Postcards from... Cieszyn

Having been in Poland for a whole three weeks, it was time to go sightseeing. I was in two minds where to go though. My head said Krakow, my heart (and the weather forecast!) said Cieszyn. You can't argue with the weather forecast so it was off to Cieszyn I went. I got a bus at 08:45 (8.50zl one way) and by 09:30 was in Cieszyn.

Cieszyn is a quaint little town, slightly Viennese in style (according to Rough Guide anyway). It is literally on the Polish border, so literally in fact that the after World War I when the borders were re-drawn, half the town ended up in the then Czechoslovakia. The Poles got lucky though as they got the nice 'Olde Worlde' bit while the Czechs had to make do with a fairly ugly suburb.

Morning haze

Tea shop sign

The Rynek (main square)

Exploring the streets

Anyway, having scooted around Cieszyn proper, I decided to set foot in Český Těšín (Czech Cieszyn). It actually felt like another country! I mean, I know it is one, but having left the prettiness of Cieszyn proper behind, you really felt the oppressiveness of the suburban Český Těšín.

Unfortunately I didn't have a map so my wanderings took me to the end of the main street and back to the safety of pretty Cieszyn proper. I later located the tourist office and, map in hand, ventured back to  Český Těšín. I have to say that even with a map there was little of interest there! Still, it was my first foray into the Czech Republic.

Now entering another country

I headed back across the bridge to Cieszyn, whereon I found myself at the foot of Castle Hill and the Neoclassical summer hunting palace, which was built in the 19th century on the foundations of the lower castle. Though the castle was closed, the grounds were not and so I went exploring.

The hunting lodge

On entering the grounds, I was immediately drawn to a stone rotunda. It turned out to be Kaplica św. Mikołaja, an 11th century Romanesque church dedicated to St Nicholas. The church afforded me extensive but hazy views of the surrounding countryside.

The rotunda

The view from the top

Nearby was the 14th century Wieża Piastowska (Piast Tower). Standing 29 m tall, the tower is the perfect spot for looking out over Cieszyn and Český Těšín.

One of the oldest architectural treasures in the region

Hazy views

Spires in the haze

By this time several hours had passed and I was getting hungry so I made my way back to Rynek (the main square in Cieszyn proper). Earlier I had seen two cafés so now all I had to do was choose one. I think I made the wrong decision.

I managed to use my limited Polish to order tea with milk, but that was it. Rather than accept that I couldn't speak Polish, the waitress decided to push me to order something else, saying "Ciastko?" (which is 'cake' in Polish). Now I like cake and would happily have ordered some had the menu not merely said 'Ciastke' (cakes) and something about daily specials. When you're lacking in language, menus that simply say "ask your waitress for the specials" are NOT helpful. I ended up walking to the cake cabinet and pointing at something. But would the bitch accept it? Hell, no! She had to make a mountain out of a bloody molehill, pretending that she couldn't figure out which cake I'd just pointed to. She was shrugging her shoulders and laughing about the stupid foreigner who couldn't even choose a cake. Thankfully, the Polish customers she was trying to include in her 'joke', confirmed which cake I wanted (it was obvious to them which cake I had just pointed at!) and I was free to sit down. The cake wasn't especially nice, but I ate it, mostly because I had no intention of trying to order anything else in Cieszyn!

The city's skyline

Entering the Rynek

After a quick walk in the sunshine I decided it was as good a time as any to head back to Bielsko. But on reaching the bus station another obstacle presented itself: how to read the bloody bus timetable. I understood the destinations OK, and of course the times. What I didn't understand was all the little letters beside the times. Of course there was an explanation but it was all in Polish.

Using the little Polish I had I gathered that some buses didn't run on Sundays, some didn't run on weekend nights and some didn't run on public holidays. All good but none of that applied on a regular Saturday afternoon. I soon deduced that the 14:30 only ran on weekdays. But what about the 14:40? And the 15:00? I'd got most of it figured out but there was a word I couldn't understand, just in front of 'Saturday(s)'. I looked at the growing queue of people. There had to be a bus. And, thankfully, there was. Strangely the bus back cost 8.70zl (20gr more than earlier) and it took 80 minutes instead of 45, but I didn't care because I had gone sightseeing and gotten myself back to Bielsko without too much drama. Sightseeing, done!