Szczecin

Tuesday 26th July

Our last day in Poland! It has been an unforgettable experience, surpassing all our expectations. The variation across this vast country has much to offer the tourist. 

On our travels around Poland we have been fascinated by the regard in which the storks are held. These carvings sum up this popularity. And interesting to note that the stork migrates for the winter to North Africa - never crossing the Mediterranean Sea at any point other than at the Straights of Gibraltar.  

The people, and their obvious positivity, have turned a country that was very much behind the eight ball into one of progress and growing prosperity. The comparison of the Poland we first saw 36 years ago to the Poland of today is astonishing. Perhaps the biggest change has been the increase in the prosperity of the people. This can be seen in the large shopping complexes dotted over the country. A far cry from the days when you had to wait outside a small grocery shop for one of the ten baskets to become available before entering the shop! And the competition is fierce - Carrefour, Tescos, Aldi, Lidl, Auchan in the supermarket category alone, and the list goes on. 

The other great change has been the transport links. Motorways and A-roads have improved mobility greatly. Couple this with car ownership, and you have a huge change in personal freedoms. Enough of this!

Szczecin today! We spent most of the morning doing jobs we needed to get done before crossing into Germany tomorrow. But most with little success. The laundrette in Polish seems to be a "laundry service" - that is what we deduced from today. A waste of a lot of time with no result. Clean sheets will have to wait till tomorrow.

A view across the Odra River to the castle and old town. 

Some very clever street art under the road bridge. 

It is very much a working port  city and some of the infrastructure paid little attention to the aesthetics of the historical section. 

We did get to see a little Szczecin, a city of over 400,000 people, the important seaport on the Baltic.  For two hundred years it was controlled by Germany and was the port for Berlin.  Destroyed during the war, the reconstruction of the old town centre was done with little love and attention! The stroll along the Odra River is quite pleasant with some interesting observation points. 

The most celebrated building in the town is the new Philharmonic Centre, known as the Iceberg. The modern design is supposed to have taken its inspiration from the surrounding historic buildings. 

The Iceberg building "blending" with the historic!

The Zamek (Castle) of the Pomeranian Prince  was worth a look with its origins going back a thousand years, but what we see today is a reconstruction because of the bombing in 1944. 

The Pomeranian Prices Castle. 

An aerial view of the zamek. 

The castle's very distinctive 17th century astronomical clock graces the inner courtyard. 

It was getting late in the afternoon so we thought we had done well to this stage, we left for the village of Kołbaskowo. Here we spent the rest of the afternoon and evening. 

Other photos from today:

Multi-storey residential buildings are going up in great numbers on the outskirts of Szczecin. 

 More street art under the bridge. 

Non-event Day!

What can I say about a day that had no highlights, but with some distance travelled? Not a lot!

We even struggled to have any photos (that are worth publishing, not that this will stop the editor!) for the highlights - now that's a first! 

We did get our usual call from Maddie, and a call from Jim. That always makes for a good day. 

It was a beautiful morning in Iwięcino. We were not in a great hurry to leave, so we crossed the road and checked out whether the church was open - but afraid not! Some other visitors attempted to look inside but they had as much chance as we did. 

Hilton's sleeping place!

An early morning shot - lovely shingled tower. 

We got on the road eventually, basically heading for Szczecin, near the Polish-German border.

We passed many cereal crops, Baltic Pine forest (some of these were being selectively logged) and some arid land. Quite a mixture!  

Beautiful strands of Baltic Pine. 

The ace navigator and on-board photographer just captured multiple windfarm blades being manufactured here in Poland. 

We stopped for a while in Nowogard before continuing on towards Szczecin where we had an earlier than usual stop at our overnight destination. 

Daily extra: 

Tried the Bernard Bohemian Beer - very pleasant. 

The silly season continues! Back to the Argus lager - 29 degrees!

Darłowo

Our last Sunday in Poland and we were fascinated to see the numbers of church goers. The folk were all dressed in their Sunday best and they filled the church in two consecutive hours that we observed. Poland has traditionally been Catholic, and it has been said that it was the church that maintained the Polish culture and identity through the many years of foreign control. 

Beautiful! In the ancient church yard at Iwięcino. 

We decided that we would wander northwards toward the Baltic to the town of Darłowo. We were pleasantly surprised to find an old attractive central market square and some interesting historical buildings surrounding the area. 

The reconstructed Renaissance Town Hall in Darłowo. 

A fine pair!

Another angle. 

Castle entrance. 

Castle, mill race and restaurants. 

In the gothic church of St Mary's is the tomb of King Erik VII (1397-1459). I particularly loved his story: he was a local (Darłowo) boy who became king of Denmark, Sweden and Norway, married Henry V of England's daughter, Phillipina, whom he later tired of and banished her to a nunnery. He was kicked off the throne in 1439, returned to Darłowo as a Duke of Słupsk, and lives out the rest of his life on the earnings from his piracy in the Baltic Sea!

A plaque in St Mary's Church in reference to Erik VII's reign. 

Another red brick church - St Mary's. 

We took a stroll around the town where a lot of holiday makers were enjoying the pleasant surroundings of an old castle, a 14th century church and a reconstructed Renaissance town hall which were all within easy access from the square. 

After lunch we thought we would risk the 3 km journey to the beach - but we were beaten there by scores upon scores of Polish holiday makers. The place was pulsating with humanity. They all seemed to be out on the promenade waiting for better conditions on the beach. 

Crawling with holiday makers. 

We quickly changed direction - not easy in the van when you had just entered a pedestrian area and the folk weren't prepared to give much ground!

Fun....

..... and fair!

We reset our course to Iwięcino where we had heard there was a 14th century church worth visiting. On arriving the church was all locked up so decided that this was a very suitable place to spend the rest of the afternoon and evening.  

Rustic charm of the church at Iwięcino. 

Over the road is an old barn and a well tended garden. 

Another of the church at Iwięcino. 

Masses of brightly coloured hydrangeas around the church. 

A sneak look inside the church through one tiny window. It was all locked up!!

Słupsk

Just another cruising day. No great direction other than the obvious - the Polish-German border in a few days. 

The Pomeranian Dukes castle in Słupsk. 

We gave the coastal Baltlic towns a miss - mostly members of the bucket-and-spade league and heavily populated with Polish holiday makers. 

Traveled through central Pomeranian agricultural landscape this morning. Cerial crops interspersed with Baltic Pine forests and plantations. 

Many areas of Baltic pine during our drive this morning. 

We stopped for a short time at Lebork before travelling on to Słupsk. Here we parked in front of the delightful neogothic town hall - built in 1901 - had lunch and was entertained by a number of wedding groups that rolled through for their civil ceremony. 

Hilton in on the act again - and in front of the town hall!

A better aspect.

We later wandered around the town and took in some of the older and younger sites. A pleasant town but more of an administrative area than a tourist destination. 

Old town gate amidst modern buildings. 

St Jacks church. 

An interesting display inside the foyer of St Jacks Church. Polish memories are long term - and we don't blame them! (Google Translator will help with the message.)

We later did a major stop on the outskirts of the town for the navigator to buy some shoes! 

Late in the afternoon we drove on to Sławno for our overnight stop. 

Some extras:

A large statue of Pope John-Paul in Lębork. John-Paul is a most revered character across Poland. His contribution to Polish freedom today is recognised where ever we have visited. 

The Castle Mill. 

Castle, mill and Witches Tower on the right - Witches Tower refers to a tower in a medieval town wall that often was used as a prison. 

More of the town's old fortification. 

It was interesting to see that all the wedding guests arrived carrying bunches of flowers - as can be seen in the boot of the car after the ceremony. 

Sobot - Gdynia

Woke to an overcast sky this morning and the temperature has dropped as well. 

Oliwa Cathedral organ is the show piece of the church. So when we read that there was going to be a recital at 10 am this morning we decided to hang around and attend, which we surely did. The organ is known for it's fine tones and mechanised angels that blow trumpets and ring bells as the organ is playing. The concert was well attended and the appreciated by the large audience. A much better performance than the recital we attended in Warsaw. 

The famous organ of the Oliwa Cathedral. 

 

The last two days has been a bit hectic and so today we set a less ambitious agenda - shopping!

We did however, call in at Sopot, a very touristy and summer holiday destination for the Poles. We felt a bit sorry for the holiday makers as the weather was turning a little sour - cool, misty rain and generally not very pleasant for beach going. We did, though, check out the Baltic sandy beach before retreating back to the van. 

The hooded beach goer tells the story of the day. 

The Baltic sandy beach and kiosk - decidedly empty. 

Some hardy souls making the best of it. 

Ours are better than theres!

Later we visited Gdynia, the home of the Polish tall ship that visited Tassie during the Bi-centennial celebrations back in 1988. At Gdynia there were hundreds of holiday makers being driven indoors by the misty rain - many hardy souls kept battling the elements though!

Polish tall ship in Gdynia. 

Some were out .....

.... and the lody (ice cream) kiosk still doing a good trade. 

You must have a big wheel too!

We later drove into the village of Bozepole Wielkie for our overnight stop. 

Extras:

Tower blocks as far as the eye can see! Ex - Soviet style but have been enhance with a little colour.

And saw this in a catelogue - must buy some!