Poznan

When we arrived in Poznan yesterday evening I was immediately struck by the size of it, this is a real city! It's quite Manchester-esque, big and busy and modern, lots of trams, lots of people and seemingly very good nightlife.  Outside the old town square it doesn't feel massively Polish, in my opinion cities generally don't.  To me, Poland is little and quaint and pretty and colourful, Poznan is a city like any other, but with a really good feel to it.  But as soon as you step foot in the square, wow!

Old town square

It is huge, but it is also pretty and colourful and quaint, there are a number of statues and fountains making good use of the space available, a big church with a huge spire (as is usual), and lots of little decorations to be found on the many buildings around the edge.  Sean and I walked around the main area before heading back to the hotel for the night, a bargain at 135zl for a decent twin room - less than £30!

This morning I met Sarah and Jen to continue exploring Poznan.  We had a quick walk round and went to a bar mleczny for some food.  These are canteen/restaurants introduced under communism to provide cheap food for workers, and it was cheap!  Although Jen wasn't overly impressed with her hotdog sausage wrapped in a pancake, it was only 50p; Sarah's meat croquette and chips 75p; and my apple filled pancake was the ultimate bargain at 35p.

We went to an art gallery (art really isn't my thing so I wasn't too impressed overall but I gave it a go), had a look round the Cathedral, went for a couple of drinks and then met Sarah's brother who flew in from Paris today.  We were planning on heading straight back to Torun but found that the train was 3 times the price than it was earlier in the day because it was an inter city express; 75zl is a lot of money here, I couldn't believe it.  This was clearly a very good opportunity to head back into town for a(nother) nice meal before journeying home on a cheaper, but much later train.