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| The tram into the city. |
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After my adventures in Romania, seeing bears and exploring the 'real Romania' that is Maramures, I felt ready to leave. Romania has always been good to me - it is a wonderful country to explore with friendly people and amazing sights to see. I'm sure that I'll go back to Romania soon, but it was time to leave. I made my way back to the airport, returning the rental car and then getting the company's shuttle bus to the terminal. My next stop was Poland, where I'd be spending 2 weeks before going back to Spain. I'd visited Poland before, but never in Summer - it was always cold and dark when I went, in December for Christmas and New Years way back in 2008, as well as last year for a conference in Bydgoszcz and Toruń. What I came to mind when I thought of Poland was that it was cold and dark by 4pm... but the cities I knew had stunning Central European architecture, coloured buildings, huge squares, and was oozing history everywhere. That's not to mention the mountains and the countryside! I was very excited to be seeing Poland in summer for the first time, and I also had a personal tour guide in my girlfriend. I boarded my plane in Bucharest, stopped over very briefly in Warsaw to change plans to Poznan, the city where I'd be staying. The plane that I got was one of the smallest I'd been on in some time - only 2 seats in each row. Although not a turbo-prop as I was expecting, as they sometimes use these little propeller planes for this short route, it was still very small but cute. I got a window seat and was able to watch the sunset over the central part of the country before landing just after sundown. I was picked up by my girlfriend, something that rarely happens to me (being picked up from the airport by anyone!) and driven back home. I'd been a long day but I was already excited to head out and explore Poznan!
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| Poznan's Old Market Square and the Town Hall. |
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| Old Market Square. |
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| Giovanni Battista di Quadro - The master behind the new Town Hall. |
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| One of many cool, courtyard cafes in the city. |
The first day in Poland was meeting the family and settling in. Apart from this, I was tired from my summer camp in Romania, hiking and driving around, as well as the flights, so it was nice doing absolutely nothing for a bit. I was itching to get out and do things, but tiredness won over eagerness. The next day, after a good lie in and hearty Polish breakfast of pickles, ham and sausages, as well as good coffee, it was time to take a leisurely stroll around the centre of the city. Where I was staying with my girlfriend and her parents was a short distance from centre, not walkable really, but very close by car (and Uber rocks in Poland!) and tram. As I was in Poland I decided to get the tram, firstly because I love trams, but also because they are cheap, take you right to the centre and are a good way of seeing the 'lay of the land' as a tourist. The tickets are done a few ways for people buying the occasional one - 10 minute and 45 minute timed tickets are the easiest however, as long as you know how long your trip will be. At 3zł (just less than a Euro or $1 AU) for 10 mintues and 5zł for 45 minutes, it truly was affordable. Although I only got checked once in my whole time in Poland, everyone says that the conductors are really mean and even if you have a ticket in your hand, if you haven't validated it, they will still fine you. Fair enough I say - the ticket is cheap and the service good, so why not pay? When in a city with trams, I love taking the old ones for the experience! In Prague there were still old trams kicking about, and also in other European cities like Bucharest and Krakow, and although the locals always complain about them (like I do about the shitty old trains in Sydney!), I like them as you never know when they will disappear forever. We got into the centre, stopping a little before the main square so we could walk more and take in the sights - this was my first time in Poznan after all! We got off just outside the Grand Theatre, a beautiful columned building made all of stone and adorned by a Pegasus on the roof. Although I didn't go in, I imagined that it must be quite impressive. Opposite is a park with a lovely fountain, with a grassed area around it. The perfect place to chill in the sun and relax, enjoy the sound of splashing water- or jump in for a dip like the dogs were doing!
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| The Apollo Fountain in the Market Square. |
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| Poznan's main square. |
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| The war memorial in Pozan. |
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| Interesting street art - fear of things different? |
Walking down to the main square, we stopped off for an ice-cream at Poznan's best ice-cream spot, the "Lodziarnia Kolorowa." Normally in summer there are large queues out the front, but today we were lucky and didn't have to wait too long. The cool and very tasty snack was a great idea. The main square in Poznan is much like most city squares in Poland (and even the Czech Republic to be honest), but that doesn't make it less impressive! While Kraków sports the largest square in Europe, this one wasn't small - it measures 140m in length. Colourful terraced buildings ring the square and a fountain sits in each corner - the Apollo, Neptune and Mars fountain and the Prozerpiny. The square is all cobbled stone and full of restaurants and bars, with the City Hall sitting tall and proud in the centre. Also in the centre is the Old Market with stalls and shops, selling the usual tourist rubbish, but the buildings are bar far the most beautiful, each wonderfully colourful and with their own unique design too. This square was laid out in 1253 when Poznan received its original city charter, and is very close to the Royal Castle. From 1253 until 1793 , this part of the Old Town was ringed by city walls and had 4 main gates. In the 17th and 18th century, the walls became less important strategically and were gradually dismantled by the Prussians and only some foundations can be seen today. Many of the buildings here, including the Town Hall, were renovated by Giovanni Battista di Quadro, an Italian Renaissance architect, in the 16th century after a tragic fire that damaged many buildings, and then later nearly completely destroyed in the
Battle of Poznan in 1945. The defeat of the German garrison required almost an entire month of painstaking reduction of fortified positions, intense urban combat, and a final assault on the city's citadel by the Red Army. It must have been a horrible time - more than 10,000 Russians KIA, 6,000 Germans and 90% of the city centre damaged or destroyed by artillery, grenade and mortar explosions as well as small arms fire. Today, after the reconstruction, it is absolutely stunning and you can't tell that it was nearly lost forever.
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| Poznan Old Market Square. |
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| Beautiful Polish architecture. |
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| Downtown Poznan. |
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| The old walls. |
It was hard not to wander around with your head up and feet doing circles, trying to take in the colours. I couldn't help clicking away at everything - I didn't want to miss a square inch of this! Although I missed it the first day, I was here several times and did get to see Poznan's biggest daytime attraction - the goats. At midday every day, when the clock chimes the hour, two little mechanical white goats come out from the clock face and butt heads. Although not a spectacular show, and not as exciting as
Prague's Astrological Clock's show every hour, I enjoyed the performance and I think it's something everyone coming to this city should see. The goats are the symbol of the Poznan and have been 'battling' for nearly 500 years on the Town Hall. The legend of these two mad goats goes something like this: back in the mid 1500s, the master chef who was in charge of a feast for the mayor and some important dignitaies, was cooking venison on a spit when they main meal fell off the fire and onto the ground. The man, desperate to keep his job (and his head!), ran around town trying to find replacement venison, but there was none left in the whole city. Quick thinking made him grab 2 goats which were grazing in a field nearby - but goats being goats, didn't want any part of this and ran off. They fled (with the chef chasing them) towards to the Town Hall and got up to the tower and started fighting. This amused the mayor so much that the chef was forgiven and the goats took their place in history. Tourists now gather around the clock just before midday, looking up and preparing phones and cameras, waiting for the show. The goats came out and did their little dance, but what a lot of people don't see is the trumpeter giving a live performance just before the clock strikes 12.
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| When the clock strikes 12... fight! |
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| The butting goats - the symbol of the city. |
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| "The Unrecognized Ones." |
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| Interesting buildings are everywhere here. |
Something else really worth seeing in the city is the Park Cytadela, just north of the centre. Originally a 19th century fortification, is is now a large park complex which also contains a military museum, military cemeteries, and the remains of some of the fortifications. There are plenty of paths to walk around, small shops selling refreshments, ponds to relax next to as well as some interesting sculptures. The park covers more than 100 hectares and you could easily spend all day here (or even get lost!), but I had picked out what I wanted to see and made for those. I saw the museum and some tanks sitting outside, real WWII monsters of German and Russian make, as well as some planes and helicopters. The Soviet cemetery is a quiet part of the park and is quite eerie. I walked around in silence, taking a few photos and also reading the inscriptions. There must have been so much fighting here in Poznan, it would have been a terrible thing to experience. Along the way we came across a very interesting sculpture by Magdalena Abakanowicz called "The Unrecognized Ones." This installation was big bodies that looked like they were walking around, or being marched about, but without heads. They were also larger than life-size, big and heavy, made of rusted iron, and kind of empty so you could stand in the 'mold.' The park is listed as one of Poland's official national Historic Monuments and is worth coming to see, even if you're not interested in war or museums, as the park and green areas are beautiful, especially in the warm Polish summer. We also made a trip to the Poznan zoo, by getting a ride from the Maltanka Park Railway on a small-scale electric train. I'm sure it was meant for kids and their parents, but we hopped on and enjoyed the bumpy ride which took us along the lake and up the main gates. Although I have no idea how big the zoo is, I know that we spent most of the day walking around in the heat seeing most of the animals and enclosures that we could. A very pleasant day it was, so the walking didn't bother us, and there was plenty to see and quite a few places to stop for refreshments in the shade. There was so much to see that I'm sure I missed a lot, but I did see the cute grizzly bears swimming and playing, and the new and very large elephant complex, complete with an indoor viewing area and bridges over the outside enclosure. I'm not sure if it had something to do with the time of year either, but there seemed to be a lot of baby animals around - cute, long-legged giraffes and even a baby zebra!
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| Park Cytadela's Soviet cemetery. |
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| Red Panda taking a nap. |
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| Bear bath time. |
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| In bloom in Poznan. |
I tried to do as much as I could here - I only had 2 weeks but there was a lot to see. Also, some of this time would be spent travelling other parts of the country. One thing I needed to do here was visit the cathedral. The cathedral was originally built in the second half of the 10th century within the fortified settlement of Gród (the old name for Poznań). The original city was on an island now called Ostrów Tumski ("Cathedral Island"), and moved in the 13th Century to be built around the castle, separating state and religion. The cathedral was the seat of the first Christian ruler of Poland, Mieszko I, who played a large part in the creation of the Polish State, continuing the work done by his father and grandfather. We walked across the bridge which spans the Warta river, and from here you get the best view of the cathedral. To be brutally honest, the inside was no comparison to the outside. Red-brick interior in churches aren't my favourite - I much prefer bare stone like in Spanish Gothic churches. Inside though, they have some famous Poles, including the Mieszko I. Outside the red bricks fit with the green hue of the bronze roof and towers, statues around the roof and a very large gold crown. We continued on, across a red iron arched bridge, crossing the island and getting back onto the 'mainland' to visit
the museum of Poznan. This modern building houses a very interesting display of the early history of the city, including an audio-visual self-tour that is worth doing. Everything inside was newly renovated, clean and well-organised - well done Poznan!
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| WWII tanks at the war museum. |
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| The Soviet cemetery in Park Cytadela - Lest We Forget. |
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