Sunday in Poznan
Trip Start
Aug 31, 2008
1
25
37
Trip End
Oct 05, 2008
Poznan,
Poland
Sunday, September 21, 2008
When I pulled the curtains apart this morning I saw blue sky - great! As we were leaving the room, David suggested leaving umbrellas. By the time we were going out after breakfast, the clouds were moving in & I decided I needed to take my umbrella after all - even if only to ensure that it didn't rain.
And yes it did eventually rain - it poured actually - and neither Chris nor David had umbrellas, so we came back to the hotel for umbrellas & Chris drove us to the last couple of places.
Poznan
But that is getting ahead of ourselves. This morning we arranged to meet Chris at breakfast, but one of his strengths is that he talks to everyone. He learns a lot that way but it can be frustrating when we are looking at blue sky outside & are itching to get out there. So this morning we said to Chris that we would see him at 9.55 in front of the Town Hall.
We walked ahead & wandered around the Old Town Square (Stary Rynek) again, taking photos. We detoured to explore a couple of nearby sights as well.
By 9.55 we were sitting in front of the Town Hall when Chris joined us. The old Town Hall was originally 14th century, but added to over the years. Inside is the Historical Museum of Poznan - which was our planned destination. Our guidebook said that it was interesting despite the lack of English - but we had Chris!
He chatted to everybody, however this resulted in the guides from the different rooms bringing him sheets of information - in Polish - about the different rooms, and he translated them for us. Only once we were feeling time pressured about something did we feel the need to interrupt
Historical Museum of Poznan
.A consequence of him getting friendly with all the various ladies on duty in each of the rooms was that we were able to get "behind the scenes" sometimes. There was actually a world globe from 1678 that was fenced off from visitors. We wondered if Australia would appear on the globe & Chris spoke to the guard & next thing we were being flagged to go behind the barrier - "just don't touch the globe" - to see a fairly accurate coastline of Australia on the north, west and south coast.
Chris asked some question on our behalf & was told that they didn't know, but the historian would. However he wouldn't be arriving in for an hour. Sure enough an hour later he went off to check where was the historian & next thing we were going into the historian's office & Chris was translating and interpreting questions & answers.
The historian couldn't answer my questions, however he produced a few books about 19th century Jews of Poznan province, with directions of where we might be able to buy them, and also information about a website which supposedly has scanned records likely to be of interest to us - I only have a vague idea of what the pages might be, but I wouldn't have known to look otherwise. He also told us about some other records in the Poznan archives that we should consult.
Amongst the history museum rooms there was a gorgeous 16th century Renaissance Hall - and rooms with history up to WW2. There were some fascinating posters (in German & Polish - Chris translated them for us) put up during the Nazi years, saying what Poles could or could not do in those years
Model of Great Synagogue
. There were also some postcards of Poznan with swastikas.The Poznan Town Hall Clock has 2 mechanical goats that come out at noon & "butt horns" 12 times. This led to goats being a major symbol of Poznan. We ensured that we were outside the Town Hall in time to join the crowds photographing the "action". Afterwards today there was a theatre group performing a play for children on the steps of the Town Hall & using the upstairs balcony.
We left the crowds at this point & went to try to hunt up the books recommended by the historian. No luck there but, with Chris' help, a helpful bookstore attendant helped me find Polish literature in translation. I've hunted for this in various countries & now have a novel that is supposedly both "an existential crime novel and classic piece of Polish literature". Who knows yet whether the plot will be of interest.
Next stop was lunch. I finally tried the Polish sour soup (zurek) - that is a traditional Polish staple. Our guide book describes it thus "Rye is a staple ingredient of another favourite Polish dish, zurek. This traditional soup is made with beef or chicken stock, bacon, onion, mushrooms & sour cream, and is given a distinctive, tart flavour through the addition of kwas (a mixture of rye flour & water that has been left to ferment for several days)
Poznan in WW2
. It's often accompanied by hard-boiled egg or kielbasa (Polish sausage) and served inside a hollowed-out loaf of bread."Sound enticing or not? This is what David had for dinner last night & it is what I had today - possibly the first time I have EVER ordered soup. Mine was in a bowl rather than a loaf of bread, but was good tasting & hot (& fairly cheap).
After lunch next stop was at the National Museum - a very large art gallery, of Polish & European art. This was somewhere Chris was keen to visit, having heard good things about it. It really was wonderful. Chris had raved about some Polish artists who we'd never heard of before. One was Jacek Malczewski. He took us first to see Malczewski's work & I loved it.
Late 19th century I think, but a mixture of traditional symbols executed in a more modern way. One was a lovely madonna & child that was the model for a church stained glass window. Several times later I found a painting that really touched me - and often it was by the same guy.
One painting I particularly loved was called something like "Washing the feet". There was a weary, perhaps injured soldier, lying back & looking exhausted, while a beautiful girl sat and washed his feet. There was a bowl of water & flowers & ... It was so obviously reminiscent of Mary Magdalene washing the feet of Jesus, but this young man was a soldier, perhaps deported, and the setting was Siberia.
The museum was lovely & spacious & well-lit
Town Hall goats at noon
. There was a section of medieval art (which didn't do a lot for me) and I skipped the post-1968 section, but some of the 1930-1968 paintings were fascinating - both in what they did and what they did not show.When we came out of the gallery, it was raining. Chris had bought a couple of books (about Malczewski) to send to an American friend who is hugely keen about his works. They were heavy, David & Chris did not have umbrellas, so we opted to walk back to the hotel, dump all unnecessary luggage & go out again in Chris' car.
Next stop was the Cathedral - on a small island that was where the city of Poznan was originally founded. The oldest parts of the cathedral are 10th century. Think on that - amazing history. The cathedral also holds the burial places of the first few kings of Poland. We wandered around & looked at main church as well as some chapels around the side.
Next we drove to what had been the Great Synagogue during WW2, but in 1942 the Nazis turned it into a swimming pool - that is still its function today. Chris managed to talk his way inside so we went up to the balcony & looked down on the pool. No traces remain of the frescoes or decorations & the windows are "squared off" rather than traditional style, but it was still an interesting thing to see. Although I wonder what the guy swimming laps in the pool thought when I inadvertently forgot to turn off the flash & so it appeared I was taking a photo of him swimming in the pool.
Next we tried to drive up to the Citadel
Sculpture at National Museum at Poznan
. We got close a few times, but in the end it appeared only pedestrians & cyclists are allowed up to the top - where now there stands a cemetery for Allied airmen (shot down over Poland during WW2) & Red Army soldiers. We abandoned the attempt to get there in the end. It was raining too hard to want to get out of the car.Instead we came back to the hotel. We sat in the breakfast room & had coffee & tea with Chris, talking about plans for tomorrow - when we get down to some "serious genealogy".
Chris had brought a lot of books in his car & some were especially as source material maybe of interest to me. One book he had (in Polish) was the history of various Jewish communities & synagogues in Poland. David left us (to go & do some internet work) as Chris translated information about the Jews of Poznan - I took brief notes - and then about Leszno - where we go tomorrow. That is where Dad's ancestors came from to England. I not only wrote down Chris' translation, but also various interpretations & explanations he gave. Even had I seen a copy of the book in English I could not have learned as much by reading the book on my own.
I came upstairs eventually to David quite excited - and was surprised to learn that we'd been "at it" for around 2 hours.
David & I then walked off to a nearby pedestrian area to get some dinner. Many of the shops & cafes were closing as we got there (after 8) so we ended up in an Italian place that specialised in pizzas. David had a pizza, I had a very nice seafood salad.
And then we came back to our room. Tomorrow we want to make an early start - 7.30 at breakfast, having already checked out of our rooms. The Poznan archives open at 8, and then after that we drive to Leszno, where we will visit a local Jewish historian expert. Keep your fingers crossed for me tomorrow.
From Kerry & David in Poznan
