Watching the Goats!

Did I do any sight-seeing in Poznan? Well not much. The combination of heat and a sore knee put a damper on my plans. But on Tuesday of the week I spent there, I really needed to find a Bank-o-Mat, what an ATM is called in Poland. My staff at the hotel desk did their best to explain to me where to find one near-by. I didn't find one on a cross street so continued down to the rynek. There I asked a young man who was putting out chairs for an outdoor cafe where to find a Bank-o-Mat. He pointed straight ahead and with a bit more walking I found a sign for a 24 hour Bank-o-Mat. One had to open a door from the street and enter into a foyer. It actually is quite obscure from the rynek. This may be purposeful, because I hear stories about that the present mayor of Poznan has his own ideas about the design of details about the rynek. Now every umbrella must be a bland beige - all the same colors about the rynek. Personally I like the ryneks in cities that have more variety for details.

I finished my task a bit after 11:00 and decided it would be a perfect day to watch the clock on the Town Hall strike 12 noon. I went to nearby cafe where I would have a good view of the clock and ordered an iced coffee.

These and Lipton Peach ice tea sort of make hot summer days in Poland bearable.

The Town Hall was right in front of me.

The two photos below show a bit of detail on the building.

I watched this mime trying to pick up a few coins. I thought this a very hard way to make money on a day when the temperature was well over 90 degrees (34C).

The legend for the goats is that a banquet was once being prepared -- perhaps in the 17th century. The chef burned the venison and had to improvise quickly and remembered there were goats nearby. Well the goats had a different idea; they ran from the kitchen up into the clock tower -- and there they have been ever since.

There was a bit of a crowd gathered even on a Tuesday to watch the clock -- but nothing like I had observed on Sunday when I walked in the same area to have lunch with friends.

The clock strikes 12 noon and then these doors open ---

Then the goats appear --

and they engage in head butting as only goats do.

Perhaps the goats approve of our drinking coffee while we wait for their appearance. After all another legend says they are responsible for our drinking coffee in the first place. (Interested? See my blog posting from January 2015 about the dancing goats at http://adventureshereandthere.blogspot.com/2015/01/adventures-with-dancing-goats.html

I had really planned to go to the museum inside the Town Hall, but got further turned off from that idea by the noise and mess from an archeological dig going on in front of the Town Hall. I couldn't even figure out where the entrance was and knew my knee simply wasn't up to the search and then walking stairs within the building. Another year will be better for that idea.

Walked back to Puro Hotel to enjoy a wonderful lunch and the air conditioning.