The train
stopped with a jolt and one of my companions made an observation between the
style of the train driver and the car drivers we’d previously experienced. We
sat in the cabin of six seats and never thought about why we were stopped for
longer than a few minutes. Stuck in our books and immersed in the world of
another. The present is lived by me but belongs to someone else.
Two men are
walking the track outside the window. An inspector marches past our cabin, in
his oration to anybody who could listen as fast as he walked I only understand
the word ‘Police’. I’m outside the cabin now, straining to reach above the
lowered window for a good view of what’s happening outside, the men on the
track are to my right, to my left three women in their twenties begin walking
in the same direction.
Cabin doors slide open and more people emerge to look outside, they begin talking in Polish and we are told that the train will be here for at least three hours. There has been a suicide on the track.
Cabin doors slide open and more people emerge to look outside, they begin talking in Polish and we are told that the train will be here for at least three hours. There has been a suicide on the track.
People’s
reactions differ. A man in our cabin thinks about his flight leaving at 7pm.
Another wells with tears. More people on the track, myself included. I can see
medics in a huddle, 300 metres behind the train. The inspector marches the tracks
yelling that the line we’re standing on is still active, all but those who
chose to walk to the next station board the train and await further
instruction.
Torun
This is the
Poland I want to see. Warsaw is fine, it’s a city with noise, cars, trams, offices
and history, But Torun is culture, history, crumbling, red and beautiful. The
old town is small, each street has a story, an eclectic mix of old and new. The
astronomer Copernicus is without doubt the biggest attraction. I chuckle as I
read the plaques on the walls of two houses claiming to be his birth place,
probably. Visit the museum, his family home. Ginger bread comes from here, one
story says that a housewife making her daily bread consumed a little too much
tipple and added honey instead of something else, the result was ginger bread,
but don’t expect it to look or taste like what you might know as such.
Continue
walking to find the Spanish Donkey, a bronzed sculpture saddled by a two inch
high metal strip running the length of the spine. This was the punishment for
soldiers who refused to follow orders. Sat on the then wooden donkey with
weights attached to their legs to ensure an excruciating medieval wedgy.
The Vistula
River flows fast and wide. The promenade entices couples to walk its banks and
into the sunset. Rowers power upstream, café boats await your custom overlooked
by the city gates.
It’s believed
that over 1500 Irish football fans intend to set up base in Torun during the
UEFA championship 2012. The weather will be warm, the terraces in full swing
and the Pivo on tap. You’re only a few hours train journey to Irelands match
venues and you won’t suffer the wallet lashings being prepared in the bigger
cities. You won’t be disappointed with your choice of home base.
Warsaw
My second trip to Warsaw, last time with snow, this time without. It’s an interesting city, over 85% was destroyed in the bombings of WWII. The only surviving buildings being those used by the Gestapo. The history of freedom fighting is honoured in the Warsaw Uprising Museum, the best museum in the capital city. Take a virtual flight over the post war city, the destruction will astound you. Filmed by pilots in Allied planes you will recognise the river, that is all.
The ‘Old Town’ is beautiful. Dominated by the Palace and the square that will try to convince you you’re in Brussels, until you experience it. A tour of the Palace is a good choice as you step back into the Kingdom of Poland, represented by the crown on the head of the Eagle, Polands national crest. The coffee shops and restaurants wait patiently for the summer to arrive and with it, the thousands of visitors and locals alike who come to enjoy the pleasures of these surroundings.
My second trip to Warsaw, last time with snow, this time without. It’s an interesting city, over 85% was destroyed in the bombings of WWII. The only surviving buildings being those used by the Gestapo. The history of freedom fighting is honoured in the Warsaw Uprising Museum, the best museum in the capital city. Take a virtual flight over the post war city, the destruction will astound you. Filmed by pilots in Allied planes you will recognise the river, that is all.
The ‘Old Town’ is beautiful. Dominated by the Palace and the square that will try to convince you you’re in Brussels, until you experience it. A tour of the Palace is a good choice as you step back into the Kingdom of Poland, represented by the crown on the head of the Eagle, Polands national crest. The coffee shops and restaurants wait patiently for the summer to arrive and with it, the thousands of visitors and locals alike who come to enjoy the pleasures of these surroundings.
The entire
old town, including the Palace have been rebuilt from the rubble left behind by
Nazi occupation. Constructed between the 50’s to 80’s from paintings and
drawings housed in the libraries of Dresden, you won’t know that you are older
than the current buildiongs until you read about it. The reconstruction is
immense and the attention to detail a triumph. Citizens of the city began
reconstruction of the Palace without the consent of the Communist regime who
aspired to achieve the Socialist Realism which in no way, includes a palace, a
symbol of the kingdom and freedom of old Poland.
I enjoyed my
five days in Poland. I will visit again. Krakow & Gdansk are on the list,
but I will wait until after the football and the peak season so that I can
really enjoy the hidden beauties this country has to offer.
Peace
Alan
