By Bob Van Leer

  (WARSAW, POLAND, May 23, 1989) - Today was a day for sightseeing and visiting famous places. This is a relief from the long schedule of meetings yesterday.

  We left Warsaw heading west on Highway E 30 across the flat Polish plain. This is the classic invasion route. And Poland knows a lot about invasions. Poland has the misfortune to be located at a strategic spot necessary to cross to get to somewhere else. Some of the invaders didn't really want Poland, it was just in their way.

  Napoleon marched along the same route our bus is taking. A roadside inn along the way is named for him. The Swedes invaded before him. In more recent times the Germans marched through Poland to Russia and the Russians marched across Poland chasing the Germans back. Poland's periods of independence have been brief. Even now, when Poland is nominally independent, Russia calls a lot of the shots for Poland. 

  Our first stop was the Radziwill Castle, situated on beautifully landscaped land. The name is best known in the U.S. because Pres. Jack Kennedy's sister-in-law, Princess Lee Radziwill, married one of the family. The castle is now owned by the Polish government and is used as a museum.

  Farms are small here. Ten hectares, about 20 acres, is an average size, according to our guide, and 50-70 acres is a large farm. But in Poland, alone among the communist countries, most farms, 75 percent, are privately owned. The farms we passed are mostly growing produce for the Warsaw market, along with some grain. With produce, there is a lot of hand labor. Some horse power is used, but we saw a number of tractors. The farms are well tended and appeared prosperous. There was a car by most farm houses.

  Gasoline is cheap here, about 28 cents a gallon, compared to $2.50 per gallon in Western Europe. Poland produces only 10 percent of its own oil - 90 percent comes from Russia.

  Our party stopped at the town of Lowicz, about 80 kilometers from Warsaw. With the aid of our guide, I found the local Solidarity office and was given a couple of their election posters. I made a donation of 10,000 zlotys ($2.78) to the party and they insisted on giving me a receipt. If their records ever fall into government hands I may not be welcome back into Poland.

  If the number of posters are any indication, Solidarity is going to sweep the election.

  I looked for T-shirts with Polish slogans for souvenirs but found none. The T-shirts here have slogans such as "San Francisco Yacht Club", "Tom & Jerry", "MGM Grand Hotel" and "Knight's Inn".

  We stopped for lunch at a roadside restaurant and were serenaded by a polka band in native costume. The Poles seem to serve straight vodka at every meal besides breakfast. It is not something you order, it is just poured automatically the way restaurants in Gold Beach pour water. According to our guide, Poland has a substantial tourist industry, 6.5 million visitors last year. But only 58,000 of these were from the U.S. More people than that take the Rogue River boat rides to Agness every year. Poland is a good sized country, about the size of New Mexico.

  Outside the restaurant one of a group of school children stopped me and, by sign, indicated he wanted to trade a Polish coin for a U.S. one. We traded, and when his buddies saw this they descended in droves. I had a dozen or more U.S. coins and they disappeared.

  Our final stop of the tour was the birthplace of the composer-pianist Frederic Chopin.

  We got back to the hotel about 5 p.m. and had a couple of hours before dinner. This was the time to spend the remaining zlotys. They are not convertible currency and it is spend them or lose them. Prices are extremely low and you get 3600 zlotys for a dollar so it is easy to over buy. We do have to carry everything back on an airplane.

  Store service is slow, but some service is better than we are used to. We sent out laundry and when it came back, even the socks were ironed.

  Tonight was our last dinner in Warsaw. We were on our own instead of having a dinner already arranged. We had all tried to spend our zlotys down, saving out enough for dinner and cab fare. However, when it came to time to pay the check, the meals were more expensive than we had anticipated and, collectively, we didn't have enough to pay the dinner tab. The restaurant finally agreed to accept U.S. money for the difference, with a little extra added.

  We have enjoyed our stay in Poland, much more than our stay in Russia. This is a more pleasant place. Besides that, the food is much better. Tomorrow we are scheduled to leave at 7 a.m. for the flight to Copenhagen, Denmark, the last stop on our tour.