Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Poland

Gdansk Group Trip – Day 1 (Bus Journey to City Centre with Sam North of Youtube Footy Adventures)

After having ninety minutes of sleep on board the aircraft, I decided I was good for the rest of the day in that regard so it was just the bus journey into the city centre to manage in the morning. We were in the queue to buy tickets from the machine when the bus came and promptly left again, but they’re every half an hour so the wait didn’t feel too onerous.

Then Ross, who knows nearly everything football related, noticed Sam North of Footy Adventures and very bravely for him went and introduced himself. I’ve now added Footy Adventures to my YouTube subscribed list and he is a very friendly guy, I like his ideas to come out and make 24 hour videos of cities around Europe. Travel content is always exciting to me and I think Ross is particularly engaged with football travel content. Hopefully he wasn’t entirely bored about my riveting travel stories from around the world and I just know that he’s going to enjoy Gdansk.

I navigated Sam to the city’s main street and let him get on with his adventure and he was initially off looking for coffee which didn’t seem a bad idea at all. It all added a touch of glamour to the proceedings although Ross and I decided not to appear in the YouTube video as I don’t like being filmed so I wouldn’t have watched it back anyway. But here’s a photo instead.

With that, I walked Ross and I in a slightly circuitous route to the hotel and I’m pleased to note that not only did they give me a room with free early check-in, but Ross was also able to check in early to his room as well. I’ve been busy doing work whilst Ross has been sleeping, but I guess we can’t all be tough travellers. It’s all been a suitably exciting day today, we’ll be on the hunt for pizza and beer shortly, those staples of the Gdansk food and drink scene.

May 10, 2023
Gdansk Group Trip – Day 1 (The Ryanair Flight to Gdansk)

All this telling me to relax is very stressful. I just want to know when and where the aircraft is going from, I like being in a state of heightened tension before a flight and certainly not relaxing. Things have moved about since I was last at Stansted a few years ago and my favourite seating area has gone, but I found a quiet seating area a level below the main terminal which was rather peaceful and delightful. Or as much as these things can be anyway.

Safely at gate 49 and I have to comment positively that Ryanair are incredibly efficient when things go right. The signage is clear, it’s obvious where to stand, the process is managed well and they do this better than British Airways which often is either organised chaos or not organised at all.

The big long queue to board, but the wait was for only five minutes or so.

At least with no airbridge I can take a photo of the aircraft. The aircraft is SP-RNA which was brought into use in 2008 and has a few weeks ago been transferred to Buzz, which are a division of Ryanair. What I find fascinating is that this aircraft will be used for seven flights today, from Stansted to Gdansk to Prague to Gdansk to Oslo to Gdansk to Dublin and back to Gdansk. They get their money’s worth out of these Boeing 737s.

The flight was nearly full and I cannot fault Ryanair for the service today. The cabin crew were pro-active and polite, the pilots made clear announcements, the aircraft was clean and everything was organised and on time. This flight cost £25 and I have to note that I’ve been surprised and delighted by Ryanair. I was asleep for most of the flight, but I received exactly what I paid for which was simply a glorified bus journey and they don’t pretend that it’s anything more than that. I’ve never actually had any problems with Ryanair after over a decade travelling with them, but when things go wrong they do have a poor reputation of fixing the issues.

Safely at Gdansk Airport where three shuttle buses swept passengers away to the main terminal.

Where we had to wait of course because we’re not in Schengen and the border guard, who was very amenable, spent some time adding up the number of days that I’ve been in the European Union. But it’s good to be back in Poland and the weather is warm and frankly too hot. But I don’t complain.

May 10, 2023
Gdansk Group Trip – Day 0 (Will this Train be Operating?)

The excitement is increasing, our train is just a couple of hours away from departing but there has been heavy rain with reports of delays on the train track near Romford. We’re on the last train from London Liverpool Street to Stansted Airport with only 30 minutes to play with at Liverpool Street, so a delay is sub-optimal to say the least. Anyway, Ross and I have started our trip with a quick trip to the Queen of Iceni in Norwich, I’ve had the little burger and salad as I’m very health conscious like that.

My drink came after the food was served, but I’m not one to complain and just privately seethed that I had eaten my little burger and salad just as the drink arrived. The meal came with the 500ml can of Tin Man from Williams Brothers Brewing Co, a very agreeable hazy IPA.

A balanced diet is important, so here are some Mini Cheddars along with half a pint of Reedlighter from Woodforde’s Brewery. The good news is that the delays on the track near Romford seem to have gone away, they’ve fixed the flooding, which means we should be getting into Stansted on time. I’m very excited about this whole Polish trip even though my very wealthy friend Gordon isn’t going, we’re about to leave for the railway station now to see what delights and surprises the rail network will bring us.

May 9, 2023
Gdansk Group Trip – Day 0

How exciting, it’s a group trip this week to Gdansk, with six of us going to this quite marvellous city. Of course, nothing is simple, Ross and I are departing by train this evening whilst the others arrive at random times during the week. Everyone is flying with Ryanair to Gdansk other than Richard who has hired a private jet or something to take him to Warsaw and then a first class train to Gdansk. How the other half live….

Here’s my scribbling down an itinerary that will likely change numerous times, but showing my commitment to organisational excellence. We have museums, bars, restaurants, bars, a boat trip, bars, trams, bars, cathedrals, bars, churches, bars and pizzerias. I have already whetted my appetite by looking at ontap.pl to see what beers are being sold in Gdansk, Gdynia and Sopot at the moment. I am beyond excited at just how many tempting sours there are across the city and very excitingly, I’ve discovered there’s an outlet of PINTA in Sopot.

I’ve missed Poland and if any of the other five going don’t enjoy Gdansk then they’re idiots and I am unanimous in that. And for anyone interested, which I readily accept is likely below one in number, the photo on this page is from my trip last year to Pikawa in Gdansk.

May 9, 2023
Wednesday : Poznan to Luton with Wizz Air

And all good things must come to an end, including my near one month stay in Poland (with a few days in the UK in the middle) which has been, as ever, a delight. My Schengen days are though nearly at their maximum, so I couldn’t have remained in the EU for much longer. The journey ended with the 159 bus from Poznan’s main railway station to the airport, a journey that takes around 30 minutes or so.

As an aside, one thing I did notice is how many Ukrainian women there were around the city, it’s noticeable as you can see on screens at ticket machines, ordering machines and the like when they’ve switched the language to Ukrainian. And they’ve been welcomed with such kindness by the Polish, who seem to have coped admirably with a 10% increase in their population. There are lots of places in Poznan where those fleeing their country can get help and support, such a lovely gesture from an entire nation. There’s no shortage of Ukrainian flags flying around the place either, all really rather lovely.

Back at Poznan airport, although I can’t say that I much wanted to leave Poland. They were going to name this airport after Ignacy Jan Paderewski, but then the Polish city of Bydgoszcz did that, so instead it’s named after Henryk Wieniawski, a Polish composer and violinist. British Airways did fly to Poznan in the summer of 2008, which is an idea I think that they should repeat as they don’t have enough Polish cities as destinations. The big three operators here though appear to be Wizz Air, Ryanair and LOT Polish Airlines. It took me precisely one minute to get through security, the Poles have their airports running with great efficiency.

I got to the non-Schengen gate early, but that worked as I got a power supply and a table, so I was sorted for the duration. I was interested to hear the announcement for the Lufthansa flight saying that all passengers must wear masks. This seems unusual as mask wearing in Poland is near zero and I didn’t see anyone in the airport wearing masks, so it felt odd to see an airline still compelling this.

I like having a lot of space to myself. It’s not a great use of resources having this non-Schengen bit of the terminal separated off with border control staff and separate food and drink facilities, but such is politics. I treated myself to a bottle of Fanta which at just over £2.50 was scandalous by Polish prices, but a bargain given the power, free wi-fi and table that were available. Who needs a lounge?

The boarding process humoured me, with a priority and non-priority line that were opened at the same time. As there were far more priority customers than not, I was able to get through and get a seat before most of the priority customers. It’s true they boarded the aircraft slightly earlier than me, but I’d rather have a little sit down than have to stand in a queue for what transpired to be 25 minutes. I had the advantage though of not needing to stow my bag in the overhead lockers, I could get away with dithering.

Firmly at the back of the line, but the random seat Gods had been good to me, I had been given an aisle seat, which is my favourite. All was well with the world. OK, all was well with my flight at least.

Because this is a reminder that all is not well with the world. I’m not sure what the national airline of Ukraine is doing with this aircraft, which had been sent to Spain in February for storage. It returned to Poznan recently and has just flown to Azerbaijan and back, aircraft registration UR-PSF.

The aircraft I was on, G-WUKC, which arrived 70 minutes late, apparently due to ATC difficulties in London. Wizz Air certainly get value for money from their aircraft, this did six sectors during the day, returns to Kaunas, Poznan and Wroclaw. Like much of their fleet, it’s quite a new aircraft, having been used by Wizz Air since it was new in 2018.

Back at Luton airport. There wasn’t much of excitement during the journey, although the aircraft wasn’t as busy as I had thought when boarding, so I switched across the aisle to the other seat so that I had no-one sitting next to me, which meant I had enough space to use my laptop. Ten minutes into the flight the “if there is a medical professional on-board please come to the rear cabin” with a lady getting up and rushing to the back, so I assume she was medically qualified, or just wanted to see what was happening I suppose. I didn’t hear anything more and we didn’t divert, so it couldn’t have been too dramatic. Or, at least, I hope it wasn’t.

The crew were friendly enough, mostly male which is a little unusual for budget airlines. One passenger seemed scared of the barking sound in the aircraft, which is the power transfer unit (I learned that long ago from British Airways) and called one of the crew over to express his concerns. The crew member said “oh, that’s usual, it’s probably the brakes” and wandered off which actually didn’t calm the passenger who didn’t seem to like the “probably” bit of the answer.

The disembarkation process was as chaotic as ever, people rushing to the aisle, trampling on each other and then standing there for ten minutes. A case fell on someone’s head, someone stood on someone’s foot and tensions were rising. The guy in the window seat on my row just kept reading his book, I sat and stared at my phone (I do that a lot) and didn’t move, it’s much less stressful. I find it all odd, as then the same people very often walk slowly to the terminal, so I can overtake them. It took probably eight minutes to get through border control, nothing too bad.

I then had a forty minute to the hotel that I was staying in at Luton, walking past this bastion of journalism. Well, something like that anyway….

It’s been delayed a couple of times, but they’re getting there with this, which is Luton DART. It’ll connect Luton Airport Parkway railway station with the airport, which will involve scrapping the shuttle bus arrangement that currently exists. I’ll probably just still walk between the two rather than pay for this, but it’s a more efficient solution for those who can’t or don’t want to walk the fifteen minutes between the two.

Luton Hoo Memorial Park, which was presented to the town in 1920 by Lady Ludlow, in honour of her son, Alex Piggott Werner, who had died during the First World War.

Bailey Hill Water Tower in the background.

And the park’s war memorial. It’s a really nice space, there’s a playground for children that was well used, with a few people walking dogs, all very calm and sedate.

The final destination was the Linton Hotel, which was cheaper than all of the other chain hotels that I had to walk by to get here. I went for the cheapest compact room, which was indeed compact, but it was clean and functional and everything worked as it should. I was exhausted when I got here as it’s too bloody hot in Luton, certainly compared to Poland at the moment, and I had to climb a hill which was higher than the little diddy ones that Dave Morgan is currently climbing in mainland Europe. I was very brave, but also quite tired at the end of that, but I don’t complain.

July 14, 2022
Tuesday : Meander along the River Warta

Another short post today, I was occupied with work related things for much of the day, before going on a little meander along the River Warta.

This is Park Tadeusza Mazowieckiego which was opened in 2014, named after Tadeusz Mazowiecki (1927-2013) who was the first non-communist Prime Minister of the Third Polish Republic between 1989 and 1991. The Polish authorities rarely celebrate any of the communist leaders and the timing was deliberate to mark 25 years of political freedom.

The city doesn’t have much development by the River Warta, although that’s primarily as this stretch of land floods which wouldn’t be ideal.

Unlike in the UK, where there’s apparently a heatwave at the moment, it’s quite cool in Poland, although the tree cover made it even more tolerable.

Most Świętego Rocha and although this bridge was constructed between 2002 and 2004, there’s been a crossing here since the fourteenth century. The wooden structure fell down in 1771 and it took longer than anticipated for them to build a new one, instead a ferry ran between the two sides of the river. After much dithering about and numerous failed attempts, a replacement bridge opened in 1913. It didn’t last as long as they might have wanted, as the Polish army blew it up in September 1939 to try and slow the advance of the German military. A temporary bridge was slung up (I’m not sure if that’s an engineering term, my friend Liam will know) in 1945 and a steel bridge stood here between 1949 and 2002.

It’s a pleasant walk along the river, the left-hand side is for pedestrians and the right-hand side is for cyclists.

The river, with Poznan Cathedral visible in the background.

The firm track runs out half-way along, so I diverted up along the bank.

Park Stare Koryto Warty, which is on a stretch of land which was water until they dumped soil on it in the 1960s. It was turned into a park in 2015 and there’s quite a large playground for children as well as an amphitheatre arrangement. There has been some manipulation of the river around here in recent decades and apparently there are plans to make some further changes in the future.

I’m always intrigued by old buildings, especially one where bits have been knocked off it. I have no idea what the building was used for, but it’s got a prominent riverside location, I can imagine it’ll be flats in twenty years.

In the background is Poznan Cathedral which is located on Ostrów Tumski, or Cathedral Island. It doesn’t look it, but it is still an island and it’s where the city grew up from.

A view from the bridge, lovely and cool with all that cloud cover.

The Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary, located in front of the cathedral, which was built during the 1430s and 1440s and served as a collegiate church. It had started to fall apart by the middle of the nineteenth century, but a reconstruction of the building took place between 1859 and 1862.

This column with a statue of Our Lady Immaculate dates from 1886.

And then the main event, Poznan Cathedral, of national importance not just as one of the earliest Christian churches in Poland, but because numerous early Poland leaders, such as Mieszko I, the founder of the Polish state, are buried here. I’ve visited the cathedral a few times before, but I think they were mainly pre-blog (it’s hard to imagine such a time, I know).

The first church here, likely from the early tenth century, was expanded into a cathedral in 968 and St. Peter is the patron. A new cathedral was constructed in the mid eleventh century, of which fragments remain, before it was mostly reconstructed in the fifteenth century in the Gothic style.

There were numerous rebuilds over the centuries, but a major one took place following the Second World War, when substantial damage was done to the cathedral. One minor advantage in rebuilding a cathedral after a disaster is that some archaeological features can be uncovered, and partly based on these it was decided to return the building to its Gothic style.

The grand pulpit is from the eighteenth century, although it’s not from here, it was brought from the church in Milicz. There’s a crypt under the cathedral which I’ve been in before, I’ll put photos up of that at some point.

Walking back to the city centre, a view of the river from the other side of the bridge.

This memorial commemorates Action Bollwerk, an attack on 21 February 1942 by the Polish Home Army against the German occupiers. The Poles set fire to numerous German warehouses, causing substantial damage to them with their contents including food and military uniforms. The Germans executed many of those involved and there’s a square in the city named after the bravery of those involved.

Duzy Ben are an alcohol retailer, who I assume sponsored this rather glorious piece of street art showing what Poznan used to look like.

And that’s the end of the Poznan expedition, I returned to the hotel as there was an LDWA meeting of group representatives (by Zoom, they hadn’t flown 30 people over to Poland, although that would have been a marvellous idea) and picked up my welcome drink (albeit belatedly) of a dunkel from Paulaner. I’ve been really rather impressed by the Ibis Poznan Centrum, I’m sure they’ve just rebranded half the hotel as Ibis, because the rooms are sizeable and feel more Novotel than Ibis.

July 13, 2022
Monday : Thai Meal and Beer in Poznan

This should be a quick blog post as I’ve spent most of the day being productive with my laptop whilst it pours down outside. I am very pleased though to be sheltering from the hot weather in the UK with a rather more moderate climate in Poznan.

I’ve never noticed these at Stary Browar despite walking by them numerous times, but I like when these are collected up. Unlike a certain pub in Norwich, the Ten Bells, who acquired their signs (which I think have now been refurbished out) in a rather, well, unofficial manner.

A different branch of Cukiernia Sowa and the staff member was having none of my Polish, despite ordering exactly the same as I have in the last ten of their outlets in the same way. Perhaps she didn’t speak Polish is my only conclusion, it can’t be my beautiful pronunciation of the language. The hot chocolate with cream was as decadent and delicious as usual.

I have to confess to not always being thrilled by Polish food, so I went for a Thai meal at Why Thai. This three course lunch meal deal came to £5, which is impressive by any accounts. There’s no choice, other than between a meat or vegetarian main, with the menu changing daily.

Starting with free prawn crackers and the Singha beer I felt would complement the meal.

The starter of Thai broth with mushrooms and coriander, which was rather lovely with a depth of taste. I don’t much like mushrooms normally, they seem a heap of pointlessness on a plate, but these were cut into small pieces and actually had some flavour whilst adding texture to the broth.

Pad Kha Pao, which is chopped chicken leg with chilli, green beans, a fried egg served alongside jasmine rice. This wasn’t quite what I expected, as the chicken was finely cut, but it tasted better than I had anticipated, the sauce was packed with flavour. I’m not sure that it needed the egg, but it didn’t hurt the arrangement, with probably more rice than I needed. There were chopsticks available, but I ignored those and went for the knife and fork. One day I’ll learn to use them maybe… (the chopsticks I mean, I’ve sort of sussed the knife and fork situation).

The mango mousse with chocolate crumble and lemon cream, which was a little drier than I expected, but still a decent way to end the meal. The service was perfectly polite throughout, it was a welcoming environment and I’d merrily recommend the venue to others. It’s centrally located, just one street away from the main square, with the standard meals looking reasonably priced, although the lunch deal really is excellent value.

I mentioned the remains of St. Mary Magdalene on Saturday’s post, but I noticed today some information boards about the archaeological investigations. This is what the church looked like, before the Swedes damaged it, before the earthquake and before it fell down. During the excavations they found thousands of coins under the floor, including some gold ones and it’s though that they were offerings. They discovered several thousand burials (they decided to exhume 4,500 people, and they didn’t try and find everyone), including some with amulets to guard against the plague, although I suspect the family of those who died were likely disappointed with how efficient they’d been.

Looking back over the square.

This is what it looked like in 1795 and I can see why they decided to just knock it down a few years later. During the excavations they discovered numerous vaults that had been built under the church, including some rather haphazard arrangements that had threatened the building with collapse. Well, it did collapse, so maybe it did more than threaten it.

And that’s how it fits into the local environment. This could have been one of the great churches of Poland if it had survived, instead, just some images on boards remain.

And then onto the craft beer bar Lot Chmiela.

A nice little selection of beers behind the bar and there were eight options on tap.

I ordered the Baltic Porter from Browar Bialy and the staff member merrily set about pouring it, but also said he’d try. I got what he meant when it ran out as he was pouring, but I think he’d actually poured enough for the size that I’d ordered. He decided though to just give me the beer for free, which I though was really rather lovely. This happened in Katowice a couple of weeks ago, I was surprised and delighted then as well to get it without a charge.

I didn’t want to just walk away without giving the bar anything, so I ordered the not entirely delicately named Brian Smasher from Moczbroda who are a brewer from Poznan. A decent beer, suitably tropical and citrusy.

And the walk back to the hotel whilst the sun was still shining. Not the busiest day perhaps, but at least productive and the food was delightful for lunch.

July 11, 2022
Sunday : Day Trip to Leszno

I thought I’d have a day out to Leszno, departing from Poznan’s main railway station. I had a little bit of a faff buying the railway tickets as the machine was being temperamental and demanding my debit card be inserted within two seconds, or it cancelled the transaction. Fortunately, its brother machine next to it was more tolerant.

Track 54, keeping it simple for passengers.

Note I arrived thirty minutes before the train (I’m rarely in danger of being late for public transport), which was one of my better ideas as it soon started to fill up.

The seating is terrible, the knees of passengers almost touch the other side, so there’s really not space for people to sit opposite each other. That means a lot of seats are left unused and people stand, but these trains are dated and are (hopefully) probably on their way out.

About six miles from Leszno the train just stopped, so I stared out of the window at this for some time. There were no announcement why we stuck there for a little ten minutes, but the driver got out of his cab and looked annoyed at his train for a good couple of minutes. No passenger seemed concerned that there was a delay, which was reassuring for me at least. I think it’s better that there are no announcement than an announcement in Polish that I don’t understand, as then it would only be me who was confused what was happening.

Safely in Leszno, only around ten minutes late.

And a sign to prove that I was definitely in the right place.

There’s a photo at the railway station of the building that stood until the 1960s. Jumping ahead though, I saw this board in the town centre and it shows just what a grand railway station they had. I cannot understand why in the late 1960s they demolished this beautiful building for a piece of 1970s junk that they put up in its place.

In fairness, they’ve done a great job at hiding the 1970s building by a modernisation programme, with this new station winning numerous design awards. It’s not as exciting as the one which looked like a castle though, that’s definitely a loss to the town.

I didn’t know what to expect from the town, with this grand empty building not being a great first impression.

The Way of St. James, and perhaps my friend Steve might come and start a walk from here, as he’s recently finished a 600 mile or so pilgrimage walk. It feels a long way to walk to Spain from here, I admire anyone who makes it there from Poland.

Leszno is a bit of a centre for gliding and apparently they’re the only town in the world that has held the World Gliding Championships on four occasions. There’s a fun fact for the day.

Walking in from the railway station, it all felt a bit barren at first, so I wondered how well they were doing economically.

But then it all started to pick up, it felt busier, it was clean, well maintained and they’ve made an effort to beautify the streets.

The large market square and although I know it’s too hot in the UK, it’s nice and cool in Poland, indeed it rained soon after I took this photo. I was pleased with that situation.

It’s a large square which has been neatly paved. The history of Leszno could have been very different, as it became wealthy and influential in the early seventeenth century. It was given city rights that were similar to those given to Krakow and Warsaw, but this all came crashing down – literally – when the town was destroyed by the Swedes on 28 April 1656. It was rebuilt, but was then destroyed by the Russians in 1707 and then it suffered badly with the plague in 1709. It never really recovered its importance and now has a population of around 60,000.

The city’s Minor Basilica, St. Nicholas Church, which was constructed in 1709 just as the locals were dealing with the plague crisis.

This large piece of street art is a representation of Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941), a pianist and composer who became an important figure in the creation of an independent Poland following the end of the First World War. He died in the USA and it’s unfortunate that he never saw the recovery of Poland, but he tried to represent the interests of the country with American political figures. His status meant that he was buried in the Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, although it was decided to move his remains to Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist in Warsaw in 1992.

I went to look for the Jewish cemetery which was used between 1626 until 1939, when it was badly damaged by the invading German forces. There’s now a post-war residential housing development on the site, although this building remains, which was used for the bodies before burial. It’s now used as a public library, but as I visited on a Sunday the grounds were locked up and so I couldn’t see if any other structures have survived.

Some rather decadent underpass decoration, Daniel Vetter was a member of the Unity of the Czech Brethren who set up a religious house in Leszno. He seems a remarkable character as he went around Europe raising money for the church, including a long stay in Iceland. That would be quite a decadent visit even today, but I can’t quite imagine what it was like back then, with I assume quite a language barrier. Vetter came back safely and his travel writings about Iceland are the first to exist in Polish.

The architectural styles vary widely, there are these old buildings from the Prussian period alongside large new post-war residential blocks.

Back in the main market square and it had become evident to me that there was clearly some money coming into the town, with numerous parts feeling new and shiny. There seemed to be a fair number of restaurants, although a complete lack of craft beer bars. Some local youngsters were milling around looking bored, although they didn’t look intimidating in the way that they can do in some places (albeit not in Poland).

I thought I’d have the traditional Polish cuisine of pizza as a late lunch, so I visited Pizzeria Kropla Oliwy. It was quiet, although there was a table with diners that I’ve managed to keep out of the photo.

Very lovely, with the pizza and beer coming to £7, such is the joys of Polish pricing.

Street art from EJSMONDT, a local artist and this is of Atlas, which is in reference to a statue of Atlas in the nearby park which somehow went missing after the Second World War.

A memorial to the mothers who lost sons and husbands during the Katyn Massacre.

Located next to the previous memorial, when this was unveiled at a formal ceremony in 2019, a politician said:

“The tragic fact is that the elite of the Western world have long and officially accepted the Soviet version as true. After all, they had full knowledge on this subject, provided by the Polish government in 1943. In 1952, the US Congress Committee, in its report, which was sent in 1953 through the UN Secretary General to all delegations, found the NKVD and the Soviet government guilty. But the West has been painfully silent for more than half a century. In practice, this meant cooperation in concealing the truth.”

There is very much a feeling in Poland of annoyance about the way that the Russians dealt with the brave Polish population in the post-war period, it hasn’t diminished and I can imagine it’ll only get worse with the whole situation in Ukraine.

This was a Prussian city in the nineteenth century, so there are a range of architectural styles around the town.

A war memorial in Park Miejski.

It’s a pretty little park with its fountains and walkways.

This memorial marks the Greater Poland Uprising, when Poles rose up against German occupation of their lands, a battle which ultimately ensured the creation of the Second Polish Republic at the Treaty of Versailles.

A relief map of what Leszno once looked like.

One of the former gateways into the town during a recent archaeological dig.

A representation of the gateway.

The former gateway site is a little less dramatic today than it once was.

The town’s water tower.

I don’t quite understand this memorial, but I think it relates to the soldiers who fought for Poland but who were forgotten because it suited the communist narrative after the Second World war. Or at least, that’s what I understand the accursed soldiers to be.

Painted in 2016, this street art translates to the year 1944 – the demolition of the church dedicated to St. Stephen which had been destroyed during the war.

Part of the regeneration of buildings is clearly visible in Leszno, with part of this structure having been modernised and some of it not yet redeveloped.

Back to the railway station.

Mine was the 16:08 train back to Poznan, which arrived a couple of minutes late as it got caught behind another delayed train.

As if this blog couldn’t get any more interesting, here’s a photo of a bench at the railway station. I noted this as it was particularly comfortable, or as much as bench can be that’s made of metal. I’m aware no-one else needs to know this, but I liked it and so that’s why it’s included as I hope Greater Anglia might see it and put similar benches in across East Anglia. I accept that the chances of this are remote.

Train travel is made more complex than it needs to be, as the sign clearly states that this is the 16:08 to Poznan, but I know it’s not, as that’s an Intercity train and the one I was getting was a cheaper local train that takes longer. I can see why someone would have got on this train by mistake though and it would have been fiddly to correct as it was going to Krakow.

Here’s my rickety old train coming in.

I have no idea why there are so many old trains parked up outside Leszno, but I noticed them on the way in earlier on during the day. I then deliberately sat on the same side of the train so that I could take photos of them on the way back, I thought it was all quite intriguing. Perhaps they’ll open up a little railway museum at some point.

The train back to Poznan arrived in on time and without any issue, although it was very busy and it was standing room only towards the end of its journey. I rather liked Leszno, it feels like a town that is on the up and doing reasonably well economically. The European Union stated just over a decade ago that the town needed to move into sectors with higher productivity and shift away from traditional industries, a process which seems to be ongoing as heavy industry becomes less important to the region.

July 11, 2022
Poznan – National Museum in Poznan (Jozef Faworski)

This photo is from my 2019 visit to the city’s National Museum in Poznan, I was looking back on the huge heap of images I have that I never did anything with. This one is actually quite forward thinking.

It’s a portrait of Weronika Piędzicka(nee Szczawińska) with her son Alojzy, painted by Józef Faworski in around 1790. For three years the artist painted members of this family, in what the gallery notes is “an earthy style”, which really means that he didn’t try and sex them up a bit. Instead, the aim is not to show fake natural beauty, but to show a reality, focusing on the personality and, in this case, the motherly bond of the woman in the artwork. They add that it isn’t perhaps as technically developed as some western painters at the time, which seems an entirely fair point, but that it’s important as it’s an early artwork of a non-Royal member of society.

Apparently it was the habit at the time of depicting children as small things with grown-up faces which apparently Faworski didn’t do, although I have some slight doubts. And, I like that the artist seemingly shoved a little still life selection at the front to show his artistic prowess. But, I rather like the whole underlying tone here that this is an eighteenth century artwork which is all about showing the real person, and not a fake personality. Here we are nearly 250 years on and famous people still have their images tinkered about with using Photoshop to remove their blemishes. Józef Faworski, an artist ahead of his time.

July 11, 2022
Saturday : Beer, Burger and Churches in Poznan

Breakfast with a view in the shopping centre opposite the hotel. McDonald’s in Poland sell Jalapeño burgers which cost about 80p and are a suitably cheap and delightful breakfast option at nine in the morning. No Egg McMuffins or whatever rubbish you get in UK McDonald’s. I’m not sure why Jay Rayner would think about all this, but I’m sure that he’d approve.

I was lucky to get a seat with all the customers deluging the food mall.

Looks like Caffe Bimba in the old tram carriage has closed down. I can’t complain that I’ll miss it, since I’ve never actually been in it, but it is something of a iconic scene.

This sign notes that the German physicist Max von Laue (1879-1960) studied in this school between 1887 and 1891, at a time when the city was part of Prussia. He refused to help Hitler develop the German nuclear programme and remained opposed to the Nazis and their work.

The building is still used as a secondary school today. Excuse the angle of the photo, there’s a barrier to stop people being hit by trams and, if I’m being honest, I couldn’t be bothered to traipse all the way around to the other side of the road. My enthusiasm for this blog isn’t always endless.

The interesting Zbigniew Zakrzewski Gardens which aren’t named after the local Poznan footballer, but after the local economist who also wrote numerous local history books. This should be a fountain with water spraying out, I’m not sure why it wasn’t working, but I bravely walked across anyway taking the risk that the water wouldn’t start gushing out. I always have half an eye on everything being some sort of social media prank, so I can imagine the water starting just as I’m ready to take a photo in the middle of it.

Although recently modernised, this area of land has been a park since 1840, one of the first in the city. The Prussians decided they’d name the park after Erich Ludendorff (1865-1937) who was a war leader, that’s the sort of thing they wanted to celebrate back then. As an aside, Ludendorff refused to accept the rank of Field Marshal from Hitler in the 1930s, he said that he wouldn’t be promoted to a high rank by a corporal. The park and the trees were badly damaged during the Second World War, but that seems to be the story of most things in the city.

The park was named after Zbigniew Zakrzewski in 2008 and this figure is designed to be a professor wondering where the rain was, I’m not sure if this was meant to be Zakrzewski as he was a professor. The sculptures have an environmental aim, to make a thing of the ecological threats to the earth.

The figures in the park were all designed by Norbert Sarnecki.

This niche appears to be a modern recreation of an older feature, which they’ve included in the photograph. I know it’s a modern recreation as I had a look at Google Streetview of a few years ago, and it’s not there.

The Sisters of Charity nunnery which was established in 1595 by a group of Grey Sisters and it’s still in use as a church.

Standing opposite the nunnery is St. Francis Church, with the first consecrated building on this site having been completed in 1473. During the Swedish Deluge of 1657 the papers and the books of the church were pinched, with some of them still located today in the Royal libraries of Stockholm.

The church interior, but, of course, the story goes the way it so often does, with this being badly damaged during the Second World War. The Nazis used the building as a workshop, destroying most of the things in it.

The repairs to the church were mostly completed by 1972, although they weren’t finally finished until 1983, nearly half a century after the damage had been done. There’s a little collection of photos in the back of the church which shows some of the work.

It’s a peaceful, and long, church, and I had to be discreet with my photos as there were people praying quietly who I didn’t want to annoy or disturb. It’s a slightly odd arrangement that visitors have to climb some stairs to get to the main part of the church, but the reason is a sensible one, it’s to stop the flooding which once caused so many problems in this part of Poznan.

This church bell is a bit broken, so they put it here in 1980 (I assume they weren’t sure where else to dump it), but it was in use within the church from 1730.

More helpful old imagery of the city centre, this is from just after the end of the Second World War.

The square and they’ve done a really good job here, as this was until relatively recently just a giant car park. People don’t need to drive cars around so much in city centres, they’ve reclaimed this for pedestrians and it’s a lovely open space. The area was formerly occupied by St. Mary Magdalene Church, which at over 100 metres in height was one of the tallest in Poland. The Swedish attacked it in 1657 and caused substantial damage, but the city decided they couldn’t afford to repair it, so they left it for a while. Then, in 1773, the remains were hit by lightning and the church fell down. It was decided by the authorities that they’d better do something, so they rebuilt it, but whilst rebuilding it, it fell down in 1777. I think I’d be annoyed at the civil engineers involved with that one. They were having a think about what to do with it, before in 1780 the bits that remained were destroyed by fire. After another little think, they pulled it down in 1802 and flatted the area to make a square.

This 12 metre sculpture was designed by Piotr W Wełak and marks where the church once stood. Some of the remains of the foundations are visible to members of the public under the glass in a couple of places, but I can’t really take useful photographs as it just reflects back.

Formerly the Jesuit College, this is the Municipal Office for the city, the building dates from 1571, although is of course much changed since then. Very observant readers will note that I took photos of the other side of this building yesterday. I accept, of my two readers, it’s unlikely anyone noticed. But, undeterred, I persist.

The authorities in the city have some beautiful buildings from which to work from.

I’d had enough walking, so I went to Whiskey in the Jar, which is a small Polish chain that I’ve written about before (Gdansk and Warsaw).

The same menu as the other venues and the same delicious food. The beer is just Lech, but that suffices for a lunchtime refreshment. Man cannot live on craft beer alone. Well, they probably can actually, if served with burgers. Service was friendly and personable, although I struggled to pay at the end of it. This was another time when I ordered with what I consider my beautiful Polish, which the server understood, and then replied in English. Incidentally, that bloody knife was impaled in the board, I’m surprised I don’t do myself an injury with some of the food that I order.

This is the Holy Cross Lutheran and Methodist Church which was constructed between 1885 and 1886, although they decided against the new national Union Church which the Prussians wanted them to. Damaged during the Second World War, it was reconstructed by the Evangelical Methodists, although it doesn’t look decadently looked after today.

The Little Prince Mural which was painted in 2019 and has the lovely back story that it’s from the Open Door Organisation who support children with disabilities.

The work on digging up Poznan continues.

Colourful houses in front of the building zone in the city’s main square.

The city hall has been in this spot since the late thirteenth century, with the current building being mostly from the period between 1550 and 1560. It’s from this building that Heinrich Himmler gave an infamous speech in 1943 that was the first time a senior Nazi had admitted the mass extermination of the Jewish population. He did that as he must have assumed that the audience listening to him were fully aware of what was going on. Continuing on the theme of destruction I mentioned earlier on in this post, the building was badly damaged during the final stages of the Second World War, but was restored soon after and a more thorough repair took place in the 1990s.

A link to Sussex on the bar at Piwna Stopa, a bar which I’ve been to before, but has a suitably interesting ambience to make me want to return.

The beer board, all looking nicely balanced and lots of interesting options, although I was marginally disappointed that they’d run out of the Tankbusters Pastry Killer. The service was friendly and engaging, it’s a very decent craft beer bar this, with the team member merrily recommending beers of the style I wanted.

The interior of the pub is quirky and interesting, with lots of books about the place.

I went for two beers, both from the ever wonderful Funky Fluid brewery, these are Zingy and DDH Cloudy. It reminds me that more British pubs should have Polish beer, as Funky Fluid continue to surprise and delight me.

The beer board at Ministerstwo Browaru, usual friendly and welcoming service.

It’s a cellar bar, the interior is suitably slightly dark and atmospheric.

This isn’t under-poured, it’s not meant to go to the top of the glass and it was certainly very lively when being poured, with the team member taking some time to get this far. It’s the Kia Ora from Browar Gwarek, a fruity DIPA with a tropical taste.

I then went to Aldi to buy salami and crisps, what a time to be alive…. Poznan seems to be one of those cities which is becoming effortlessly on-trend, with a busy feel on a Saturday night, but it doesn’t have the backdrop of fighting, violence, shouting and intimidation that some UK cities have.

July 10, 2022