Well here I am in Poznan on my last little solo jaunt around Eastern Europe slumming it in youth hostels before the serious work of being a student nurse begins in two weeks. My choice of Poznan raised a few eyebrows amongst a few but I had done my research and I thought it was well deserving of a few days of my time.
I had pre booked at the imaginatively named Very Berry Hostel. It seems to be a Polish practice of giving hostels seemingly non sensical names that seem very cheerful but do the crucial job of gaining your attention. This place was very close to the centre of town and was spotlessly clean and well designed inside with cheerful friendly staff willing to help with anything. I knew very soon I had made a good choice. I had to wait until 1330 to be free of my bags and to check in so once I had I just headed to the natural starting point and centre of the city, the Stary Rynek or Old Town Square. My first inital impressions of Poznan as I walked the 250m to the Rynek was not the wow factor of Gdansk or Krakow, which are quite simply in a league of their own, but that it is a very pretty town and charming in it's own right. I was determined not to compare it to more those well known cities and enjoy the city for all it is. One of it's charms for me is that it is clearly not on the major tourist route yet.
The Rynek is exceptionally pretty with old, albeit heavily restored townhouses lining and making up the square. Dominating the square is the Ratusz, the Town Hall. Running away from the Town Hall within the square is a beautiful row of old houses all of different colours. This was where traders have lived since the 16th century and are the oldest buildings in the square.
In the midst of this beauty lies two eyesores however. Two low concrete pavilions were built by the Soviets during Communist times and they really have no place in the square. One has become an important art gallery and the other houses an important museum but I feel no one would miss them if they were pulled down.
After meadering around the square I went for lunch in one of my favorite aspects of Polish life, the legendary Bar Mleczny or Milk Bars. Devised during Soviet times to feed the prelateriat when their place of work had no canteen, the tradition lives on even in these Capitalist times. They are very very cheap and offer good wholesome meals of traditional Polish cooking. The menus are baffling, nothing on the menu board corresponded with the menu reader in my Rough Guide, but I ended up with battered pork, mash, Strawberry milkshake and a coffee for under five quid.
In the evening I went to a sports bar recommended by my hostel to watch the Liverpool match on TV. The game was disappointing but the time in the bar was nice. I spent the evening chatting to the barman called Jacob and his friend Thomas. Jacob was a soon to be qualifed teacher and hoping to find work in the UK. When I learnt that even as a qualifed teacher in Poland he could only earn around 250 pounds a month here I can see why he wants to move to England.
Both Thomas and Jacob were full of interesting tourist advice, some I may take, some I won't but I enjoyed the evening and if at a loose end when here I will go back.
I walked back to Very Berry in the pouring rain more than a little pissed and content that I had a good first day.
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