When I am staying in cities of foreign countries walking along in public spaces surrounded by signs and text my eye automatically zooms in on typeface, and picks out funny old style fonts. Here is one logo I discovered on a physical mail box, special for advertisements in the hall of a block apartments in Legnica. The word Ulotki is Polish for folder, leaflet. It looks like a font (family Art-Deco) Hollywood film industry used in early previous century for romantic movies. Look at the little right foot of capital R, its dancing.

Legnica Diary Online Its remarkable, walking down the streets of Legnica, I had the same perception walking the streets of Cracow 10 or more years ago. Nothing has chanced. What I mean is the total lack of diversity of cultures in Poland. Diversity means including people from different ethnicities and social backgrounds. Any black people, or islam, moslims in Poland? No way. Its strictly traditional catholic only one way religion here. In general that counts for the most East European countries. They never been attractive for immigrants seeking safety or fortune. The reason why is obvious. Bad smell and screwed up reputation of communism, shitty cold-war inhuman countries deep below the sunshine, without the luxurious conditions of capitalism, those countries notorious for stupid restrictions and shameless racism have never been an inviting travel ticket for freedom and wellness seeking refugees.

The special weird and somehow unreal thing is that I can see only white Polish persons on the streets, only whites, no Muslims no Arabs, no black people, no Africans at all. And no China culture. No Indian kitchen. No expats from England, no Americans tourists. That all together gives me a feeling of alienation.

The more I am together spending quality time with Olga and Ihor, the more I notice how little they mention the war with Russia, the war which is destroying their country, the war which drove them for safety reason in Poland, having to leave their own private homes in Kyiv, looking for safety elsewhere in Europe.

Why Poland? I have invited them to come to Holland, but they wanted to stay as close to Kyiv. Which I understand. One fact is undoubtedly in favour of their choice: Poland has the biggest army of all European country. If you want to be safe, you’re safe in Poland.

Once we had diner in Legnica I’ve tried to talk about the war. How they are experiencing it, how they feel about it, what their opinion is, how it could happen and how it will end if it ever does end. I know it’s terribly complicated and not a subject that will cheer you up. Nevertheless I asked Olga how she is reacting on Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons. Is she afraid that such catastrophe would really happen? She looked at me and says, shrinking her shoulders, if Putin bombs us with nuclear power, that will mean we all are going to die, there will be nobody left alive on the planet. So why should I worry about his bomb, if we all die, so what?

I understand her, she beliefs that its determined by fate therefore inevitable. Submission to the inevitable, that’s characteristic for fatalism. Olga expresses a rather dark pessimist and gloomy view. But who am I to oppose such a view? Intellectually I have a problem with the attitude of fatalism, because it stops reasoning and leads to nihilism, but if it offers a solution to acceptance, it might be effective in terms of survival, considered the conditions of life in wartime.

As a traveller I have done so many goodbyes, most of the time reluctantly. Every one of them is special,  very special was the emotional goodbye in Sydney airport, when I broke up with my wife, saying goodbye without knowing when you would meet again. That’s just so hard, apart from breaking up a marriage itself, tell you not easy, in the painful process of divorcing the love of your life and leaving back to my home town beloved Amsterdam I have doubted the meaning of love when it can result in such unfunny dramatic disillusion.

Saying goodbye at the Copernicus airport of Wroclaw to Olga and Ihor was no exception. Tears while hugging each other. I was deeply moved because it is not certain if I will ever see them back again. Time will tell, more significant: the war will tell. Hopefully in Kyiv, – who knows, one day?

My 5Days Trip Silesia Poland has ended, and now I am ready for a trip around the world, would love that. Don’t want to make that an endless tiresome journey. If I skip all te places where I already have been (been there done that) there are only a few countries I haven’t visited.

Europe, almost all countries, been there but not up north in Finland Sweden. Why not? Too cold. Never been in Africa, does not appeal to me. I liked India and Australia and Thailand, but in South-America I have not been in all of their countries. Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Patagonia. Most inspirational for the around the world travellers. Wish I could say: Here I come! But no, can not do, in fact my travelling days are over. But I will keep travelling, at home in my arm chair. Travelling this way, in dreams and imagination, its a fool’s paradise. Till there’s only one trip left. Going to the place unknown or no place at all.