Olsztyn to Berlin

After breakfast I caught the train back to Berlin via Poznań.

Changing trains in Poznań was slightly complicated by the fact that the Polish train company PKP had decided to take a newly built part of the station into service before the signs indicating the platform numbers had been installed. But with the help of staff and friendly locals I eventually found the Warszawa Express back to Berlin.

All the pictures (picasaweb) in one album.

Olsztyn

I spent the last day of my holiday in Olsztyn for more sight-seeing around the city. Olsztyn's castle courtyard.

Olsztyn's modern town hall.

An old fire station.

When looking around Olsztyn I saw more examples of a neat idea I had noticed in lots of other places: Street names and house numbers are painted very large and high on buildings, making it very easy to see the address one is looking for from a distance. Some examples from Giżycko, Mrągowo, Barczewo and Olsztyn.

I also stocked up on some mint-flavoured vodka that has proven to be very elusive in Berlin.

Contemplative photo of the end of the holiday.

Olsztynek and Olsztyn

Today I caught a train to Olsztynek, a small town south of Olsztyn, to visit the open air museum. I decided not to go by bike because the roads between Olsztyn and Olsztynek didn't look particularly inviting, either motorways or tiny, most likely unsealed roads.

One thing that struck me as strange about Olsztyn's train station (dvorzec kolejowy) was that there were no bicycles parked outside on the bike rack (see lower right). What station doesn't have bikes parked in front of it?

It didn't feel safe leaving my bike as the only one there, so I ended up hiding it next door at the dvorzec autobusowy behind a bus shelter.

I got to Olsztynek by catching a local train to Działdowo. The return ticket merely cost 5zł (€1.25).

The station building in Olsztynek made a slightly neglected impression.

When I got to the museum, it was just about lunch time.

I sampled some more local cuisine and had an excellent potato cake (bapka ziemniaczana) with chanterelle sauce. Like most places in Poland, they also offered a great cole slaw side-dish (surówka).

The open air museum consisted of a large variety of very different historic buildings that had been carefully dismantled at their original site and rebuilt here. There was also some farming equipment and most buildings could be viewed from the inside.

A clattering of windmills, the museum's emblem.

Back at Olsztynek station, I took some photos of the adjacent factory building.

When I returned to Olsztyn, I discovered the observatory and planetarium.

I was very excited and visited the next show. Unfortunately it was an American production from 2002 about Mars exploration which made no reference to recent discoveries by the Curiosity rover. The programme was dubbed into Polish and the credits showed that Laurence Fishbourne had done the original voice-over.

Mrągowo to Olsztyn

[Route] Today was my final day of cycling on this holiday. I left Mrągowo and cycled to Olsztyn via Biskupiec and Barczewo. This field shows nicely how rippled the countryside is around here: even after centuries of farming the bumps are still clearly visible.

I passed through Stanclewo by Jezioro Jelmuń.

The village of Rasząg has an unusual-looking, castle-like church.

Red-brick architecture in Barczewo and Barczewko.

When reaching Olsztyn I immediately hated the city traffic. There were traffic lights everywhere, the streets were full of shards, and the drivers were so much more aggressive than in the countryside that I took to cycling on the pavements.

Street art in Olsztyn with the High Gate to old town in the background.

The High Gate on the northern edge of Olsztyn's impressive old town.

Olsztyn's historic town hall.

A street in old town.

After putting up my tent I went back to Olsztyn and had a look at the Kortowo campus of the University of Warmia and Mazury (UWM). They advertise themselves as being the nicest university campus in Poland, situated on the shore of Jezioro Kortowskie. It did look like a very nice area with a large park by the lake. Some of the older red-brick buildings reminded me very strongly of the campus of Universitätsmedizin Berlin at Luisenstraße.

Camped at Tawerna Pirat on the shore of Jezioro Ukie.

Mrągowo

Today I spent another rest day to look at Mrągowo. The town is pleasantly hilly and littered with parks and beer gardens. It has an impressively long shoreline along Jezioro Czos.

Tourist information and historic town hall.

The Bismarck tower, built to honour the late Fürst, is now for sale. Call number for quotes.

Like many towns in this area, there are extensive former Prussian barracks. These ones have been nicely converted into residential housing.

In many of the towns and villages around the lake district there are boardwalks built into the lake for bathing which makes for an experience similar to outdoor swimming pools. I was unable to work out when or how people get changed though.

The electronics chain mediaexpert has come up with a very clever advertising trick of disguising their prices by resorting to a little bit of arithmetic.

Admiring the sunset over Jezioro Czos.