Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Category: Poland

  • Poznan Lawica Airport – Business Executive Lounge

    Located just to the right after the security area is Poznan airport’s sole business lounge, although it’s in the non-Schengen area. This meant that I left the lounge with lots of time in case it took me a while to pass through the security check, I thought 45 minutes would suffice. It took 20 seconds, so I felt that I had perhaps been a little over-cautious. Anyway, I had over two hours in the lounge and that sufficed.

    The food and drink area is stylish in its design, with a decent variety of drinks and a passable selection of food. There were self-pour wines and both local and national beers, but the soft drinks selection was particularly extensive. There were vitamin and energy drinks, which provided me with a useful boost.

    The food was limited to cold selections, primarily just biscuits, chocolates and snacks. This sort of food is perfectly sufficient for me, but ideally there would have been some sandwiches or salads available to choose from as well.

    It’s not a huge lounge in terms of the seating capacity, but it feels spacious and airy. There are toilets at the rear so visitors don’t have to leave the confines of the lounge, with a separate area for those wanting to use the computers. There aren’t very many power sockets, but there are some in the liftable floor panels for those who go looking for them.

    A beer, a vitamin fruit drink and an eclectic range of snacks. The staff in the lounge were friendly and, like with nearly everywhere else in Poznan, spoke excellent English. The newspaper selection was quite limited and all of the newspapers were in Polish, I didn’t see anything in English.

    The lounge was clean and tidy with plenty of departure boards located around it. They don’t make individual calls, although it’s possible to hear the airport announcements easily enough. If I visit again I will though perhaps not rush off to the departures gate quite as early next time, but always better to be early for a flight than late…..

  • Poznan – Ferris Wheel

    I didn’t go on the city’s ferris wheel, but it looked rather impressive, standing 45 metres high.

  • Poznan – Chmielnik

    This craft beer pub is just a short walk away from the main square and had a rather modern feel to it from the outside.

    As beer lists go, that’s pretty impressive for me, a dry stout, an imperial stout and an extra stout. So, given that, I knew I’d have to stay for at least two drinks. However, for those who prefer lighter beers, the choice was rather more limited.

    This is the dry stout, although I also went for the imperial stout. The dry stout was rich, had notes of coffee but wasn’t overly strong even at its 4.4%. The imperial stout, Centrala Piwna Saint Satanislav, was 8% and was rich and a little sweet, although the afternotes of chocolate were pleasant enough.

    The whole environment felt clean and modern, with the staff member being helpful and his English was excellent, although there’s no surprise there in Poland.

  • Poznan – Christmas Markets

    I don’t share the excitement of Christmas markets in the way that some people do, they just seem to be over-priced and commercialised. I’m not tempted by a Christmas drink of Glühwein standing outside when there’s a perfectly good pub 50 feet away which offers comfortable surroundings and imperial stout….

    Anyway, with that scrooge mentality out of the way, I did have a little traipse around Poznan’s Christmas markets. It wasn’t busy at all when I visited, which was on a Tuesday evening at around 19:00 and I had expected a few more people. There has been an effort made to light up the statues located in each of the square’s corners though so it does feel a little festive.

     

  • Poznan – Ice Sculptures

    More photos later of Poznan’s Christmas market, but this appears to be all that’s left of some ice sculpture contest. There were several heaps of ice in a row, with this only this one still standing. It collapsed within a couple of hours, so this is all I got to see of the ice sculptures. Anyway, I’m sure that they were lovely.

    And here’s more information about it – https://gloswielkopolski.pl/poznan-ice-festival-2018-drugi-dzien-atrakcji-i-konkurs-glowny/ar/13727618.

  • Poznan – The Brothers Pub

    Located near to the market square, this is a traditional pub which doesn’t stock a great selection of craft beers, but had a homely and welcoming feel to it. There are some beers from the Czech Republic and also the delight that is Heineken……

    Internally it’s atmospheric, although is also rather dark. This adds to the general ambience, although perhaps not much else.

    Winter sports equipment on the roof of the pub.

    This was the dark option, the Litovel Premium Dark, which was adequate although lacking in any real depth of taste. It was a little watery, although the aftertaste wasn’t bad. Or at least I think that’s what the beer was, since that’s the glass it was served in.

    The service was perfectly polite and efficient, and the pub takes card payments. The prices were also moderate, especially given the central location of the pub.

  • Szczytno – Masuria Museum

    The town’s museum is located within the same building as the town hall, and next to the remains of the town’s castle.

    An early typewriter on display. This was a strange little museum with several different elements to its collections, although all based around local themes. With the exception of the excellent temporary exhibition of Warsaw photographs, everything was in Polish and German only. It’s interesting to see how museums in Poland have changed from having descriptions only in Polish or Russian to then trying to cater for German visitors, and now primarily catering for English speakers with their translations.

    Some dead animals for Dylan and Leon.

    Some farming implements from over the last couple of centuries, although I’m sure that they’re still used in some places in Poland today.

    A rather interesting clock.

    One of the problems of nearly everything being in Polish and German only is that I struggled to work out what some of the exhibits actually were. This boat I’m sure has some significance…..

    The tiles looked a little basic, but were dated from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

    One of my favourite exhibits, a Bible from the late sixteenth century.

    A room with antlers…..

    The staff here were very unusually for Poland slightly distant and didn’t really seem to have a great deal of enthusiasm. The permanent displays were all a little too random for my liking, and it was all rather provincial (which is understandable, given that it is a museum in the provinces….). However, the temporary display felt more modern in its presentation, it had clarity and seemed properly curated.

    Entrance cost the equivalent of around £1.40, which was reasonable given what there was to see.

  • Szczytno – Berry Cafe

    I guessed correctly at this cafe that I had to order at the counter, although it was empty when I went in, which made it easier to get prompt service and to work out what to do. As usual in Poland, the service was attentive, polite and helpful, and the cafe got busier during my visit.

    Modern decor in what is a small cafe, which also specialises in ice cream. There were no cakes visible when I visited, but I know that they’re sold as the photos on Facebook looked rather appealing.

    The first latte I’ve had in a while which hasn’t been served in a glass, but it had a deep and rich taste. It cost the equivalent of around £1.80 and the environment was relaxing and welcoming, even when there were no other customers bar me.

  • Szczytno – Kawiarnia Mocca

    I had a 50% success rate today in judging where I ordered my coffee when entering a cafe in Szczytno. Do I order at the counter or wait at the table? I guessed I ordered at the counter here, but it transpired that it was table service. Not that it mattered, the waitress didn’t speak English, but someone else did, and he was really friendly and helpful.

    A bit redundant on a rainy day in late September, but there’s a terraced area to the front of the cafe which is no doubt really pleasant during the warmer times of the year.

    The cafe has two rooms, tastefully decorated, although the screen was perhaps just a little superfluous. There was a lovely relaxed feel to the cafe, although I couldn’t see that they sold any cakes, and I would have had a little slice of cake…. I took this photo in between other customers visiting, but for the most part, the cafe was full during the time that I was there.

    The latte, which wasn’t as rich in taste as in some other cafes, but it was hot and tasted of coffee, so all was well. The latte cost the equivalent of around £1.80. All rather nice, and I think from reviews that this is one of the better cafes in the town.

  • Szczytno – Masuria Museum Special Exhibition

    Locals collecting bricks from damaged buildings so that they can be re-used

    A lot of the time the special exhibitions in museums are of only passing interest to me, as they’re sometimes incredibly niche. However, this was one of the more interesting ones that I’ve seen, and I’m glad that my visit coincided with it taking place.

    It’s just two rooms of photographs, but they are from the period 1945 until 1955 when Warsaw was being rebuilt. It’s a period of Warsaw’s history that I’ve thought about before when I’ve visited, as they had to rebuild a vast proportion of the city and nearly all of the historic area. It’s also a period of the city’s history which is often neglected in Warsaw museums, so I knew little about it.

    Most of the photos date from the late 1940s, when Varsovians tried to go about their normal lives as best as they could. However, it inevitably took many years to complete the rebuild and these photos are a thought-provokoing reminder of what that period must have been like.

    An enterprising little venture, a bookshop has been set up in the damaged entrance to a building. The notes on the photo suggest that it’s a public building because of the size of the entrance.

    A small chapel, the photo is taken a year after the end of the war.

    People waiting at a tram stop with a damaged building behind, although the reminder of the bombing has been added for some reason, as if the building wasn’t enough.

    The people in the photo are sand dredging, but the city skyline behind shows the damage which had been done to Warsaw.