Perusing Poland

Having spent about 5 days in Poland in 3 different cities, here are some impressions.

• Loved Torun with its 500 year old red brick buildings, castle ruins, fortified walls, attractive city square, lovely location on a river and nice pastries. Could have easily stayed longer there.

Tower and old Roman wall



• Wroclaw did not inspire me at all. Yes it had an attractive old square, but go have a block and there were near-derelict buildings with lots of graffiti. Graffiti is common everywhere in Poland but more so here. It almost seems as though it is like a tourist park. Cynical? Maybe!

Wroclaw's main square



• Warsaw is a cosmopolitan big city which is full of churches, statues and attractive parks and gardens full or roses, marigolds, geraniums and lots of other colourful flowers. Also lots of restaurants with nice food where I've had from gourmet Asian to a Polish salad and Borsch, which was quite tasty. Having spend 2 full days here, I think that is enough. Saw the Marie Curie Museum today which was interesting.




• Today meet up with one of the Rabat students who is Polish so got some local input.



• Travelling on trains and buses, Poland looks to have some wonderful mountain scenery - ideal for hiking and camping. Maybe another time.



• I'm surprised how many people speak English, everyone in restaurants and cafes but not the women who sell the train tickets! I have to write down what I want but hasn't been a problem so far. Also have seen quite a few English language schools, especially in Torun, so seems to be a booming industry as it is in Morocco.
  
  I leave Warsaw tomorrow, but not Poland, when I head to Zakopane and the mountains near the Slovakia border.