The Ultimate Quick Guide of a Day to Poznan

It takes less than two hours to reach Poland from Berlin by car or by train, but I haven't used that often this opportunity to visit too often this country. Since now, I have been only to Szczecin - twice - and to Wroclaw - also twice. I have a long list of places I would love to visit, among which Gdansk, Sopot, Warsaw and Krakow, but as the country is as huge as Germany, I might need some extra available time to make it really happen. Getting the taste of a future Polish travel adventure, I decided to visit a destination that can be covered - although aproximatively - in just one day: Poznan/Posen. 

We arrived three hours after we started the journey from Berlin in some old and moderately clean Polish train. The train station is under construction therefore it was a mess to go out of it, especially if you are there for the first time, and another batch of mess to find the right direction to the central area, as there are not easily identifiable direction signs. Maybe I got too much used to travel only within my comfort zone. Once I have my eyes on an Art Nouveau post office - Poszta - building I know that there are hidden gem waiting to be seen and discovered and I am ready to discover the city with an open heart.

It is Sunday morning, and contrary to the situation in Germany, the shops - including huge shopping malls built in the country after the fall of communism, as everywhere in this part of Europe - are open and buzzing with customers. As for now, I prefer to have a look at the interesting architectural shapes which made me forget the unpleasant struggle of getting out of the train station.

In Poland, the more or less recent history is generously represented through public monuments and many inscriptions - unfortunatelly only in the local language - reminding events and offering the contemporary interpretation of them. At Polwiecja, for instance, we stop in the front of a monument dedicated to the WWI.

We pass by buildings that used to be pretty many decades ago probably, if not historical events and financial restrictions brought them to an early retirement from the architectural beauty contest. 

Somehow, as in the case of any real beauty, even the times were hard, at least they offer you a guess about how shining they used to be when they were princesses.

Once we are closer to the central area, the paints are fresh and everything looks like inaugurated yesterday. As in the case of many communist cities, it seems that most of the financial and branding efforts were focused on historical centers, where tourists are mostly concentrated.

On Wroclawska street, for instance, the more appealing architectural views do make justice to the architectural treasure.

Poland was one of the fiercest anti-communist countries from the block, but for the generation born during those times, the references are different, therefore, probably faced with the ups and downs of the local capitalism and democracy, nostalgia caught the soul of some. However, every time when I see comrade Lenin raising his brows to the people, I am not sure if I have to smile or be worried.

But there is more to life than worrying and once we are in the Old Market Square - Stary Rynek -, the main square, buzzing with people making their way through the food stalls of the open market, all I see are colourful houses.

There are many rows of them, with monochromous facades or painted in shapes and patterns usually used for interior rooms.

The town hall - Ratusz - which looks in between a cathedral and an Italian palace - the architect was Italian actually -, is surrended by masses like no other public institution I've seen before, not only for admiring the details of the historical scenes which deserve probably history books to go through all of them, but for the famous fighting goats. Every day, at noon, two mechanical goats do play for the public a butt heads game, an appearance considered one of the main town's attractions. If you missed the moment, there is still a chance to meet some goats, in natural size and smell, as two such animals rest on the pavement in the front of the entrance, ready to be petted and tipped too.

The untold histories of the houses in the main square are more interesting for me though and most of them are worth the effort of practically swimming through the masses of people chilling with a beer or some local food to see them from close. For the literary buffs there is also a museum available in the area, dedicated to the celebrated Polish writer Henryk Sienkiewicz, recipient of the Nobel prize for literature in 1905.

As for me, I wish there is a book simple enough to explain me every single building in the area, as the visual show is not only visually challenging, but very intriguing, with influences from all over the architectural style ranges.

With only a couple of hours in my travel pocket, it is time to move on faster. A couple of minutes ago I am in Wilhelmiego, centuries later, in the time of the Romans. The well maintained wall remains are surrounded by green patches and some very modern buildings, a good example of historical coexistence. Buildings can do it perfectly.

Poznan is branded in many ways, among which as being one of the oldest and the largest cities in Poland, but my favorite one refers to it as the third largest university city, with over 125,000 students enrolled here. I love university cities because they always bring some fresh and optimistic mood into local life and buildings like that one, hosting the Art University.

As many big Polish cities, Poznan also used to have a considerable Jewish heritage - rabbi Akiva Eger, a personality of the 19th century Europe is burried in the cemetery here, where he spent the last years of life. This lost heritage is celebrated with a Golem sculpture, on Marcinkowskiego, by the controversial Czech artist David Černý. 

Nearby, the National Museum - Museum Narodowe - is an invitation to discover the local culture and histories. Architecture-wise, I loved the golden mosaique inserts in the frontal part, which confers an unique note of elegance and distinction to the black stone.

On the opposite side of the street, a spectacular geometric construction covered by water offers a welcomed contrast to the quiet Art Nouveau buildings, mostly former and current bank institutions.

Intellectual life was always appreciated in this part of Europe and during the 18th and 19th century, times coinciding with the national revival, cultural institutions were built regardless the expenses. The former municipal theatre, for instance, was the place where Paganini and Listz used to play, and later on, the first local Polish radio station was established.

Nowadays, the cultural hunger of the people in Poznan is treated at the theatre on 27 Grudnia, where in-between and before and after performances, cocktails can be sipped on comfy chaise-longues.

As much as I would love to sip a cocktail too, I am, as usual, out of time, therefore, I can only offer myself the pleasure of some local pierogi, a national version of dumpling, at Pierozak, on Wroclawska. The pierogi are both savory and sweet, with less than one euro the piece, and although the waiting time is considerable - 30 minutes at least during which you can spy some preparation methods, but also chat with the locals - the outcome is unforgettable and a bit addicting. No wonder that the next day I was checking where I can find homemade pierogi in Berlin...

The more I stay around, I am revealing little local secrets. For instance, the quiet island of Cafe Misja, where minutes away from the busy central square one can sit and read while having a refreshing lemonade.

You know you are in Poland when instead of street-art - there is a quarter dedicated to this modern form of art, but unfortunately, it was out-of-sight for my one-day trip - you can read poetry written on the walls in the parking spaces. In such moments, whish I know Polish to understand it what it is talking about.

The next leg of the trip is a bit far away from the central area, and I am passing near industrial areas converted into start-up places or at least getting some hipster blue doors when entering red-bricked Prussian looking buildings.

My next stop is Park Citadel, recommended by the tourist guides for Poznan, which I personally found at least grotesque. I know, my sense of humour is sometimes dry, but I've seen too much to be impressed by a brave Soviet soldier surrounded by delicate flowers.

Or the kids playing near the tanks, although I am not a hippy pacifist.

As for the forest of half-bodies, maybe I better keep the impressions to myself. At least the walk through Poznan's biggest park was refreshing and brought me closer to the local people, which was an interesting experience, as always in such cases.

When on the way back I could spot some elegant pink classical building, I become more tolerant towards post-communist art.

When they are not going to the Park Citadel, locals also prefer to sit near Warta river, which looks more quiet and inviting, also for foreigners in a big rush.

Street art is not so visible in the parts of the city I visited, but I am rewarded only with a small black-and-white sample, on Miedzymoscie.

But art is on the streets, and more often, you only need to be careful to not stumble upon some real-size guy with a bike which is actually made of metal, not flesh.

Long life to the consummerist culture allowing me on a Sunday morning to enter shopping centers which might be more than what they advertise. The old brewery of Stary Browar, inaugurated in 2003 as a cultural and shopping avenue, offers some monumental examples of local art installations which make you think beyond the purchases-list. A visit at the bookstore there, showed how important recent history remains for the local mentality, with the books of the respected scholar Anne Appelbaum on Soviet era - strongly recommended to anyone looking for reliable historical sources for this time - displayed gloriously among the few English books on the shelves.

On the way to catch the train back home, I stop for another historical memento, just in the front of the door separating the train station from Avenida shopping mall: a note and a special sculpture in the memory of the Polish workers who raise their voices on behalf of their brethern from Hungary who dreamt to topple the communist regime in 1956. As usual, a journey to the Eastern parts of the European continent is more than a simple leisure trip and I might like such intellectuals adventures, once in a while at least.

For more inspiration, check the dedicated Pinterest board

Rediscovering Szczecin

A visit to Szczecin is like swimming across various layers of history. The careful and curious visitor might be surprised to find a little Renaissance corner here, redecorated in the courageous style of the Enlightenment, with traces of the WWII, almost destroyed by the communists and rebuilt with the generous EU funding. Welcome in my favourite part of Europe, where the regular history books are never offering enough guidance for understanding. Therefore, the role of the travel and of the traveller is to find the proper human connections and an understanding beyond the many pages of the books.

Maybe it sounds arrogant to say that I do not need too many translations to understand this part of the world. The reason is that I travel often in Central and Eastern Europe, but also have strong family connections and my PhD dealt with the history in the area. Plus, I also spent some bad amount of time in this part of the world, including during communism - luckily for a short but definitory time of my life. Poland is one of the countries in the area whose language I don't speak - but promise to learn it one day - but where I have good friends. This year, I was the second time here, after my January short trip to Wroclaw. My family loves to visit Poland and we are often encouraged to do so by the cheap prices of the Deutsche Bahn. For Szczecin, the cost of a 2-way trip for an adult is 20 Euro, a ridiculous price compared with the average cost to any normal destination in Germany. Thus, there were not worries or regrets when the trip was booked, in between many trips made and to be made for the next 4 weeks.

History is always there

As in the case of Wroclaw, it was my second time in Szczecin, a small town near the German border, with a common German-Polish history - as many of the border towns in this part of the world. The first time I visited the city was shortly before moving to Berlin and I was fighting with a serious food intoxication. Plus it was a cold winter, not the right time for me to do a proper touring.

This time, the weather was gorgeous and nothing bothered our journey, except history. I mean the problems created by a bomb from the WWII found in the Oder/Odra that blocked some certain streets for a couple of hours. In Berlin it is something happening every couple of months so the news did not surprise me. It took us more than 2 hours and a couple of questions to realize what was going on, as all we got when asked several time why we should not go through a certain park or street was either 'buum' or 'dangerous, no'. Curious and somehow desperate that we will miss some great historical benchmarks, we asked (again) in English at a Columbus coffee where we stop for some tasty rest and we were finally told the entire coherent history of the dozen of policemen and their cars on the street. History is everywhere, you see?

People on the move

The streets were full not only with tourists, mostly German, and worried policemen but also with people going to the park with the children, at shopping or walking hand in hand without a clear direction, regardless the age. Most were well dressed and kept up, not the usual street fashion one may see on the streets of Berlin at any moment of the week.

At the train station, we found an Exchange office open and the 10 Euro we changed were enough for some little delights - especially the delicious fruit juices made locally. My luck ended when I arrived in the front of the tourist information center: it was closed. I was left without map or any special insight about what we can do in a relatively short amount of time. There are not too many bilingual signs or maps so the spontaneous visitor should better arrive with his/her own map in the pocket.

Diverted by the apparently dangerous bomb, we walked slowly on streets that half reminded me of the lonely Paris streets of the suburbia, half of some deteriorated buildings in Budapest or Bucharest or Sofia. The colourful shops displaying fashion clothes were waking me up from time to time, but immediately I was lost in time again when looking at the old traditional shops of hats, alcohol or home decorations.

The important moments - especially battles - and personalities from the more or less recent history of the town are represented by the statues situated in 'strategic' areas of the city: in parks, in the port or in the university area. The maritime history of the city is strongly represented, as the many images of anchors or monumental sailors let us know. The Baltic identity of Szczecin is pointed out not only from the geographical-trade perspective, but also as a reason to gather in the city 'Baltic' artists on the occasion of a common exhibition of young artists held at the beginning of the year or as part of the university tradition represented by Collegium Balticum. There it is also a Baltic Coffee, for the less intellectual among us.

To the non-Polish speaker, the high concentration of theatres - an intellectual tradition in this country - may not say too much, but the beaux arts are equally speaking here, through the universal language of the visual arts displayed in the many galleries present all over the city. Most were closed on Sunday and we limited our exploration to some window looking. We saw some samples of modern courageous art there. Another surprise was waiting for me at the Pioneer Cinema, the oldest cinema in the world, still open to the public for short projections.

We continued our quiet trip in and around the center and historical area, watching the buildings and the people. We passed by many restaurants and bars, open from the early morning till late in the evening, displaying besides the classical Chinese or Thai cuisine, also some local dishes, including with Ukrainian-Lithuanian influences. When too tired, we took the tram, trying to see what is on the other side of one of the bridges, in the port area, but we shortly realized that besides the colourful graffiti there it is nothing that may interest even the extravagant tourists as we are. Time to return to the traditional architecture and pastel colours. From my last trip I had clear memories of a huge yard of a castle hosting various cultural events. Only now I've found out the name and the history of the place: The Pomeranian Duks Castle. Situated close to the train station, It was built originally in the 13th century and reshaped in the 16-17th according to the rules of the Renaissance architecture. Nowadays, it hosts several official and cultural establishments. Don't miss having a look at the ingenious mechanical clock!

At the end of the long walking and tram tour, I was the only one not extremely tired and ready maybe for more hours of discovery. But our train was approaching and no one was in the mood to spend the night here. Maybe, as the American tourists we met on the way back told us, this city deserves more than 24 hours if you look to have a better understanding of the people and the place. I bet I am not the only one keen to return for another Polish afternoon in the next 12 months.

For more pictures about Szczecin, have a look at my dedicated Pinterest board: http://pinterest.com/ilanaontheroad/szczecin-poland/

Szczecin has a lot of nature and we caught on camera a quiet afternoon in a park close to the Botanical Gardens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z24bNMddtS4