Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Szczytno

  • 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.

  • Szczytno – Railway Station

    Szczytno railway station has an impressive exterior and I think it was part of the recent modernisation of the line which was undertaken by the EU. This also saw connections being added to the new Szymany airport, which looks to have improved transportation options greatly for the entire region.

    The station as it looks from the tracks.

    Internally though the railway station is less impressive, as although the building has been partially renovated, there’s currently nothing in it. There are signs for the waiting room, but it isn’t there, and the ticket desk has also entirely closed down. It’s not really entirely clear to me why they keep the building interior open, as there’s nothing in it, but it’s an interesting part of railway history.

    This is now the limit to what passengers can access inside the railway station, and it feels like a recreation of a Victorian railway station in the UK. It’s rather charming in a derelict sort of way.

    Some railway building at the end of the tracks.

    The side of the railway station, with the old German name for the town visible on the main building, Ortelsburg. The railway line here opened in 1888 and the town remained part of Prussia until 1945.

    I like these yellow sheets, which I think are in just about every mainland European country. They’re clear and concise, and show just how few trains operate from here during the day. However, the situation is improving rather than worsening, so hopefully the options will continue to increase. I’d like to think if I come back in twenty years that the whole railway station will be open and there will be a nice cafe (perhaps a Greggs) inside.

  • Szczytno – Pofajdok

    Around the town are several mini statues and it appears that they are called Pofajdok. These, and I quote Wikipedia, are “young men, especially unmarried, who have an irresponsible, mocking and immature approach to life. They walk their own ways, but are kind and helpful”. Well, how quite marvellous!

    I’m slightly disappointed that I didn’t get time to find all of them.

    Jurand (a fictional figure from the novel Teutonic Knights).

    Robber.

    Globetrotter. This is my favourite one   🙂

    These two go together (you can see the second one at the back of the first photo) and it’s the same figure, known as charlatan.

    This is lumberjack.

    This is knight.

    I’m not sure this one is anything to do with it, as it’s not on the list. But I liked it anyway   🙂

    Firefighter (I took this from an unfortunate angle without realising).

  • Szczytno – Castle

    There has been a castle (zamek) in this location since the mid-fourteenth century and it was initially constructed out of wood. This was a little problem when the Lithuanians came along in 1370 and burned it down. So around 100 years later, after the civil engineers had drunk some tea and faffed about, they built another one. This time they built it out of stone.

    So, with their new stone castle all was well. Until the Teutonic Order came along and knocked it down. This was irritating as the new castle had been built up to three storeys and it wasn’t meant to be knocked down. So at the end of the fifteenth century they built an even stronger castle, and this did the trick, the town wasn’t defeated again.

    All was well with this new castle, other than it has slowly fallen down. Bits were chopped off it for three hundred years, and then the local authorities built a lovely town hall over a chunk of it. But, some has survived, and now is the time for it to be restored. As a site it’s fascinating, although there isn’t much narrative around the site, other than for one information board.

    Some wooden figures.

    There used to be a moat.

    The castle has received some EU funds to try and improve accessibility to this site, and to build a new bridge across to it across the moat which no longer exists.

    For anyone wanting to visit the site, it’s freely accessible.