Moja gwizdkowa wycieczka do Poznania, Bydgoszczy i Wrocławia

As you may or may not be aware, Poland is a country I absolutely love visiting and if I could speak and understand Polish I would probably up sticks and move. Sadly that isn’t the case so I have to make do with visiting when I can.

I decided earlier in the year that I wanted to go back to Poland but I wanted to visit somewhere I hadn’t been before and that is exactly what I did.

I decided I would fly into Poznan and spend a few days there. I spoke with one of the guys from our company there for some advice and got some and went with it.

The flight there was uneventful but the flight back was one of the worst I have ever had. It was turbulent all the way back to Stansted and we had to do a go-around because of the weather. I managed to make the train with 4 minutes to spare. Not a fun way to do it.

I rushed off the plane as fast as my chubby pegs could carry me and tried to get across the border as fast as I could. I couldn’t get through the eGates so I had to go to the manual channel and tried to hurry the border agent up to no avail.

Anyway, i’ll write a bit below about my time in Poland.

Poznan

The trip to Poznan started early. My train from Peterborough was at 07:13 and my flight was at 11:20. I got into Poznan around 14:00 and then made my way to the bus so I could get into the city centre to pick up the tram to the hostel.
I went to check-in (cobbles everywhere and did not make for a fun trip with a case. Neither did the 3 floors up to reception and then back down 1 floor to the room!) so I could drop my stuff off and have a brief rest before heading out for a wander around.
I went out for a wander and I knew they had scooters and trams there so I couldn’t decide which I wanted to use first – turns out I didn’t use either on that evening and I just walked around where the hostel was so I could get my bearings. I also had a walk around the Old Town Square (was really close to the hostel). I found some food and then went back for the night to get some sleep as I was super tired.
I looked at the map and a leaflet about Poznan and got some ideas of where I wanted to go and what I wanted to see. The day didn’t start out too good as the weather wasn’t on my side. It was quite misty so I got on the tram and sat on that until I found somewhere to go (It was a church – I know it\’s a shock to you all). Once I had done that, the weather had improved so I went to the places I had in my mind that I wanted to see – luckily for me, they were all close by one another so I stayed in that general area.
The first port of call was to Ostrów Tumski to see the cathedral. It was quite an impressive building from the front and the back and the inside. I spent about half an hour here before heading across Most Biskupa Jordana w Poznaniu into Śródka. This was a quaint little area with colourful houses. It is not a huge area but one that is worthy of a visit.
I then decided I was hungry and found a Subway and made a beeline for that before heading to the much-praised Jezioro Maltańskie. I decided I would use a scooter here to have a ride around the lake. Take my word for it: don’t go. I didn’t find it all that worthy of my time. Once I was done here, I decided to go for a tram ride to the end of the line and have a chill-out.
I got back on the tram and headed to Park Cytadela. The pictures the leaflet showed of here looked pretty good. I got off the tram and found an entrance and the place I entered at was a cemetery (one of the reasons I decided to visit here) and it was peaceful to walk around despite being close to the main road. In the cemetery were graves of Soviet soldiers.
Once I was done at this part of the park, I walked up the hill and found a scooter and had a ride around the park to see what else was here. I found the Rose Garden and then I went towards The Old Garrison Cemetery which had a British War Graves section and a section for Polish soldiers involved in the wars and also a section of Jewish graves.
I then headed back to the tram to have a wander around more of Poznan and to see more of the Old Town. As with other Polish cities I have been to, it is worth a visit.
As I was walking around I was thinking where else close by I could visit and I looked at Bydgoszcz and decided I would do that. It was only 90 minutes on the train and a £16 return. Worth it for that cheap and that close by.
I decided to head back to the hostel to get some sleep since I needed to be up early for the train.
Steps walked: 25,021
Below are some pictures from today

You can view all of my Poznan pics here
Bydgoszcz

I got up and headed to the station to go to Bydgoszcz. I didn’t really have a plan in mind of what I wanted to see but I knew that I would be able to fill the day with stuff to do. I wasn’t wrong and found stuff to do for all but an hour (I decided just to head to the station and sit on the platform).
I got to Bydgoszcz and looked to see what tram would take me to the Old Town and I couldn’t buy a ticket as the machine was being so slow. I got one once I got off the tram though so don’t be worried!
I got off the tram at the Opera stop. It was pretty cool as they played some Rossini and William Tell Overture as it announced the stop.
I had a wander around this area to see what was here and to get some pictures. I then headed to the Old Town and had a look around there. There was not as much as I thought there would be. That’s cool though. I found my souvenirs and headed to the information centre to find where there was a place to powder my nose. I went to where it was and it was closed. Typical. Ha.
I found a church and had a look in (partly to rest my sore heel and blistered toe) and then headed back to the square to get some food and get warm.
As I was sitting in the square before getting food I was trying to decide if I should go elsewhere close to Poznan for my last day in Poland. I decided to just go for it and I decided to go to Wrocław – it was a two-and-a-half-hour train ride and £17 – win-win. More Poland, train, cheap fare.
Once I was sufficiently fuelled (are we ever though?) I headed back out to the tram to go to the end of the line so I could have a look around to see what was there – turns out just a view over the river to not a lot. I waited for a while and then got back on and headed to somewhere else I wanted to see.
What I didn’t realise is that I had stumbled upon a Mass starting in one of the churches I visited. I realised it was Mass once I heard the singing from the congregation and I quickly made my way out.
Once done here, I headed to get some trusty nuggets and to use the wifi so I could upload my pictures. I went for a wander some more and headed back to the station to pick up the train to go back to Poznan.
Steps walked: 14,799
Below are some pictures from today

You can view all of my Bydgoszcz pics here
Wrocław

Today I had to get up early for the train – earlier than I wanted to but it was the sacrifice that was needed if I wanted to visit here.
I had some confusion about which platform I needed for the train. The train timetable said one thing and the app said another. I went and asked the information and it turns out the app was right.
I got to Wrocław and decided to just get on a tram towards the Old Town and see what I could find. I got off to switch trams and they had this weird statue of people going into the ground one side of the street and coming up out of the ground the other side.
I got off the second tram when I saw something I wanted to see. Rewind a bit to when I got off the train and I saw this statue of a little person sitting on another statue and thought nothing of it.
As I was heading towards the Old Town, I started seeing dwarf statues all along the street. It turns out that Wrocław is also known as The City of Dwarves and they have these statues all over the streets and they provide a map of where they all are for you to go hunt them out and mark them off. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. You have to be careful though as you could catch yourself on one and fall over.
I got to the Old Town square and what a square it was. So picturesque. I spent a bit of time here just looking up in awe and taking pictures. There was a lot to do just in that area. I spent a couple of hours here and got my trusty souvenirs too. I then headed out on the tram to somewhere I had seen on the map and in a leaflet (disappointment though as the bridge I wanted to see was being worked on. Boooooo). Oh well, it gave me an opportunity to walk around.
I can’t really do Wrocław justice by writing about it. It is somewhere you should definitely see if you go to Poland. You will see why from the pictures.
Once I was done there, I walked towards the river and got a scooter and rode along the river to see what there was around. I then headed back to find some dinner and to go to the station as the time was getting close for the train home. This is where it got fun – the train was about 90 minutes late getting in so I missed the last tram back to the hostel. I was trying to figure out what I would do and decided I would use a scooter.
As I got back to Poznan and got a scooter to the hostel, I had the life frightened out of me. It was after midnight and as dark as my soul outside. I had to go through a sort of alley to get to the hostel entrance. I forgot that the shop downstairs had a mannequin outside by the gate and it scared me so much. Haha. I decided to pack the next morning as I had time before I needed to leave.
Steps walked: 17,809
Below are some pictures from today

You can view all of my Wrocław pics here