I think that there might be a risk that today’s post may well be more foodie than travelogue. My hosts are keen for me to sample everything Szczecin has to offer and so that is what I have to work with.
As I said yesterday the eating habits of the Poles, or at least those I visited, are very different to my own. With no lunch taken I was offered a “second breakfast”, again brought by my host for me, to try during the day. Firstly this consisted of a savoury wrap with vegetables and the inevitable gherkins. This was followed by a sweet pancake filled with a white substance that I couldn’t identify.
Late afternoon we took the tram back into the city. There’s something exotic about trams, even the ones in Birmingham, but when they are abroad they seem positively cosmopolitan. The trams in Szczecin are no exception and I greatly enjoyed get from place to place on them. Especially the old yellow Berlin trams which had a bit of character.
We visited Pierogarnia Kaszubska to sample another local delicacy, Kashubian dumplings which are potato based and stuffed with a variety of fillings but the tastiest were those with meat. They very much reminded me of the gyoza dumplings that you can get here. They came warm with an onion sauce and were very tasty.
The dumplings were warmer than the welcome we received. I’m told, as this passed me by not speaking the language, that the woman behind the counter didn’t want to take one order for the two of us but do us individually. This would have been challenging as despite the menu being in English she was not going to accept it in any language other than Polish. So two orders were duly placed and then I pissed her off a second time by having the cheek of paying with too large a note. Thing was she opened the till to reveal a mass of notes of all denominations so I suspect she was just being difficult!
Finally we went up what I am reliably informed is the highest building in Szczecin and the cafe at the top, Cafe 22. Twenty two stories is not really that high but it was the tallest building that I could see across the city by some considerable margin. By this point I think we were both full and so just restricted ourselves to tea.
So that’s my time done here and I flew out of the tiny airport which only has two international gates. Szczecin airport must be the only airport in the world named after a union as it is called Solidarity. Can you imagine the GMB Heathrow Airport? Nope me either. What is universal though is the grumpiness of the border guards. On the way in there is no welcoming “welcome to our country” smile and on the way out they don’t seem pleased that you are leaving either. There’s no pleasing some people.
I liked Szczecin but I’d have liked to have seen more of it in the light, so that’s a job for next time.
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