"Wonderful, historic city." a Szczecin Travel Page by planxty

I last visited Poland in 1992 and had a wonderful time there. I'd always promised myself i would return some time. I had not, however, been to the North of the country before. Mrs._p, lovely woman that she is, saw that Ryanair, a low-cost, no frills airline, had recently opened up a new route and were offering ridiculously cheap tickets. She promptly booked two, got a good deal on a hotel, and on Friday night we duly trotted off to Szczecin for a couple of nights. We had a wonderful time.

Polish hospitality is legendary, and this certainly has not changed, although so much else has in the 13 years since my last visit. The town itself is pleasant, with some beautiful old buildings, many of which seem to be undergoing repair at the minute. I get the impression generally that there is a lot of work going on. Whether or not this is a result of Poland's recent EU accession, I don't know, but there is a very real sense of regeneration about the place.

Szczecin does not, as yet, seem very geared to tourism, although I think this will undoubtedly change as appears absolutely inevitable with the coming of a low-cost airline to any destination. I sincerely hope it doesn't degenerate into a boozy stag weekend destination for drunken idiots - that would be a shame.

i shall be constructing a few pages in the next few days, as I get time. Please bear with me.

Szczecin sits astride the Odra (Oder in German) river in the Northwest of Poland, close to the Baltic Sea, and is the capital of the recently created Western Pomerania province. It's extremely strategic position has meant that, over the centuries, it has been a very important trading port and also that it has been invaded on numerous occasions. I suppose the two are fairly inextricably linked in European history! The Danes, Swedes, Germans and Brandenburgers have all roamed through here at one time or another.

The most recent conflict, the Second World War, left the town devastated, not least by Allied bombing, and rebuilding has been going on more or less ever since.

In the post-war period, like the rest of Poland, the town was under the control of the Soviet bloc, a situation which only came to an end in the late 1970's with the Solidarnosc (Solidarity) movement leading to the Soviet withdrawal and the situation now where Poland ahs joined the EU and is looking forward to a future in the heart of Europe again.