We had a busy and exciting week. Monday kicked off with Doreen visiting Logan’s school to help the class craft paper turkeys for Thanksgiving. As Logan is the only American in the class, Thanksgiving is a bit of a foreign concept.

On Thursday, Chad took off work and we had a nice Thanksgiving meal. It felt a bit different than previous years but we managed to make European ingredients and a European oven work in our favour even if our roasting pan was too big to fit.

On Friday we woke up early and boarded a train for Poznań, Poland. *Stołeczne Miasto Poznań* [The Capital City of Poznań], is one of the oldest and largest cities in Poland and hosts some of the most beautiful Baroque & Renaissance-style architecture. The earliest known mention of the city was found in the *Thietmar of Merseburg*, a famous chronicle from the 11th century that kept records of German kings for the Roman Catholic Church but the history of the region goes much deeper. For us, Poznań is a short 2 hour train ride away and is a rising tourist destination that we’ve been wanting to see before the crowds get too big.

Day 1

The train ride to Poland was fun and fast - we arrived in Poznań in just over two hours. We departed and took a cab to our hotel which oddly had a very American style design and decor.

From there we walked around town and saw the old city centre before having a nice lunch at a wonderful cafe buried in a little cove off the main square.

As we typically do when we’re in a new city, we just walked around and got the lay of the land on our first day in preparation for some solid sightseeing on Day 2. However, this time our walking also included going to the newly opened Christmas Market. Poznań is pretty far East in the CET timezone and as such the sun goes down pretty early - before the 4pm church bells ring the sun had set. Logan enjoyed his first Christmas Market ridding all the rides, getting the carnival prizes and convincing Chad to ride the massive ferris wheel.

When we had our fill of the market we headed to a magnificent dinner at a locally known restaurant. Poznań, as it turns out, is an outstanding food town. Every little cafe or restaurant is serving beautiful artisan dishes with local ingredients made by award winning chefs.

Day 2

On Saturday we were up fairly early and on the hunt for a breakfast place. With the sun going down by 4pm we didn’t want to burn any daylight. We managed to find another great cafe who served awesome coffee and a perfect delicious meal to start our full day.

Our first stop was the Baroque era Parish Church of St. Stanislaus [AKA: Fara Church or Poznań Collegiate Church]. This beautiful complex was built between 1651-1705 but wasn’t fully completed until 1750. Built by Jesuits, the church serves as a prominent collegiate institution as well as a foundational element and the main temple of St. Mary Magdalene’s Parish. The interior is stunning and very well kept - as you would expect from the Jesuit order. Having been educated but the Jesuits, Chad especially fund the entire complex intriguing.

Our next stop on the tour was one of two castles - The Royal Castle of Poznań. This castle was started by Przemysł I in 1249 on a hill later called Góra Zamkowa. Przemysł is largely credited for reuniting large parts of the Poland during the Time of Fragmentation (1138-1314) - his son Przemysł II would became King of Poland. In 1337 the castle was the largest in the Polish Kingdom. In 1536 it fell to the great Poznań fire and was rebuilt in the Renaissance style. The castle fell to the Swedish invasion of 1648 and was sacked in 1704 by the Russians and Saxons during the Great Northern War. During the Poznań Citadel battle of WWII the castle sat directly in the line of fire and was eventually destroyed. After the war it was rebuilt again and today stands as a museum and lookout tower over old town. Aside from the fog in the air, the views were beautiful.

In what can only be an effort to confuse tourists, there are two castles in Poznań. The second, the Imperial Castle [AKA: Zamek], was a short walk out of old town. This palace was built for Kaiser William II during the German occupation in 1910 and is the youngest castle in Europe. After the Great Polish Uprising of 1918 the residence fell under the rule of the Second Polish Republic. Today the castle is part music hall, part museum, and hosts dignitaries from time to time. It was interesting to get a new perspective on William II. In Berlin he’s widely credited for his visionary construction and popularity. Understandably in Poland he wasn’t seen in that light.

Our tour continued and took us across the river to the Poznań Cathedral; also known as Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul in Poznań. Originally built in the 10th century on what is now called Cathedral Island, this church was a center piece in early Polish politics. In the 10th century the island was surrounded by a Gord [a Slavic fortified wooden settlement] and was called Ostrów Tumski. The church holds a special place in Polish history because the man considered the creator of the Polish state, Mieszko I, was baptized here in 966. The original church was destroyed in 1034 during the raid of the Bohemian duke Bretislav I. It was rebuilt in the Romanesque style and then again in the Gothic style in the 15th century. In 1622 and again in 1772 it burned to the ground and needed a complete renovation both times resulting in Baroque and Neo-Classical styles. After another fire during the liberation of Poznań from the Germans in 1945, the church was returned to a mix of Gothic and Medieval styles. Today all of styles (including the original from 968) can be seen in various forms from top to bottom. It was extraordinary to see a church with so much history go through so many transitions. It was as if the church itself was a testament to the Polish people and their resolve to rebuild and continue forward.

We made it back to the hotel just before the sun sat at 3:59 for a brief break before heading back out to the Christmas Market for more fun and rides.

Dinner was also another amazing example of the food culture in Poznań. We enjoyed some local craft beer which paired perfectly with the beef tartar and roasted duck.

Day 3

Once again we elected for breakfast over lunch and found another wonderful cafe tucked away alongside the Fara Church. As Logan scarfed down his French toast he insisted that we make the same dish at home. Trying to explain to a 4 year old that it was delicious because the French chef had better training than either of his parents didn’t register.

We spent much of the morning walking around and taking in the city. Old Town is so beautiful that it’s easy to get lost in the details on the facades and in the carving work of city hall. Doreen recounted a story she read about the history of the building where city hall resides. The building was originally completed in 1300 during the reign of Wenceslaus II of Bohemia (as in the same king from the Christmas song). As legend would have it, some years later during a visit from the Voivode [Slavic for military leader] the local chef burned the deer he was preparing for dinner. He panicked and stole two goats from a nearby stable. When he lost control of the goats, they ran to the top of the tower and began butting heads. This attracted the attention of the towns people which also brought notice to an emerging fire. Although the chef was in trouble for the theft of the goats and for burning the deer, he was pardoned by the Voivode and it was ordered that the clock which was under renovation at the time have the likeness of two goats butting heads built into it. At noon every day since two goats emerge with the ringing of the bells to butt heads as a reminder of the legend.

With only about an hour to go before we had to head to the train station we needed a way to spend our remaining złoty [Polish currency]. Luckily Logan had the perfect suggestion - rides at the Christmas Market. We managed to burn through our remaining 75 złoty [about $20] and caught a cab to the train station to head back to Berlin.

Poznań is an interesting place. Like many areas in Eastern Europe it’s full of a ton of history. Some of it’s lighthearted but mostly it’s a deep and dark past. Life has been and continues to be harder here than in most the western world. The people are tougher and there is a brassiness to the culture but after you scratch that surface there is a rich and interesting experience to be had. For us it was the perfect weekend getaway and will serve as a gateway to exploring the country in more detail in 2019.

Until Next Time,

The McNeills