oldest oak tree in Poland*. I'm so much more likely to find Warcislaw and Boleslaw with my new map!

Right now I'm sitting on a balcony close to the sea. I can hear:

1. Seagulls

2. Unidentified little birds

3. Storks. They make a sort of click-clack sound with their long beaks

Stork of the day:

Stork's nest in Karnice