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Published: December 6th 2014
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After the football distraction of the previous day, the Man in the Middle was on a mission. The nearest information he had was that his old man hailed from these parts, before WW2 intervened and circumstances meant that he had a spell under duress making ball bearings in a foreign land. The details are scarce. The exact route to the UK is even more of mystery, but what is known meant leaving Przemysl sometime in the years after 1941 and rolling up in the UK after the cessation of hostilities. Alas, there is no BBC TV crew on this trip with us to point him in the right direction of all things family tree and it was always going to be just a trip to be into the dark.
We left Rzeszow on the regional train. A mere 10.90 Zloty takes you the 87 kilometres east. The scenery changes between the usual agricultural hinterlands and some relics from the industrial heritage left behind by the Communist authorities. There was a large plant still functioning on the outskirts of Jaroslaw and Przeworsk seemed to be a first class industrial mess. We descended into the valley of the River San to the
main train station at Przemysl. The historical masters of this region of Poland were the Austrians, who ruled from their administrative centres in Lviv and Krakow. The train line was originally built to link Krakow in the west, through Tarnow, Rzeszow and on to Przemysl and Lviv in the east. Whilst Rzeszow has now become the new regional centre and boasts an airport, the former importance of Przemysl is immediately obvious from the train station. A grand sizeable building, built in 1896, is an impressive entrance.
The division of the economic hinterland of the town since 1945 has obviously not served the area well. The border with the Ukraine is just a few miles away and the effective closed status for many years has not helped in any sense. The comparison with Rzeszow - airport and all - was immediate, as we wandered eastwards away from the train station towards our accommodation. The street looked run down. It was Sunday, which also meant that the majority of busiensses were closed. I had ignored the convenient option opposite the station entrance in favour of power points that worked and better reviews. The street on which we walked was largely deserted
in mid-morning, but also looked like it had little to offer during the bustle of the week. The bar nearest the hotel looked less than inviting - we would confirm that later, no doubt. The Catholic church nearest our hotel must have been standing room only as a crowd had gathered outside. We dropped our bags and having failed to secure a map from the hotel, headed back towards the Old Town.
The buildings on our alternative route were a mix of decaying and renovated. The small EEC badges on some, gave the game away as to who had paid for the paint job. The Old Town was much more extensive than Rzeszow . A church on a great many corners was testament to both the strong faith of the Poles and also money. The first major square we entered contained a statue of Pope John Paul, who had taken in Przemysl on his homecoming tour. The Square also contains a church tower, strangely missing a church. It now forms a base for a Museums to Bells & Pipes. Przemysl has a history of 200 years of pipe making and bells are everywhere, so the un-natural combination is a
logical one in Przemysl.
We meandered gently through the centre drinking in the atmosphere. There was no doubt with the grandeur of the buildings, that times had been good in the past. Grand statues, great bells, cobbled avenues, a castle and a large town square. The Austro-Hungarian empire had certainly left some architecture to enjoy. The main town square is dominated by the Town Hall, proudly flying the flag with a symbol of the town - a bear. The bear features strongly in the fountain in the centre of the square. He enjoys his bath it seems only on a Sunday - there was no sign of water on the other days. Well there was plenty of water coming down from the sky, but that wasn't exclusively for the bear. Pipes also feature in the square. A statue of of the Good Soldier Svejk, who happens to be carrying a pipe, watches over proceedings. He was the central character in a fictional Czech novel about a faithful soldier of the Austro- Hungarian Empire during World War 1. The shining nose suggests that he is a popular chap and manages to successfully divides his time between Przemsyl and nearby Sanok,
where another interpretation of him sits. I exercised the obvious photograph opportunity that he provides.
We climbed in pursuit of a view towards the castle. The castle is now some sort of drama workshop, but the forecourt in front offers a view over the Old Town towards the river. We naturally spied the football ground of Polonia Przemysl - formed in 1909 - another one of the older generation Polish clubs lost in a further generation or two of Socialism. A mental note was made to take in the ground later. The view shows the divide of the town on both sides of the River San, a divide that would be the front line after the division of Poland by the Germans and the Russians after the the former invaded in 1939. The military history would become the focus for other aspects of our visit, encompassing the huge significance of the town as World War 1 loomed.
The Polish winter brings darkness very early and the opportunity to add to the photography collection was disappearing into the gloom. We wandered back down to the Square and along the river towards Polonia. Polonia it seemed had closed for the
winter and even the trusty tactic of trying all possible gates, failed to get us inside. The padlocks looked formidable. We climbed on an old bunker from World War 2, but more of that in another blog. It was time for a drink.
On a trip to Krakow a few years back, the lack of drinking opportunities was evident. Przemysl was very similar in it's attitude to alcohol and the search for a drink leads downwards to a basement or to the upper floors. A brewery sign ws a clue as we passed back along the riverside, but despite disappearing into the adjacent building following a sign, we returned to the street empty handed. The two large bars overlooking "the bear" were too obvious, so we continued ins earch of something a bit more local. We descended beneath a pizza bar to become the only customers in a dungeon. We found a pint for a mere 4.50 Zloty. As with Rzeszow, we both figured we could like it here.
It must have been comfortable, as we descended a few hours later having completely overlooked a missing baseball cap and being unaware that one of the prize haul of
Stal Mielec badges had fallen from a wallet. What kebabs were to Rzeszow, pizzas are to Przemysl and our choice seemed to have made for us. The beer was wearing off after a 10 minute exploration of the food options and fortunately the cap and badge had been safely retained for us. Friendly folk - the good people of Przemysl!
The pizza restaurant in Pope Square was a good choice. It was the busiest place in town on this Sunday night. As with the toasted sandwich in Mielec, the eyes were bigger than the belly again and we ordered a somewhat larger model than was really required. Fortunately we'd opted for coffee rather than beer, but that just helped us recognise our error. Good pizza, though. We wandered off into the night slightly heavier!
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