I'll be back in a shot

Aug 17 2008 By Steve Dinneen

Vodka Fuels Poland's Party City

On a summer afternoon, Poznan is a lazy market town, the central square filled with locals sipping cold beers under bright umbrellas

But come night-time, when students from Poland's second biggest university have finally risen, it becomes a giant, bustling party, filled with pumped-up Polish men and women with cheekbones so sharp they could peel potatoes.

And the "real" Poznan, it seems, involves drinking vodka. Lots of it.

Herb vodka, bison-grass vodka (brewed from wild grass grazed on by mighty mountain bison and supposedly gaining its special properties from their absorbed urine), mint vodka, caramel vodka. Think of something edible (and a few things that aren't) and chances are the Poles have turned it into vodka.

Connoisseurs should check out Dragon, a sprawling bar that winds through an entire tenement block.

Trees snake out of the stonework and candles sit in carved niches in the bares tone walls. In the basement, a DJ plays house music all night.

This, I remember thinking, as I finished a glass of something that tasted like mint, is pretty close to my idea of heaven.

Poznan, fifth biggest city in Poland, is relatively new to tourism - which means visitors, rather than ranking below feral pigeons as they do in some European cities, are a point of interest. Hit the bars in the Market Square and it won't be long before someone is pulling up a stool, boasting about how great Poznan is and telling you why you have to try this drink...

After the Nazi occupation, Poznan was a major German stronghold and the spectacular Imperial Castle, built for German king William II before the First World War and since unoccupied, was chosen by Hitler for his base in the east.

Part of the castle was converted into a replica of Hitler's Berlin war-room and the windowless marble-panelled room remains intact. Entering it still sends a chill down the spine. When Poland was taken by the Allies, the castle was home to the scientists who developed the Enigma code-breaking machine.

Much of the city was destroyed in a month-long battle between the Nazis and the Red Army. This, sadly, has been the story of Poznan's life with pretty much every army between France and the Middle East burning the city to the ground at some point or other.

The war memorials, especially the giant crosses outside the university, are worth seeing. While some of the restored medieval and neo-classical buildings are stunning, some of the architecture is less so thanks to the Communists.

Other than the ubiquitous statues of Stalin (now removed) the Russians clearly had more important things to worry about than decorative buildings.

Even their HQ in the shadow of the Imperial Castle looks like a 60s supermarket, which is ironic as that's what it houses now.

The hammer-and-sickles are long gone and Poznan's flag features two goats, from a legend in which the creatures, on the menu for dinner, escaped and scaled the clock to wer.

Mechanical versions of them emerge above the clock face in the market square at noon every day.

The National Museum has an excellent collection of contemporary Polish art and the largest collection of work by Spanish painters in Poland.

Pedestrians will spot graffiti by wall artist Banksy sprayed next to the Old Brewery shopping centre.

Twenty minutes from the city centre, Lake Malta is billed as Poznan's finest family day out, featuring water sports, a mini toboggan and a dry ski-slope.

It's also worth checking out the Lech Brewery, where Poland's equivalent of Tennent's lager is produced.

Cheap Ryanair flights to the city means it is ideal for factoring in a longer trip, taking in Berlin to the west and Warsaw and beyond to the east.

That is unless you get a little too used to the mellow atmosphere of the local bars, the stories of Communist times from the locals, the beautiful people and the sharp burn as the vodka hits the back of your throat. You might not leave at all.