If It's Not Baroque, Then Don't Fix It (June 5th)

Poznan is the home town of our very own guide Natalia. Each choir member was given the option of either staying at the resort and having a chill day or go into the city of Poznan. To Natalia's delight, every choir member wanted to go to Poznan.  The preliminary plan for Poznan was to give us an entire free day in Poznan to explore the city. We would get back together later in the afternoon and hear Natalia's musical group, Regeneration, sing for us and us for them.

Poznan happens to be the largest city on our tour and probably my favorite city of the tour.  This post will probably be my longest. It definitely has the most pictures in it. We arrived in time to see an event that happens everyday in the main square at noon...two mechanical goats ramming heads.  I don't particularly know why this is important but it is. These two mechanical goats went at it for about two minutes. What struck me was how full the square was. There were lots of school age children. It seemed to be either a tradition to leave school and go see the goats everyday, or classes were participating in a local field trip. Either way there were lots of people around. In my opinion it was a bit overrated. I expected something more. The goats came out of their doors and rammed heads. People were cheering throughout this entire event. I don't particularly get it but who am I, a foreigner, to argue with Old European traditions.

Emily and Myself Watching the Ramming of the Goats

Poznan City Hall

Bre & I (with photo bombers Grant and Chris)

We were told to split into groups of 5 for the day for money and meal purposes. I spent the rest of the day with 4 other wonderful people: Ashley, Courtney, Brocker, and Sarah. We walked down some streets around the square to see what might be open for lunch. We did not find much. The only places open at the time happened to be in the square. We also looked at some of the touristy shopping carts. Everything had the goats on it or said Poznan. Nothing really struck me as something that I would want to take home. There were also several artists selling their work as well. Some of these works of art caught my eye. I browsed for a bit among several arts and marked which ones I liked. I settled on a painting of the city hall. For me it was a good buy because I know where it came from and it was something that was authentically Polish made.

The 5 of us got lunch with our sound man Doug at a cafe in the square that used to be a post office. I ate some traditional Polish soup and some black tea. It was a nice light lunch. At some point in the day I was hoping to get another kebab. I love kebabs and I had marked a few places where I could get a kebab. As we left the cafe we spotted a mime in the square performing. It was none other than our friend Josh (ssshhhhh you're not supposed to know). We watched him perform for a bit and even dance with Ashley. People were dropping money into a hat. He played some baseball with a little boy who kept hitting the ball into his sister's head. In the square there was also a guy playing guitar, so naturally Josh went over and formed a band. Josh played several instruments while the guy continued to play his guitar.

Josh doing his thing

Josh dancing with Ashley...although she looks uncomfortable

Josh forming his band

When we left Josh in the square we just started walking. Something that I have learned in my time in the UK was that it is more fun simply to walk and not really knowing where you are going. We had a map, and we located some places that we may like to see, but we simply picked a direction and started walking. When we got tired of going that direction, we could go back or change direction. I was happy that we ended up going from church to church. We would see a church spire or something that resembled a church and we would just walk towards it. I do not know many of the churches that we went into. I should look up the churches, but at this time I don't really want to do that. So I cannot give specific information on what church it is, but what I can tell you (and show you) is how ornate and baroque many of the churches were. It goes without saying that many of our churches in the US do not even come close to many of these churches/cathedrals.

Our first church was one of my favorite. When I walked in the only thing I could do was stop and look. It was very appealing to the eye. There were some people in the pews praying, so it was of the utmost importance that we were not disruptive to those around us. I took many pictures and got a closer look at some of the more ornate qualities of the church while others simply sat, looked, and prayed. It was truly something to behold. This was only one of the churches that we would visit in this single day.

Altar

View down the center aisle towards the altar

Notice the Dove

Ceiling 

Our second church was not as ornate as the first one. It was also darker. It was a more simple church yet it still emotes gothic qualities. 

From there we travelled into a more modern part of the city. There we came across a multi-tiered mall. We walked by a thrift shop. The girls in our group wanted to go in and see if they could find a deal. Well they did not buy anything, but I convinced Sarah to dawn what I called the "Chewbacca or Wookie" Dress. It was horrid looking. I can't imagine anybody wearing it seriously. It was on a mannequin and we took it off. This dress would definitely make a statement at the Count's Ball. 

From there we walked into this park area and what looked like a palace behind it. Courtney saw this couple making out hard core. She snuck up behind them and someone took a sneaky picture with Courtney creeping in the back. We also took some sweet band like pictures in front of this large art scupture as well as behind some tiny trees. They have not been up loaded yet onto my blog as they were not taken with my phone.

Our next church was pretty similar to the first in terms of the prominent color of white, ornate gilding and moulding. Again this was a place that when you first walk in you just have to say "awe!"

View down the center aisle towards altar

Closer view of the altar 

View of the pulpit

Grand view of the central aisle 

While walking around what looked like a government building and we came across a bronze casting of some goats. They were Courtney "Half-Pint" sized :)

Left to Right: Ashley, Sarah, and Courtney

The final church was definitely the largest and likely the most expensive. Surprisingly it was right off the main square and somehow we missed it. I say that it must have been the most expensive because it was filled with this greenish marble. That alone would have cost a hefty penny. There was also lots of gold gild work. This place was intense. I wished that we were having a concert in this place. We saw several other choir people in the church and most people had pretty much the same reaction. Everyone was clearly impressed. 

The Organ

View down the center aisle to the altar

Wide angle of the center aisle

View from the center aisle toward the organ

This prayer chapel thing was on the side. You can see Brocker and Courtney standing next to it. It really shows the size of this church. 

View of the church from the outside. From this view it was hard to tell that it was a church. You can see tiny crosses at the top, but other than that it does not have the normal features of a church like a tall spire(s). 

Kebab

I then split off from the group and got dinner with Courtney. Both of us wanted to get a kebab...and so we did. We found this place and the guy inside was really nice. He spoke to us in English and was asking us where we were from. He also offered us some Middle Eastern tea which is pictured below with the kebab. All of it was really good. After a nice meal and a awesome talk, Courtney and I walked back to hear Regeneration

Mixed Formation Friends & Lovely Ladies (Left to Right: Krissi, Me, and Tynelle)

The lovely Anika and Myself (plus photo bomber Tyler)

Regeneration is a small music group that performs Black Gospel music. These people had the soul and they had the sound. I was really impressed. They were really good. They instantly got 72 new fans. I had some videos of them singing, but it was taking forever to download.

Grant conducted the choir and spoke to the local Poznan news station

Ben and I

Ben, Myself, and Jay

Grace and I

Left to Right: Jesse, Krissi, Me, Stephanie, Grace, and Madeleine 

Today was an awesome day with awesome friends. But the day did not end simply with leaving Poznan. When we got back to the resort hotel, i went out with Ben, Ellie, and Leah. We went out and got some pizza because we were hungry. From there we went to a pub and hung out with others that showed up. Ben and I tried having a conversation with this Polish guy. What we basically were able to talk about with his limited knowledge of English and our no knowledge of Polish was that America has big land and little history and Poland has big history and little land. It was super hard to communicate with him. We drew pictures and did charades. We did not get very far and we started getting tired to we said goodbye and we returned to the hotel for the night. But as a last minute thought, Ellie wanted to go "Tramping in the dark," which meant that she wanted to go "trekking" in the dark. We walked down the same path that I had walked down with Bre, Dan, and Tyler the night before. Today was definitely a memorable day and one that I will remember for the rest of my life.