Done with my spin through Zamość I went back to the parking lot to grab the Renault Clio and get on the road toward my next stop in southeastern Poland: Rzeszów.
But first, I needed some lunch ahead of the 2+ hour ride to Rzeszów. Happily there was a McDonald's out on the way (kind of) and I kept my McCrispy streak going one more day.
(Also treated myself to a chocolate shake!)
Vibes here departing the shopping center could have been anywhere in US suburbia.
Zooming out for some perspective, this is where I would be driving. Down in the corner of Poland close-ish to the Ukraine border.
It was another generally interesting drive. But I like driving and can find something interesting in almost any type of scenery. Lot of farmland out here.
I like fork-in-the-road shots. I like highway sign shots. This one showing the fork off to Lviv ticks two boxes for me. I kept going straight.
Getting into Rzeszów I was met with relatively heavy traffic. Was kind of surprising. It's not a huge city (pop. ~200,000) and I didn't think it was rush hour (it was ~4pm). But it was slow going the last few kilometers. While in this traffic I took a few pictures. On the northeast side of the city I passed by Pomnik Czynu Rewolucyjnego (aka, the Monument to the Revolutionary Act).
Next shots here show some random, incongruent slices that caught my eye.
Navigation to the apartment I rented was not simple. Neither Waze nor Google Maps knew quite what to do with the address I was given by the manager. The address was Polskiego Czerwonego Krzyża 6/10. And it's marked with the heart on the map image below.
Once I knew I was in the general zone I found a place to temporarily park the car, figuring I'd find the place on foot and then double back to bring the car over once I had my bearings. Kind of a pain in the ass, but the upside is I was in one of the most beautiful parts of Rzeszów, on and around aleja Pod Kasztanami (aka, avenue under the chestnuts).
Beautiful. I will also remember this area because after I parked the car I was walking around the other parked cars trying to discern if I needed to pay for a ticket, or if it was permit parking only. So as I was snooping the dashboards of a few cars some woman popped up on the balcony of one of the buildings and -- I'm guessing here -- shouted out something along the lines of 'what the hell are you up to?'. I gave her a 'sorry, I don't speak Polish' with a shrug. She grimaced and kept eyballing me for a bit. So I figured I better hustle to the apartment and get a handle on where my allocated parking spot was. But on the way I took in the scenery, which I was catching in a great light before sunset.
This next building is the Lubomirski Summer Palace, which now has become some combination of office space, event space, and also maybe part of the restaurant Delice (more on that below). Lovely setting and I'm sure in its day it was amazing. More on that here from Podkarpackie Travel if you're interested.
Also caught site of this tower.
Walked through another little pretty pathway until I got a better view.
(No one using these tables today, but I'm guessing that's a prime spot in the summer. They belong to Delice.)
Soon enough I found my apartment (officially "Apartament nad fontanną") which you can find on booking.com. I paid $80 for my one night stay. I feel like I've done this a few times now, where the nicest place I stay is always the shortest stay.
Solid living room with a views of the park.
Kitchen with the magic trifecta - microwave, kettle, and a stove that worked (I was getting the hang of the induction stove tops by this point).
And a comfortable place to sleep.
Now oriented, I went back for the Renault and successfully relocated it before any local parking authorities were notified.
After spending two nights in Lublin getting to know the city and some of its highlights (find those posts within my Poland page), it was time to head out for Rzeszow. I had seen some compelling videos about Rzeszow on YouTube and it breaks up the drive down to Zakopane, so I thought I'd check it out.
First order of business, however, was to pass by Majdanek. It is just outside the center of the city, off to the southeast side, as you can see in the map below.
Driving over you realize when you get close that you can't miss it. Huge open field with the monument up front facing the road and all the structures standing off in the distance. I took the signage pic below as I was getting near.
Looking back now I realize I should have at least built in some time to park nearby (I see this lot on google maps), but I didn't. This was going to be a full day and I was trying to just get a brief view of the site. So I spun around on this semi major road (Droga Męczenników Majdanka) and pulled over. First I took a picture of the monument.
Then what struck me was people waiting for their bus with all this in the background. Missed them boarding, but snapped this bus stop pic to remember. What a place to just be going about your daily commute, with the weight of history behind you.
I walked up and took a few more pictures as I focused on the feeling of being there.
Obviously my experience was limited and superficial. But even so, it's grim and powerful seeing the sight in person with the vast, flat, open fields and the dark, somber structures. Leaves an impression. Hopefully one day I will have the opportunity for a true visit.
From here it would be about 1h 15m to Zamość, which is deeper in the southeastern region of Poland, not far from the Ukranian border (maybe an hour from the border, then another 2 hours to Lviv).
Took the Renault out on the open road to Zamość, which was pretty flat and mostly rural / agricultural scenery.
Clipped a little video to as reference. As I recall I was behind that VW much of the ride.
Got one scenic shot along the way.
And then before I knew it I was entering the Zamość roundabout.
My strategy upon arrival was to park on the southern side of the center in the lot indicated by the heart icon at the bottom of this screengrab, then stroll some of the perimeter before entering the town.
Zamość has an interesting story worth digging into if that's your thing. It was founded in the 16th century with intent as something of a designed city not too long after the Union of Lublin agreement linking the Kingdom of Poland and Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Its position on the trade route contributed to its importance, and so it was designed to resist intrusions, hence the exterior walls. Its origin date was right in the heart of the Renaissance and those in charge tracked down an Italian who had moved to Poland (Bernardo Morando) to lead the development. I encourage you to google phrases like "Padua of the North" or "Pearl of the Renaissance" to further explore that aspect of Zamość's heritage. There will be more of the Italian style design in pics further below, but first some shots from my route walking clockwise around the southwestern and western edges of town.
(View from my parking spot on the southern edge of the city)
I found an entry point and starting weaving my way into the city from the southwest corner.
I stumbled upon some period piece film production near Brama Szczebrzeska. We all exchanged puzzled looks. Me wondering what they were up to. Them wondering why a tourist was meandering about at noon on an April Thursday.
Bumping into them was perhaps fitting, as the whole town had the feel of a film lot. Look at these streets.
That last one is the southern boundardy of Rynek Wodny, a smaller, satellite square off the main plaza (I mean, Rynek). Smaller Rynek was pretty.
(You can see the tower of the famous town hall off in the distance here)
The larger Rynek is the star attraction of Zamość, so I made my way over there. Took a little clip, again panning too quickly, for reference.
I am a fan of tidy, symmetrical facades. Take pictures of them wherever I see them. So of course I spent a few minutes capturing this scene.
Made my way over to the steps of town hall to get some perspective.
And took the obligatory video from the elevated position.
Mission accomplished getting to the stairs of the Zamość town hall, I went to explore a bit more of the center. Which I saw was similar to the parts I had already seen. More movie lot-esque side streets.
I am mildly curious about the presentation of the lady bakers as seemingly shirtless underneath their aprons. You might think you're heading to a Polish donut shop inspired by the Hooters concept. But you're not. Everyone inside dresses normally. T-shirts mainly. Some baker coats. No one is shirtless.
I also went looking for Podwórko Marka Grechuty (wejście Grodzka 3) which looks lovely and definitely appears in some YouTube videos praising the quaint beauty of Zamość. In retrospect, I think I ducked into a neighboring residential area, which was also cute, but not the IG famous one.
So, that was my brief survey of Zamość. Similar to my stop in Kazimierz Dolny, I clearly was not getting the peak experience, visiting as I was midday, midweek, offseason. But I knew that coming in. Point of the visit was to get an idea of the place. And I can say that if you're in position to pass through during the summer, or on the weekend, it's certainly worth a stop. Historically relevant, architecturally interesting, and undoubtedly well-maintained and charming.
