Below are just a few photos from Park Podzamcze, or Castle Park, which as its name suggests, is at the base of the castle buildings. It’s split into three parts, although all of them run by the river, and there are numerous sculptures and water features along the route.
My first hotel in Olsztyn was the Best Western Plus which is a short walk from the city centre. It’s a grand building, but I couldn’t find out anything more about its heritage other than the hotel saying it’s a “pre-war antique tenement” building on their web-site.
The room has a modern design, which seems to fit in with the dynamics of the Best Western Plus programme. The hotel’s web-site also says that it’s the first four-star hotel that opened in Olsztyn.
Nice touches of class, by having some potpourri dumped around the shower cap.
I do like a hotel which offers a decent breakfast, primarily because I’m quite greedy. There was a wide selection of food, although the choice wasn’t as extensive on the second morning as on the first. Lots of variety with the cold meats, as well numerous cheeses, breads and cereals. Also, I did like the cake that was provided, not too stodgy.
I could only book two nights at this hotel as they were full for what would have been my third night. It seemed rather busy when I was there, although there were no noise issues, and the breakfast room was rather crowded on one morning.
The hotel was quite expensive by Polish standards, costing just over £40 per night including breakfast. All very acceptable though, and there were tea & coffee making facilities in the room, along with free bottles of water.
I was only staying here for one night, but the Warmiński Hotel is centrally located in Olsztyn and is of quite some size. It seems to be able to cope with both tour groups and conferences, and it all seemed efficient and clean.
The room was sufficiently modern and the air conditioning unit, some advanced thing from Samsung, was one of the best I’ve seen in a hotel. Hot drinks facilities and free bottled water were also provided. I didn’t experience any noise disturbance either internally or externally, so it was a restful night.
The view from the hotel bedroom window. I’ve had much worse.
I probably created a minor crisis in the breakfast room as I realised later on that I had shown them my room card from the previous hotel. This by chance had nearly the same room number, so I imagine that some guest turned up 30 minutes later and was told that they had already eaten…..
Anyway, there was lots of choice for breakfast, including numerous meats, cheeses, breads and cakes. The coffee was acceptable and there were around five different fruit juices, all from an automatic machine.
The cakes section. It’s also the side of the tea section, hence the lemon, that isn’t some form of specialist cake.
My little selection of food items for breakfast. The hotel is 4-star rated and so is a slightly premium price to other accommodation options in the city, with the room and breakfast costing around £30.
It is my last night in Olsztyn as I’m getting a bus (well, hoping to get a bus, I have no knowledge about this transportation service I’m intending to get) tomorrow to another part of Poland. So, it seemed sensible to visit the local brewery which has a large restaurant attached and is well reviewed.
The opening hours of this place are though a mystery to me. There’s a pub section and a restaurant section, the times of which are both clearly listed on the web-site. But then there’s a general opening time, which doesn’t correspond with the opening times of either the bar or the restaurant. It was too complex for me, I just came when I knew that both the pub and restaurant were open….
The building has a pleasant riverside location near to the centre of Olsztyn.
There were a couple of interesting options, but I thought that I might as well get the tasting set so that I could try all of them. All of the beers are brewed on site, so I had high expectations of the quality.
And here they are. The staff member laid the beers out for me in exactly the order they were shown on the menu. She did well to remember which beer was which and I liked how the beers were presented. All of the beers were at the appropriate temperature and they all tasted well-kept. My favourites were the wheat beer, the Baltic porter and the APA, but they all had an enjoyable taste.
The riverside view from the lower terrace of the restaurant. The interior of the building is large, and there were numerous groups of various size dining and drinking in the internal rooms.
This was listed on the menu as “cod in a beer pancake” which sounded rather appetising. The presentation was exceptional, the fish neatly laid on the asparagus and there was a generous use of micro-herbs. The potatoes were cooked through nicely and the cod flaked apart, although there were a few bones in it. The asparagus was quite chunky in size and the light batter on the fish had a rich flavour which went well with the cod.
The menu mentioned a mint sauce, but this wasn’t evident to me, although there was an orange tasting sauce on the plate. As a meal, I thought that this was excellent as it was well-presented, at the appropriate temperature and the ingredients were of a good quality.
The dessert, listed as being small, was a plum cake with a mirror glaze. Again, beautifully presented, and the sauce was rich and fruity. The cake itself was light, moist and full of flavour.
The meal was rather expensive by Polish terms, coming in at around £14 for the six tasting size beers, the cod and the dessert. However, it certainly seemed worth that to me, as the service was perfectly attentive and the environment was relaxed and comfortable.
This column is located at the Polish Consulate Square and it is relatively recent, having been erected in November 2002. It’s known as Kolumna Orła Białego, or the Column of the White Eagle, and was designed by Urszula and Ryszard Szmytowie.
There are screens which feature, I think, coats of arms from throughout the history of the country, although my lack of knowledge means I’m struggling to intrepret what all of these dates represent.
The three panels here are 1295 (Przemysł II becomes King of Poland, the first coronation of a Polish leader in over 200 years), 1538 (perhaps the Treaty of Nagyvárad, although I’m not sure quite how that’s relevant) and 1669-1696 (rule of Michał Korybut Wiśniowiecki and John III Sobieski)
The three panels here are 1764-1795 (the reign of Stanisław August Poniatowski, the last Monarch of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth), 1916 (the Kingdom of Poland is proclaimed) and 1919-1927 (I have no idea why these specific dates have been used).
There are two panels here, the first is 1945-1990 (the communist period in Poland) and 1990 (the first directly elected Polish President, Lech Wałęsa).
Lunch-time approached and this restaurant had a pleasant view of the city’s market square and fountain, so it seemed a suitable location for me. As usual I did a little check of the restaurant’s reviews on Google, but there were no obvious problems.
I decided to go with the outdoors option today as it’s quite windy and cold, my favourite weather conditions for al fresco dining. I only encountered one wasp during my visit, so I think that I choose well. I also managed to dodge the person who decided to sit down and smoke for the best part of an hour, fortunately he sat on the other side of the terrace.
Although it’s produced by a large national brewer, Żywiec Porter is one of my favourite of the dark beers available in Poland. It has quite a strident flavour and there’s a chocolate and coffee taste to it as well.
I do like a Greek salad, and this was one of the better ones that I’ve had. There was a sauce which added positively to the dish, and primarily disguised the bland taste that lettuce offers, with the feta cheese adding calories and flavour. The onions added texture and the portion size was generous. I’m not normally one for desserts and it did feel a bit excessive to have one, but it was rather tempting. But, I managed to resist.
The service, and I’m at risk of repeating this at just about every Polish restaurant and cafe that I visit, was friendly and engaging. The cost in UK money was just under £6 for the beer and salad, which seems perfectly acceptable given the central location of the restaurant.
I saw that the bike hire scheme in Manchester was suspended last week because of the amount of vandalism which had taken place. I somehow can’t imagine that being a problem in somewhere like Olsztyn, but perhaps I have an image of Poland that isn’t realistic.
Anyway, the bike hire scheme here looks pretty developed despite it being a recent innovation, and there are numerous stands located around the city centre and the suburbs. It’s quite a new scheme for the city, having been introduced in the summer of 2018, but it looks like it’s popular given the number of bikes that I’ve seen being used around the area.
The pricing looks a little complex, but it doesn’t seem too expensive, just the equivalent of a few pounds to cycle around for a bit. I’m not really a cyclist (I find it far too tiring), I’d rather just walk, but it’s nice to know that the option exists for those who want it. There’s information about the scheme at https://orm.bike/.
Located near to the castle, this is an interesting location, part cafe and seemingly part shop, although I never quite worked out why there is a retail area in the middle of it.
The interior was modern and the counter area is located towards the rear of the building, past the little retail element.
The floral decoration at the table. The staff member was personable and helpful, although the ordering process wasn’t entirely clear to me (it rarely is, I think I’m just an idiot). So I just randomly stood around the counter area and then ordered at the counter anyway, and this plan worked.
The interior was warm and comfortable, and there were a succession of people entering the cafe. I hadn’t realised until I was leaving that they did food, which did look rather appetising.
My latte, rich in flavour, and I always appreciate the addition of a biscuit. Every drink should come with a little snack, this is the brave new world that I aspire that we will have one day.
The cafe has a decent location, although the exterior isn’t perhaps as inviting as it might be to tourists. The latte cost around £2 in UK money, which is competitive given the central part of Olsztyn that it’s situated in.
The castle was the first structure to be built in the city, an important part of the defensive network that aimed to protect it. Work started on the building in the middle fourteenth century and it was called into action to defend Allenstein (the old name for Olsztyn) throughout the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
Today, since 1945, the castle and its buildings are used as the area’s regional museum, with the above gateway now being the entrance into the museum. The access across into the museum is now built up, but visitors would once go across a bridge to secure entry into the castle complex.
The ticket office is separate to the main museum itself, something that seems common in eastern Europe and Russia, although it’s all clearly signed. The main castle building looks impressive after entering the courtyard of the castle complex. This also contains the refectory room which was used by Nicolaus Copernicus when he was the administrator here.
The well in the courtyard which is 14.5 metres deep, although it’s covered with wire to prevent some idiot falling into it.
Baba Pruskie, originally created by the Teutonic Knights, with their history being a little unclear, but they are now a symbol of the region. There is a display in the main town square which marks 100 years since the independence of Poland and this features more modern versions of the Baba Pruskie.
The castle has been much changed over the centuries, both externally and internally. The main tower was reconstructed in the sixteenth century and now stands over 40 metres high.
The two photos above show what the roof looks like from underneath, and then from above. It looks like a complex structure that’s about to fall down from above, but much more spectacular from underneath. Apparently the style is called crystal vaulting, a Gothic style mostly limited to Polish territories.
A recreated room showing what village life was once like in the region.
It looks older, but this wooden sculpture dates from the nineteenth century.
Scarily real when standing up close. I quite like the idea of getting a few of these done of me and then giving them to friends to put on their walls.
Always nice to see old books on display.
This is the experimental table of Nicolaus Copernicus, perhaps the most treasured artefact that the museum owns. It was created by Copernicus himself in around 1516, when he was the keeper of the castle, and it enabled him to experiment with the equinox and its impact on the calendar. It’s slightly remarkable that it has survived at all, the lines running across are where partitions have been added to the walls over the centuries.
After visiting the main part of the museum the staff member guided me over to the tower area across the courtyard.
Oh good, steps.
And more steps. But safety first, properly protect the gas and electricity lines that someone has built across the staircase.
And more steps to get to the top. This are as steep as they look, and to be honest, they reminded me of what Striding Edge looked like when I gazed down onto it. They weren’t the easiest to ascend in size 12 shoes either.
This is the roof section within the tower building, but fortunately visitors don’t have to clamber across this.
This is the area at the top of the tower where visitors can enter.
Nice views from the top of the tower. Although the next problem then presented itself to me, which is just one of those very British problems. Someone said to me, in Polish, that it was a difficult climb to the top. I agreed, using my vast knowledge of Polish to say “yes”. Anyway, enthused by my conversational ability the visitor then talked for ages in Polish, by which time it’s too late to admit that I haven’t got a clue what he’s now talking about. So I say yes a lot, which appears to be the correct answer. Or at least a suitable answer, so crisis averted.
Overall, this is a well presented and clearly laid out museum, although a visit isn’t likely to take much more than an hour. The staff are helpful and the majority of the displays are in English, although a few haven’t been translated. I’d have ideally though liked to have seen more on the history of the building itself, as it’s a complex structure which has been much changed and it’s hard to establish when various reconstruction works have taken place.
St. James is the patron saint of the city and this sculpture was originally designed to fit in a niche at the Upper Gate. For whatever reason, that didn’t happen, so instead it’s centrally located now in the city’s fish market area.
The statue is made out of sandstone, with the base made of a different type of the same rock. St James is seen with his pilgrim stick, with Olsztyn being located on a pilgrimage route.
