Day 10 - July 7, 2018; Rogaliks, Ricking and Rocking

Once upon a time, in the great city of Poznan, a baker made the first St. Martins Croissant, called a rogalik. Once upon a time, Grandma, Grandpa, Dad, Isabella, and I drove to that same city. It was a two and a half hour drive, during which we wrote our blogs and diaries, gazed at the countryside streaming by us, read, and played on the iPad. Getting to the city was no big deal, but the city itself was amazing. 

The old part of the city had a main square lined with small, two story medieval-looking buildings, though later, we realized that they were but a copy of the old buildings, since most of the square had been lost to bombing in the Second World War. 

Anyway, there was a street for pedestrians leading from our car to the square, so we decided to take that street to get there. On the way, we stopped by a storefront showing elegant rogaliks row after row. Dad got one to split among the five of us, but sadly, they did not meet our expectations, due to the fact that they were under baked. Then, we stopped for coffee and some real pastries in a cute store. I had what they called a Duck’s Foot. It is a pasty that is shaped in, well, a duck’s foot. It had sweet coconut and raisins inside. So good! Isabella got a cheese baguette. Unfortunately,it was covered in mushrooms, but she ate it! Dad had coffee and a cheese pastry, while Grandma and Grandpa shared a syrnik. But not the one Mom likes to make. Their syrnik was like a cheese cake made with cottage cheese. Then, Isabella sprayed soap on the back of my shirt, and I got very upset at her. 


Moving on, we finally got to the main square. There, every day at 12 o’clock, two 500 year old goats come out of some small wooden doors on top of the main church, and start butting their heads. And no, they are not real goats. After the goats retreated back into the building, the stampede of people trying to leave was incredible. Almost like school on a last day, except with more people, and a bigger space. We tried to get to a rogaliks-making class, but it started at 1:45, and you could only get tickets fifteen minutes before. 

Then, we went to the museum made out of their oldest castle. They let us climb to the top of the tallest tower and see the city from above. On Grandma’s words, “You can never see the beauty of a city unless you look from above.” Then we went down again, and posed trying to get a devil from leaving the room. We ran through the exhibits, as it was almost time to go, and walked down to the St. Martin Croissant class. Grandma had to come with us too, because children aren’t allowed to do anything alone. Ugh. You have to go to a museum with a parent, a class with a parent. It’s very annoying. 

Anyway, we got into the class, where a chef was ready to outfit us in bakers clothes. It was a very fun 50 minutes. We made fake croissants,because usually one batch takes a day to make. We used pizza dough instead of yeast or pastry dough. And we didn’t wash our hands. The chef only let us have three seconds of water, as it is the Poznan way to save everything, and to spend less money. I loved the part when he was describing the ingredients that went into the icing. “Powdered sugar, water and calories”. We also got a history lesson about Poznan. The room was 500 years old, with a ceiling that was decorated in a really beautiful manner. The colors were very vibrant. The chef said that this happened because there was wood hammered into the ceiling, so not light could dull the colors. 

After the class, we got Dad a rogalik, and got in the car to drive to the oldest church in Poland. We sorta got lost on the way, but that was good because there was a wedding in the church, so we got to see the bride. The church itself was very tall and even had a relic of a 300, or so, year old sword, given to a prince by the pope himself. After we visited the church, we drove to a park, where Isabella and I played on the playground and watched mountain skate boarders practice. 

After the park, we went to a Polish restaurant. I ordered bread with goose fat and pickles for the table. I got a sour soup as my main dish. The üher, the sour soup, it actually very good. It is served in every Polish restaurant in Poland. After dinner, we got into the car and drove home. A great ending to a great day. And that’s how this day went down in history, July 7, 2018.