These crosses mark dates of protest in Poznań. They stand directly outside of the Collegium Minus, with the large one marking the most important protest date in 1956 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pozna%C5%84_1956_protests ) and the others marking smaller protests. Poznań has apparently always been a source of protest, as one can also find the Bazar Hotel here, the location from which it is said that the Polish uprising against Prussian rule began prior to WW1. Even as close as yesterday, Laura and I could hear a massive crowd marching through the streets. Though their chants were distant (but still ferocious enough to be heard in our dorm room), we are aware of the ongoing Polish protests against ACTA, and we speculate this was another one such protest.
(This is the last photo I’ll post before setting up a queue. Promise.)
So here’s a busy street in Poznań. This is a modern street and it’s usually pretty busy with traffic. Poznań is a pretty popular market city with many impressive shopping centers (one of which actually won a prize in 2005 for being the most beautiful mid-sized shopping center in Europe from a European shopping center association). Most people here seem to be either students or shoppers. In that way, we fit in, but it can be difficult to do some simple things without knowledge of Polish. In this photo you can see a distant crane. Our guide, Miceak, pointed out the many signs of construction throughout the city. Poznań, he said, seems to be perpetually under construction. This is apparently due to modernization and attempts to bring in more tourists and immigrants into Poland. In addition, Poland and Ukraine will be hosting the Euro 2012 Cup, a massive soccer championship. Poznań, which boasts a rather large arena, will be host to part of it. The train station and many other locations are thus being rebuilt with an expected completion date of “around May,” in time for the games in June. “But,” said Miceak, “the harsh weather has delayed us, and I am not sure that it will be ready in time.” Whatever the case, Laura and I should anticipate an insanely busy city in June.
Adam Mickiewicz University’s Collegium Minus. Something that we quickly found out was that AMU does not really have a “campus.” The colleges are spread out across literally miles of land - the entire city of Poznan is essentially the campus of AMU, with colleges here and there. While that makes getting to class a *huge pain* (oh my god 40 minutes of travel time to one class from the official school dorms?) I am not sure they could have done it any other way. The city is so very, very old that, as AMU expands, it has nowhere to go but outwards. If you’ve ever been to Philadelphia it bears some similarities, with many streets not having been designed for use by vehicles. But back to the Collegium Minus, this building was at one time host to many classes at AMU, but is now in the process of being transformed into a traditional Chancellor’s House. As a result, it hosts fewer classes and more administration.
