With Poland being only a 2-hour train ride away from Berlin (and me loving train travel as much as exploring new places*) a trip to the historic city of Szczecin (German: Stettin) was only a matter of time. And I’m actually running a bit of time here in Europe because I’m heading across the Atlantic again shortly.
Szczecin is a port city on the Oder River, which flows into the Baltic Sea. The city has belonged to Pomerania, Prussia and various versions of Germany. Sixty-five percent of the city were destroyed in 1944 when the Russians and the Germans were having it out. It’s comforting to see that quite a few of the old buildings survived, like the Ducal Castle (Zamek Ksi???t Pomorskich) and Cathedral Basilica of St. James the Apostle (Bazylika archikatedralna ?w. Jakuba), from where I took the bird’s-eye-view shot.
While filming outside the palace I head one older German man who was part of a wedding party point down the street and tell the story of how he got the scar on his leg on that block in 1944. It’s something to cherish that history still walks among us to learn from and to remind us to not make the same mistakes again.
Although this trip, originally planned with other people, got delayed again and again, the timing turned out to be wonderful because I got to travel with my friend Adeline, whom I hadn’t seen in 10 years, and her man Julien, both visiting Berlin from Paris. Here’s to many more random adventures with with friends around the world!
The music is a mazurka (a Polish musical style) called Mazurka No. 23 D-Dur Op. 33 – written by the Polish composer Frédéric Chopin and performed by Ukrainian pianist Lubka Kolessa in 1928. This piece and performance are in the public domain.
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*… and me having an afinity for Soplica Hazelnut Vodka, which so far I’ve not seen at any stores in other countries, and which I prefer simply poured over an ice cube. Of course, I’ll never turn down a glass of ?ubrówka and natural apple juice either.
You can look at more photos from this video shoot on my personal blog: Photos from Szczecin (Stettin) – Poland
