Poznan; Tuesday, 29 July, 2008
First stop of the morning was the Old Town Hall itself with its museum followed by the museum of the local army which was right behind it. At this point the plan fell to pieces. The museum of the Poznan uprising (which took place after the end of WWI and effectively ensured that Poznan was part of the recreted Polish state, not part of Eastern Germany) was closed for reorganisation. I popped round the square to find that the Archaeological museum was just closed (no reason given, but it was 45 minutes after their advertised opening time and the door was locked!) and the museum of musical instruments was closed until further notice for renovation.
Instead, I headed back out of town to Ostrów Tumski to revisit the cathedral in the daytime, and I’m glad that I did. Not only is the cathedral more impressive when the sun is shining right through the stained glass, but you can also visit the crypt of the church which houses some of the ruins of the original cathedral that stood on the site.
From there it was a short walk to the banks of the man-made lake Malta and running alongside it is the Lake Malta Mini-Railway. I had a quick ride on this up to the Zoo, and then caught the bus back into town. I then walked over to the Wilson Park and the Palmhouse that is located there.
Supposidly it is the largest greenhouse in Europe (I would like to suggest it is the largest greenhouse in continental Europe as I am convinced that the Main house at Kew in London is bigger!). I had a long wander around that and then went into the gardens where there is a surviving bunker from WWII that you can visit, only it was shut.
By now I had pretty much given up on Poznan, so much of it was closed that I couldn’t be bothered to try anywhere else, so I headed back into town and had a very late lunch (it was about 4) and then headed back to the hotel for a quick rest, and to check the state of my bank balance, before heading back out for dinner.
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