Greetings all,

Now the spring is really in full swing and the temperatures are regularly soaring into the late 20′s, it’s time for the good people of Poz slip the shorts and shades on and get all active in the sunshine. And what better place to do that than Park Cytadela…

I’ve mentioned the Cytadela on here before, in the context of the 1st November’s All Souls’ Day and it’s important miltary past. For history buffs there’s a whole world of fascinating stuff to lose yourself in there – bunkers, underground tunnels, great escapers, tanks, guns, planes and the like.

Miltaria

Now I understand that reliving the world of war may not be your bag but fear not, Cytadela is also the best place in the city to go and soak up some rays. It’s also where active people of all shapes and sizes go to practise their chosen sports and hobbies…

Park life

Most importantly, Cytadela is the home of Poznań Cricket Club That’s right, there’s a cricket club in Poznań. Ok, so not in the traditional sense of a club, with members, a committee, a pavilion etc actually just a group of expats, myself included, with some cricket gear who’ve been taking advantage of the flat, wide open spaces and getting their cricket fix in for well over a decade.

Poznań Cricket Club

All shapes and sizes

One of the joys of playing at the Cytadela is seeing the bemused looks of the locals as they watch us pratting around with bat, ball and stumps. To be fair though, cricket is just one of many sports and activities that go on there.

Skateboarders

Just yesterday there was a group of tournament frisby players doing some training. Now you may think that a frisby is just for chucking around on a beach with the kids, but they’ve actually made a sport out of it. There were also some medical students running off their barbecue picnic with a few American football moves.

Picnic at The Bell End

Over the years I’ve seen people knocking golf balls around, reenacting medieval sword fights, practising tai-chi and capoeira, along with the ever-present cyclists, joggers, skateboarders and rollerbladers. On any given weekend day you’ll see a real mixed bag of activities going on. And if our cricket club is anything to go by, nobody minds a curious stranger introducing themselves and getting involved.

So if you’re at a loose end on a sunny weekend afternoon, get yourself down to Cytadela and enjoy some park life!

Greetings all!

It’s been a while since I’ve been on here due to my annual trip back to Manchester to fill up on curries, fry-ups and roasts But fear not, I’m now back in the land of Poz to give you the lowdown on what’s hot and what’s not…

It is, of course, my remit to be positive about things going on in this city  and usually that’s very easy to do. I’ve been particularly impressed with the standard of restaurants in the last year or so and Poznań dining offers much more quality and variety than it used to.

So when I popped into Credo on Ul Wrocławska  the other day, I was expecting good things. I’d been curious about the place for a while, with its prime streetside location and seemingly French-inspired menu, Credo certainly looks as though it’s got potential.

Credo

Having chosen one of the outside tables, the first thing I noticed was  ’New Menu’ daubed on the window in the same style that you sometimes see ‘Stock Liquidation’. Also, the window itself looked, to be frank, a bit grubby. But never mind, it was time to look at that menu.

Streetside

I’d heard that the old menu comprised frenchy delights such as moules marinieres and the new one was similarly adventurous comprising….wait for it….pizza, pasta and Polish staples According to their fancy website, the moules are still available, along with a huge list of other goodies, but the menu I was handed in reality was, let’s say, a downsized version.

I ordered pasta with salmon in a creamy sauce, thinking you can’t go far wrong with that. And when it came it wasn’t that far wrong, well it was certainly edible. The chef had overdone it with the cream so it was a bit stodgy and as in the title I was thinking, ‘Could do better’.

Edible

The bill, though not in the rip-off category, was hefty enough , and I handed over a note hoping for a quick getaway only for the waitress to reply with the legend “Drobne?”. I was paying a 30 złoty bill with a 50 złoty note and the establishment didn’t have enough change (‘drobne’ in Polish) to fulfil the transaction!

Now if this had happened in the UK I would’ve been truly flabbergasted, but those of us who’ve been living in Poland for a while know that this is a perennial problem. From taxis to corner shops, restaurants to pubs, nobody ever seems to have any bloody change! The concept of the float has clearly yet to arrive on these shores.

The worst thing about the ‘drobne’ issue is that when you pull out your note, the taxi driver, barmaid or whoever will look at you like you’ve broken into their house on Christmas morning and stolen the kids’ presents. Never an ‘Oh we’re terribly sorry sir, we seem to have run out of change’, more a look to say ‘What the f**k are you doing trying to pay with that?!’

Coming back to the point, I waited for what seemed like an age for the waitress to go and get some change from a shop over the road, and when the deal was done, vowed not to go back to Credo any time soon.

Unless they seriously up their game, I can see that ‘Stock Liquidation’ sign appearing very soon!

Bye for now…

Greetings all,

Yes, it’s that time of the month again. The weekend just gone was a cracker in Poznan, some great weather and loads of people out and about enjoying the half-price action in the old town. So what better time to showcase Poznan’s most famous and finest attraction – The Stary Rynek

Check out the video here: http://youtu.be/KuheE_QBpKM or click on the thumbnail below…

Enjoy the long weekend!

Greetings all,

Just a quick post to tell you about some of the fun that’s being planned in the old town this weekend. I’ve mentioned Half-Price Poznań a couple of times on here recently, bear in mind that it’s taking place this coming weekend.

As an addition to the great value on offer, a Poznań version of the increasingly popular Foursquare®  game has been organised. Now if you’ve never played Foursquare before, the basic rub is that you gain points by visiting or ‘checking in’ at certain locations and as old Brucey says: What do points make? That’s right, prizes!

So to play ‘Check-in Poznań‘ you’re going to need a smartphone, download the Foursquare® app and get the old GPS CIA tracking device switched on. And now with the right tools in hand, get out and enjoy as much half-price value as possible, making sure you check in at each location. You’ll not only be able to see your points tally on your phone, it’ll also be up on a big screen in the old town square.

As a twist to the game you can also gain ‘swarm badges’ if you manage to check in at a location simultaneously with at least 49 other people. If you manage to do this at 8pm on Saturday you’ll get a special souvenir from Poznań City. For those Billy no mates out there who need to hook up with some swarming ‘friends’, take a look here: http://bit.ly/SwarmNaStarymRynku

So have fun this weekend and why not give Foursquare® and ‘Check-in Poznań‘ a try, sounds like a right laugh

Bye for now…

Greetings all,

In my last post I invited you to Meskal to catch the latest Dead Members gig on- shock horror – a Sunday night! Now normally on the Sabbath the good little people are tucked up in their beds nice and early, ensuring that they’re all fresh and fit to face the trials and tribulations of the coming week. And usually I am too, unless the mighty Reds have played an important televised match in the afternoon that is

But last weekend myself and a good few others made an exception, and enjoyed a right cheeky Sunday night out. We were attracted, of course, by the gig but also by the location.

Meskal has long been a favourite haunt, though I hadn’t been there for yonks before last week. A few years ago the pub’s then owners spawned its bigger, brasher offspring – Meskalina – which is now the place to go for a bit of weekend partying – and it has kind of overshadowed the original.

But I was reminded on Sunday what a cool little pub it still is. A solid music policy, friendly staff and a relaxed atmosphere make it the perfect spot if you’re meeting a group of friends you actually intend to talk to, rather than just prop up the bar with. It’s also great for a small gig as it only takes 30 or 40 punters to get  the place buzzing.

And Dead Members certainly had it buzzing. Lead singer Pete was in fine form, muscling his way into the audience and imposing his personality on them and Steve on bass also impressed with his cameos on vocals. The band have come on a lot in the year or so they’ve been together and watching them now is a real pleasure.

So nice one Dead Members, I hope there’s more gigs in the pipeline. I’m also making a note to self to visit Meskal more often in the future, it’s one of the best pubs in town.

Bye for now…

Greetings all!

Now the spring has finally arrived and we can tear off the heavy coats, hats, gloves and scarves, what better time to get out and about and savour some of the delights of the city. You can do this without breaking the bank at the best of times, but on the weekend of the 27th and 28th April, it’s gonna be even cheaper-50% cheaper

This is the 6th ‘Poznań for Half-Price’ weekend and as usual there’s a whole array of businesses queueing up to offer their services at whopping discounts. There’s hotels, restaurants, pubs, museums, sports centres, tourist attractions and lots of other things I’ve probably forgotten about all available at half-price. You can find all the details here…

In my experience of this weekend, things can get a little surreal. Normally drafty museums are packed full of studenty types lapping up the cheap culture, any sushi bar worth its salt has a line of punters out the door and round the block (there’s no accounting for taste!) and the parks and gardens are teeming with happy families.

Having perused the list of participants, here’s a couple of tips on where to go. Why not try Dark Restaurant? As the name suggests, all the food is served in the pitch black with the idea that it heightens your sense of smell and taste. I’ve always been put off going there by a reluctance to experiment at what are pretty steep prices. But on half-price weekend I’m prepared to give it a go!

Dark Restaurant’s Waiter

You could also try the New Zoo. If you’ve never been there before I can assure you it’s one of those zoos where you won’t be worrying about the welfare of the residents – they’re provided with spacious, appropriate habitats  and yes it has elephants and tigers! Good weather permitting, I certainly couldn’t think of a better place to take the kids.

Whatever you do decide to do, I’m sure you’ll have a cracking weekend.

One more thing before I go, my good pals and expat hipsters Dead Members are playing a gig at Meskal tomorrow evening. It’s a great pub and they’re a great band, so if you’re doing nothing better get yourself down there, 7pm Kick-off..

Bye for now…

Greetings all!

Wilda is an area of Poznan which is close to my heart, having lived on the corner of Dolna Wilda for a number of years. Like my current location, Jezyce, it has a bit of a reputation as being one of the ropier parts of town.

In my experience, though some of the residents of both areas look a bit rough around the edges, they’re perfectly safe neighbourhoods. They’re both also leading the way when it comes to out of centre places to go for a meal or a drink.

So when my better half suggested we take a look at Spot yesterday, on Dolna Wilda just oposite my old gaff, I didn’t take much persuading. Not only would it be a dewy eyed trip down memory lane for me but it would also be a chance to review one of the most talked about local ventures in recent years.

Spot has been around since 2008 though the building itself is much older and has existed under many guises. Originally a power station, it’s also spent time as a bronze foundry, an illegal tobacco factory and even a shelter for the homeless.

Spot describes itself as a place where you can combine “various experiences (sic) and phenomena (art, design, literature, fashion, decoration, cuisine, sports)”, all under one roof. I’d certainly heard about the restaurant and cookery workshops before but was also surprised to find there an organic food shop, fashion boutique and child-friendly garden out back.

In fact, just based on its looks, Spot is hugely impressive. Employing a similar post-industrial design to Hugo, Spot makes it work much better with its smattering of bric-a-brac, chunky furniture and vast wine racks. The best part is the natural lighting – oceans of it come streaming through the huge windows from all angles. On a sunny day like yesterday, this has a really calming, refreshing effect.

We were chiefly there for the food and after receiving prompt and professional waiter service, we ordered pasta with meat balls – not the most adventurous thing on the menu but I just had the urge -, a Thai curry, homemade lemonade and desserts.

And all had real ‘wow’ quality. The curry was apparently “the best I’ve ever tasted” and my pasta was simply scrumptious. The chocolate fondant dessert was wickedly luxurious and even the lemonade had me searching for DIY recipes when I got home.

What really struck me about Spot was the atmosphere. With a constant stream of well-to-do looking punters and busy waiting staff everywhere you looked, you really felt you were in a happening place. Indeed, it was the exactly the kind of ambience that I said was lacking at Hugo in my previous post. I spent a lovely afternoon at Spot and the bill wasn’t too bad either.

Not bad for dodgy old Wilda!

Bye for now…

Greetings all,

Yes, it’s that time of the month again. This time I’m giving you an insight into one of the unmissable landmarks in Poznan, the Zamek. Find the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Iq54YP33Cw&feature=youtu.be or click on the thumbnail below…

Bye for now!

Greetings all,

I mentioned in my first video blog that I’d be checking out some of the eateries at City Park this month and today I finally managed to get down to one of them.

Hugo has a reputation as being one of the flashest restaurants in the city and judging by the menu on their website it’s also one of the most expensive. I did notice, however, that they were offering a reasonably priced lunchtime special which had shoulder of lamb as the main course.

Hugo

Yes lamb, that prince of meats is something that’s very hard to get hold of in this country. Ask your average Pole what they think of it and they’ll screw their face up and tell you it smells. Well, yes, it does smell – absolutely f***ing gorgeous!

So with those cute little fluffy balls of wool floating round my mind I headed to City Park. After finally locating Hugo amongst all the red brick (it’s not easy!) I strolled in and was half-heartedly greeted by the waiter in that special confidence-crushing way known only to posh restaurants.

I didn’t bother asking if they had a table as apart from a couple of lunching business types, there were no other punters in there. As Hugo is a big space with a stark minimalist interior, this left me feeling  a bit cold and isolated. No matter I thought, the lamb will sort my head out.

Stark interior

So I was a bit peeved when I had a look at the menu and saw that the lunch deal comprised fish cakes with salad and gorgonzola sauce as the main with potato and leek soup to start. But this sounded tasty enough so I ordered it anyway – I wasn’t about to go a la carte at those prices!

A few minutes later the waiter informed me that the soup would have to be wild mushroom as the potato and leek was off. No problem, by this stage I would’ve eaten a dead head I was that hungry.

Mushroom soup

Eventually the food came and it was, to be fair, delicious. The soup was velvety smooth and tasted of the forest. The fishcakes were the highlight though, nice and crispy on the outside with a tender flaky filling. I wolfed it all down in no time and to be honest, could’ve eaten three times as much. Yes, the portions were a bit on the skimpy side.

Fishcakes

Still, for 32 zloty I couldn’t complain. It’s well worth taking a trip down to City Park to sample a bit of fine dining and if money’s no object there were plenty of other dishes to drool over on the menu.

What I would say though is that Hugo is definitely lacking in a bit of the old ambience. It’s partly the decor, partly the lack of custom but there’s certainly something missing. I hear from a good source that Mielzynski is the place to go at City Park, I think I’ll give it a try the next time I’m down there…

Bye for now and Happy Easter!

Greetings all,

The last time I visited an art installation I was profoundly affected by the experience. The  melancholy atmosphere and creepy images were swirling around my head for the rest of the day, I couldn’t shake them off even if I’d wanted to.

So it was with great anticipation that I headed to the recently refurbed main hall of the CK Zamek (Castle Cultural Centre) to take a look at an installation created by London-born and Berlin-based artist Tino Segahl.

Having seen the promo material on Facebook I realised straight away where I should head to on entering the now unrecognisable main hall. Right bang in front of me, in a space surrounding the cash desks, was the deep scarlet poster with the mysterious title – THIS IS EXCHANGE…

So I stuck my coat and bag in the cloakroom and headed through the entrance door and up the spiral staircase to the installation. When I reached the top I was confronted by…ahem….absolutely nothing! Well apart that is from a good friend and work colleague standing there grinning at me with a ‘what the f*ck are you doing here?’ look on his face.

The installation…

‘So where’s the installation?’, I asked. ‘This is it’, he replied. He then went on to explain that if I was prepared to discuss my views on the free market with him I’d get discounts on tickets to further events in the ‘Nie jesteś mi obojétny’ (You’re not unimportant to me) festival, of which ‘This is Exchange’ is a part.

You’re not unimportant to me…

After waxing lyrical on the inherent inequalities of the world’s economic system for a few minutes I headed back downstairs utterly bewildered. The rest of the main hall housed some rather more traditional film installations and drawings which were interesting enough, and I spent the next half hour or so taking a good look at them.

More traditional stuff…

It wasn’t until I got home though and googled the artist that I realised the concept of Segahl’s work. Quoting from the CK Zamek website, “He arranges situations, encounters with the participation of people who engage into a direct contact with the audience”. Basically, I’d been part of a “constructed situation”, I’d never have guessed!

Anyway, to be honest, what left more of an impression on me was how the Castle’s interior now looks. A modern, bright exhibition space has now been created which somehow seems to work when contrasted with the imperial grandeur of the original structure.

To the cafe…

They’ve also opened a cool looking little cafe and a cinema, I’ll be going back to check them out on another day. In fact, I’ll be down at the Zamek on Tuesday to film my next videoblog, I should have it up by the end of the week..

Bye for now!