An adventurous journey to Szczecin
From Gdansk we took the train to Szczecin, which took about 5.5 hours. It was a trip I will probably remember for a long time. Everything started very harmlessly with two comfortable seats, provisions and drinks for the trip and toilet are also there for use. The train had just arrived at a station and was standing at the track. As everybody can imagine, the train toilet is not a nice place to stay and so I wanted to get out as soon as possible. But when I wanted to open the door, I realized that this did not work. The key could be turned without any problems and the lock opened accordingly, but the door opened inwards and where you normally have a handle, the handle was off. I stupidly didn't notice this when I went inside because the door was open and I just closed it from the inside. Now I was standing there and suddenly I was in panic. I didn't even have a cell phone with me to let Tomek know. So I started knocking on the door and calling "Hello? I got more and more panicky and I was afraid that the train was about to leave and you couldn't hear me knocking, so I started hammering on the wall with both hands in panic. As I learned later, even the first knocking could be heard clearly in the wagon. But Tomek didn't think that it was me at first, because otherwise I would have written him on his cell phone. But when he looked in my bag, in which the cell phone was lying, and I called louder and louder in the meantime, he came running to the toilet! He couldn't open the door either, because the handle was also removed from the other side of the door. He reassured me that he was looking for a conductor, and talked me into calming down and not to worry. I mean, he was absolutely right too, I was not in any distress. I was just locked in the toilet. Then the train started and I couldn't hear anything from outside the door because of the loud noises on the tracks. But I felt the walls coming closer and closer, everything suddenly got too tight for me and I tried to keep my face as close as possible to the open window to get enough air. I never had a panic attack before, but now I think it must feel similarly. Half an eternity later (I think it was maybe about 5 minutes) I noticed someone jiggling the door and a short time later the door opened! The conductor didn't have a matching key either, but he was able to turn the thread of the actual handle with a 5-Zloty coin and thus free me. I was totally exhausted, but all the happier that I was still freed.
A lot of time with the family
But after this short moment of shock we arrived in Szczecin unharmed and took the bus to the housing estate where Tomek's grandfather lives. We lived with him for the time in Szczecin. We were warmly welcomed by him and had a wonderful time together. But also other relatives of Tomek live in Szczecin and we spent a lot of time with all of them (especially at the dinner table), told about our experiences and certainly gained back all the kilos we lost during the last 2 months. Since we both have been to Szczecin before (Tomek of course already more often than me), we didn't see so much of the city this time.
The crooked forest in Szczecin
But we made a little trip - to the crooked forest, the "Krzywy Las", where about 90 trees grow in a very mysterious way. There are many theories why this might have happened - but the mystery has not been solved yet.
Nach fast einem Monat in Polen verließen wir das Nachbarland wieder in Richtung Deutschland, um dort noch auf eine Hochzeit von zwei sehr guten Freunden von uns zu gehen. Die Zeit mit Tomeks Familie war ein wirklich schöner Abschluss der Reise durch Polen. Unsere Erfahrungen zur Einreise nach Deutschland und den damit verbundenen Corona-Test haben wir noch einmal separat in einem weiteren Beitrag festgehalten.
English 
German