The train to Poznań was jam-packed - not a seat in the house. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise since Polish trains don't have airconditioning, so I parked myself in the carriage corridor and opened the window wide. I enjoyed the cool, delicious wind whipping back my hair and the lovely rural countryside, and barely even noticed that I had to stand for the whole trip.
It was dusk when I arrived in Poznań, and I was in a little hurry to get to my hostel before dark. Not that I ever felt unsafe in Poland, but just, you know, it's better not to wander around alone in the dark. I tried to ask the train lady how to get into the city centre. No English. OK, time for Polsklish. "Autobusy do Stary Rynek?" I ventured. Train lady got out a bit of paper and wrote "MPK" on it, which is the name of the local bus company. No bus number or anything. Very helpful. Thankfully I found a young English-speaking lass who pointed me in the direction of the Old Town, so I trudged wearily off in that direction, still feeling the effects of the mega-hike to the Jewish Cemetary that morning. I went up to the hostel room and dumped my bag, when I noticed that the guy in the room was kind of familiar. "Did you come up from Wrocław today?" he asked. "Yep." I confirmed, and it turned out we had been in the same Wrocław hostel. He had been volunteering in work camps in Slovakia and the Czech Republic restoring old castles, which sounded amazing, and now was on a tour of Poland before going home to Belfast.
We were both starving so we ventured out to find a place to have dinner. I didn't really mind where, so I let him pick and as luck would have it he stumbled on a little gem of a place. For 50 złotys (about €12) I ate an enormous plate of beef, salad and potatoes plus two Lithuanian wheat beers which were all absolutely delicious. John was on a very restrictive budget though, and couldn't stop complaining about the price of everything. I was too full even for coffee, and with my caffeine addiction, that's saying something. We headed back to the hostel for a well-earned rest.
I slept badly that night, the room was very noisy and there were no curtains so I was up with the sunrise. I messed around on Facebook for a while, not really wanting to make the effort to go anywhere or see anything. I had breakfast, finished my book ("La Catedral del Mar" will be the last historical fiction I read, what a bore!) and finally dragged myself out of the hostel. I went to see the museums in the main square, but they were all closed as it was Monday. The main square itself, however, is lovely:
So I ventured off to the Cytadela park to see the citadel. They can't close the park, right? At least I could enjoy some fresh air, as the park was removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. I sat on a bench to rest for a bit and saw a porcupine!
He even let me touch him, he was very prickly. I saw some squirrels also but squirrels were old news from the old days in Phoenix park. First wild porcupine sighting! After the rest I set off to see the citadel - but it was shut until September! I hated Poznań from that moment. There was nothing else for it but to head back to the main square and drown my sorrows in delicious microbrewed wheat beer. On the way I spotted this innovative bit of public art. Here they are on one side of the street, going down:
Coming up on the other side:
I stopped to book a room in a halfway decent hotel in Torún to make sure I didn't spend another sleepless night! John wanted to stay in Poznań a little longer but I'd had enough of the place, so we bid goodbye and arranged to meet up in Toruń.
It was dusk when I arrived in Poznań, and I was in a little hurry to get to my hostel before dark. Not that I ever felt unsafe in Poland, but just, you know, it's better not to wander around alone in the dark. I tried to ask the train lady how to get into the city centre. No English. OK, time for Polsklish. "Autobusy do Stary Rynek?" I ventured. Train lady got out a bit of paper and wrote "MPK" on it, which is the name of the local bus company. No bus number or anything. Very helpful. Thankfully I found a young English-speaking lass who pointed me in the direction of the Old Town, so I trudged wearily off in that direction, still feeling the effects of the mega-hike to the Jewish Cemetary that morning. I went up to the hostel room and dumped my bag, when I noticed that the guy in the room was kind of familiar. "Did you come up from Wrocław today?" he asked. "Yep." I confirmed, and it turned out we had been in the same Wrocław hostel. He had been volunteering in work camps in Slovakia and the Czech Republic restoring old castles, which sounded amazing, and now was on a tour of Poland before going home to Belfast.
We were both starving so we ventured out to find a place to have dinner. I didn't really mind where, so I let him pick and as luck would have it he stumbled on a little gem of a place. For 50 złotys (about €12) I ate an enormous plate of beef, salad and potatoes plus two Lithuanian wheat beers which were all absolutely delicious. John was on a very restrictive budget though, and couldn't stop complaining about the price of everything. I was too full even for coffee, and with my caffeine addiction, that's saying something. We headed back to the hostel for a well-earned rest.
I slept badly that night, the room was very noisy and there were no curtains so I was up with the sunrise. I messed around on Facebook for a while, not really wanting to make the effort to go anywhere or see anything. I had breakfast, finished my book ("La Catedral del Mar" will be the last historical fiction I read, what a bore!) and finally dragged myself out of the hostel. I went to see the museums in the main square, but they were all closed as it was Monday. The main square itself, however, is lovely:
So I ventured off to the Cytadela park to see the citadel. They can't close the park, right? At least I could enjoy some fresh air, as the park was removed from the hustle and bustle of the city. I sat on a bench to rest for a bit and saw a porcupine!
He even let me touch him, he was very prickly. I saw some squirrels also but squirrels were old news from the old days in Phoenix park. First wild porcupine sighting! After the rest I set off to see the citadel - but it was shut until September! I hated Poznań from that moment. There was nothing else for it but to head back to the main square and drown my sorrows in delicious microbrewed wheat beer. On the way I spotted this innovative bit of public art. Here they are on one side of the street, going down:
I stopped to book a room in a halfway decent hotel in Torún to make sure I didn't spend another sleepless night! John wanted to stay in Poznań a little longer but I'd had enough of the place, so we bid goodbye and arranged to meet up in Toruń.
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