In early September, we took a semi-impromptu trip to a little Polish gem-of-a-town, Poznań. I initially heard about this town from a class mate in one of my german language classes that is from there. We wanted to take the train somewhere that was within a few hours of Berlin, and the prices and journey time were right for Poznań.
{ T H I N G S W E A T E }
On Friday afternoon, we boarded the train and arrived in town just in time for dinner. (I'm sorry to say that I didn't take any pictures of our food. I need to get better about that if I'm going to talk about things that we ate).
Wiejskie Jadło
The inside of this restaurant is so inviting with wood beams everywhere and wooden tables decorated with, what looks like, homemade placemats. However, the evening was so pleasant that we sat outside on the cobble stone patio.
We have been to Poland a few times and I think we forget how budget friendly it is. Our meal here consisted of:
- a basket of bread
- a large portion of herring
- a beer and vodka (we thought it was going to be a glass of beer with a side of vodka...the vodka was inside the beer. Surprisingly delicious)
- a large variety plate of an assortment of polish dumplings
- a local digestif
We tried to go back the next night, but were turned away because we didn't make reservations :-(
The morning/early afternoon of our one full day in town, it rained. We tried to stick it out and explore sans an umbrella, but that didn't last long. As the food is cheap and there aren't too many (if any at all) museums to seek shelter in, we ventured into a cafe for an early lunch.
Weranda Caffe
We found this cafe on a whim (with some help of Google Maps reviews). From the moment we walked in, we felt like we were in a secret garden. There were hundred of paper leaf strands hanging from the ceiling that created a real special ambience.
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| The view from our seat |
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| Cozy little booths |
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| Food will never be bad when brie and pears are involved |
St. Martin's Croissant
As we were looking for things to do/eat/see in Poznań, one of the things that came up was the St. Martin's Croissant. Apparently this pastry's recipe is protected by the EU law. In order to see them, a very specific recipe must be followed, the croissant must weigh a specific amount (between 150-200g), and you must have a special license to sell them. I'm ashamed to say it...but we only ate one. We didn't even take one for the road. It was delicious and if I remember correctly, it was less than $2.
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| 81, yes, 81 layers of pastry perfection |
Poznan Fara
In all of our travels, we've walked through many churches and cathedrals. We especially
appreciated the inside of this one and all of the ornate embellishments and paintings on the ceiling and walls. I thought the outside of it was quite inviting and charming as well.
The Old Town Square/Market
This town square had a similar feeling to that of the one in Kraków. Poznań is a college town, so there were plenty of people out in the evening enjoying the restaurant and bar culture, but we found it a little more enjoyable sans the stag/hen parties that flock to Kraków for the cheap alcohol. There were next to zero tourist shops to be seen which made it feel slightly more "local". Maybe they were all closed, or they just don't exist...either way, it was a very pleasant town to explore for a day.
