Poznan, Poland 2009

Located midway between Berlin and Warsaw, Poznan is Poland's fifth largest city with half a million people. The Kingdom of Poland began in Poznan, being one of the oldest cities in the area. It has been highly rated, often coming first in Poland, as a city with a high quality of life. Poznan is regarded as the second most prosperous city in Poland, after Warsaw.

Side street in the Old Town(Stary Rynek)

The Old Town is quite deserted in the winter time due to cold, wet weather everyday.  

The Warta river

The countries third longest river, the Warta is approximately 808 kilometers long and is a tributary of the Oder river. It occasionally floods as is evidenced by the large grass fields on both banks.  

Jesuit College of Poznan

The Jesuits came to Poznań in the 16th century and built a monastery, a church and a school (college) whose first rector was Reverend Jakub Wujek- the author of the first Polish translation of the Bible.

Train tracks heading North from the Central Train Station

The Polish train system has some very good and bad aspects. They have very low fares and the trains cover the whole country with an extensive network. But with this comes severe delays most days, with hardly a train ever running on schedule. The trains themselves are quite old, with broken heating, windows, seats. There is first and second class. I recommend taking first class.  It has bigger seats, the heating almost always works, the cost is very little more than second class, and it is never full. Sometimes second class will be a cattle car with people having to sit in the hallway.  

Old Town(Stary Rynek)

The Old Town is a large open area about 140 meters square. It contains the Old Town Hall but is mostly populated with restaurants, pubs, and discos. It is the meeting point and central location of the city. In the summer there is outdoor seating and will fill with tourists and locals alike. 

Old Town(Stary Rynek)

In the winter the Old Town is quite empty, but come summer it fills with smiling people enjoying the nice weather and having a beer or coffee with their friends. At night it fills with young people drinking and dancing until the sun comes up.

A tram wreck at a busy intersection

The mass transit system of Poznan is very good. Trams cover a large area of the city while buses pick up the rest. They even have a "fast" tram that covers areas to the North. The cost is low and the quality anywhere from decent to excellent. They run fairly close to the schedule.  

Old Brewery(Stary Browar)

Just like the name says, this is an old Brewery. It has been turned into a beautiful mall with more than 210 shops and restaurants. There is also a disco.

Old Brewery(Stary Browar)

This is the expansion to the mall and was finished in 2007. It is a beautiful addition to the city and I recommend visiting it. The way they preserved the architecture and style of the original brewery is wonderful. 

Old Brewery(Stary Browar)

A view down the length of the brewery. The entire structure contains about 130,000 square meters, or 1.4 million square feet of area.

Lake Malta

A view of Lake Malta. There is a new shopping mall just to the right of this picture. It is a man-made lake and is about 2.2 kilometers long and is used for international rowing competitions. 

Lake Malta

There is a man made ski slope at Malta Lake. It is part of a fun area, including mini golf and driving range, metal bobsled, and of course, pubs. In my opinion this is the tallest point in Poznan as the city is perfectly flat.

Park Cytadela

A very large park just North of the city centre. It is on the site of Fort Winiary, a 19th century fortified area. Some ruins of this fortification can still be seen in the park. 

Park Cytadela

An Obelisk in the park, named Heroes Monument, overlooks Polish and Soviet cemeteries located below it.  

Park Cytadela

A Polish and Soviet cemetery for soldiers from World War II. 

Unknown factory

I could not help thinking of Willy Wonkas chocolate factory when I walked passed this. It is a very large factory but I could not tell if it was working or not. A few cars were parked inside the gates but they was no movement, smoke, or sound from within. 

I have recently been told by a friend in Poznan that this is an old, defunct slaughterhouse, and every weekend it turns into a kind of bazaar where furniture and antiques are traded. So much for my beautiful dreams of a magical chocolate factory.