Is there anything interesting in Kołobrzeg? The Polish sea in winter and summer.

Some old stuff got found here.

The first part of this note was written when I was still working in Rewal. I forgot about it. Now, by accident, I have found this introduction, so let me use it to describe the Polish sea, which in summer and winter creates two completely different landscapes.

Off to Kołobrzeg!

I couldn't wait for any trip away from the resort. Finally, the day came and we set off together with the children. The journey from Rewal took us about an hour and, surprisingly, the tykes didn't go crazy and didn't puke (thank God! ).

Kołobrzeg is a well-known seaside city. It lies at the mouth of the Parsęta River and the Baltic Sea (Poles and my friends: I know you know it, but this note may someday get translated into another language). Many people have been travelling to Kołobrzeg for years to treat the upper respiratory tract, joints and circulation diseases. Tourists are also attracted by the beaches, iodine, or summer music festival Sunrise https://bilety.sunrisefestival.pl/. About fifty thousand people live in the town. I suspect that in the summer, when tourists come up, this number grows a lot.

Is the Baltic Sea beautiful in winter?

Everyone loves the summer Polish sea. Everyone but me. A few years ago I went to Kolobrzeg along with my mother. We stayed in a hotel at 1 Rodziewiczówny Street. Bałtyk, because that was the name of the hotel, was then still under repair. Despite this, the conditions satisfied us. Have you ever been to Kołobrzeg? Have you been to the pier and seen the hotel right next to the beach? Well, that's the hotel I'm talking about. See how it used to look:

I know, you can't see much in the pictures. Well, I do not have a fresher and more suitable material, so I'm hustling up in what I have. Maybe the room isn't impressive but well, you spend least time in it. The most important are: the kitchen (they fed us wonderfully), a spa and swimming pools (they were clean, well-groomed and with handsome rescuers). We enjoyed it a lot and didn't want to leave.

Again, I'm not writing about the things I wanted to. You see, I have been to Kolobrzeg twice. Once in the summer, once in the winter. Most people do not see any sense in going to the sea during winter. Well, what for? Cold water, food stalls closed and it's generally a dog's dinner. I see it a little differently.

In the winter, the sea makes sense (how stupid it sounds). There are no paravans, scattered beer bottles and crowds of tourists. There are less people and more animals. The sea sometimes even freezes a bit at the shore, creating a few solid nubbles. You can clear your mind, take a deep breath, think. And even though your hands and feet freeze and the wind is blows on your neck, the smell of the coastal air in the winter compensates for all this. But let's be practical; after all, cooler seasons guarantee lower prices in hotels, restaurants and other attractions.

What to do by the sea during a snowy season?

Some time ago I would ask myself the same question. Ha, a few months back, I didn't see the point in spending the winter by the sea. Having opened the photos you're looking at now, I reminded myself of all the charm and sense of "wintering" at the Baltic Sea. The list of attractions is not as interesting and long as in the mountains at the same time of year, but this time I'm being an optimist and I believe that someone will be satisfied with the suggestions listed below.

• Strolls as in the winter we inhale more iodine! Each of us learned about its great power - it speeds up wound healing, lowers blood pressure, has therapeutic properties (which is interesting, read about it somewhere on the net), facilitates cleaning airways and treats inflammation. Most of us - people from the Baltic region - don't even know that we have the most of iodine. Other seas don't come up to the Baltic!
• Spas, pools and aqua-parks are always full in the winter. Maybe fans of loneliness are not delighted by this fact, but an attraction is an attraction. It is sometimes good to fry your feet and all other body parts in chlorinated water. Or to simply regenerate in the spa. After all, winter is a "hard" season for our bodies.
• Skiing. And here comes a surprise, eh? Yes, you can also ride down the slope at the seaside. A good example is Łysa Góra in Sopot (http://www.lysa-gora.pl/). I have not done it myself yet, but maybe in the future, when I travel to the Tatra Mountains or the Giant Mountains, I'll give it a try.
• Ice swimmers' baths should not be called an attraction, but come on. After all, we like to stare at other people, especially when they are doing something weird. Nay, we can be brave ourselves and join the madmen. I'm planning to do it this winter, I hope it works out.
• Admire! That's the most important. I have lived near the sea since I was born and it takes me about half an hour to reach to the nearest beach. And in fact, the Baltic Sea disgusts me but not in winter. As I already mentioned, in the winter the sea makes sense. The views can sweep you off your feet, seriously, and I'm the person who's writing it; a constantly nagging girl.

Why am I prejudiced against summer by the sea?

I entitled this paragraph incorrectly. It is not prejudice but boredom. I've been looking at the Baltic since my childhood so I'm sick of it. No, I'm not sick, but having seen the Aegean, Mediterranean and Adriatic seas, our "home", smelly reservoir simply disgusts me. In fact, our beaches are cleaner, "more comfortable", because they have sand, not stones or rocks, but still, the algae and cold water sticking to the body don't encourage to spend holidays by the Polish sea (and I do it every year, stupid me! ). That's not all, it's not the end of my complaining. Let's not forget about high prices, windbreaks, nasty people, poor food and the omnipresent smell of urine (in the winter you do not feel, ram tarararara! ), discos with horrible music (of course not everywhere, but most often coastal towns don't impress by their clubs /campings). So much about the seaside drama. I won't write what you can do in summer because everyone knows that well.

What can you see in Kołobrzeg?

I'm sorry, but I have to complain and criticize again. In Kołobrzeg, apart from the sea, there is nothing interesting, really. There aren't many monuments. The events are not in my "type" and it is not worth going so far only to visit water parks. However, I'll put together everything that I managed to remember and I'll briefly describe it.

Let's begin with the neo-Gothic Town Hall which is located at 12 Armii Krajowej Street. I went on my tour with a larger group of young people or even children (depends on what age division you acknowledge). We didn't have any guide or even a person who had stayed in Kołobrzeg before. Well. We, educators, turned into tour guides and Wikipedia was our informer. Somewhere out there, on some web page, I found a legend about Adebar, who wanted to take power in the city in a not-so-noble way, for which he was sentenced to death. The verdict was executed on the square behind the town hall. Legend has it that an unknown stonemason carved the head of the degenerate on the head on one of the semi-columns. The relief was meant to remind the rest of the people of the harsh hand of justice (at that time justice was still there - jealous! ). We won't see the head from the story in Kołobrzeg, but we have the Globe - a mini fountain that moves thanks to the fact that it is placed on water (I don't know how to explain it, go and check it yourself). And although the sculpture is gone, the column has survived. The next story says that if we touch a fragment of the pillar, we will certainly return to Kolobrzeg one day. We can even fulfill our wish (I believe only in falling stars, so I didn't touch it).

Below you will see a building that I would love to own. I don't know if it's for sale or for rent, but it has been empty for some time (is there a rich person out there who would like to fulfill my dream? ). I would throw huge parties in it. I'd add some stairs, clean the bricks, put some old sofas, good equipment, hang atmospheric lamps and find some place for two small plumbings. People would come from all over the world, and my friends, that would they play there, would become worldwide DJs. It all looks beautiful in my dreams... This bastille - the Fuse Tower, is built in Gothic style (probably everyone sees that in the picture) and located on 20 Stanislaw Dubois Street.

Further we see something boring and ugly again. Reduta Bagienna (the Marshy Redoubt) was once part of the port's defense system, today people go there to gobble or let children go to the playground (it sounded as if they took their dogs for a walk, right? ). Right next to this terrible red building there's a yacht port, where we can look at things that will never be within our financial range (I sometimes like to be a masochist).

Again, the time to believe has come! The con-cathedral basilica of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary is unattractive and its history is not particularly interesting, but it didn't upset me. I really wished to go inside to see the painting "The Knight in the Cemetery", which reminds me, thanks to its appearance and colors, of "Garden of the Earthly Pleasures" by Hieronymus Bosch. Unfortunately, I was at work and there wasn't enough time for pleasure. I had to settle for the taste, as we say it in Poland.

It is not far from faith to a legend, so let me present you the Monument of the Marriage between Poland and the Sea. It is one of the many ugly modernist creations in Poland that fulfils wishes. It is enough to go from one side of the monument to the other through the window without breathing (do not just sit in Kolobrzeg and fulfil your desires). Attention, if you wanted to see one more miracle unveiled in 1963, then you should go to Jan Szymański Boulevard. And not to finish this description on such a dry note, I'll tell you that the author of this crap is Wiktor Tołkin (his name is super cool).

From now on it will only get better. I did it on purpose: first I complained and now let's move to pleasure. When you read, you mostly remember the end and the beginning of a text, that's why I'm going to finish this post with a positive accent; nay, even two nice paragraphs. Pier. This is definitely the biggest attraction of Kołobrzeg. In fact, residents can boast it because it is one of the nicest piers I've ever seen. You know, it's nothing special: boards, water, birds and people. However, it's nice to be there, it's nice to feel the water crashing against the breakwaters splashing on your face. The "stroll runway" is two hundred and twenty meters long and nine wide. Look and admire:

The last attraction is a lighthouse, built in 1934. Its height is twenty-six meters and the height of the given-out light is thirty-six meters above sea level. You can enter the tower and admire Kołobrzeg from above, which, from this perspective, presents itself really nicely, see for yourself:

Goodbye, I'm going to Trójmiasto!

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