Poznan, Poland

During our last weekend of the two-and-a-half-week fall break, we took a road trip to Poznan, Poland.

{Road trip to Poznan, Poland}

The three hour drive from Berlin brought us to Poland’s fifth largest city. But it wasn’t the size of the city that caught our eye. It was its history as well as its natural thermal bath waterpark.

{Walking from the parking garage to our hotel in the pedestrian-only old town}

Established in the 10th century, Poznan now boasts over 500,000 residents and Poland’s third largest University. Most residents are Polish. It’s 2,000 pre-WWII Jewish residents perished in the Holocaust and there was a post-war expulsion and flight of its German residents.

{We enjoyed learning more about Poznan’s history while there}

After spending so much time in Germany and learning more about my cultural heritage, Dave was able to share his heritage with us. The family name Lubell had once been the Polish name Lubellski.

{Dave enjoyed spending time in Poland where the Lubell’s had once been the Lubellski’s}

The highlight for Dave and I was touring the Old Town Square.{Old Town Square in Poznan, Poland}

During this trip, I taught Ben some photography skills while he used our digital camera for the first time. He really enjoyed it. His first lesson was in the Faro Collegiate Church, one of the most stunning and well preserved examples of baroque architecture in Poland. How about that!

{Ben’s first time using a digital camera}

Saturday was spent breakfasting at a nearby cafe, roaming Poznan’s nearby parks and spending the entire afternoon at the Termy Maltanskie water park.

{Pondering breakfast options at Razowa Bistro}

{Loads of fun at Frederic Chopin Park}

{Climbing around Zbigniew Zakrzewski Garden}

{Termy Maltanskie water park}

After having spent so much time in the water in Malta, we knew the thermal water park would be a hit. With its indoor wave pool and water slides, we spent over six hours there. We even ate at its cafeteria, which served huge portions of Polish food. As you can imagine, it was difficult to get the boys to leave. We all slept well that night.

{Sleepy boys}

The next morning, I woke before the boys and headed out on a walk around town. Being mid-October, I was treated to beautiful foliage while I explored more of Poznan’s history.

{Sights from my Sunday morning walk}

We decided to head out after breakfast at the hotel and break our drive home up by stopping at a nature park just across the border into Germany in Frankfurt (Oder).

{Visiting and feeding the animals at the Wildpark in Frankfurt (Oder)}

The boys each had pails of feed and fed the deer, prairie dogs, wild boars, cows, goats, and sheep. Dave and I enjoyed a coffee and dessert while the boys played together on the playground.

{Spielplatz time at the Wildpark}

We were all happy with our time in Poznan, which was our first time in Poland. It’s definitely a nice place for Berlin families to visit for a fun escape.