I have spent most of my life living in places with plenty of vowels in their names (Toowoomba, Mooloolaba, Mount Isa). The last two days we ventured from Gdańsk to Bydgoszcz and Elbāg, both times via Tczew with only 4 vowels between the lot of them!

Yesterday we travelled to Bydgoszcz, a rising star on the Polish landscape. Despite being defined by the number of hairdressers, beauticians and manicurists … It is also undergoing some serious building and refurbishment after being all but demolished in the second world war and neglected during the Warsaw Pact era.

Hungary and Poland both joined the EU in 2004. Both were offered the same financial incentive – clearance of all standing debts to the EU, or the grant of an equivalent amount of money. Hungary took the cash and was soon back in financial strife, Poland went debt free and their economy has continued to grow, so much so that it is now the world’s 20th largest – just behind Saudi Arabia. (I suspect I would have done a Hungary; just taken the cash and partied for a while, Linda would have gone debt free! Natalie however????)

Cities like Bydgoszcz did it tough in the early years of EU membership, but are now starting to boom. Granary Island in the centre of the city is a wonderful green space and the old mill and storage buildings have been turned into museums, art galleries, libraries and other public facilities.

We were struck by the bronze sculptures throughout the city, not only of the tight rope walker, but also a single rower suspended above the Vistula or the bronzed depiction of victims of WW2 … one cannot escape the impact of war, invasion and mass destruction. It would seem that Poland has been wedged historically  between the push and pull of its neighbours’ quest for territorial advantage and is now emerging with new found strength.

We visited Elblāg today, and although it is perhaps less advanced than Bydgoszcz down the urban renewal pathway, it still seems like a town advancing rapidly and tastefully rebuilding. It is quite close to the Kalingrad  border (about 80 km). There seemed to be few people out and about at lunchtime – perhaps they were at home preparing for the rumoured visit of Queen Mary later that day …

After a day of exploration what else to do but board the regional train back to Gdansk, taking in beautiful rural scenes as we hiccup slowly through towns desperately seeking their own vowels to broaden their visitorship … Gdansk Wrzeszcz, Slupsk, Pruszcz-Gdansk … Just to name drop a few. Rosewood once again comes up trumps with four vowels –  and Tallegalla the same. Small wins are still sweet wins for a boy from the outer suburbs of Ipswich (2 vowels only in Ipswich!).

Fcrly Cnzngtn-Smyth