Friday, October 3, 2008

Torun and Ciechocinek, Poland 18.06

After a day of resting in Wloclawek, we decided to visit Torun again. We went with Artur's parents to an Italian restaurant that had a good reputation for its pizzas. After lunch, the girls went off in search of some more wedding dress shops, hoping for more luck than last time, but most places had the same response, 'new line coming out in December, wait until then'.

Meanwhile, the boys went shopping at some computer shops, looking for a hard-drive for backing up our digital photos. They didn't buy the hard-drive, but soon after they wandered into a shoe store and about 30 seconds later, walked out with a pair of shoes for Artur. It had to be the world record for shopping for a man who doesn't like shopping. He bought the Nike Free shoes, which he had been considering for a while because of their light weight and flexibility. The shoes were a good price, in the right size, so it was perfect. Everyone was shocked that he'd managed to buy shoes in such a short space of time. It usually takes him ages to find something he likes.

We used the opportunity of being in Torun, to visit Ciechocinek, which is very close by. Artur's parents have two houses there, so they were showing them to Loren for approval for family and friends to stay at during the wedding in Poland. The houses were great, and really close to the main sights of Ciechocinek. The town is quite small and is used as a health retreat and spa town, and a place for people to retire.

Ciechocinek is also very famous for a structure built there in the 1800s, called Teznie. Teznie looks like an enormous fence with wooden poles leaning against it on a diagonal, to keep it upright. The 'fence' is made from the branches of a very thick shrub, because it has a lot of surface area. Salt water is poured down the walls, and evaporates in the air, to create a micro-climate. People with respiratory problems often come here to breath in the air as they walk around the walls. Crystallized salt has coated everything at the bottom of the wall, and looks pretty cool. It is also nice just watching the ripples of the water flowing down the walls, and the sunlight reflecting off the droplets.

You can see the Teznie from one of the houses, so after we had a look at the house, we went off to walk around the big wooden structure. Artur was quite shocked when we arrived, as they were charging people about AUD 3, to walk around it. It had always been free, for as long as Artur had known it. It must get expensive for people who usually walk around it every day, especially if they have kids, or for the people who moved there to benefit from it. However, after a certain time, entry becomes free again. The walk around the structure, if you circle the whole thing, is about 4km, so it's pretty huge! We decided to go for about 2km. The air was very cool and refreshing to breath in, and there was a very oceanic smell about the place, like the sea breeze.

After exploring Teznie, we decided to walk into town. We went to see the 'Grzybek' (little mushroom) fountain, which pumps salt water. The water from this fountain runs on the same water as the Teznie. We walked a little further and into a pretty park. We wandered through the little pathways, and past a statue of a man. The lanterns along the path were very pretty as well. As we walking back to the house, we saw a beautiful gardenbed full of colourful flowers. It was a flowerbed of a clock, similar to the one on St Kilda Road in Melbourne.

Our last task was to check out the second house before we headed back to Wloclawek. Loren was even more impressed with this house! It was so big, and even had a sauna! There was a nice garden here as well, and several big balconies. So many people could stay comfortably there!

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