Poland For Lunch: A Day Trip to Szczecin (Stettin)

It all started while sitting around at a bar one day, our friend Karla from Australia mentioned, "I want to go to Poland for lunch...just because I can." Coming from big countries like America or Australia, the chance to just "pop" over to another country for a day, or lunch, is quite a novelty. We decided to go for it. Szczecin is a two-hour train ride from Berlin, a smallish Polish town. The best part is things are open on Sundays there, there are pierogies and everything was super cheap. I took out the equivalent of 30 EUR and managed to get a full lunch with beer and appetizers, coffee, postcards, some more beers and fill a grocery bag with food. It was also generally a super fun day trip.

One good thing to know is that you can get a Berlin-Brandenburg group ticket for up to 5 people for 28€. For some reason Szczecin, though not actually in Berlin or Brandenburg, is included on this ticket (it's right on the border). Thus, the trip there AND back cost each of us less that €5,50 total. Hellz to the yes, I say!

I baked cake and made a HUGE container of coffee for the ride and we arrived at the train station for our 9am train on Sunday morning, July 8th.  We were tired. Our friend Myriam managed to somehow go from a night out straight to the train station without sleeping and not die.

Marion, Myriam and Carly, who was visiting me. Tired at the main train station, Berlin Hauptbahnhof, but excited!

Carly was demonstrating that we got to touch a piece of Russia. Train stations are exciting!

Me demonstrating the parmesean cheese soap in the train toilet. Yes, I took pictures in the toilet.

We arrived! The first thing we did was eat, of course! Well, the first thing we did was walk around confused, exchange our money into the Polish currency, Zloty, get a map, and take the old tram into town. Anyway, above are some Polish salads. Some info from Wiki about Szczecin:


Szczecin (German: Stettin), is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. In the vicinity of the Baltic Sea, it is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland. As of June 2011 the population was 407,811.

Szczecin had quite the chaotic past, being taken over by Germany and Sweden at different points, a location of a few witchhunts and entirely fortified by walls in the 1600s. Apparently Szczecin also "was an important site of anti-communist unrest in the communist era." (Wiki).

Myriam with the pierogi. We went to Karczma Polska Pod Kogutem, where there were many pierogi options among other things. They had mushroom and cabbage ones without cheese or meat for me and also some with cottage cheese and something and some with meat. They were delicious. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed sitting on the patio and drinking some beers with our lunch.

Carly and June chowing down! Writing this is making me hungry all over again.

I found these pigs in the restaurant on the way downstairs to the bathroom.

After lunch, we took a wander to see the "sights", which there were not too many of. You can't really say Szczecin is the most beautiful of towns, though it does have some old nice buildings, a river running through it, etc. We thought this was funny...Franklina Delano Roosevelta street, guess FDR made an influence?

I believe the brown stone building used to be a Merchant Marine Academy. To the right is the river.

This happened.

The Church square.

Pretty old building! June, Myriam and Marion are enjoying the door.

I want to live in there.

I was complaining that there was not going to be vegan things...and then I found this poster. A vegan hardcore something from the USA at Teatr Kana. Of course. But then...

Let me mark the moment I found a cafe with soymilk in Szczecin! Sojowe mleko, bitches! I enjoyed that soy latte, for serious, and was shocked to find one in this small random Polish town. So, if you're wondering where to find soymilk in Szczecin, Kawiarnia Fanaberia (Cafe Fanaberia) is your place! Here are some reviews, if you're interested. The address is Bogusława 5 and there is another cute place called Teatr Maly next door that had beer and food. This area, Buguslawa Promenade, appeared to be the "hip" district of Szczecin. Anyway, Fanaberia had a little patio area out front and another area to sit in the backyard. They had lots of cakes and pastries and you could buy their tea and coffee, all presented with lots of fancy teapots and whatnot. They also had iced tea and apparently have really good hot chocolate, but it was way too hot to test the latter out.

Then we wandered more and found this building.

At last, we all headed to the mall for our last hour before the train. Everyone else looked at clothes,  but I headed straight for the supermarket. This was perhaps the biggest super market I'd ever seen in my life, and I'd gladly go back to Szczecin just to go there. There was an entire aisle of milk, where I found the beauty above, entire aisle of canned meat, another for yogurt, pasta, and half a refrigerated case filled with pierogies. It was epic.

After our shopping adventure we decided we better head back to the station to catch our 6pm train. Unfortunately the trams were not running so frequently and we arrived one minute after our train had left...running like idiots up to the platform. Oops. We had even attempted hitch-hiking to the station, but got turned down (there were five of us). So we managed to kill a couple hours until 8pm when the next train came, drank some more beers, ate some food in the station and played some games (I Spy anyone?). At least the train back was direct with no changes and we ended up having fun anyway.

We will surely go again, it was a great day trip, yummy food, cheap day out of Berlin and we had an awesome group that lead to never-ending giggles and adventures. Yay Szczecin!

Šťastný Nový Rok (Happy New Year)!

Reasons New Years was amazing, number one: There was a cute dog at the party.

Two: I went on a wandering adventure to Riegrovy sady (a park) to watch fireworks, lanterns and be really excited. I lost my voice by screaming things such as, "Mám ráda všechno!" "Mám ráda přátelé!" "Mám ráda stromy!" "Mám ráda Nový rok!" all night. To translate, "I like everything!" 'I like friends!" "I like trees!" "I like New Year!" What can I say? My Czech vocabulary is fairly limited and I had consumed a bit of alcohol. More importantly, these things are all pretty wonderful.

We tried to represent what we felt 2009 was like with one face each:

I believe Kt thinks there have been better years.

Ashley's year was apparently slightly sideways and somewhat happy.

Jess was really excited....while sleeping...with pretty red booze. All year.

Excited, confused and somewhat angry? Or getting pummeled up the ass. You choose.

I don't know what this is. But I like it. The ghost of 2009 is trying to drink Jess's booze.

We had fireworks! Well, Ashley did.

They are PUMPED for explosions in the sky. And I'm apparently having an orgasm. Or a seizure. Hope you all wanted to see my O-face. It's going to be a good year.

We said a lot of "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!"'s. Friends! Fireworks! Living in a beautiful European city! Being outside! Everything is wonderful!

There were these really cool lanterns everyone had that I'd never seen before. You light a candle in the bottom of the lantern, let it fill up like a hot air balloon, then let them float up into the sky bein' all pretty! Sometimes they even light trees on fire. That's when it gets really exciting. Poor stromy.

I wish I could take a picture with my eyes for you, because up on the hill you could see fireworks coming from miles and miles away in every direction in the distance. It was beautiful. I felt like all of the Czech Republic was celebrating right there with me. Slovakia, Poland, Germany and Austria, too.

Here's one of the lanterns in action, being lit by some people and held until it's filled up by air.

Ashley, Donal, Jess, me and this dude who photobombed my picture rather fantastically.

I don't remember what we were spelling, but I bet it's mind-blowingly awesome!

Brian and his dog (re: adorable animal above), suited with a glow stick for the occasion.

There was free sangria for ladies at Bukowski's after midnight. We really like free sangria. And Bukowski's. We were all too opilý already to drink more than a pitcher though.

Kt is doing something shifty? That dude with the curly hair in the background was wearing bunny ears and staring at me intensely the entire night.

There was a dance party?! Tancovat!

Josh came later to play with Kt and I and help us fail at drinking free sangria. This is Swordicorn.


I can honestly say my life since graduation has been pretty amazing. If you had told me this is who I'd be a year ago I would've told you it wasn't possible, that I didn't have the balls. My mind is constantly being blown, expectations met and surpassed and I'm loving every second of it. I've never met so many crazy, determined and exciting people and I'm only at the tip of the iceberg of my travels. I can truly say I'm "living the dream" and I am stoked for what's to come!

I hope every one of you that reads this has a happy, fulfilling, and inspiring 2010! Thanks to all of you who played a part in the last one, for it's all of you who've made my life that extra bit fabulous. Just think of all the potential this year holds...

Plzeňský Prazdroj ("the Fountainhead of Pilsner"): Home of Pilsner Urquell

Here's a fun fact for you: The Czech Republic drinks about 160 litres of beer per capita a year! That’s about 300 pints per person and makes them the top beer consumer in the world. We woke up early to go to Plzn, a Bohemian city known as the birthplace of the Pilsner beer style in general, and for Pilsner Urquell, since 1898. Factory tours are awesome!

Ashley (Team Vacation!) and Sara (Team Vacation from Work!) on the metro, enroute.

We were tired, but embarked on an early Student Agency bus bound for Plzn. Field trip!

Town of Plzn. This restaurant does not like communism. Jess agrees.

I'm not quite sure what Miriam was demonstrating here in the restaurant. Probably something awesome. Or an elephant. With a hat.

This dude was in the waiting area at the brewery. At first I was skeptical.

But then I ate his sausage. Oops.

Sara made a fortune teller middle school style.

OMG Sara and Jess are so excited to be on the beer bus!

So many bottles, so much beer! It smelled like a house party X 1000!

Beer is made in there!

We rode the biggest elevator in continental Europe (I think?)! Did I mention Kt came to visit me from America? Because she did.

There was lots of barley. I put it in my mouth, but it didn't taste as good as when it's in beer form.

People feeders! It fed us ground hops.

Non-ground hops! I also put these in my mouth, but I think it was a bad decision. Also much better in beer form.

We went to the cellars were old style wooden barrels of beer were fermenting.

Our tour guide! And the beer! Ready for our mouths!

Barrels!

Go Team Pivo! We got to drink special unfiltered, unpasturized beer as part of the tour. We were definitely the most enthusiastic people on the group. Yay everyone! Yay beer!