Archiwa tagu: Polska

Poznan by A Blonde around the World!

Dzisiaj zapraszamy na wpis z cyklu „Polska okiem obcokrajowca”.
Tym razem Poznań widziany okiem Włoskiej blogerki Pam 🙂

[Za zgodą autorki, post wraz ze zdjęciami zostały przeklejone bezpośrendio z jej bloga 
http://www.ablondearoundtheworld.com/2015/01/unexpected-beautiful-poznan/ ]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Today the second post from the category „Poland viewed by foreigner’s eye” !!!
This time, thanks to kindness of A Blonde around the World, Poznan viewed by Italian eye 🙂

[With author’s consent the post and pictures have been copied and pasted directly from her own blog http://www.ablondearoundtheworld.com/2015/01/unexpected-beautiful-poznan/ ]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

„Poland for me has been the biggest surprise of 2014.

Have you ever been to Poland?

For some reason, I expected it grey, post-sovietic, and depressing.

Instead, I was welcomed by a lively and modern city, Poznan, full of life, youth, things to do and see and opportunities.

Poznan is the city where students come to study and then move to, it’s a city with a strong economy, still managed by the most powerful citizens not by corporations, it’s a city that give much importance to culture, around which social life develops.

Did you know that Poland, modern and trendy, is one of the few countries on Europe with a thriving economy and with the lowest unemployment rate, despite the crisis?

I was pleasantly surprised, and sure noticed that in Poznan.

There’s another fact worth to be shared about Poznan: it’s as beautiful as it is cheap. The best hotels, activities, and nightlife can be found at very competitive prices, thing that attracts much tourism from the close Germany but not only, connected to the world of shopping, conventions and wellness.

My few days in Poznan went quickly, spent with Carolina, Jacek, Wojtek, the guys from the City Promotion Office that took me around showing me every corner of their pretty town sharing every single curiosity as open books and with contagious enthusiasm – and that I can’t wait to share with you!

In this post I’d like to share with you some of my dearest pictures of Poznan, but I’ll soon be posting some more practical posts to discover together this beautiful town that stole my heart!”

Poz

 

View over Cathedral Island and Porta Poznania.
View over Cathedral Island and Porta Poznania.
Porta Poznania is not a museum .. so what is it? It’s an innovative and fun way to discover the city, a dedicated post will follow!
Porta Poznania is not a museum .. so what is it?
It’s an innovative and fun way to discover the city, a dedicated post will follow!

 

poz7

 

Poznan is full of surprises, and here’s another museum that it’s not a museum: it’s the croissant museum! With that name it’s already appealing, but the hilarious show will surprise you even more!
Poznan is full of surprises, and here’s another museum that it’s not a museum:
it’s the croissant museum!
With that name it’s already appealing, but the hilarious show will surprise you even more!

 

poz11

A visit to the Lech brewery is not only interesting, but also fun, and after the visit -yet another- surprise awaits you!
A visit to the Lech brewery is not only interesting, but also fun, and after the visit -yet another- surprise awaits you!

 

poz12

Poznan is also the city of the records, among many other records in Poznan you find the smallest restaurant in Poland. The trendy culinary scene is something else I’d like to talk about it soon!
Poznan is also the city of the records, among many other records in Poznan you find the smallest restaurant in Poland.
The trendy culinary scene is something else I’d like to talk about it soon!

 

poz14

poz16

Stary Browar “the Old Brewery” is a modern and rewarded mall, in which you can find not only all kind of shops, but also many eclectic places to eat at, and also a lot of art! You can’t miss it!
Stary Browar “the Old Brewery” is a modern and rewarded mall, in which you can find not only all kind of shops, but also many eclectic places to eat at, and also a lot of art! You can’t miss it!

 

Caffè Bimba, as you can see hosted in an old tram. A break here it’s compulsory
Caffè Bimba, as you can see hosted in an old tram.
A break here it’s compulsory 😉

 

inside the majestic Cathedral, the first of whole Poland
inside the majestic Cathedral, the first of whole Poland.

 

poz22

poz23poz24

Poznań-Warszawa / Poznan-Warsaw by Zara Fisher!

Pierwszy post z cyklu „Polska okiem obcokrajowca” !!!
Dziś Poznań i Warszawa okiem Angielki 🙂

Zara to moja serdeczna angielska koleżanka, którą poznałam podczas wymiany studenckiej Erasmus w Nijmegen (Holandia). 
W październiku 2014 roku zaprosiłam Zarę do siebie by pokazać jej Nasz piękny kraj 🙂 
Poniżej możecie przeczytać jej własne wspomnienia z wycieczki! 🙂
[UWAGA! Za zgodą autorki post i zdjęcia zostały przeklejone z jej prywatnego bloga]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The first post from category „Poland viewed by foreigner’s eye” !!!
Today Poznan and Warsaw viewed by English eye 🙂

Zara is my dear English friend who I met during student exchange programme Erasmus in Nijmegen (The Netherlands).
In October 2014 I invited Zara to my family house to show her our beautiful country 🙂
Below you can check her own memories from this trip! 🙂
[ATTENTION! With author’s consent the post and pictures have been copied and pasted directly from her own blog]

 

(…) But I had my trip to Poland to look forward to so that got me through the week. My dear friend Marta had invited me to join her in her home country of Poland for 6 days, and obviously I said yes! We flew to her city of Poznan, in the West of the country, on Friday morning. Her parents hosted us and if there’s one thing you must know about Polish families, is their extreme generosity and their hospitable nature. We had traditional Polish beetroot soup with bread and sour white cabbage. In the evening we went out for drinks in the pub, and with an average price of 4  zlotys a drink, and with £1 = 5 zlotys, I had a great night 😉 But, I must say that the Polish nightlife is the most similar to the UKs I have yet experienced. The atmosphere, the people, the venues and the streets reminded me of home.

Me and Marta <3
Me and Marta ❤

We spent the weekend looking around the city and seeing all the places that Marta suggested that we should see. We went to a museum about the uprising against their Russian occupation in the 1950s, and we also had a tour of the Castle that was built during their Prussian occupation and revamped during the occupation of the third Reich. We also took a walk through the castle gardens which were beautiful and had many billboards telling about the history of the city. I learnt so much this weekend about Polish history that I had never known before and it was amazing to have that insight of what Polish people were thinking; how they viewed their history. We also went for traditional Polish boiled dumplings at ‘Chatka Babuni’ and I tried all the veggie ones; my favourite was sundried tomato and spinach! Poznan is one of the quaintest and most colourful cities I have ever been to and I am so happy for the opportunity to visit such a historical and beautiful place.

img_0710
Bootiful
img_0675
Fountain & city hall
Ye olde tram
Ye olde tram
Dumplingsssss
Dumplingsssss
Outside the museum
Outside the museum
Poznan Castle
Poznan Castle

On the Monday Marta and I travelled to Warsaw to spend 2 days looking around the city. We first went to the Palace of Culture and Science which is the tallest building in Poland. It was built in 1955 during their socialist occupation which you can tell by the architecture. It was such a beautiful sight from the panoramic terrace and we could see the whole city at sunset. Afterwards we visited All Saint’s church and took the tram to the city centre. Walking through the city at night time was really beautiful as most of the buildings are modern and are lit up fantastically, and is more reminiscent of a city like New York than any European city I’ve been to.

img_0352
view from palace
Sunset on the panorama
Sunset on the panorama
Warsaw at night
Warsaw at night and Palace of Culture and Science

The following day was the day of museum visits, of course! We got up very early to take the tram to the city from her sister’s apartment where we were staying. We took an audio tour around the Royal Castle in Warsaw, the official residence of the Polish monarchs. It was incredibly decadent; dripping in gold, bright satins and surprisingly a lot of Chinese decorations (apparently the king had quite a thing for it). After this we took the tram to the Lazienki Palace and Museum which was probably my favourite place in the whole trip. The palace is built on an artificial island and has many different building, which you have to access over bridges or through the woodland areas. It was very sunny when we began, and as we moved from place to place, the sunset started to colour the water surrounding us. From the grand marble columns to the fountains, the bathhouse to the ballroom, it was stunning.

Royal Castle
Royal Castle
img_0860
Royal Lazienki

img_0507

img_0619

img_0634 (1)

After this we went to the Fotoplasticon which is a small showcase of the old Warsaw before the devastation of the second world war. It was really great to see those pictures while I was there, to really put into perspective just how much of the city was lost. The old Warsaw looked absolutely nothing like the one I was experiencing. Soon after we left and had some Thai food together, before setting off for the Polin Museum of the History of the Polish Jews. It was the opening of their new exhibition and they put on a 1 hour jazz concert to commemorate this, and coincidently it was on the night I was there. The concert was beautifully moving and I really felt the pain and suffering, if only for an hour, that these people went through and are still going through.

concert in warsaw
concert in warsaw

The following day we were on our way back to Poznan for our final day in the city. We went to Model of Historic Poznan, which was a 45 minute light and laser show, telling the story of Poznan since the 10th century. In Marta’s own words, there was ‘a lot of fires, battles and churches’, haha. After the show we went for a walk to the grand artificial lake which was incredibly vast, but peaceful. Her mother then picked us up and took us to the Lech Brewery, a typical Poznan beer, for the tour. This was my first ever brewery tour and it was with great company; it also didn’t hurt that we got to try the different varieties too!

with Marta and her mumma
with Marta and her mumma
Beeeeeeeeeer
Beeeeeeeeeer
Laser show
Laser show

On Thursday we flew back to Holland, and as soon as I stepped off the plane I could feel how warm it was compared to Poland. I threw open my coat and vowed never to slate the Dutch weather again… evidently it didn’t last very long 😉 (…)

Zara