We wanted to make the most of our second (and last!) day in Poznan so we awoke early-ish, got changed and soon were making our way for breakfast.

Our walk through the narrow streets of the Old Town was fun, there was a lot of funky street art, cute cobbled streets and random little shops. Around 9.30am we arrived at Jaglana, where we’d made a breakfast reservation.

Jaglana was a cosy little place with a very wholesome food menu, freshly squeezed juices and friendly staff. I had some pretty good Spinach crepes whilst Anna enjoyed pancakes and Laura had a Shakshuka.

Our walk to the next destination took us back through the town square, it was nice to revisit it with blue skies above. Although chilling the day was beautiful and the town hall looked gorgeous!

We’d made an 11am booking at Escape Factory. I always like to do an escape game whilst I’m away and for Laura and Anna it was going to be their first. They’d specifically asked me to book something ‘non-scary’ and so I’d decided on a ‘Mysteries of the Orient’ game. It was really fun and we escaped in about 48 minutes, feeling pretty proud of ourselves!

We had a walk to the Imperial Castle (also called Zamek), constructed in 1910 under German rule. It is now a cultural centre and they had an exhibition on about the Enigma Machine, which we gave a miss because we’re from the home of the codebreakers! We were hoping we could get some tickets to the Frida Kahlo exhibition, also being held there, but unfortunately it was already sold out.

Mickiewicza Park sits just behind the castle, just past a monument commemorating the 1956 protests for freedom. We were originally planning to walk around the park but the bitter air was taking its toll and decided a cafe somewhere would be a wiser choice.

We happened upon the Cafe Da Vinci, which drew our attention with its interesting decor. They had an impressive drinks menu and we were soon settled down for a chat over coffee and red wine.

Something Poznan is famous for is the ‘St Martin’s croissant’, a croissant where the recipe is legally protected by the EU. There are a whole bunch of things that need to be ticked off the list to call it an official croissant, for instance there needs to be 81 layers and you need to wait 30 minutes between each layer so you better have some patience!

There are a number of official places that sell the croissant but for the true experience you can go to the Rogalowe Museum where, for about £3.30, you can watch an interactive show on how to make them. We reserved our tickets online in advance, as there is only one English showing a day, and it was certainly needed as there was quite a queue when we turned up.

The room in which you sit allows around 50 people and a couple of humourous chefs take volunteers from the audience and take them through the process. Unfortunately I was sat in a position whereby I couldn’t see much of what was going on so I spent much of the time looking outside the window, which offers a wonderful view of the town hall.

On my way out I did buy a croissant, from the stall right outside, and it was absolutely delicious! I didn’t think I’d like them as many of the ingredients I don’t like but after they offered a tasting at the museum my mind was changed. The croissant is stuffed with poppy seed, raisins, orange peel and nuts, which makes it a pretty hearty croissant.

 

As if I needed any more food after that we were soon heading to the Weranda Caffe for a snack and a drink. The cafe is decorated quite wonderfully and changes seasonally, on our visit autumnal leaves hung from the ceiling. We got some pretty amazing bread sticks and a chocolate cake. Using the cafe’s Wifi I contacted Adam and his response was ‘You’re eating again?!’ YES!

The ideal way to walk off our snacks was a walk over to Cathedral Island, the location of Poznan Cathedral. By now the sun had set and the cathedral was quite eerie.

Cathedral Island was one of the main political centres in the early Polish state and the cathedral is one of the oldest churches in Poland, dating back from the 10th century. We were able to go inside and although quite typical in style it had some beautiful painted ceilings and lots of golden accents.

Our time in Poznan was soon to be up and so we picked up our bags from the hotel and headed back towards the station to catch our bus. On the way however we stopped at Tutti Santi for dinner (yes more food!). Tutti Santi is a pizzeria and as we weren’t starving we took advantage of their option to buy by the slice instead of getting a whole pizza.

The pizza was delicious, the service friendly and we were soon left satisfied and a little sad that our time in Poland had come to an end.

We caught the route 59 back to the airport, we had an interesting experience when a Polish man, started trying to chat me up, calling me a dream, beautiful and all sorts. It all took a turn for the worse when he asked me where I was from. He started shouting at me suddenly, asking why England let in the Muslims and declaring himself a Christian warrior who was going to cause an Islamic Holocaust.

I started getting nervous because you know, strange men shouting at you about holocausts, tends to do that to a girl but a Polish women stepped in, telling him to leave and despite the abuse he gave her she didn’t stop until he was off the bus. I am eternally grateful to that woman!

At the airport we picked up the standard souvenirs (sausage and vodka) and were soon on the plane, marvelling at all the things we’d managed to cram into our one weekend in Poland. We’re already planning a return journey and maybe we’ll let the boys join us this time!

Steps walked: 21,912