Poznan is the first city I'd ever been to in Poland 4 years ago, on my first real solo multiple-country backpacking trip. Other than having to pay a fine on the tram it hadn't left many lasting memories, but it turned out to be a surprisingly pretty and pleasant place. The quality of the archeological museum was also a nice surprise, especially the part about Sudan. And this time I knew one has to buy a ticket before getting on a tram.

Szczecin is a bit strange, it's got some incredibly beautiful buildings, scattered between many uninspiring modern ones. Some guides will tell you this is because the rest of the old town was destroyed in the war, but according to In Your Pocket "Szczecin, largely untouched by the war, was coerced into demolishing many of its historic buildings in order to "donate" an estimated 27 million bricks to the Warsaw rebuilding program - sadly this remains a fact largely brushed over." But I'm still very happy that I went there, because there is a Dutch pannenkoekenrestaurant (pannenkoek = crêpe)!!! I felt like I was 7 years old again and pannenkoeken was the biggest treat I could imagine. It reminded me of going to Sluis with my parents when I was a child, only Szczecin hasn't as many sex-shops. They didn't have brown sugar and their pannenkoeken are a bit too thick and dry, but nevertheless they made me very, very happy. Maybe it was time to go home.