A Paddys Pondering on Poland

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.

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.

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