Well good day good day.
The travels through Poland continue and today we're in Poznan.
Yeah, Poznań.
So we just arrived yesterday by train and we were quite tired.
We didn't do much but today is a new day and we've got some phenomenal weather.
It is going to rain during the next few days that we're here but today is going to be amazing
so we're going to go out and do as much as we can today.
Let's do it all.
Eager to explore Poznan, our first stop of the day was the Old Market Square (Stare Miasto),
which is a sight to behold.
As soon as we turned the street from our apartment, we were greeted with the Old Town Hall (Ratusz),
which was so grand at first I thought it was a church.
The top attraction here is a row of buildings known as the Merchant Houses.
They stand shoulder to shoulder and are painted in different patterns, adding a bright splash
of colour to the town.
So we're just looking at these beautiful painted houses with Sam.
Which one would you want to move into?
Choose a color.
Well, I thought blue at first but then I was looking a little more closely and the green
looks the biggest.
So biggest is best.
Let's go with green.
The 4th one to the left.
I would choose the pink one right next to it.
So maybe we can be neighbors.
We can have our own houses.
Hahaha.
Why not right?
Already we're going in for food.
Always happiest with a slice of cake in front of me.
Yeah.
But you know what?
We've tried visiting the church and the castle.
Those are in the neighborhood and neither of them are open for another half hour so
we figured perfect excuse to have coffee and cake.
Yeah.
11AM on the weekends guys.
Eleven AM.
That is when it opens.
Mmmm.
In the meantime, a cappuccino and this cake is called.
It is called Kostka Biscotto.
And it looks great.
Look at all of these layers.
Oh my gosh.
Woah.
That is a lot of layers.
Mmmm.
A lot of cream.
A lot of cream?
Is it tasty?
Oh my goodness.
And white chocolate.
Sweet?
Mmmhmmm.
That is good.
That looks like beyond decadent.
So I was definitely a little bit greedy with that huge piece of cake.
I couldn't even finish the whole thing because I had already had breakfast.
But the good news is it is already eleven the castle should be open so we're heading
over now.
So we made it to the top of the tower.
We basically just took the elevator to the sixth floor and then we only had to climb
one story.
So that was pretty easy.
No hundreds of steps to contend with.
Pretty lazy on our part but oh well.
And the views are pretty cool.
The views are incredible.
The Royal Castle (Zamek Królewski w Poznaniu) dates back to 1249, though if you think it
looks rather new, that’s because it was mostly destroyed during WW2 and it had to
be rebuilt.
After paying for our tickets, we made a beeline straight for the tower, to enjoy some views
of Poznań.
So just one piece of advice for any photographers out there.
I think it is best if you visit in the afternoon because the Old Town is actually backlit.
Yeah.
I mean the views are cool but if you want those amazing like postcard shots.
Exactly.
A little better in the afternoon.
Come in the afternoon for sure.
After visiting the castle, we did some wandering around the Old Town and ended up at the Former
Jesuit College.
This is where young people were educated in theology and philosophy.
Today the college houses the City Council, so we couldn’t really tour the place, but
they do have a nice courtyard and a cafe for visitors.
So we somehow made it to the Former Jesuits College but accident.
We wanted to visit this place and just by chance we wandered in here.
These kind of happy accidents don't usually happen very often.
Normally it is more like the opposite we're trying to find somewhere and we're like and
it is closed.
Yeah, it is closed or we're lost or whatever.
But we found this yeah by basically a happy accident.
Yeah, and it is a beautiful building.
I love the colors.
Yeah.
Pink.
Lots of pink.
We were discussing where did it remind us of?
And we just remembered that like kind of in the downtown area of Salta, Argentina.
Yeah.
It looks very similar.
I can't remember if it is a church or a monastery but like yeah same styles or similar styles.
Very similar style.
Similar colors.
Another thing to do in Poznan is visit Fara Poznanska, a beautiful Baroque church located
right next to the Former Jesuit College.
We arrived just as they were setting up for the weekly concert, so we sat down for a bit
of music.
(Music Playing)
From there, we walked west of the Old Town, where things have more of a modern look.
We saw the Fontana Wolnosh-chi Wolności, had a quick peek inside the Imperial Castle
(Zamek Cesarski w Poznaniu), and we also discovered that Polish people have a big love for ice
cream (lody).
I've never seen quite a line like that for ice cream.
Oh yeah!
That is strong line that is going strong.
And this is our second time walking past this line and it hasn't changed.
There is more people.
It has gotten longer and if I wasn't so tired and need of a siesta at the moment I would
go stand in line and see what all of the fuss is about.
Yeah, it must be good.
We later googled Kolorowa and discovered that it’s the best ice cream shop in Poznań,
so maybe we should’ve stood in line!
Alright, so we had a little nap after that long morning of sightseeing.
Yeah, but round 2.
Siesta is over and we're off exploring Cathedral Island (Ostrow Tumski) and then I think we're
just going to wander around maybe go check out there is a lake nearby here as well so
some relaxing stuff this afternoon.
Let's go.
Alright, so we just finished visiting the Cathedral of Saint Peter and Saint Paul here
on Cathedral Island.
It wasn't quite as impressive as some of the churches we've seen in the Old Town but it
was still pretty cool to visit.
And this is on the way to Lake Malta (Maltański Reservoir) so we're going to hit that up next.
After visiting Cathedral Island, we went past Śródka, which is a really cool neighbourhood
with lots of street art.
We then had a little break by Lake Malta, which looked to be a popular weekend spot.
Okay, so we made it to Lake Malta and we're just relaxing in the shade on a grassy patch.
Yeah, it is surprisingly got really hot this afternoon.
Yes, it is so humid.
For 24 degrees oh my gosh.
We're seeking out shade and we noticed some people doing some what looked like some pretty
crazy wakeboarding.
Yeah, in the lake.
Yeah.
So yeah, we're seeing lots of families like lots of young couples.
There is live music and different activities so a pretty cool place on a weekend.
Yeah, also just tonnes of people exercising as well so it is busy and for good reason.
We've arrived at KontenderART Aktywator.
Are you ready to enter the Aktywator?
I'm ready to be activated in the Activator.
Okay.
Another cool thing to do in Poznań is to visit KontenerArt, which is part urban beach,
outdoor bar, art space, children’s playground, food cart central, and herb and spice garden.
This was an unexpected find and it was really nice to see people of all ages enjoying this
space.
So we are currently visiting the Frédéric Chopin Park which is directly behind the Jesuit
College which we visited a few days ago.
On a rainy afternoon, we paid a quick visit to Poznan’s Archaeological Museum (Muzeum
Archeologiczne w Poznaniu).
Admittedly, it’s mostly geared towards children, but it was a fun way to stay dry.
Museum visit over.
Over.
So to finish off here in Poznań we're going to do what is considered to be our favorite
4 letter word here in Poland.
And what is that?
And normally 4 letter words are dirty swear words but not this time.
What?
This is Lody.
This is ice cream.
We are going for ice cream in Poland.
Seriously, guys it is awesome.
And also this is the only Polish word we know.
Yeah.
Ice cream (lody).
Mmmm.
It is melting.
What flavor did you get?
This is so good.
Raspberry.
Isn't it good?
Mmmm.
I got peach.
Raspberry you can see the seeds and this tastes like the raspberries that you see when I was
little.
My parents property in Argentina out in the country.
It tastes like those raspberries.
I'm like wow.
So I'm also going for something refreshing.
Peach.
Mmmm.
That is good.
We didn't do ice cream cheers.
Ice cream cheers.
Boop.
Now I have a bit of yours on mine.
Anyways, so that is basically a wrap from Poznan, Poland.
We had a really good time here.
Just to kind of a cool place to hang out for a while.
There was enough to do.
There was just we liked the vibe of this city.
It is very laidback.
Very laid back.
Yeah, especially on the weekdays.
We arrived on the weekend when it was really busy but then it got a lot more chill on the
weekdays.
Yeah, for sure.
Yeah.
And then yeah it was just a cool city and the next stop is we're heading north to Gdansk.
And that’s a wrap for our quick travel guide to Poznań!
We hope this video gave you a few ideas of things to do around town on your visit.
As always, if there are any other things to do in Poznan that you think should be on this
list, feel free to share those with fellow travellers in the comments below.
Happy travels and until next time!