Off the leash

The first half of this year wasn’t light for me. Lots of stress and physical work. But now it’s over! On June 15th, at 2 pm the second part of this year begun, and what was the first thing to do? Take the keys to the car and head towards the best road in the region.

Uniejów is famous for its thermal pool complex – a popular weekend destination for many families from the central part of Poland. The acqupark and spa is a perfect place for relaxation for many, but not for me. Instead of relaxing, I get annoyed and bored in such places. I enjoy my time best when something interesting is happening. Fortunately, the Uniejów area has me covered too.

I discovered this region around 15 years ago, when, with a group of other enthusiasts, we started organizing navigation rallies for classic cars. Uniejów was the base for our first serious event. The route led the crews from Łódź to the Castle in Uniejów, which also served as a very original hotel. The second edition of the rally attracted a much bigger audience, and a less characteristic, but more spacious base had to be found.

While planning the route, we had the opportunity to look for the most interesting places and roads in the region. I have very warm memories from that period. When I was driving there recently, I got a bit sentimental and started to recall the memories of certain places. The ones where we organized a time trial, a checkpoint or a pause at the head of a dam. It got much more sentimental when, a week after my trip, I got a message that Andrzej, the guy without whom this wouldn’t be possible, died in a car accident.

More recently, the roads of this region served another role for me. When I was reviewing and photographing cars for Forzaitalia.pl, a Polish club celebrating Italian car culture, I liked to come here, as this was a place where I could find the curviest piece of tarmac in the region. A short stage of road number 478 from Krępa to the dam on Jeziorsko Lake can’t be compared to any alpine pass, but I challenge you to find a better road in perfectly flat central Poland.

I drove many interesting performance cars here, and the Duster definitely can’t be counted as one of them. But during the weeks that preceded this trip, this very machine proved to be a faithful companion, capable of transporting furniture and tons of junk I gathered through the last 30 years of my life. It deserved to be treated like a proper driver's car for once.

Going on a shorter or longer road trip is always a good idea. To relax after some tough times or to celebrate something special that just happened. This time was no different.