Poznan, Poland

When I was in Croatia, I met up with Jennifer and Justin Bronder and their three children.  Justin was the Olmsted scholar placed in Poznan, Poland and was just finishing up his time in Poznan when I met them.  They spoke so highly of Poznan that I knew I wanted to make a stop there.  We planned a two night stay there, but in hindsight, we really only needed an afternoon and night there.

Mike and I have been talking a lot about the difference in cities.  We've come to the conclusion that some cities are great to live in, but not so great to visit.  Others are great to visit, but not where we would want to live.  Poznan is one city where we would be glad to live, but there wasn't a ton to see on a visit there.  There were tons of restaurants and bars and was a great little college town. I could see so many options for a weekend night with friends. There weren't a ton of sights to see, so it wasn't the best place to visit for more than a night, but it seemed like a fun university town for residents.

Anyways, we walked around the town the first day we got there and took in the feel.







Poznan has a town square with lots of little restaurants and biergartens along the edges.  At noon, the clock tower chimes and two goats come out of the top and fight.  It's quite entertaining, albeit a little weird.




The next day, we did some more wandering.  A lot of that wandering was centered around Mike catching pokemon on Pokemon Go, but sightseeing is sightseeing :)




One of the most exciting things that happened in Poznan was that Mike got a haircut!  A lot of the guys doing the Olmsted program grow their hair out because it's their only opportunity while serving in the military.  Some of the guys have grown full beards, while others have had shoulder length hair.  Mike doesn't have a ton of facial hair, so a beard was out, but he wanted to try and grow his hair out, just to see what it looked like.  I didn't have high hopes for it, but knew this was his only chance, so I went along with it.  My  fear that it would grow out instead of down was slowly confirmed as his hair grew and it finally got to the point where he couldn't stand it anymore and wanted to get a hair cut.  Since we had spare time in Poznan, off to the barber he went!

Before: My sentiments exactly

After: with a celebratory beer!

He looks and feels so much better!

Our last stop in Poznan was a bar that took us back to the days of Communism in Poland. #tbt anyone?

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Overall, we thought Poznan was a cute little town, perfect for an afternoon or one night stay.  We were a little bored by the time we left, but it's got character and definitely worth stopping by if you find yourself in Poland.


Also, random Michael Musing....

"Being married is a lot more fun than I thought it would be."   Thanks?

I'm pretty sure I heard a story about my dad saying something along these lines a month or so after I was born.  I guess I'm just a ton of fun! hahahah