If we were to facilitate travel into EU for some of our neighbours, let me say I would look away from the La Manche first.

I spent several hours on the border yesterday, crossing into Poland from Ukraine. I was able to skip most of the queue as they opened EU passport only lane.

After I saw what Ukrainians have to endure to enter the EU I am even more annoyed with Britons whining about their second homes in Spain.

RussoPHOBIA is a bad thing. We should not be afraid of Russia.

We need a new word, something like being disgusted by Russia's existence or something.

I am on a train to my parents town now.

There is an octopus here that apparently wants to fight!

Ok, ticket sorted. And the nice man from Mastodon does not want money back, told me to donate it to Ukraine.

One of my followers on Mastodon offered to buy me a ticket using blik, an alternative Polish system of payments that I don't use as I don't live in Poland. So they switched the site off for "technical break"

Aaaargh!

Now I am trying to book a train for tomorrow but the payment system is down. Or it just crashes randomly, I don't know. Both on koleo.pl and railways own website.

I am in Poland just a couple of hours and everything pisses me off! :-)

...done as cheaply as possible. And amongst this maze of rooms for rent there are still some odd flats that some people live in. Air BnB style acconodation is a cancer!

I paid 27 for this. Bedding is clean. Everything else - not so much.

So I tried to book a room for tonight. Local budget hotels just redirect to booking. com. I am trying to avoid it but what you can do.

Booked a room in something that looked like it's a hotel. It turned out to be not. Just some random tennement house with some walls knocked off and rooms...

Like, I mean. The super crowded train arrives and only half of the windows and one security check lane is open? Wtf, Poland?

Arrived in Przemyśl. The border checkpoint is not organized very well. Luckily was able to skip the queue and use the EU EEA window. Still, have to stay here overnight now.

We are stuck on the border for like an hour now. I don't think I am going to make my connection. :/

There is screen on the train with some commercials and other messages going on loop. About a third of them is something with soldiers (recruitment campaigns? I don't read Ukrainian so I don't know).

Some of them. But some were opened all along.

And that's all the updates so far.

Many thanks again to everyone who made it possible!

...and down the train, counting people and checking paperwork, mostly of young man (I am still not that old, so I had my passport checked twice so far).

The train to Poland is different. It is very modern and - being a train to Poland - it's late. I hope I'll catch my connection in Przemyśl..

The control is really strict, you have to show your passport to board and for last 20 minutes or so we are still waiting while military personnel runs up...

...show it's original destination, even though it stops few stations before.

I was not taking too many pictures as there is a lot of military personnel on the station.

fun fact: sleeper trains are heated with coal burnig stoves, there is a smell on the station as if the steam engines were here.