Sallying Forth to Poznan

That was just an unforgivable pun, but I've grown weary and this program grabs any old shot and makes it the teaser, so I had to have fun with it. I'll explain it later. 

On Tuesday, we left Gdansk for Poznan where Fred will start his work part of the trip. It's a three-hour train trip. I bought the tickets on line with ease after that fiasco at the train station earlier in the week. While we waited for the train, I got myself a Corny Big for lunch.  

On the platform, we saw a nun, which got Fred to thinking... isn't it funny how they exaggerated the wimples (he called them nun hats, so it was great I was able to teach him something about Catholicism — very rare) so it would look like they were actually more likely to allow the nuns to fly? We laughed, but I realized I thought they were real wimples and doubled down on that belief. So here's the scoop. Here's what they wore:

And here's what they were based on — a specific wimple called the cornette. 

Now back to Poznan — here's the view from the train on the way (just like Tuscany!):

And the view out the Poznan hotel window — a former brewery, now a huge shopping mall and cultural center. It's about three times as long as what I shot. 

The rest of that day wasn't much; I think we arrived around 4 to a HUGE line at the hotel due to a new check-in software system the staff was getting trained on, so they gave everyone a free drink. Brilliant. Everyone got super chatty and silly and passed the time amiably. We were with a couple from Australia from whom we learned there's a rivalry between their country and New Zealanders. Or at least that the former looks down on the latter. News to us. 
 

Fred and I finally got our room on the 13th floor. Yes. They have no issue with that. And what could be worse than a hotel room on the 13th floor, you might ask?

This kerning. The stuff of nightmares.

Dinner was DELIGHTFUL. Fred researched and found the perfect spot about a half-mile walk away with a young Katie Holmes or current Katie Lynch (our niece) for a waitress. Delightful. We ate outside even though the inside was incredibly charming, albeit a tad warm. Fred had pierogis, again, and I had Caesar salad with chicken, so boring, but not here!  It was warm, unexpected, and very good. I had to go light for a change. I also had a cocktail called a Porn Star Martini — apparently a popular drink here. 

The next day Fred had a very full day, so I got in lots of steps, did some work, and saw the Old Town and this goat ramming ritual that is the thing to see in Poznan. Here are the sights on my way to town. 

The neighbors must hate this guy!

Forget-me-nots. ❤️

I finally got to Old Town.

And that is where 500 sketchers seem to have all gathered in one place today... 

And the main attraction — at noon and 3pm daily — is these two aluminum goats that come out of this TINY door of this tower and ram each other (actually, they miss) 12 times, and then go back in. It takes four minutes. I shot the entire thing. If you can speed it up, please do. I did not view it through my view finder. I saw it with my naked eye. Just FYI. I was "in the moment," IRL. And I had the perfect seat at the perfect café with the perfect latte.  :)