Poland - move your imagiNATION

Stash Rudolf
Aug 26, 2018
3 min read

Updated: Aug 30, 2018

It has been months since my trip to Poland and my laziness is the only thing that stopped me from writing about the trip earlier. So back in the days (in the middle of May 2018 to be more precise) my colleague, I and three of our students set of on the trip to the heart of Poland, a small town called Pobiedziska. Pobiedziska is located between two Polish historical cities Poznañ and Gniezno. We travelled there with a rented car and the journey took a whopping 11 or 12 hours. The drive itself was short through Slovenia, it was quick through Austria, it was boring through Czech Republic with their national flags on every billboard (maybe more about that in the post about the upcoming trip to Czech R.) and it was long and "exhilarating" through Poland.

After arriving to Pobiedziska we quickly regained our strength and before bed time did a quick tour of the town. Our students left with their hosts and probably did the same. Our guest school is big and really well equipped and we enjoyed all the activities there. I woke up very early every day this week as the Sun rises way earlier in Pobiedziska than at my home town. I spent the mornings walking around the town, searching for interesting places and spots and I have found a few. The landscape there is similar to ours with more lakes and ponds. So Monday passed in the sense of getting to know the school, our hosts and the town. The next days we did some short and one longer trip. The shorters were once to Gniezno (the first capitol on Poland) and the next time to Poznañ (also once a capitol of Poland). The longer was a trip to the German capitol Berlin (also once a capital of "occupied" Poland). A trip to Gniezno was memorable for its cathedral and main square. A short stay there and I got a sense of warmth and hospitality and I don't know why.

Next trip was the long one, the one to Berlin. I have been to Berlin before, but this time I saved the images of our students' faces when we flew to the top of the Television tower with a blazing fast lift. The view of Berlin from there (203m high) was spectacular. Of course we visited all the other necessary Berlin attractions (Berlin wall, Brandenburg gate, ...). One more thing from that trip did manage to stay in my mind 'till today and that was a double city on the border of Poland and Germany. Polish part is called Słubice and German part Frankfurt (Oder). Since the European Union expanded it is known as Słubice/Frankfurt. A really nice city with great universities. And the last short trip was a trip to Poznañ with the most beautiful square I have ever seen and the best museum I have visited. The museum is special because it is about croissants. I have always thought that croissants were a French thing and would never expect a croissant museum in Poland. However, there it was and it was special. If you ever find yourself in Poznañ, go and visit this museum, you won't regret it for sure. Poznañ is also a city of universities as there are more than 140.000 students living there.This trip to Poland convinced me once more that Poland is a great and grand country with a diverse landscape, nice people, gorgeous cities and great beer. I will come back.