Couple's European road trip makes unexpected stop in Swindon's twin city

A man from Wroughton and his wife stopped off in Swindon's twin city in Poland during a European road trip last month.

Trevor Cook and his wife decided to include a visit to the city of Toruń on their journey to Helsinki in their vintage 1955 Austin A30 having joked about stopping their for one evening.

Mr Cook said: "After doing a little research of the area we decided that it would be a good idea rather than just a small joke."

The couple made the journey in their 1955 Austin A30 (Image: Trevor Cook)

The initial idea for the trip was conceived in March and by June, they began the journey.

It took them from Harwich to the Hook of Holland by ferry, before they drove about 700 miles through the Netherlands and northern Germany into Poland.

The city of Toruń, which is one of Swindon's three twin towns or cities alongside the town of Salzgitter in Germany and the Nicaraguan town of Ocotal, is about 200 miles from the German border.

Mr Cook said: "As soon as we started to approach the city we could see how historic and pretty it is.

Toruń (Image: Trevor Cook)

"Toruń was an unexpected highlight of our road-trip. It was beautiful, with plenty of history and has a heritage that seems to be embraced can valued by residents and visitors.

"Driving around the city was not too fraught, satnav being immensely helpful, if not a little inaccurate at times.

"Our hotel was directly opposite the castle and offered a fantastic view.

"Car parking is a premium in the medieval old town and one of the reasons that I booked this specific hotel was that it was located in the old town centre but still offered a few parking spaces, albeit at £16 per day."

He continued: "As we unpacked our bags I was aware of a rhythmic thumping that turned out to be the sound check for a concert that was going to be held later that day in the castle grounds."

The couple attended a free concert (Image: Trevor Cook)

The concert turned out to be an unplanned free entertainment for them that evening, though they couldn't understand the Polish lyrics.

The couple spent the afternoon exploring the town, starting with the wide river.

Mr Cook said: "The city seems to embrace relaxation along the river with its plentiful seating and ice cream parlours. The city gate is impressive and has a small write up about its history."

The gate lead to a large leaning tower which the couple chose not to enter as "several dozen tourists arrived at about the same time".

He said "lots has been done to publicise the older parts of the town with information boards in German as well as Polish".

Toruń (Image: Trevor Cook)

As the day drew on, the couple settled for their evening meal and a local beer before watching the concert.

Despite not understanding Polish, they soon figured out it was a Christian rock group.

They later went sight-seeing around the town at midnight when the concert was still going on and noticed a large number of people still out and about but said it "never felt intimidating or awkward".

After sleeping through the end of the concert, the couple "didn’t start too well" the next day.

Mr Cook said: "We accidentally turned onto a restricted road, typically we could have probably continued the 50 yards and got on our way, however the police happened to be watching us and pulled us over."

A policewoman asked to have her photo taken with the car (Image: Trevor Cook)

He said he was issued with a fine of 100 złoty, which is about £20, but the police were "polite and even asked permission to take a photo of themselves with the car".