Szczecin Off The Beaten Path

A great webcam in Szczecin. It has 25x zoom. You can view a shipyard, a port, Pomeranian Dukes' Castle, Waly Chrobrego. First you must log in. There is also a huge colection of photos of the port in Szczecin.

Guinness World Records - CERTIFICATE
The oldest cinema in the world is the Pionier Cinema which opened as the "Helios" on the 26 September 1909 is still in operation today as " Pionier".
It is situated at Wojska Polskiego Avenue 2 in Szczecin.

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Mushroom picking is something that every Pole did at least one in his/her life.
Some people go mushroom picking every day in September and early October.
As kids we used to go few times a week sometimes on our own.
I will never forget delicious soup made of fresh mushrooms and I will also never forget dreadful threading each mushroom on the thread to dry it on the room heater.

This late August (2010) as the mushrooms started showing up in the woods I took my hubby (American/Italian hubby) to try some mushroom picking.
We found nothing but I think he got the feeling and enjoyed the experience.

Be aware of ticks - as they can cause Lyme disease / Lyme borreliosis.
Always wear your socks on the top of your pants, also take your clothes and shower as soon as you get home.

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There is plenty of cute local villages around Szczecin.

You can spend nice time going for a day or getting a room in agroturistical accommodation.

Local farmers and housewives often rent rooms to travelers. Usually there is no breakfast included but you can bring your own food and use their kitchen (fridge, stove, utensils).
Sometimes you can arrange on making you a breakfast.

Here are photos from one small village near Drawsko and Borne Sulinowo

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The Customs-House is the one of the very few buildings at the island Lasztownia that survived the air-raids during WWII. It was finished in 1908 and was the seat of Szczecin customs authorities from the very beginning.

Inside, there is a small smuggling exhibition. You can visit it from Monday to Friday between 8.00 am and 3.00 pm (it will be required to inform the janitor that you wish to see the exhibition).

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The impressive Second-Empire-Style residence at Wojska Polskiego Avenue (by 1945 Falkenwalder Strasse) was built between 1888 and 1889 for a manufacturer August Lentz, the co-owner of the Szczecin Fire-Clay Equipment Factory (ger. Stettiner Chamottefabrik), the then biggest company of this sort on the Central-European market. The residence was designed by Max Drechsler. Its original décor was mostly preserved.

In 1945, the residence was taken over by the Soviet military authorities and in 1947 - by the Roman Catholic Church. Between 1950 and 2007, it was the seat of the Youth Palace, the distinguished cultural centre. After the Palace was moved to the building located at Piastów Avenue (by 1945 Barnimstrasse), the residence became the branch of the "13 Muses Club. Currently, it houses the municipal cultural institution, "Szczecin 2016"

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While sightseeing around Szczecin, you'll certainly notice that there are lots of griffiths in the town: stone, concrete of glazed - the city is full of them.

Szczecin, the former capital of Duchy of Pomerania, is often called the "town of the griffith". Its coat of arms depicts the red griffith head wearing a crown. This mythical creature, the combination of two royal animals: the eagle and the lion, was the sign that the ducal House of Griffith were using. There's an old legend about the knight Zelislaw who discovered the griffith nest near Szczecin. The duke was so amazed with their beauty that he decided to adopt the griffith as his coat of arms.

The griffiths are present in the coats of arms of many Pomeranian cities: Szczecin, Stargard, Swinoujscie, Slupsk, Szczecinek, Darlowo, Torgelow, Wolgast, Greifswald and many, many more. The griffits were also present at the Great Coat of Arms of Duchy of Pomerania, the independent country which existed until 1648, when it was partitioned between Sweden and Brandenburg. The Great Coat of Arms included the coats of arms of all lands within Pomerania.

Try to go and find as many griffiths as you can. They're very photogenic, you know. :)

I saw a number of these rather ornate waterpumps all over Szczecin. I thought they were only decorative but, as the photo shows by the water on the ground, at least some of them are functional. Obviously, we didn't test all of them, but this particular one is just opposite the main door of the Basilica near ul. Farna.

The ex Mrs-p is seen here keeping herself warm on what was a bitterly cold day.