Szczecin in

The first stop in Poland was Szczecin, a town in the north west.

My first view of scenic Szczecin

This was my first trip to Poland and while I had been told what I could expect I was still taken a little by surprise.

There's a lot of strange juxtaposition; historical sites next to industrial buildings, a group of restaurants surrounded by abandoned buildings falling in on themselves. In Copenhagen I had experienced what I called 'European City Fatigue,' checking the boxes of what to see; the palace, the cathedral, the old town, etc.

Outside the old barracks

Szczecin had all that... kind of. It was fun to walk around and have a look. Oh, and I forgot my camera, so all my photos were taken with my phone. At the hotel they gave me a tourist map which had all sorts of helpful descriptions of things I could see around town. I could just google the items and look them up, but I think it's more fun to use the Polish version.

The monument of Duke Boguslaw and Anna Jagiellonka

The map also provided me with two recommended paths; the City Tourist Trail and the 'Zloty Szlak' or Golden Route. I took the tourist trail because, really, the golden route was just straight up the main street.

The mast from the steamer s/s Kapitan Maciejewicz from 1929

The weather was fantastic, bright skies and warm without being hot. I had heard so much about the terrible Polish weather I was a little surprised. Though the people at the hotel told me it is usually much hotter, 30 degrees or more. I'm going to miss that.

The Royal Gate

It was also not as flat as I was expecting. Obviously it's no Norway, there are no towering mountains. The highest points are all man made. But it wasn't as flat as Sweden, either.

The Fountain with the Eagle Sculpture with the Architectural Basilica under Invocation of St. James

I wandered the old town in the evening, looking for dinner. The place I chose was based on the smell of the meals being eaten out on the front porch.  I got a goulash and a beer. The goulash was incredible, a huge serving of stew on an enormous potato cake.

$12

Way to go, Poland.