Simon Warburton, one of our regular travellers, has been in eastern Europe in recent weeks. Having retreated from Tallinn (see ABTN 13 June) he has visited Poznan, Poland. This is what he has to say:
”Most travellers if pressed, would be hard pushed to locate Poznan, but its location on the Paris-Berlin-Warsaw axis has long made this central European town a popular staging post. In fact it is more or less half way between the German and Polish capitals.
Messed around by successive waves of invasion, like so much of Poland, Poznan is situated around 190 miles west of Warsaw and a few hours” drive from the German border. Vast swathes of the city, around 60%, was destroyed in World War II, although in fairness to the Soviets ” and it”s not often you can say that ” the centre of town ” Stary Rynek ” was painstakingly rebuilt in the 1950s in Renaissance and Baroque styles.
The central square (left) is a real gem with buildings dating from 1564, (Poznan”s oldest chemist) while there are also 11th century gothic cellars. Inexplicably in the middle of all this ornate grandeur however, are two monstrously ugly concrete edifices ” presumably built as a Soviet antidote to the medieval splendour around them. Countless examples abound of such incongruous Soviet architectural juxtaposition across the former satellite states, normally described (as in Kiev for example) as demonstrations of ”friendship” or ”solidarity” with the mother country.
Take a few hours to stroll round the square if possible. It”s crammed full of little bars and restaurants ” often at the top of long flights of winding staircases ” and at pretty reasonable value too. What”s not of reasonable value however, is the Stary Browar (Old Brewery) shopping mall, which, despite being housed in a spectacular circular building dating from 1844, is replete with dozens of shops and boutiques whose price tags would fit comfortably in Paris or London.
It”s worth having a look at nonetheless, as the $66m refurbished complex retains much of its old character ” only finishing beer production in 1944 when the basement was converted into air raid shelters and bunkers. For those watching the pennies, the restaurants and bars in Stary Browar are still reasonable as is the Internet Cafe, all steel staircases and chic gloom. There are some very reasonable local hotels (if you can make yourself understood) and the French Accor group is represented, if that is your style.
Despite the city”s relatively remote location from Warsaw, Poznan is Poland”s number one trade fair destination. Myriad exhibitions from tractors to beer take place in the International Fair centre and have done since 1921 ” although there was a brief interruption when the Royal Air Force bombed the site on Easter Sunday ” the Poles were obviously elsewhere. Art is well represented with a whole gaggle of museums and Poznan is home to the world-famous boys' and men's male voice choirs, and the Polish Theatre of Dance ” Poznan Ballet, the only one of its kind in Poland. The fine looking Raczynski Library was the first public library in Poznan, founded by count of that name, and took seven years to build, from 1822 to 1829.
For those that like the open air and water Poznan is endeared with four lakes located in the city, the biggest of which is Kierskie Lake ” famous for its yachting centre. Others, situated near the city centre and surrounded by parks and forests, include Malta Lake ” which has a boat-race course and hosts sporting competitions, outdoor concerts, and is a place for walks and weekend recreation for Poznanians. In the same cultural theme the Botanical Gardens cover 17 hectares area and are the home of Poznan”s Palm House (top), one of the largest in Europe. It was founded at the beginning of the 20th century. There are approximately 17,000 plants from sub-tropical and equatorial countries.
In the past getting to Poznan by air from the UK has meant transferring through Warsaw but all that is about to end with a daily Ryanair service from Stansted starting Friday 23 September. An alternative is to take a two city break and then use LOT, British Airways or easyJet for one leg making sure you take something to read/eat when transferring through Warsaw”s Frederic Chopin domestic terminal ” facilities are sparse to say the least, although arrival into Poznan”s ultra-modern Lawica is fast and efficient. An alternative routing (and a great stopover) is Berlin. The Warsaw Express stops at Poznan and takes just three hours.
http://www.cs.put.poznan.pl/poznan