Falling In Love At Seven In The Morning – Romance In Olsztyn (Northern Poland & Berlin #42)
The four-day, three-night stay in Olsztyn (German: Allenstein) was coming to an end. I could not help but feel a twinge of sadness. I did not want to leave Olsztyn because I knew it would never leave me. The city had grown on me from the moment my travel companion and I set foot in it. We used Olsztyn as our base for traveling to sites associated with the Battle of Tannenberg, the Wolf’s Lair, the Grunwald Battlefield, and the spectacularly quaint town of Rezsel. What we did not do was spend enough time in Olsztyn. Our experience with the city was mostly limited to eating out and driving around its cleanly swept streets. There was one astonishing exception.
My experience with Olsztyn was a bit more than that of my friend. Each morning while he got ready for our next adventure, I crawled out of the bed and stumbled into the city center looking for a bakery. It was my job to find breakfast. This involved following the aroma of freshly baked bread wafting through the streets. It inevitably led to a bakery where I bought pastries and pillow soft, sweet rolls covered in a light sprinkling of powdered sugar. This breakfast of champions was washed down with coffee and soft drinks. Caffeine was our chosen steroid. This propelled us on our way and left us with precious little time in Olsztyn.
Fortunately, I was able to take several detours on those morning strolls to the bakery. I realized that due to the compressed size of Olsztyn’s Old Town, I could take shortened walking tours of the city. After picking up a batch of baked goods, I would follow a longer route back to the accommodation. This involved walking through the city center, stepping inside any churches that were open and walking dreamily through the streets imagining what it must be like to live in Olsztyn. These wanderings around the Old Town were seductive. There was a great deal to see in a relatively compact area. One morning, I strolled up to the Castle of Warmian Cathedral Chapter. I was the only one who had availed myself of this opportunity. It is not often that I get the Old World all to myself.
Morning Stroll – The Meandering Course
A clutch of spectacular churches that rivalled those to be found in larger European cities were one of the highlights in Olsztyn (population: 169,000). These churches were much larger than one might expect for a city the size of Olsztyn. They represented the importance of religion both to its former German inhabitants and present-day Polish ones. Though world wars raged all around Olsztyn, the city had suffered nowhere near the damage of larger cities in Poland. Thus, many of the city’s most impressive buildings were the product of reinterpretation rather than reconstruction. What was once German was now Polish, but there was no hiding the Teutonic in the city’s architectural wonders. Sizably spectacular, they radiated civic and spiritual pride.
Olsztyn seemed to have it all or at least everything I longed to see in a smallish city. There was the town square, quaint, neat, and historic. The Lyna River flowed below the Old Town with a walking path that followed the waterway’s meandering course. Nature and culture were beautifully integrated. Looking up through the florescent greenery of trees in their full springtime glory, I could see the church spires that were Olsztyn’s version of skyscrapers. My imagination began to run wild, seeing nature’s bounty rising in the shadows of history. The morning walks were one of the highlights of the entire trip for me. I felt like I was stealing a march on Olsztyn’s architectural history. By doing so, the city was sharing its secret with me. I had its architectural wonders all to myself.?
Sunny Side Up – A Wonderful Life
A city’s personality has as much to do with its architecture as its people. Considering the scale of Olsztyn’s buildings in relation to its size, it was a spectacular example of a city that punched well above its weight. There was no doubt in my mind that Olsztyn had a high opinion of itself. I shared that opinion. The city literally rose to the occasion. During those morning walks, I could feel myself falling in love. I went from dreamy to dazed. I sensed something else I had read about the city, its prosperity. The roads were immaculate, public transport options prolific and a spotlessly clean city center. Whatever social problems there were in Olsztyn, they were hidden from view. The city felt like an Eastern European version of a wonderful life. Olsztyn was an astonishing example of an enhanced reality.
In those moments, I could not think of a more pleasant place to visit or live. It was obvious that Poland’s 21st century prosperity had been put to good use in Olsztyn. This was a well-ordered world. Everything was to be found in its rightful place. Pastel houses, cobblestone streets, a skyline of spires, this was as close to perfection as I have ever seen. If it sounds like I had fallen in love with the city, that would not be an exaggeration. Olsztyn was an unexpected joy, an acquired taste that I digested each morning on those short strolls. A movable feast of architectural and historical aesthetics that put a skip in my step, opened my mind, and captured my heart. The feeling was addictive and delightful. The feeling must have been mutual because Olsztyn showed its bright and sunny side at the dawning of each new day.
State of Trance – A Revealing Nature
Olsztyn was the first place I have ever fallen in love during the morning. In my life, romances have always started at school or with a social engagement. These experiences were in the afternoon or evening with people rather than places. Olsztyn was different. Walking through those streets in a state of trance felt like waking up to find myself wandering around a fantasy. Here was the history I had so longed to see, there was a church spire that tickled the sky, each historic building looked as though it had always been there waiting for me. The walk from the town square to the castle offered a path from present to past. Olsztyn was everything I never knew I wanted until it was revealed to me. This illicit love affair at seven in the morning stole my heart. I could have stayed in Olsztyn forever. Maybe I did because it feels like I never left.?