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Category: Poland

  • Opole – Opole Zoo

    I like zoos, so since the weather was acceptable and I thought it might be quiet being a Friday during term time, I decided to pay Opole Zoo a little visit. Entrance was around £5, which is cheap by international standards, but it makes it one of the more expensive tourist attractions in the region.

    The whole zoo seemed quite modern, although this is because the previous one got flooded in storms in the late 1990s, so nearly everything here was reconstructed after that. The collections got larger, the zoo was modernised and it also took over more land in the city’s park.

    The zoo wasn’t particularly busy today (a Friday in late September), around ten other visitors, plus a school party which I never actually saw again other than at the entrance. I’m assuming they went to some form of educational classroom as part of their visit, but all told, I wasn’t exactly fighting for viewing room to see the animals.

    There were a lot of owls at the zoo, rather beautiful birds.

    A playful primate.

    This frightened me. It’s a cheetah and the thing came careering over towards me and looked like he was going to jump. The enclosure here doesn’t have high fences, more just a big dip in the ground so that the cheetah can’t physically jump out. However, it didn’t look like a very big dip, so I was concerned the bloody thing was going to jump over. Being naturally cautious, I rushed off and Googled “can cheetahs kill humans?”, which was actually reassuring. It seems if the cheetah had of jumped out, it was unlikely to have tried to attack me.

    I’m assuming this is a normal cat, not one of the animals belonging to the zoo. Zoos don’t seem like safe places for cats like this, I’m not sure what the cheetahs would make of it.

    A very philosophical look I thought.

    And his friend looked relaxed.

    Hippos.

    Zebras.

    A horse thing.

    All of the enclosures at the zoo seemed spacious, so the animal welfare seemed at the top of their agenda. This serval seemed a bit manic though, he wasn’t only pacing, but was doing so almost by walking around in mini circles.

    Californian sea lions.

    Not deliberately, but I think I woke the cat up.

    Cute.

    Mischievous.

    Tall.

    The zoo has three lowland gorillas, although they decided to sit at one of the furthest points possible from where visitors could see them.

    A goat on a rock.

    This is one of the bird areas where visitors can walk through ferns and plants to see different types of bird. Although I only saw two little birds who soon hopped off.

    And a meerkat, who I named Leon.

  • Opole – Kawiarnia Kafka

    My quick lunch today was the coffee shop at this rather modern looking building, which is I think part of the city’s library.

    The coffee shop is bright and airy, with an open feel to it, with more seating available outside. There was a range of different seating types as well, catering for those who wanted a table (ideal for me and my laptop) and some more comfortable lower level seating.

    It wasn’t particularly busy, just a couple of other customers when I was there. Everything seemed clean and ordered though, with the bonus that I felt that the ordering process was clear and so I didn’t look as confused as I often do about what to do.

    A latte and some sort of fruit sponge cake, I didn’t quite ascertain exactly what it was. The cake was nicely presented and I liked the little addition of the orange slice to make it more colourful. The cake had a pleasant taste and wasn’t too rich, all perfectly acceptable. The latte was also served at the temperature that I think it should be, namely not so hot I have to wait twenty minutes for it to cool down.

    The service was pleasant and polite, with the staff member speaking English, as my Polish didn’t really extend to ordering a cake that I couldn’t actually even describe in English either. The whole environment was relaxing and peaceful, all very appropriate for its location near to the library. The cost for the drink and cake was just over £3, which seems to be in keeping with what I’d expect for Poland.

  • Flixbus – Berlin to Opole

    During the 2003 Iraq War there was a Minister for Information named Muhammad Saeed al-Sahhaf, although he was better known as Comical Ali. Flixbus’s advertising always reminds me of him, it’s aspirational to say the least. My past experiences with Flixbus have ranged between dreadful and poor, so they’ve really focused in on providing a consistent level of service.

    I wasn’t going to use Flixbus any more because they’re really not very good. But, there’s something quite amusing about them, in the same way that Comical Ali attracted quite an audience. Anyway, on this journey, I can’t fault the information provided at Berlin coach station, it was perfectly sufficient to know when and where my bus was going from.

    And there were also screens to show passengers where to go, which is all excellent and often not provided by other bus operators around the world.

    And, information at the bus stop itself. I was worrying at this point that Flixbus would be providing an excellent service.

    The coach pulled in fifteen minutes early and let people board. This is also excellent, as it can be frustrating to have a coach at the stand and no way of boarding it. I didn’t work out what language the driver spoke as he didn’t say very much, but he was efficient and polite. At this stage, I was verging on being distraught that Flixbus were offering such a quality service.

    I sat upstairs in front of the steps, meaning that I didn’t need to have anyone recline into me. Although not one single person did recline, perhaps that’s the politeness of the Poles.

    And, I have to say, the driving of the bus was decent and the journey was comfortable. The temperature was appropriate, there were no disturbances and the driver made regular announcements. For the first time, Flixbus have provided me with a bus service which is comparable to that of Megabus, so I’m slightly surprised to say the least.

    I can’t say that perfection was reached though as the wi-fi didn’t work and nor did the power sockets. But I didn’t need either thanks to a large data allowance and a fully charged power bank.

    And, the coach stopped at a BP petrol station on the Polish border for reasons unknown. I’m sure it was important, but I could have done without the bus being plunged into brightness for fifteen minutes, although a few customers did go and buy snacks from the Wild Bean Cafe.

    The coach having arrived in Opole, around 25 minutes late. I’m not sure why the coach arrived late as it seemed to be on time at all its stops, but the delay was actually useful to me as it meant that dawn had fully broken and I wasn’t in a new city in the dark.

    My ticket for this coach cost £13.99 and I have to say, this was an entirely acceptable service from Flixbus. This is the first time I’ve been able to report that, so either things are picking up or this is just an aberration.

  • Wroclaw – Polish Pottery

    For those who love Polish pottery, some photos from one of the shops in Wroclaw which was selling it. The mention of Bolesławiec pottery in the top photo is the reason I post about this, as this traditional blue and white design comes from the town with this name. The town, which is a relatively short distance from Wroclaw, is now seen as the home of this type of pottery, which often also has some green and yellow elements added.

  • Wroclaw – Book Sculpture

    I always like a nice book sculpture, although I hope they didn’t damage the books with this one. It was advertising some sort of book fair, part of a wider literary festival which was taking place when I was in Wroclaw.

  • Wroclaw – Zdrój Fountain

    This fountain was installed in Wroclaw’s market square in 1996 and was designed to show the modernity of granite and glass against the city’s historic buildings. It’s quite an impactful structure and I had thought it was rather more modern than it actually was. All very lovely.

  • Wroclaw – Cathedral of St. John the Baptist (Photos from Tower)

    This was one of the easiest journeys to the top of a church or cathedral tower in Poland, primarily because there were no steps and instead there was a handily located lift. I think this is mostly because the cathedral was badly damaged during the Second World War, so when the building was reconstructed it was relatively easy to install a lift.

    So, some photos from the top….

  • Wroclaw – Hala Targowa

    The city’s market hall building is a spectacular piece of engineering, constructed between 1906 and 1908. The building was designed by Richard Plüddemann and Heinrich Küster, at a time when Wroclaw was part of the German Empire and was known as Breslau.

    Through some piece of good fortune, this was one of the buildings which wasn’t damaged during the Second World War, so it re-opened again soon after the end of the conflict. Other than for some repairs and improvements made between 1980 and 1983, it remains broadly as it would have been 100 years ago.

    When I visited the hall it was relatively busy, with most people appearing to be locals buying their produce. In some cities I get the impression that the majority of people there are tourists who are more interested in taking photos than making any purchases from the stalls. I must admit that this was what I was doing, although I did buy something from one of the hot food stands at least on this occasion.

  • Wroclaw – Then and Now Photos

    There were several of these photos on boards around Wroclaw, so visitors could stand in the same place as the original photograph had been taken.

    The location today. There was a period when “then and now” books were really popular, it’s a shame that this concept hasn’t been used in more cities to help bring the past to life a little.

  • Bydgoszcz – King Fu Fusion

    This restaurant is located in the main market square and is a fusion of Asian and European cuisines. When I visited in October 2017 it was rated highly on TripAdvisor, but today it has risen to being the top rated restaurant in the city.

    With no disrespect to the glorious city of Bydgoszcz, this didn’t feel like the restaurant that I would have expected here. Gloriously on-trend, modern and exciting even back in 2017, it felt like it should be something more suited to Warsaw or a capital city.

    This is a Bavarian wheat beer, it was refreshing and crisp as well being at the appropriate temperature. For perfection from this restaurant, I’d have liked a better selection of craft beers. But I mention that a lot.

    A cream of sweet potato soup, which despite being rather vegetabley was still excellent. A pleasant and quite powerful taste, with a creamy edge, and some texture from the vegetables.

    Beef cheeks with carrots, all rather artful in its presentation. The beef was tender and moist, falling apart as I cut into it, whilst the carrots added texture. The sauce was rich and it all came together beautifully.

    It wasn’t overly busy when I visited on a weekday lunch-time back in October 2017, but the service was polite and welcoming. The staff spoke English, which was helpful as ever, and everything seemed professional and properly done. I’m not at all surprised that this restaurant continues to be so well reviewed.

    As prices go in Poland, this was a little expensive at the equivalent of around £8 for two courses and a beer. However, it would be hard to get anywhere near that value in the UK for that quality of food and service.