Olsztyn - north of Poland

[Bonobo]

I still recall views of Olsztyn of 1989 when I went there to a uni student camp. It was a dull city with grey drab houses. We went to an International Dance Festival and I remember sitting on decrepit benches in the crumbling open-air theatre. The benches were so old that we sat on crude rock, almost. The wooden floor where the dancers performed was full of holes, I pitied them, I was embarassed that Poland was so poor then. Yes, I knew that Poland had been destroyed during the war and later communists prefered to produce tanks than paint and plaster, but still .....

When I see pics of the city today, it looks so different.





















































They renovated the open-air theatre. Ancient Greeks would be proud!

[jeanne]

Nov 13, 2016 1:27:12 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

I still recall views of Olsztyn of 1989 when I went there to a uni student camp. It was a dull city with grey drab houses. We went to an International Dance Festival and I remember sitting on decrepit benches in the crumbling open-air theatre. The benches were so old that we sat on crude rock, almost. The wooden floor where the dancers performed was full of holes, I pitied them, I was embarassed that Poland was so poor then. Yes, I knew that Poland had been destroyed during the war and later communists prefered to produce tanks than paint and plaster, but still .....

When I see pics of the city today, it looks so different.

Wow...you certainly can't call the new version of the city "drab"...!

[Bonobo]

Nov 13, 2016 17:33:14 GMT 1 jeanne said:

Nov 13, 2016 1:27:12 GMT 1 Bonobo said:

I still recall views of Olsztyn of 1989 when I went there to a uni student camp. It was a dull city with grey drab houses. We went to an International Dance Festival and I remember sitting on decrepit benches in the crumbling open-air theatre. The benches were so old that we sat on crude rock, almost. The wooden floor where the dancers performed was full of holes, I pitied them, I was embarassed that Poland was so poor then. Yes, I knew that Poland had been destroyed during the war and later communists prefered to produce tanks than paint and plaster, but still .....

When I see pics of the city today, it looks so different.

Wow...you certainly can't call the new version of the city "drab"...!

Polish cities stil require a lot of investment after decades/centuries of neglect, but what matters is that the improvement started after the fall of communism and it won`t stop.