A big crowd always gathers for the daily performance of Poznań’s mechanical head-butting goats. Full story below.

Road trip from Poznań, the cradle of Poland, to Toruń, the home of Copernicus

Road trip! Five-days, 475 miles by car through the cradle of Poland to the birthplace of the man credited with kicking the Earth out of the center of the universe. Plus food ~yum! ~ and a recipe.

On the road again

Taking advantage of the good October weather, we decided to visit a part of Poland we were unfamiliar with.

Heading southwest from our home in Słupsk, we set out for our first stop, Poznań, over the two-lane roads that are typical of Poland. These roads remind me of “blue highways” in the U.S.: two-lane, well maintained and connecting all the villages/towns to each other. Although the speed limits are comparable ~ 35 to 60 mph in the countryside, 12 to 30 mph in the towns ~ it always feels like we’re going slower.

These roads are two-lane except when passing. When cars pass, both the car being passed and the oncoming traffic hug the edge of the road, effectively creating a third lane. The Poles are quite fearless about this, passing much closer to hills and blind curves than we would. This takes a bit of getting used.

We forgot our packed lunches so we had to stop somewhere. Unlike in the U.S., there aren’t that many fast food places or roadside diners to stop at. The most common, and fastest, choice is a gas station. The gas stations here are a combination of gas (diesel) and 7-Eleven type store where you can pick up quickly heated food, beverages and snacks.

Zapiękanka

In our case, we chose zapiękanka. Wikipedia describes zapiękanka as “an open-face sandwich made of half of a baguette or other long roll of bread, topped with sautéed white mushrooms, cheese and sometimes other ingredients, and toasted until the cheese melts. Served hot with ketchup, it is a popular street food in Poland.”

And they were tasty.

First stop: Poznań, the cradle of Poland

Poznań is in west-central Poland at the intersection of the Warta and Cybina Rivers. The island between these two rivers has been inhabited since the late Stone Age. Eventually, this settlement became an important political center to the Polans tribe. In the 10th century, the first historically recorded ruler of the Polans, Mieszko I, used this settlement as one of his headquarters to create the state that is now known as Poland.

That’s why Poznań is known as the “cradle of Poland.”

The Warta River flowing through Poznań. The Warta’s basin (approx. 21,050 sq. mi.) was the original Poland.

The Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul dates from the second part of the 10th century and stands on the island between the Warta and Cybina Rivers. Several of the early Polish monarchs are buried here.

The interior of the Archcathedral Basilica of St. Peter and St. Paul. The church has been rebuilt several times and the current Gothic version dates from 1956.

In the 19th century and through the end of WWI, Poznań was part of Prussia/Imperial Germany. This building, known as the Imperial Castle, was built in 1910 for the German Emperor Wilhelm II. During WWII, Hitler had work done on the palace but ultimately never visited. Photo by R.S.Ulatowski – Nikodem Pajzderski, Przewodnik po Poznaniu, 1929r., nakł. PeWuKi, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=47995328

After WWII, Poznań returned to Poland. This monument, across the street from the Imperial Castle, commemorates the protests of June 1956. Workers in Poznań staged a protest ~ the first in Poland ~ against the government. Their demands were not ideological but economic: better working conditions and better availability of food. The government quashed the protests harshly, killing an estimated 57 people and injuring around 600 others. Information about this protest was censored for 25 years and the most active participants were persecuted for many years thereafter.

This monument was unveiled on the 25th anniversary of the protests. It seems to break through the earth, rising to commemorate not only the events of 1956 but also the protests in 1968, 1970, 1976, 1980 and 1981.

Like most Polish cities, Poznań has a stary rynek (main market square ~ Gdańsk is one notable Polish city without one). The square is filled with cafés, restaurants and touristy shops. It’s a great place to visit and perhaps have a drink at the end of the day.

Some are even brave enough to rollerblade through all the tourists int the stary rynek.

It’s also a great place for dinner, especially on a soft October evening. Note the spire in the background. This is the scene for the next part of our story, the head-butting goats.

In the middle of the stary rynek is Poznań’s historic city hall. When it was rebuilt in 1551, a clock was added. Two mechanical, head-butting goats are part of the clock.

Every day at noon the goats come forth and butt heads 12 times. The spectacle is a tourist favorite.

The head-butting goats. Why goats? There’s a legend that explains why, of course, and it goes like this:

The legend of Poznań’s head-butting goats

When the city hall was rebuilt and expanded in 1551, the powers-that-were decided to advertise the city’s riches by incorporating a clock tower. To celebrate the completion of the building, the mayor hosted a feast for local dignitaries. A roasted deer was supposed to be part of this feast, but while cooking the deer the cook fell asleep and the deer burned. Panicked, the cook tried to replace the deer by stealing two goats from a neighboring field. The goats escaped from the cook, ran up to the top of the tower and began butting heads. Everyone found this very entertaining, so the mayor pardoned the goats and the cook, then ordered that two mechanical goats be incorporated into the clock.

The head-butting goats are a very popular symbol of Poznań and show up throughout the city, such as at the local museum of chocolate.

Poznań is also known for St Martin’s Croissants. Made locally, filled with almond paste and white poppy seeds, these croissants commemorate St. Martin’s Day (Nov. 11th). According to legend, a baker dreamt that St. Martin would enter the city on a white horse that had lost its golden horseshoe. The next morning, the baker made horseshoe-shaped croissants, filled them with the almond-poppy seed-nut mixture and gave them to the poor. The croissants have been a favorite in Poznań ever since.

Żurek soup is popular not only in Poznań but throughout Poland. So far, it’s second only to zapiękanka as my favorite item of Polish cuisine. The soup contains sausage, potatoes, carrots, a poached egg and a dollop of sour cream in a rye broth. Usually, the soup is served “assembled” but this restaurant on the stary rynek went the extra mile with a fun DIY presentation.

Some of the buildings surrounding the stary rynek are fancifully decorated. For example, one of the buildings is topped by this sculpture. It was supposed to be a pelican but the workmen at the time had never seen a pelican, so they made their best guess. “A” for effort?

Poznań is the perfect example of our experience in Poland. We knew next-to-nothing about it before arriving and were immediately charmed by the people, food and culture. The city hall, complete with head-butting goats, is the building with the green spire.

The Poznań Fara, seen here in the evening light of our last night in Poznań, is considered one of the finest examples of Baroque architecture in Poland.

Next stops: Gniezno and Bydgoszcz

After two nights, it was time to bid Poznań adieu. Our next hotel was in Toruń, but we had a couple of places to check out first.

Gniezno means “nest.”

We hadn’t planned to stop in Gniezno (about 30 miles from Poznań), but based on what we had learned in Poznań, we wanted to stop.

Gniezno is slightly more than a tenth of the size of Poznań, but historically, it’s as important ~ if not more. The Legend of Lech, Czech and Rus (from Wikipedia) explains why:

“According to the Polish version of a legend, three brothers went hunting together but each of them followed a different prey and eventually they all traveled in different directions. Rus went to the east, Čech headed to the west to settle on the Říp Mountain rising up from the Bohemian hilly countryside, while Lech traveled north. There, while hunting, he followed his arrow and suddenly found himself face-to-face with a fierce, white eagle guarding its nest against intruders. Seeing the eagle against the red of the setting sun, Lech took this as a good omen and decided to settle there. He named his settlement Gniezno (from Polish gniazdo – ‘nest’) in commemoration and adopted the White Eagle as his coat-of-arms. The white eagle is still a symbol of Poland and the colors of the eagle and the setting sun are depicted in Poland’s coat of arms, as well as its flag, with a white stripe on top for the eagle, and a red stripe on the bottom for the sunset.”

In 1000 A.D., this church, Archdiocese of Gniezno, superseded the church in Poznań and much of the administrative state was moved to Gniezno. The church was undergoing renovations when we stopped so we didn’t stay long. After a quick tour, we followed the workmen to a local shop for lunch. Zapiękanka again ~ it’s one of our favorites.

Bydgoszcz

The city of Bydgoszcz (pronounced like “bid-gōshch) is on the road from Poznań to Toruń. Located where the Brda River joins the Vistula River, these rivers, plus associated canals, reputedly make Bydgoszcz a beautiful city. So we decided to see for ourselves.

The tightrope walker over the Brda River is one of the main attractions of Bydgoszcz. The sculpture, officially titled “Man crossing the River,” by Jerzy Kędziora was unveiled on May 1, 2004, and commemorates Poland’s entry into the European Union. The sculpture stays upright because the center of balance has been shifted below the wire.

The rivers and canals do make Bydgoszcz a beautiful city.

Unfortunately, the stary rynek was completely under construction the day we visited so we didn’t see much of the town. However, we did find this cool bar that was decorated with memorabilia from 1970s and 80s Poland.

The walls were covered with old newspapers…

Last stop: Toruń, the birthplace of the man credited with rearranging our place in the universe.

Sitting on the Vistula River downstream of Warsaw, Toruń is one of the oldest cities in Poland (settlements as far back as the 8th century). However, it’s only been part of Poland since the mid-15th century.

Toruń’s most notable resident was probably Nicolaus Copernicus. Born here in February 1473, he moved away long before completing his work and publishing the book that said that the Earth revolved around the sun, not vice versa. But he is still fondly remembered as a local boy.

Toruń’s stare miasto (old quarter) is charming and lively, a perfect place to hang out during the day…

This tex-mex (teksańko-meksykańska as the Poles spell it) restaurant was the first place we’ve found in Poland that had refried beans. I’ve really missed refried beans; it’s funny the things you end up missing. I’m sure there are other places that serve refries, we just haven’t found them yet. Our entire dinner, not just the refried beans, was yummy.

We chanced upon a restaurant that served baked, not boiled, pierogies. It was a delicious lunch.

Toruń has been known for its gingerbread since at least 1380. Toruń’s location on a trade route meant that many spices from Asia passed through the city. The spices, along with the locally-produced wheat and honey, were perfect for the development of gingerbread. Toruń’s gingerbread is chewy, not crunchy.

One of the most famous types of Toruń gingerbread is the Katarzynka. The legend goes like this: once upon a time, a baker became ill. His daughter wanted to make him a treat, but being an inexperienced baker she put her gingerbread circles too close together before sliding the baking sheet into the oven. The result was one fused mass of gingerbread with the outline of the original circles on its edges. However, they were still tasty and the distinctive shape helped them become popular. The daughter’s name was Katarzyna; the cookie is now called the Katarzynka. I have seen them in the grocery stores in Słupsk.

There’s even a Gingerbread Walk of Fame. However, the bronze plaques don’t honor famous gingerbread makers. Rather, each plaque highlights a popular contemporary person, connected with Toruń, who help make the city famous.

The view from our hotel window. Toruń is a beautiful city. It’s not far from Warsaw and well worth a visit if you get the chance.

The trip home was uneventful: a new four-lane highway from Toruń to Gdańsk and then a typical two-lane road to Słupsk. Our packed lunches were still in the fridge, so we had them for dinner.

Epilogue

Our first Polish home was too far out of town for pizza delivery. And ya gotta have pizza on the weekend, right? So, Rosemary used zapiękankas as inspiration to develop this recipe, making adjustments for our tastes and for the available oven.

We call our adaptation of zapiękanka, “pizza bread.”

Rosemary’s Pizza Bread (inspired by zapiękanka)

Ingredients:

2 soft baguettes or equivalent non-crusty loaves (approx. 1′ long and 3″ diameter)
1 cup finely grated Pecorino Romano cheese (or other hard cheese such as Parmesan)
1 liter of passata pomidoro rustica or 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
3 T dried oregano leaves
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t cayenne powder or dried red pepper flakes (to taste)
One ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced or torn in to small pieces
8 slices firm mozzarella
Pepperoni, thinly sliced

Turn the oven on to 400 degrees F.
Make the pizza sauce: drain the passata rustica through a fine mesh sieve over a small saucepan. Boil the resulting liquid until it reduces and is thick (stir and reduce temp to avoid burning). Add the solids from the sieve to the reduced tomato juice, along with the garlic, oregano, and pepper. Stir and keep warm on low temp.
Cut the baguettes in half lengthwise to produce 4 roughly equal crusts. Top each with a generous layer of Pecorino Romano. Bake on a sheet or rack (with foil underneath) until the cheese is slightly golden and slightly melted, 5–10 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave the oven on.
Spread a thin layer of the pizza sauce on top of the cheesy crusts. Top with the fresh mozzarella and then the sliced mozzarella (trimmed to the size of each crust) and then the with the pepperoni slices.
Bake the pizzas until the pepperoni browns in spots and the cheese is well melted, slightly bubbly and brown. Remove from the oven, allow to cool slightly, and slice in half crosswise (if desired) before enjoying with a good Italian red!