Wednesday, August 13
The hotel included a typical European-style buffet breakfast, with a small selection of hot items (usually eggs, potatoes, and sausage) and things like cheese, cold cuts, veggie salads, cucumbers, sliced melon, breads, etc. Not going to find pancakes or Cap’n Crunch here.
The first day would be a walking tour of Poznan. We visited the Basilica of Our Lady, a hundred meters from our hotel and caught part of an organ concert. It’s a long story, but the city’s mascots are a pair of battling goats. There is a statue and an animated performance in the town hall’s tower twice a day.
We stopped for a snack – a local specialty consisting of a sweet croissant covered in nuts and frosting.
The big central plaza is amazing. It features a huge stone courtyard with the towers of the town hall dominating, full of people eating at sidewalk restaurants and just milling about. One block has buildings that are all painted different colors. Very cool. I found it interesting that most of the restuarants featured things like pizza, pasta, and pork dishes. You had to look hard to fund traditional items like sausage or pierogi, but eventually we did. I tried several different Polish beers, mostly pilsners, and all were fine.
