Rzeszow: A city full of surprises

Rzeszow was not pretty or important enough to find its way into my guidebook, nor was Lancut, and yet I am incredibly glad I made a stop there.

I was hosted by Robert and was immediately made to feel right at home. He took time off from writing his master thesis to show me around Rzeszow and the surrounding towns. But mostly, he made me regret the fact that I travel with such a big pack. He’s a hitch-hiking fanatic. Well, maybe not that extreme, but he has taken part in hitch-hiking championships between Sopot and Munich and has an endless array of amazing stories and experiences. During my two days in Rzeszow we managed to hitch three rides, one in absolute record time, where I barely had enough time to step on the sidewalk, stick out my thumb, and had a vehicle screeching to a halt. But on my longer journeys, as much as I would love to travel in this fashion, the large bags are simply not conducive to it. It is not so much the fact that people won’t stop for me because of a big bag. However, there are times when you might go hours without being able to get a ride and sometimes find yourself needing to walk a kilometer or two, or eight or nine. With a little backpack that wouldn’t be an issue. Maybe next time round. A young couple, Kinga and Chopin, managed to travel around the world by hitch-hiking, so why not (they have a book out describing their journey).

My first day in Rzeszow was spent meandering through the Old Town. It is not very large, but nevertheless very charming. It’s got a beautiful city hall on one end and is surrounded by gorgeously restored old facades and an endless array of cafés and restaurants that spill right out into the square. Truth be said, there is not much more to Rzeszow. They do have a tour of the underground tunnels, but I must admit I did not go on it. The river running through the city provides kilometers worth of strolling options and it seems that we did quite a bit of walking. In the evening we came back to the city center to watch Justyna Steczkowska (a well known Polish singer) perform for free in the town square.

The following day we headed out to Lancut to see the beautifully maintained and decorated castle as well as their wagon hall (Powozownie). Not quite sure what you would call it in English, but it’s a beautiful garage in which they exhibit all the old wagons used by the castle inhabitants as well as those collected by the museum since then. They have everything from hunting wagons, luggage carts, sleds, limousines to speed wagons. Quite the impressive collection.

From Lancut it was back to Rzeszow and from there off to Kolbuszowa where we wanted to visit the Skansen museum (akin to the Zaanse Schans near Amsterdam). It was a very quaint and peaceful setting. There was virtually no one there and we could wander around the fields and old historic houses as we pleased. It was from there that we managed to catch a ride in record breaking speed. I seriously thought that the little car’s breaks would start to smoke given how quickly and forcefully the elderly gentlemen stepped on them.

When back in Rzeszow we headed towards the center to grab a bite to eat, passing the empty stage in the city square that was playing Sting and joked about how funny it would be if he were to perform there that night. Well, after dinner it turned out it wasn’t Sting, but yet another big name in Polish music. This time round it was Grzegorz Turnau who sat at the piano, accompanied by a small orchestra and his band members. It was an absolutely amazing concert in a beautiful setting that was made even nicer by the fact that the menacing rain clouds of the morning had all but blown away and the night sky was strewn with stars.

I truly could not have wished for a better two days in Rzeszow.