“Travels to a Different Time” : 15June1975: Wroclaw, Poland:  On the Move with a Political Prisoner

I had trouble sleeping because all these teeny boppers on a school trip were making a racket all night and into the morning. Aren’t they under any supervision? At 04:00 I just gave up and packed. The washrooms were packed and as it is a Sunday I guess people are heading back home. I was on the road at 05:00 and took the tram to the end of the line. There was a guy on the tram from “Kontrol” who gave me shit for not punching in my ticket before entering the tram. I miscalculated my stop and paid the price by having to walk a bonus 2 kms to the highway. It took me an hour to snag a lift from an ex-lawyer who was working at a hotel reception desk after criticizing the regime and spending 10 years in prison. It did not help that he tried to escape the country. 3 hours wait for the next lift to the next town down the road where I spent my last Czech money on a big meal and 1.5 litres of lemonade. At least my last meal in the CSSR was good. I received many stares from the locals as I trudged through their town. I was now getting sunburnt…yes finally some hot sun. I managed to get through the Polish border quickly and the border officials were friendly. After a two hour wait a lift from a married couple to Wroclaw who insisted I have dinner with them. We had a nerve-wracking drive through a pounding thunderstorm. Dinner was some sausage and fried eggs after which this nice couple drove me to the youth hostel.