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This weekend, we headed over to Poznań to see our friend Skavinski. Despite living in the UK, he has been visiting his homeland for much of the last month and had a spare weekend before he flew back. He was visiting the south-east of the country, but with Poland not too far from Berlin, we decided to try and meet up. We originally suggested Wroclaw, but in the end, it was a little too far for a weekend break so we opted for Poznań instead. This is just over two and a half hours from Berlin, meaning we could get there by train pretty easily, although the last train out of Ostbahnhof was around 17:50. This necessitated an early finish from work, which was initially accepted but then became increasingly problematic, but I started early and put all of my hours in for the week so I was able to leave pretty promptly to catch the train.
Upon arriving in Poznań, a few minutes late, we were shocked by how cold it was. Still, it was only a ten minute walk to the hotel, although navigating your way out of the train station proved tricky. There were a number of exits and construction work going on, but we did find the western entrance I think, which wasn't as grandiose as the main one but did have a charming little clock tower and a McDonald's. Anyway, we soon managed to check into our hotel, where we were asked to sign a COVID form demonstrating we had had the vaccine but where our EU Covid Pass wasn't checked (indeed it wasn't throughout the entirety of the trip), before dropping our bags off and heading straight out. It was about 9pm and we were hungry, spying the tempting 'Stary Browar' or 'Old Brewery' just down the road. Alas, this is a repurposed brewery now containing shops and offices, but on the pavement outside we did see a dog turd that someone had inexplicably stuck a plastic knife in, so there was that.
This southern part of the centre of Poznań has a very strong Leeds vibe, with fountains looking like Mandela Gardens, buildings that look like mills and even one place that looked a little like the car park near the ring road. As we headed further into the historic centre though, the less like the UK and the more like Europe it became. They were digging up large swathes of the city though and one point did look a little like the car park outside of The Old Red Bus Station, but we pressed on and turned up the main street, looking for a craft beer bar. One thing that surprisd me was just how busy it was, with the streets thronging with people. It was a nice sort of lively, non-threatening, and after missing out on one bar due to a lack of seats, we did manage to find a place in the fantastically named Ja-Beer-Wocky. Here, we were served by a really helpful lady and noted that all 15 taps on the board were Polish beers. We ended up having 100ml samples of 12 of them, as well as some pizzas. I had one with onion rings and BBQ sauce on, which was quite nice but got a little sickly after a while. Wolfie, meanwhile, had one with extra tabasco that made him sweat, the first time I had seen that in 11 months.
After the food, we headed over to the main square, Stary Rynek, which was the typical cobbled square with tall colourful houses around it. However, in the middle, next to a goregous green church constructed in 1782, the Communists seem to have stuck two concrete monstrocities from the 1960s right in the middle. They weren't even painted nicely, it was all grey and brutalist glass, adding a real dampner to proceedings. Still, the square was thronging at this late hour, with it being past 1am by this point, so we had a little wander around before heading back to the hotel via another bar - the one that had previously been too busy - for a nightcap.
We had intended to get up and out the next morning, but our usual lethargy took hold and instead of waking up at 9:30am, we got up at 11:30am. After a swift shower, I was disappointed to discover that Wolfie had had a recurrence of his foot injury and he was struggling to walk. We agreed to take it slowly, but by the time we had gotten out, it was only about an hour and a half until Skavi's train. Consequently, we decided to walk around this southern fringe of the centre, walking through a really nice park that looked resplendent in the autumn sunshine. Here, Wolfie was reminded that he needed to buy some new Warhammer releases, so we sat on a bench while he did this. We then went to local convenience store Zabka (who have sadly removed their little froggie logo from their stores) to buy a load of ibuprofen and breakfast, which consisted of two hotdogs and a white chocolate coconut Lion Bar which was every bit as good as you would expect it to be. After this rather adequate breakfast - kolbasas sausages in an orange smingey sauce no less - we walked around one of the main shopping streets and saw a beautiful double towered church whose name escapes me. We also saw one of the city's gay bars, proudly flying both the LGBT and trans flags outside. After all of the negative treatment of LGBT people in the country, it was good to see a place not giving a fuck, with them advertising in the window that they were celebrating 'Two Years of Fighting For Homosexual Propaganda'. It was good to see the place was jumping as we walked past later in the evening too, while the old tramcar which has been converted into a coffee bar outside was a fine historical piece to observe too. Sitting in the shadow of the old brewery, with its imposing brick structure and wrought iron bridges, you did get a real sense of the industrial heritage of the city.
After walking around, we headed back to the hotel so Wolfie could rest his foot. The plan was for me to walk back to the main railway station to pick up Skavi, who had just endured a seven-hour train journey which he said was quite enjoyable due to the cool people he met on the train (who were perfectly fine with him referencing his husband), and then we would check him into his hotel and go out as a group. This is what we did, with me waiting outside the ornate clock tower entrance of the station, dodging the beggars and crazy people until I saw Skavi wearing a fetching woolen jumper. He was dragging a heavy bag with him, partly weighed down by the bottle of Ukrainian brandy he had kindly brought for us, but the trip back to the hotel was straightforward and once he had checked into his room and dropped his luggage there, we met up in our room, picked up Wolfie and went out exploring.
We did a lot of touring in the end, walking over 37,000 steps that day, making it my highest ever step count since getting my Fitbit. We walked largely aimlessly yet continuously for five hours, exploring the majority of the main sites in the city centre, as well as Ostrow Tumski, the island in the Warta River to the north-east of the city upon which the city's main cathedral sits. Beyond this, there was a nice quiet residential area with some interesting restaurants, as well as a dinky little church dedicated to St Margaret. The cathedral itself was rather resplendent inside, particularly the gold room which for five zloty, you could see lit up in its shimmering grandeur. There was a large group of tourists walking around, but soon enough we managed to steal in, only for the light to switch off immediately as we got there. Still, someone may have been watching over us, as the light resumed about a minute later without us putting any money in. What amazed us about the cathedral was they were accepting donations by credit or debit card, making it far more advanced than Berlin, who tend not to accept credit cards in restaurants, such is how backward this place is. All the while, I was delighting in tormenting Skavi about wonderful fecal related fetishes such as Truffling and Harvesting, at which he grimmiced regularly. We also saw a majot archaeological area nearby, upon which the first settlement of the city stood. There was a funky metal sculpture spanning the road here, as well as an archaeological museum which was unfortunately closed.
Before that, we had started our walk from the hotel towards the north-west, taking in the delightful Park Mickiewicza, with its delightful lake and full-bloom roses which looked resplendent in the sun. At the south-eastern corner of this park stands a monument, Pomnik Ofiar Czerwca, a huge two-crossed concrete memorial around which some rope is wrapped. Commemorating the strikes of 1956, the first huge strike action in Communist Poland, there are a number of other years on the monument too, highlighting other major strikes in Poland during this period. It ends in 1980 and 1981, highlighting the Solidarnosc movement in Gdańsk. Across the road from this is the beautiful Imperial Castle, made of golden sandstone. It looks a lot older than it actually is, having been constructed between 1905 and 1910, and now acts as a cultural centre and theatre. Opposite this is another impressive building, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Poznań.
Walking around a city in an ordered yet slightly aimless fashion, it is amazing what you do see. We got to see the city walls at most of the points of the compass, as well as old industrial buildings (perhaps mills or breweries) which have since been reconverted. There were quite a few bars and hostels flying the gay and other LGBT flags, which cheered us all up, but Skavi in particular about the current state of his home country. There was a definite defiance here to the right-wing anti-LGBT fuckery from the government. We also checked out an interesting memorial to a World War II Polish regiment, which was made of rusted metal. Names around the memorial commemorated those who had assumedly died, while from the triangular underground structure, there were a few concrete birds emerging, with more flying away from it to symbolise the doves of peace. This being Poland, we also got to see inside a number of churches, including the austere white-painted Monastery of the Dominican Fathers just down the road.
In terms of religious highlights though, the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Mary Magdalene and St. Stanislaus on the other side of the city was the best. Tucked away amongst the narrow cobbled streets of the old town, this huge pink structure sneaks up on you. Inside, its bedecked in shimmering pink marble and huge plunging columns of the Greek style, with a golden alter and artwork which dominates the room. It was a very peaceful and pleasant place to be, although I was a little on edge as they did seem to be preparing for Mass and I was unsure whether we should have been there. Still, it was great walking around and it enabled me to question Skavi about his religious beliefs, something I haven't done in over ten years of knowing him.
We had intended to go to a milk bar, one of the last vestiges of communist era Poland, but Skavi didn't realise that they closed early so by 7pm it wasn't an option. We had wanted to make the most of the daylight having only really started touring at around 3pm, so we lost track of time. We had intended to go to a bar to rest our feet at around 5pm, an agreement we had made while waiting for Skavi to choose a fridge magnet from a market stall on the impressively grandiose Stary Rynek. We were hassled by chuggers and people wanting to get us into Go-Go Bars here, reminding me about one thing I have NOT missed about the UK, but in the end we got distracted by yet another city sight. There is so much in Poznań that it was difficult to do it justice and indeed we missed the thirteenth century Royal Castle even though it towers over the main square. We were in the gloaming by the time we had gotten to it, so everything was closed, but the fading light only made it more regal for some reason. It was certainly rather majestic sitting atop a little hill overlooking the main centre of the city.
As we had walked up there, we had noticed a pierogarnia which seemed to have some space for us. We therefore did a loop from the castle, back on to the main square, and headed back to the place. Skavi was craving Polish food as this was his last full day in Poland and thus a final opportunity to taste his homeland's cuisine, while we hadn't yet found any decent Polish places in Berlin. The Pierogarnia Stary Młyn was splendid, with some decent craft beer and a huge range of Polish food. Having only had two Zabka hotdogs and a coconut Lion bar all day, we decided to pig out, so I ordered a delicious if large bowl of sour rye soup followed by both boiled and baked pierogi in the Russkie style. I only ordered one of the baked variety though, never having really seen this before, and we were delighted to discover it was very much like an English pasty. The boiled versions were every bit as good as we had had back in Gdansk, not to mention the sadly closed down Polish restaurant in Bradford, Ambrojsia, and we ended up feeling rather bloated afterwards. For a starter, we were also served a delicios rye bread with a sweet potato paste, while a nice touch was the bill being presented in a wooden model of a pierogi, which looked a little like an oyster with a hinged shell.
We walked around the top end of Poznań after this, largely to burn off our food, before heading to a few craft beer bars. Poland were playing San Marino in a World Cup Qualifier, but the atmosphere was quite muted as the game was something of a formality. The first bar we went to, Piwna Stopa, was quite busy and the lack of masks made me feel a little comfortable. Our table by the door, as large as it was, wasn't in the most secluded of places but the range of beers they had, most again from Poland, was quite impressive. However, after one, we fancied trying another bar so ended up in Zaplecze two blocks away, which we were surprised to discover was pretty empty. They focus on fruit beers from a particular brewery, but they were rather good, and we did enjoy a more casual drinking experience. The bar did fill up a little bit as we sat there, but the lack of atmosphere was a little unnerving. However, we did have to make Skavi rush his pint somewhat as we had heard that Stray was running a Jackbox night and we thought it would be a good opportunity to join in, the three of us, from our hotel room. For that, we were going to get beer from a Zabka, knowing that they all shut at 11pm, but upon getting there with ten minutes to spare, we then discovered that they stop serving alcohol at 10pm. Bummer. With an hour to kill, therefore, we decided to go to another bar, Dom Piwa, where a nice lady served us some drinks. Skavi found a beer from his youth which he fondly remembered, but when he drank it, he remembered it less fondly, while their ability to do any size of flight tray meant we could choose the exact amount of beer we needed for the time we had left. We opted for three samples each.
After our drinks, we wanged our way back to the hotel, with Wolfie's foot fortunately behaving. En route, we saw the LGBT bar again, with the trans and gay flags flying outside, and Skavi told us what the aforementioned Polish in the window said. We got there just after midnight to discover the bar was closed and the only beer we could get was Zwyiec for 18 zloty. Even worse was they were only accepting cash payments and not in euros, so with none of us actually having enough Polish currency, we tried to find a cash machine. The one in the casino next door was going to charge us silly money, but I remembered seeing a Santander down the road, so we all trudged down there. Skavi got some money out to pay for some beers - enough for one each anyway - while I looked at a sign for a family of stuffed animals outside Biedronka, a Polish shopping chain. I was admiring the blue fox when a random chav came up to us and started conversation in Polish. Wolfie was in fight or flight mode as if this was Britain, a punch is often not far away, but in the end the guy was just talking about the plush animals and which ones he already had. He liked the shark the best. After a brief conversation, we bade each other a good evening and drunkenly - for all of us - we headed back to where we were going. In the end, due to Skavi having gotten up early for his seven hour journey to Poznań, he didn't last very long and we were only online for about an hour before giving up and going to bed.
Wolfie will likely see Skavi at the Leeds Meet on Saturday, but I do not know when we will next meet up, so we decided to pay for the rather expensive breakfast to see Skavi before we left the city. Our train was at 09:26 so after about six hours of sleep we awoke, groggily, and headed down to meet the croc. The breakfast was adequate but it was a good opportunity to catch up, after which we said our farewells and parted - us to the railway station and Skavi back to bed. We got to the railway station in plenty of time, but the train was already there. We soon boarded our first class carriage and settled back, enjoying the free complimentary water and chewy raspberry brown brick bar we were given. Alas, Wolfie was feeling a little pukey and I was incredibly jaded, so we couldn't wait to get back to Spandau. Unfortunately, we were over an hour late due to an accident at a level crossing about half an hour west of Poznań. Still, we did make it back eventually and collapsed into bed, having a nap before our afternoon commitment. We certainly enjoyed our trip to Poznań - it's a great historical city and the high LGBT presence is a lesson not to judge an entire country on its rulers or politics. It was also great seeing Skavi again and we have already started to plan our next trip, albeit tentatively. Meanwhile, I do hope to go back to Poland again soon.
Upon arriving in Poznań, a few minutes late, we were shocked by how cold it was. Still, it was only a ten minute walk to the hotel, although navigating your way out of the train station proved tricky. There were a number of exits and construction work going on, but we did find the western entrance I think, which wasn't as grandiose as the main one but did have a charming little clock tower and a McDonald's. Anyway, we soon managed to check into our hotel, where we were asked to sign a COVID form demonstrating we had had the vaccine but where our EU Covid Pass wasn't checked (indeed it wasn't throughout the entirety of the trip), before dropping our bags off and heading straight out. It was about 9pm and we were hungry, spying the tempting 'Stary Browar' or 'Old Brewery' just down the road. Alas, this is a repurposed brewery now containing shops and offices, but on the pavement outside we did see a dog turd that someone had inexplicably stuck a plastic knife in, so there was that.
This southern part of the centre of Poznań has a very strong Leeds vibe, with fountains looking like Mandela Gardens, buildings that look like mills and even one place that looked a little like the car park near the ring road. As we headed further into the historic centre though, the less like the UK and the more like Europe it became. They were digging up large swathes of the city though and one point did look a little like the car park outside of The Old Red Bus Station, but we pressed on and turned up the main street, looking for a craft beer bar. One thing that surprisd me was just how busy it was, with the streets thronging with people. It was a nice sort of lively, non-threatening, and after missing out on one bar due to a lack of seats, we did manage to find a place in the fantastically named Ja-Beer-Wocky. Here, we were served by a really helpful lady and noted that all 15 taps on the board were Polish beers. We ended up having 100ml samples of 12 of them, as well as some pizzas. I had one with onion rings and BBQ sauce on, which was quite nice but got a little sickly after a while. Wolfie, meanwhile, had one with extra tabasco that made him sweat, the first time I had seen that in 11 months.
After the food, we headed over to the main square, Stary Rynek, which was the typical cobbled square with tall colourful houses around it. However, in the middle, next to a goregous green church constructed in 1782, the Communists seem to have stuck two concrete monstrocities from the 1960s right in the middle. They weren't even painted nicely, it was all grey and brutalist glass, adding a real dampner to proceedings. Still, the square was thronging at this late hour, with it being past 1am by this point, so we had a little wander around before heading back to the hotel via another bar - the one that had previously been too busy - for a nightcap.
We had intended to get up and out the next morning, but our usual lethargy took hold and instead of waking up at 9:30am, we got up at 11:30am. After a swift shower, I was disappointed to discover that Wolfie had had a recurrence of his foot injury and he was struggling to walk. We agreed to take it slowly, but by the time we had gotten out, it was only about an hour and a half until Skavi's train. Consequently, we decided to walk around this southern fringe of the centre, walking through a really nice park that looked resplendent in the autumn sunshine. Here, Wolfie was reminded that he needed to buy some new Warhammer releases, so we sat on a bench while he did this. We then went to local convenience store Zabka (who have sadly removed their little froggie logo from their stores) to buy a load of ibuprofen and breakfast, which consisted of two hotdogs and a white chocolate coconut Lion Bar which was every bit as good as you would expect it to be. After this rather adequate breakfast - kolbasas sausages in an orange smingey sauce no less - we walked around one of the main shopping streets and saw a beautiful double towered church whose name escapes me. We also saw one of the city's gay bars, proudly flying both the LGBT and trans flags outside. After all of the negative treatment of LGBT people in the country, it was good to see a place not giving a fuck, with them advertising in the window that they were celebrating 'Two Years of Fighting For Homosexual Propaganda'. It was good to see the place was jumping as we walked past later in the evening too, while the old tramcar which has been converted into a coffee bar outside was a fine historical piece to observe too. Sitting in the shadow of the old brewery, with its imposing brick structure and wrought iron bridges, you did get a real sense of the industrial heritage of the city.
After walking around, we headed back to the hotel so Wolfie could rest his foot. The plan was for me to walk back to the main railway station to pick up Skavi, who had just endured a seven-hour train journey which he said was quite enjoyable due to the cool people he met on the train (who were perfectly fine with him referencing his husband), and then we would check him into his hotel and go out as a group. This is what we did, with me waiting outside the ornate clock tower entrance of the station, dodging the beggars and crazy people until I saw Skavi wearing a fetching woolen jumper. He was dragging a heavy bag with him, partly weighed down by the bottle of Ukrainian brandy he had kindly brought for us, but the trip back to the hotel was straightforward and once he had checked into his room and dropped his luggage there, we met up in our room, picked up Wolfie and went out exploring.
We did a lot of touring in the end, walking over 37,000 steps that day, making it my highest ever step count since getting my Fitbit. We walked largely aimlessly yet continuously for five hours, exploring the majority of the main sites in the city centre, as well as Ostrow Tumski, the island in the Warta River to the north-east of the city upon which the city's main cathedral sits. Beyond this, there was a nice quiet residential area with some interesting restaurants, as well as a dinky little church dedicated to St Margaret. The cathedral itself was rather resplendent inside, particularly the gold room which for five zloty, you could see lit up in its shimmering grandeur. There was a large group of tourists walking around, but soon enough we managed to steal in, only for the light to switch off immediately as we got there. Still, someone may have been watching over us, as the light resumed about a minute later without us putting any money in. What amazed us about the cathedral was they were accepting donations by credit or debit card, making it far more advanced than Berlin, who tend not to accept credit cards in restaurants, such is how backward this place is. All the while, I was delighting in tormenting Skavi about wonderful fecal related fetishes such as Truffling and Harvesting, at which he grimmiced regularly. We also saw a majot archaeological area nearby, upon which the first settlement of the city stood. There was a funky metal sculpture spanning the road here, as well as an archaeological museum which was unfortunately closed.
Before that, we had started our walk from the hotel towards the north-west, taking in the delightful Park Mickiewicza, with its delightful lake and full-bloom roses which looked resplendent in the sun. At the south-eastern corner of this park stands a monument, Pomnik Ofiar Czerwca, a huge two-crossed concrete memorial around which some rope is wrapped. Commemorating the strikes of 1956, the first huge strike action in Communist Poland, there are a number of other years on the monument too, highlighting other major strikes in Poland during this period. It ends in 1980 and 1981, highlighting the Solidarnosc movement in Gdańsk. Across the road from this is the beautiful Imperial Castle, made of golden sandstone. It looks a lot older than it actually is, having been constructed between 1905 and 1910, and now acts as a cultural centre and theatre. Opposite this is another impressive building, the Philharmonic Orchestra of Poznań.
Walking around a city in an ordered yet slightly aimless fashion, it is amazing what you do see. We got to see the city walls at most of the points of the compass, as well as old industrial buildings (perhaps mills or breweries) which have since been reconverted. There were quite a few bars and hostels flying the gay and other LGBT flags, which cheered us all up, but Skavi in particular about the current state of his home country. There was a definite defiance here to the right-wing anti-LGBT fuckery from the government. We also checked out an interesting memorial to a World War II Polish regiment, which was made of rusted metal. Names around the memorial commemorated those who had assumedly died, while from the triangular underground structure, there were a few concrete birds emerging, with more flying away from it to symbolise the doves of peace. This being Poland, we also got to see inside a number of churches, including the austere white-painted Monastery of the Dominican Fathers just down the road.
In terms of religious highlights though, the Basilica of Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Mary Magdalene and St. Stanislaus on the other side of the city was the best. Tucked away amongst the narrow cobbled streets of the old town, this huge pink structure sneaks up on you. Inside, its bedecked in shimmering pink marble and huge plunging columns of the Greek style, with a golden alter and artwork which dominates the room. It was a very peaceful and pleasant place to be, although I was a little on edge as they did seem to be preparing for Mass and I was unsure whether we should have been there. Still, it was great walking around and it enabled me to question Skavi about his religious beliefs, something I haven't done in over ten years of knowing him.
We had intended to go to a milk bar, one of the last vestiges of communist era Poland, but Skavi didn't realise that they closed early so by 7pm it wasn't an option. We had wanted to make the most of the daylight having only really started touring at around 3pm, so we lost track of time. We had intended to go to a bar to rest our feet at around 5pm, an agreement we had made while waiting for Skavi to choose a fridge magnet from a market stall on the impressively grandiose Stary Rynek. We were hassled by chuggers and people wanting to get us into Go-Go Bars here, reminding me about one thing I have NOT missed about the UK, but in the end we got distracted by yet another city sight. There is so much in Poznań that it was difficult to do it justice and indeed we missed the thirteenth century Royal Castle even though it towers over the main square. We were in the gloaming by the time we had gotten to it, so everything was closed, but the fading light only made it more regal for some reason. It was certainly rather majestic sitting atop a little hill overlooking the main centre of the city.
As we had walked up there, we had noticed a pierogarnia which seemed to have some space for us. We therefore did a loop from the castle, back on to the main square, and headed back to the place. Skavi was craving Polish food as this was his last full day in Poland and thus a final opportunity to taste his homeland's cuisine, while we hadn't yet found any decent Polish places in Berlin. The Pierogarnia Stary Młyn was splendid, with some decent craft beer and a huge range of Polish food. Having only had two Zabka hotdogs and a coconut Lion bar all day, we decided to pig out, so I ordered a delicious if large bowl of sour rye soup followed by both boiled and baked pierogi in the Russkie style. I only ordered one of the baked variety though, never having really seen this before, and we were delighted to discover it was very much like an English pasty. The boiled versions were every bit as good as we had had back in Gdansk, not to mention the sadly closed down Polish restaurant in Bradford, Ambrojsia, and we ended up feeling rather bloated afterwards. For a starter, we were also served a delicios rye bread with a sweet potato paste, while a nice touch was the bill being presented in a wooden model of a pierogi, which looked a little like an oyster with a hinged shell.
We walked around the top end of Poznań after this, largely to burn off our food, before heading to a few craft beer bars. Poland were playing San Marino in a World Cup Qualifier, but the atmosphere was quite muted as the game was something of a formality. The first bar we went to, Piwna Stopa, was quite busy and the lack of masks made me feel a little comfortable. Our table by the door, as large as it was, wasn't in the most secluded of places but the range of beers they had, most again from Poland, was quite impressive. However, after one, we fancied trying another bar so ended up in Zaplecze two blocks away, which we were surprised to discover was pretty empty. They focus on fruit beers from a particular brewery, but they were rather good, and we did enjoy a more casual drinking experience. The bar did fill up a little bit as we sat there, but the lack of atmosphere was a little unnerving. However, we did have to make Skavi rush his pint somewhat as we had heard that Stray was running a Jackbox night and we thought it would be a good opportunity to join in, the three of us, from our hotel room. For that, we were going to get beer from a Zabka, knowing that they all shut at 11pm, but upon getting there with ten minutes to spare, we then discovered that they stop serving alcohol at 10pm. Bummer. With an hour to kill, therefore, we decided to go to another bar, Dom Piwa, where a nice lady served us some drinks. Skavi found a beer from his youth which he fondly remembered, but when he drank it, he remembered it less fondly, while their ability to do any size of flight tray meant we could choose the exact amount of beer we needed for the time we had left. We opted for three samples each.
After our drinks, we wanged our way back to the hotel, with Wolfie's foot fortunately behaving. En route, we saw the LGBT bar again, with the trans and gay flags flying outside, and Skavi told us what the aforementioned Polish in the window said. We got there just after midnight to discover the bar was closed and the only beer we could get was Zwyiec for 18 zloty. Even worse was they were only accepting cash payments and not in euros, so with none of us actually having enough Polish currency, we tried to find a cash machine. The one in the casino next door was going to charge us silly money, but I remembered seeing a Santander down the road, so we all trudged down there. Skavi got some money out to pay for some beers - enough for one each anyway - while I looked at a sign for a family of stuffed animals outside Biedronka, a Polish shopping chain. I was admiring the blue fox when a random chav came up to us and started conversation in Polish. Wolfie was in fight or flight mode as if this was Britain, a punch is often not far away, but in the end the guy was just talking about the plush animals and which ones he already had. He liked the shark the best. After a brief conversation, we bade each other a good evening and drunkenly - for all of us - we headed back to where we were going. In the end, due to Skavi having gotten up early for his seven hour journey to Poznań, he didn't last very long and we were only online for about an hour before giving up and going to bed.
Wolfie will likely see Skavi at the Leeds Meet on Saturday, but I do not know when we will next meet up, so we decided to pay for the rather expensive breakfast to see Skavi before we left the city. Our train was at 09:26 so after about six hours of sleep we awoke, groggily, and headed down to meet the croc. The breakfast was adequate but it was a good opportunity to catch up, after which we said our farewells and parted - us to the railway station and Skavi back to bed. We got to the railway station in plenty of time, but the train was already there. We soon boarded our first class carriage and settled back, enjoying the free complimentary water and chewy raspberry brown brick bar we were given. Alas, Wolfie was feeling a little pukey and I was incredibly jaded, so we couldn't wait to get back to Spandau. Unfortunately, we were over an hour late due to an accident at a level crossing about half an hour west of Poznań. Still, we did make it back eventually and collapsed into bed, having a nap before our afternoon commitment. We certainly enjoyed our trip to Poznań - it's a great historical city and the high LGBT presence is a lesson not to judge an entire country on its rulers or politics. It was also great seeing Skavi again and we have already started to plan our next trip, albeit tentatively. Meanwhile, I do hope to go back to Poland again soon.
