Day 3: A Day in Olsztyn

[Monday, June 10]

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When we planned our trip, we decided that the first few days would be relaxing, not too demanding. Same with the last few. We have an 11 day tour booked for the middle of the trip, and we figured that would be non-stop guided tour mode. Our only goals were to enjoy Olsztyn and take an easy excursion or two in the Masurian Lakes region.

Olsztyn, in northeastern Poland, is the capital of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship (a voivodeship is kind of like a US state). Warmia-Masuria is home to two popular tourist attractions: Hitler's Wolfsschanze, or Wolf's Lair (Wilczy Szaniec in Polish), a fortified area where Hitler spent most of the war after invading Russia, and the Masurian Lakes, an area of hundreds of lakes, similar to much of northern Minnesota, used by vacationers. Olsztyn is a medium-sized city of about 200,000. On a hill in the center of town is the Stare Miasto (old city), an area full of churches, museums, shops, and restaurants. Our hotel, Hotel Pod Zamkiem, is at the foot of that hill, a short walk from the Stare Miasto.

The hotel is a quaint, early 20th century building originally built by the Germans who controlled the area. (Warmia-Masuria was, during the time that Poland didn't exist, part of German Prussia.) It's not up to the modern standards of big city hotels, more like a large B&B, but is homey and the staff is very nice and helpful. It's hard to beat the price: 4 nights with a very good breakfast for less than $300. And the location is great. Many of the bigger hotels are farther from the Stare Miasto. And right across the street from the hotel is a local restaurant and brewery with a pleasant terrace beside the stream that flows through town.

The hotel again brought up the language barrier and the ease of getting around in Poland. I knew that at our hotel in Warsaw, most of the staff would be pretty fluent in English. In the provincial city of Olsztyn, things would be a bit different. At Hotel Pod Zamkiem, one or two of the staff knew enough English to get by. It wasn't enough for easy phone conversation when we had set up the reservation (I cemented the details by email using Google translate). But in person, with hand gestures and a mix of Polish and English, it was good enough. But most of the employees didn't have very good English. Once, the girl at the desk tried to get me to type what I wanted to say into her translator app, but it seemed she thought I was Russian (she definitely wasn't), since the interface was in Cyrillic! At other times on our trip, people were unable to distinguish if we were American or British by our accents, an ability native speakers take for granted. But on the whole, we were never in trouble, especially with a translator app handy. Later, in Warsaw, I was able to explain to a Polish woman who knew very little English how to operate the machines at a laundromat, and I didn't use the app!

The Hotel Pod Zamkiem

The dining room where we had breakfast

The breakfast spread had a nice variety

The Poles like their aspic. Several cold cuts were jellied.

We spent our first day exploring the town a bit. As it was Monday, most museums were closed. We'd come back to a couple of those on Wednesday. Instead, we tended to a few necessities like getting our bearings, visiting the nearby tourist bureau to get some information about traveling to the Masurian lakes, and getting some Polish cash at the ATM. (Note: In general in Poland and many other countries, don't use machines that say "ATM": they charge high fees. We learned this thankfully without finding out the hard way. In Poland use a "Bankomat" or a bank's own machine.) It feels weird going up to a foreign money machine to try to order up 1,000 of the local currency for pocket money. But there was an English language option, which lessened the apprehension. And 1,000 złoty isn't a huge bankroll. With a 4:1 exchange rate, that's about $250, enough to get us around for a few days.

It's late spring in Poland, just as in Pennsylvania. That means variable weather conditions, but mostly quite pleasant. Northern Poland is at about the same latitude as Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, where we spent a lot of time a couple of years ago. But the climate in Poland is a lot less harsh, so there is a much bigger variety of trees, flowers, and crops that grow in temperate climates. Wherever we went in town there was the sweet smell of the flowers from the linden trees that were everywhere. Some of the lindens are huge, as big as an elm, and linden wood was a favorite of the German wood carvers who decorated many of the churches in the area. We also noted elderberry bushes in bloom, just as were the ones at my house when we left. There is a difference between North American and European elderberries. Both have the same uses (wine, confections, natural medicine), but North American elderflowers are much sweeter smelling. European flowers are less sweet and have a bitter 'bite' to the odor.

A tall linden tree.

European elderberry bush.

One thing we had to get used to was the time difference. At Olsztyn's latitude, the day is nearly two hours longer than in Pennsylvania in June. And since Poland is on the far western edge of the central European time zone, this favors an earlier morning. So while the sun sets only about 20 minutes later that in Pennsylvania at this time of year, it rises about an hour and a half earlier, at just after 4 AM. This means the birds were starting their morning song at around 3:30!

The Stare Miasto (old town) is on a hill, since the town needed to be defended in Medieval times. The Łyna River, more of a narrow stream, meanders through the lower parts of town. The Łyna is the setting for many restaurants and cafes, and the town brewery. Just as with the Axemann Brewery in Bellefonte PA, a streamside setting is conducive to conversation since the sound of the water separates you acoustically from neighboring tables.

Streamside restaurant on the Łyna River

The city is bordered by a couple of small lakes with parkland walkways. Vicky and I took a morning stroll about a half-mile to one of the lakes. We first stopped by a fountain near the river for a photo-op, then continued to the lake. People were out on morning walks and bike rides. We admired the lake and watched a family of swans, with the parents keeping the cygnets in strict formation.

Fountain Photo-Op

Small lake just outside of town

Family of swans

It was lunch time when we got back to town. Strolling around the Stare Miasto, we found a hole-in-the-wall bistro (the establishment's name, Bar Dziupla, mean's something like 'hole bar') that served Polish home cooking. Vicky had the daily special, meatballs in a mushroom sauce with potatoes and pickled hot peppers, and a bowl of chicken noodle soup. She said it cured the upset stomach she had from travel jitters. I had some mushroom pierogi. Delicious!

Menu outside the Bar Dziupla

Delicious lunch special

A plate of pierogi.

After lunch, we continued walking around the old town. We stopped by a a statue of the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, who developed the heliocentric model of the solar system. Copernicus performed administrative duties in Olsztyn while also continuing his astronomical studies. The statue is popular among tourists and school children and it is considered good luck to rub Copernicus's nose. Being near the end of the school year, there were many groups of children being led around the town by their chaperons.

Copernicus knew a thing or two about math and astronomy.

We also stopped in at the minor basilica of St. James the Apostle. One of the largest churches in town, it is currently undergoing renovation. Inside, we saw interesting ceiling design, a statue of Christ, Man of Sorrows, and a Black Madonna like the famous one in Częstachowa, which we'll see later in our trip.

Ceiling over a side aisle in the Cathedral of St. James the Apostle

Ceiling over the nave.

Christ, Man of Sorrows

Black Madonna

In the evening, we headed over to the Browar Warmia, a riverside brewery and restaurant in a very pleasant setting. They offered a mix of Polish and international foods. Vicky had a paprika chicken dish and I had one of the favorite pub foods of Poland, golonka (pork knuckle). I saw it at pretty much every pub we went to. Mine was served with fries and a kapusta dish (cabbage stewed with carrots, herbs, and other vegetables). Both were delicious!