Circling through Poland - with a bit of Germany thrown in.

[tgh]

Are you going anywhere near Zyrardow ?

 

[OZDUCK]

The river

Are you going anywhere near Zyrardow ?

Nowhere near I am sorry.

 

[OZDUCK]

The River Watra runs through Poznan. The city makes some use of the riverbank but not as much as I expected. Perhaps there is a flooding problem?



I guess this press photo I just found answers that question! Any buildings would be destroyed on a regular basis.






A excellent path system









Counting the number of passing bikes on a daily and yearly basis



A very nice pedestrian and bike bridge









Poznan Cathedral. The approaching storm put us off from walking there



The Poznan University of Technology is on the right

 

[OZDUCK]

Some local food

Firstly pierogi





Around A$6



We went to this place twice as the food was so nice and pretty big serves



Grandma's Helens Cutlet - roughly diced pork A$19



Beetroot dumplings A$17



Sweet potato dumplings with chicken A$17



A potato and carrot lovers dream. Pork tenderloin with chanterelles A$20



They see to be keen on 'botanical' soft drinks in Poland. I think the one on the right is Elderberry



Pineapple - I think

 

[OZDUCK]

There was a fascinating piece of industrial architectural history near the river.

The old gasworks nicknamed the Kotłownia "Katedra” (Boiler Cathedral). Built in the late 19th Century and very 'German looking' - not surprising of course. It is a place that seems ripe for rehabilitation but I would guess that there a lot of 'nasties' like asbestos, phenols and coal tar all through it.









Some marvellous ornamental brickwork








There is a much loved local legend about two goats

Story of the Poznan Goats

The Story Behind the Poznan Goats If you have spent anytime in Poznan, you know that the town is crazy about goats! As you walk through the market sq...

keytopoland.com

They feature on the clock on the Town Hall. A crowd gathers to watch them.-(Perhaps not quite the size of the crown in at Marienplatz in Munich) - "These mechanical billy goats make their appearance daily at noon with a cute display of butting heads 12 times to mark the mid-day hour"





The goats turn up very often

Complete with another landing plane

 

[OZDUCK]

Finishing off Poznan

I almost wanted to have an electrical storm to see if it gives off an 'aura'.





Bluey is definitely a world wide phenomena these days



The Town Hall houses a small local history museum on the ground floor and in the cellars









Naturally including the goats



We ran across streets named in honour of Kosciuski(o) in every city.



The Imperial Castle in Poznań. Built in 1910 for Kaiser Wilhelm 2. Now a cultural centre.



Nice mural adjoining Frederick Chopin Park



Park Rules



The park



Poznan is a lovely city with a good tram network and is easily accessible by train. We saw very little of the newer parts of Poznan but what we did see indicated that it would be a very nice place to live. As an aside Trams, buses, metro etc in the major cities of Poland are free for all people over 70 including foreigners. You need to carry photo ID with proof of age - we had our passports - but were never checked.

Poznan Rail Station. It is attached to a very modern large shopping centre. This photo was basically taken from the tram stop.

 

[OZDUCK]

Our stay in Poznan was broken up over two visits. We spent two nights there before the Sketchers Conference our friend was attending started. While she was busy with the conference went made a quick visit to Szczecin for three nights before returning to Poznan for one night to re-join her before we all headed off to Gdansk.

Szczecin is the 7th largest city in Poland with a population of just under 400,000. Like Poland it has been ruled by a number of different countries - Poland, Saxony, The Holy Roman Empire, Sweden and from 1728 to WW2 Prussia/Germany. It was known as Stettin during the 'German' years. As was common with most of the cities we visited it was badly damaged during WW2 - "Allied air raids in 1944 and heavy fighting between the German and Soviet armies destroyed 65% of Stettin's buildings and almost all of the city centre, the seaport, and local industries."

Szczecin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

For those who are unsure of its location



Photos from our train trips to/from Szczecin. It cost 173 Zlotys A$72 for the return trip in 2nd Class for two. The trip was round 1 hour 45 each way.

As I said before 2nd Class is perfectly ok.



I am 6'3" in old money and the legroom was fine. The only problem I had was that the seat was a little low so my knees got a bit sore. But I found the seats all over Poland in restaurants, hotels etc all to be a little low.





We mostly travelled during the school holidays and this was the quietest train we ran across.




The luggage racks in 2nd class. On some trains they did fill up and I had to jerk and lift the suitcases onto the overhead racks.



The maximum speeds of these Intercity trains was around 160 km/h mostly due to to track limitations.. Poland is rapidly improving is railway infrastructure and you pass by lots of rail works.








The outskirts of Poznan



Plenty of Solar and Wind Power around



This is about as exciting as the countryside views get. We passed over endless km's of flat farming land - that looked very fertile. A small hill was something exciting to see.

 

[OZDUCK]

Approaching Szczecin.

There are lots of satellite cities - sort of worker dormitory suburbs - dotted around the city. I assume many of them date back to the days when the then Lenin Shipyards in Szczecin directly employed around 4,500 workers. This area is about 10 minutes by rail outside town.







Szczecin in the distance




Crossing the West Oder River



This is an old Postal Exchange that we will have a closer look at later on.

Many of the older buildings in Szczecin have a 'Germanic' look due to the centuries of it being a Prussian/German city. Before WW2 the ethnic Polish population was only around 2,000 out of 382,000. After WW2 it became Polish and the remaining German population was forcibly deported. Apparently these days there is apparently basically no local ethnic German community.



The Central Railway Station. It is about 3 trams stops or a 15 minute walk from the centre of town





As is normal in much of Europe you can walk straight out of the station onto tram or bus. This is an old style tram - much of the rolling stock is much newer with low level entry.

 

[OZDUCK]

We had a very nice apartment right in the centre of town. It was in a building that was only a few years old. We paid $390 for 3 nights.










The view from the window





Parts of the waterfront have been nicely developed with a long boardwalk cafe's, memorials etc.





Stylized plan of the Dąbie Lake just a little downstream



"Umbriaga was the beloved cat of a sailing community in the 1950s but disappeared while on a trip on the Oder River." We heard the full tale of his adventures when we took a cruise. One of the islands nearby is unofficially named after him. According to legend he deserted ship on the island and could be seen for years but never captured again



Note Terra Umbriaga



There were a number of plaques commemorating voyages by local identities and vessels







Display of Navigation Equipment Models



On the other side of the river was a large amusement park and a large Marine Science Centre designed to look line a ships hull.



A sailing barge with a leeboard (a plank frame fixed to the side of a flat-bottomed boat and let down into the water to reduce drifting to the leeward side)



A collection of expensive looking apartments with a nautical flavour were being built upstream.

 

[OZDUCK]

As taught in all the best Urban Planning centres around the world if there is a chance of an attractive waterfront you must immediately build a huge concrete monstrosity there.





Further along is Chrobry Embankment (Haken's Terrace)

Bolesław I the Brave Embankment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

The twin towered building is the West Pomeranian Voivodeship Office. Built in 1911 in "North German Renaissance style" it is only a slightly grandiose structure for a municipal administration office.

West Pomeranian Voivodeship Office

The main designer of the building was the Berlin architect Paul Kieschke, but after his death in 1905, the building was completed by Paul Lehmgrübner. Construction began in 1906, and the whole...

rowery.wzp.pl

At the base of the embankment is the Chrobry Embankment Fountain





Szczecin branch of the National Museum







It really is a very pleasant spot

 

[VPS]

As taught in all the best Urban Planning centres around the world if there is a chance of an attractive waterfront you must immediately build a huge concrete monstrosity there.

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A tram line runs along here and I assume there must be subsidence problem as it had the most warped tracks I had seen on an operating tram line. The next day we took a tram to a fairly rundown area and that track was also very warped.

Further along is Chrobry Embankment (Haken's Terrace)

Bolesław I the Brave Embankment - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

View attachment 474964

The twin towered building is the West Pomeranian Voivodeship Office. Built in 1911 in "North German Renaissance style" it is only a slightly grandiose structure for a municipal administration office.

West Pomeranian Voivodeship Office

The main designer of the building was the Berlin architect Paul Kieschke, but after his death in 1905, the building was completed by Paul Lehmgrübner. Construction began in 1906, and the whole...

rowery.wzp.pl

View attachment 474960

View attachment 474961



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View attachment 474973

At the base of the embankment is the Chrobry Embankment Fountain

View attachment 474966

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Szczecin branch of the National Museum

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It really is a very pleasant spot

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Loving this TR - you video is set to private

 

[OZDUCK]

There is a painted trail on the footpaths around the city with numbers outside various points of interest. The local tourist office has a very good paper guide which leads you around a 7 km trail. We found it very useful especially for such a short stay.

City Trail

The City Tourist Route is a 7-km-long loop which connects 42 sites – the most interesting monuments and places worthseeing. The idea behind the route was to commemorate the 750th anniversary of granting town privileges to Szczecin. The route is marked by an easily found red dotted line painted...

visitszczecin.eu

Some of the places we saw :-

Old Post Office and Mail Exchange Building built in stages from 1872. As the guide says it is an eclectic building but well worth a look. It is still used for its original purpose and has a small counter area with some great architectural details open to the public.

This is what a Post Office should look like.



















St John the Evangelist Church - circa 1240

 

[OZDUCK]

Loving this TR - you video is set to private

Thanks for the nice comment

And thanks for the tip about the video I have now changed the access settings.

 

[VPS]

Thanks for the nice comment

And thanks for the tip about the video I have now changed the access settings.

No problems - you take so much effort with your TR and go to interesting places.

Sorry but the video is still private

 

[OZDUCK]

No problems - you take so much effort with your TR and go to interesting places.

Sorry but the video is still private

I tried to redo the video but there seems to be some sort of problem so I just deleted it altogether. It was only 18 seconds long and not all that exciting really.

 

[OZDUCK]

Back to looking around Szczecin

Zamek Książąt Pomorskich w Szczecinie - Pomeranian Dukes' Castle in Szczecin. Dates back to 1346 but it has been modified and rebuilt a number of times over the centuries.

"Under Swedish and later Prussian rule, the castle was extensively modified. In 1840-1842, a tower in Classical architecture in allusion to the architecture of Karl Friedrich Schinkel was erected, and the south wing was built in the style of Frederician Rococo. (My note: You will find Schinkel's work all over Berlin)

Polish conservators maintain that these modifications during Prussian rule in the 19th century were barbaric, devastating the many Renaissance elements in the castle About 60% of the castle was destroyed during World War II.

Under Polish rule, the castle was rebuilt between 1958 and 1980 with some modifications. The castle was seen as a point of contact with the lost Slavic past of Szczecin, supporting and legitimizing the expulsion of the German population and consequent Polonization of the city"- "The castle was restored to its original 16th-century appearance according to Matthäus Merian's engraving of 1653 and other sources"

To me it did not feel like a successful rebuild and it all looks a little sterile. But again that is just my point of view and my wife didn't agree with me.

Ducal Castle, Szczecin - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Work is still going on.









Just outside the castle walls is the old Ducal Stables. They are being restored.

 

[OZDUCK]

I have found a photo of the tram rails which give a good idea of the warping. The tram sways nicely as it goes along.

 

[Virgin Bart]

I'm impressed by your ability to dive into local cultures. I'm Polish (have been to Szczecin maybe 10 times because my grandpa lived there). Good to see tourism there, and good to see it improving with some investment - I haven't been back since before COVID when dziadek died.

 

[OZDUCK]

This Cathedral has a high tower, 56 metres to the viewing area, that is noted for its panoramic views. My knees would not let me climb it but to our delight there was a lift available for a small fee. As often happened in Poland we got a Seniors Discount without asking. It was only a few Zlotys to go up.











The windows were a bitty grubby but the views were excellent.

Dąbie Lake is in the distance and we went for a boat tour on it the next day. The Castle is in the foreground and the former Lenin Shipyards are to the left.






You can see the size of the trips that dock at Szczecin. The channel has a depth of around 11 metres and it is about 70 km inland from the Baltic Sea..





You can see the old red brick post office by the river. The train station is to the right of it.



All around Poland we saw lots of new construction. There certainly seems to be money around. Apparently it is the fastest growing large economy in the EU.







The roof was being replaced



You wouldn't catch me up there

 

[OZDUCK]

I'm impressed by your ability to dive into local cultures. I'm Polish (have been to Szczecin maybe 10 times because my grandpa lived there). Good to see tourism there, and good to see it improving with some investment - I haven't been back since before COVID when dziadek died.

Thanks. Sorry about the loss of your grandfather.

I was very impressed by Szczecin - probably more than I expected. We had been trying to work out where to go while our friend was at her seminar and happily another friend of ours, who is also of Polish descent, suggested it. I really liked the feel of the city and having a harbour area nearby made it even more interesting for me. Even though the centre of Poznan is 'prettier' I preferred Szczecin. I would have happily spent a few more days there. One regret is that we didn't have time to do the big boat trip through the lagoon to the Baltic Sea.

There seems to be a big push to renovate the centre of town as there was lots of 'beautification' work going on. Please tell me if I make any mistakes or faux paus about the city.