Back in 2017, Ken and I went to Berlin and one of the destinations we had on that trip was Szczecin (you can read about that here). I remember it was raining bad when we were there so we didn’t have much to do other than find somewhere to have a drink and some food and then go back to Berlin.
I spent some time the last couple of years trying to find a way back that was inexpensive.
Fast forward almost 8 years and I managed to find cheap flights to Szczecin and a cheap hotel (yep, you read that right. A hotel. Don’t be impressed though as you’ll find out later).
The catch of going when I did: I had to leave an hour after my shift finished on the Thursday morning and then get home with about 30 seconds before my shift started on Saturday night.
I was super tired when I went for the train and I was super tired all the way to the hotel.
I got lucky on the flight out. There were a few rows free and I asked to move to one and I got a row to myself. It was nice.
Szczecin Airport is the smallest airport I have been to. It is one terminal. You can see it in the pic below that I took when we left to come back to Stansted
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I had planned my journey from the airport to the hotel. I had to go from the airport train station to Szczecin Port Centralny and then get the tram to the stop by the hotel.
I managed to get to the tram (of course I did, my sense of direction is amazing) and just sat on it until I needed to get off. My sense of direction let me down on this trip. I blame the tiredness over my sense of direction – or lack thereof. I got off the tram 2 stops early. I was so tired and I couldn’t be bothered to walk so I waited for the next tram. I had to wait about 10 minutes. In Szczecin, the trams all run to a 15-minute schedule. I’ve never seen this in other Polish cities I’ve been to. It’s good though because you know exactly how often they are running and they run to this schedule the vast majority of the day.
I got the tram 2 stops and then walked to the hotel. I could tell from when I got there that it wasn’t going to be good. I checked in and they told me my room and I got to it and dropped my stuff off. I like to call it the murder hotel. It has vibes of not being very nice. You can see it in the picture below.
The bathroom was down the hallway. It was shared. The bathroom was run down and dilapidated too. The price for it is not good value for money.
I left my stuff and then went to find a Zabka so I could get some food and then just get on the tram.
I had seen some churches I wanted to go to on the way in and I headed in that direction. I went into one church that was open but they had mass going on so I didn’t go in. I then carried on walking and found another church to go in and have a look around. Szczecin has so many churches so you won’t be without them if you like them.
I then carried on walking and decided to jump on the tram and ride a couple of them before heading back to the murder hotel for the night. I was so tired and I didn’t want to stay out late. I had found somewhere to get souvenirs and decided I would go tomorrow.
Total steps: 13,636
Total miles: 6.2
Total kilometers: 9.98Below are some pics from today
I got up early enough to get ready and then left to give me about 30 minutes until the arrival of the train for the airport. This allowed me to build in some time in case of delays getting to the train station.
I went out for the tram and got to the end of the line and then walked to Szczecin Zdroje station and waited for the train.
I got to get some pics and videos of the trains and also get my hands cold enough that they nearly dropped off. I got to the airport a few hours before the flight. I went through security and then to passport control. Passport control had only just opened. I went there and the guard spent about 5 minutes going through all the stamps in my passport. I just wanted to get in and sit down and just chill and wait for the flight. It was 30 minutes late. I wasn’t overly concerned as the train home wasn’t until 16:27 and this delay would still give me an hour from landing to getting on the train.
There was a window seat free on the row I was on so I sat in it and the middle seat was free – until some woman had her partner come and sit in and make it uncomfortable. I mean, it was a 90-minute flight. I don’t understand people who can’t sit apart for such a short amount of time!
There was a queue at passport control and people were just dawdling. I was getting annoyed. Just move a little faster people!
I was glad to just get to the platform. It was nice and sunny and warm. I loved it.
I got home 30 seconds before work started. I am so tired. I don’t know why I do this to myself!
Total steps: 34,370Total miles: 15.73
Total kilometers: 25.31
View all of my Szczecin media here