Tykocin is a relatively small, but still very picturesque town situated upon the Narew River. The town is inhabited by aproximately 2000 people. In spite of its small area, the town is proud of the numerous monuments, local stories and legends. In this brief study, we will do our best to bring to you its local colour. Nevertheless, in order to experience the unique atmosphere of the region, you will have to come to Tycikon on your own.

    There are numerous enchanting and beautiful spots around us, which are waiting to be discovered. To find them, one may browse the web, visit a library or ask friends about their travel experiences.

    Wierszalin is another fascinating site that we came across completely accidentally. In spite of its long tradition and numerous historical records describing the village, we had not heard about the place until our friend told us about it while laying tiles in the bathroom. Darek, the friend, threw the tiles away, sat and told us a vivid story sipping coffee, one cup after another.  

    On the route of our trips, another abutment of reflection over the beauty of the region and its interesting history is Suraż. There is a couple of reasons, due to which it’s worth to mention this town. Going to Suraż we need to remember that it is not a typical tourist town. There is not much monuments there, however it’s worth to visit the private museum of Mr. Litwińczuk, to reach the peak of Bona Sforza or to come into a monumental church, which dates back to 1876. If the weather is fine, it’s worth to visit the public beach by the Narew river. However, history of this place is fascinating, therefore not using possibility of visiting this town while being nearby, should be considered a major abuse.

18^th – 20^th of July 2008 

    The weather was good. For the first time, I took part in Czarna Hańcza kayaking trip a year ago. I found this river so enchanting, that I decided to show it to Justynka. This year, I managed to make this dream come true. And there is a lot things worth seeing there, because Hańcza valley is just wonderful. It is very shallow river with numerous windings, almost crystal clear water and extremely rapid stream. Valley of the river is magical. You feel amazing relaxation even in spite of muscle ache caused by paddling. Communion with such a beautiful nature improves well-being and positively disposes towards life.

    Today, we would like to invite you to Kurowo. The place may be easily reached from Łapy, Bialystok, Choroszcz and Tykocin. The seat Narew National Park is located there; not Kurowo itself but two other places situated nearby are the most important matters here. Driving next to the gas station in Jeżewo, we should turn not into Tykocin direction, but in the other way into direction of Sokoły. Then, about two kilometers further we turn again into direction of Kurowo.

    Croatia is located in the Middle Europe, by the Adriatic Sea. We had been unaware of the country’s diversity in terms of landscape, food and culture before we went there. On our way south along the Adriatic Sea, we can observe the original nature attractions. The Pannonian Lowland welcomes us with the cities and villages typical for this region, we drive through the oak and beech forests, enchanting grasslands and can observe typical European fauna. The picturesque karstic scenery takes as to the motorway which runs across limestone mountains and hills overgrown with short coniferous flora up to the South borders of Croatia. The highest peak in Croatia, Dinara (1831m) is one of the most impressive sites, which cannot be overlooked on the way to Dubrovnik.

 Krka National Park is a phenomenon of the nature, which deservers for a much longer stay than we planned. We didn’t spend much time there, but maybe it’s all right, because due to this fact, we have the reason to come back into this beautiful regions and stay there for two weeks at least. In no way this would be too much, since the place abounds in numerous attractions within its entire length.

    We know Bosnia and Herzegovina only by our stay in Neum town, where we spent several days.

    It is a tiny piece of land, where Bosnia and Herzegovina has an access to the Adriatic Sea. Neum is situated about 65 km from Dubrovnik in extremely picturesque part of the coast. It is called the town of hotels and guesthouses by numerous tourists – in fact there is not much places to visit there. The major advantage are the beaches, where the visitors may be encountered from the early morning hours.  

    Split is a beautiful city and it’s easy to sightsee. It’s most interesting places are cumulated at the old town, which is a long, overgrown with the palms promenade with the great number of cafés and with Diocletian’s Palace. During the day time it’s not easy to find, except for the cafes, a shelter from the sun, which becomes even more scorching since the beams are reflected by the slippery marbles and granites. 

    The city of Trogir welcomed us with an interesting experience. After the long travel we wanted to go to the toilet. There was no problem to find one, however, inside of it a strange curiosity happened. On entering, the lady informed us that we have to buy a ticket, which cost 5 Croatian kuns; also she told us that if we lose the ticket, we won’t be allowed to go to the toilet. Then the lady came out of the cashier’s window, took the ticket, tore it, meaning – punched it and after this formalities we could finally go to the toilet. And this is where I cease this story.

   We set aside the whole day for visiting Dubrovnik. After the breakfast, about 10 a.m. we were ready to conquer the medieval city – the European pearl of architecture. The drive from Neum to Dubrovnik takes about 50 minutes, traveling through the spiral road, that goes along the cliff with the view of Adriatic Sea. 

    Since 1^st of July, day by day for 2 long weeks, we were basking in the sun together with Justynka on the beaches of Jastarnia, Jurata and Hel. Long, sweltering hot days, scorching sand under the feet and moment of relaxation. We had a room in the city centre of Jastarnia. Everything was in close neighborhood: church, beach, railway station, shops, restaurants – complete luxury.

    On 25 ^th of June we were sitting in Bialystok - Gdansk bus. It was one of the hottest days. In the ‘luxurious’ Autosan bus, with air-conditioning that was out of order and uncomfortable seats, we felt the taste of true adventure at the very beginning of our trip. Although we were experiencing the feeling, that we won’t forget it for a long time, we eventually arrived safe for really small sum of money.

    Holidays started in rain. It was quite cloudy and wet in June and May. Weathermen together with highlanders claimed that true summer would start in the middle of August and would be short. Now, from the perspective of months I can say that they did not manage to forecast weather successfully, even including the margin of error they always use to shield their anticipations.

    Being on the proffesional probation has its advantages, I could have leave work an hour earlier. At 3 p.m. I was at Justyna’s home. We talked over all things quickly and improved our plan. Zero hour – 7 pm, train station.

    I woke up at 7.30. I had a moment to start the action, so I decided to water the lawn. From early morning, it was going to be extremely hot.

    I was at Justynka’s place at 9.00 already. We packed most necessary stuff, that is: food, blanket, additional torch batteries, camera etc.