Wroclaw - laid back and on a SWING!

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It was early morning, but the traffic was already rushing. Me and Edita met at the hitchhiking point in one end of Warsaw. She said she hasn't slept all night - Erasmus party.
- Have you hitchhiked before? - I asked her.
- No.
- Have you couchsurfed before?
- No, - she smiled.
So it was going to be a double adventure for her. It was not my first time hitchhiking, nor couchsurfing, but still I had an up mood for traveling and adventures. A mood for the road.
So I raised a sign and Edita raised a thumb. People around, as usual, looked at us as aliens (and there were quite a lot of people as this was bus stop). Were were not very lucky, as around an hour had to pass until a car stopped.
Lucky for me Edita is Lithuanian Polish, so Polish is her first language, SO I could sit back and relax, no tongue breaking with my minor Polish. Woman (our driver) was talking on phone and very in a hurry. Apparently she was going somewhere fast and she did not know the road. As I understood she picked us up because she had to stop for a little at this bus stop while talking on phone. Also she said she could take us just around 30 km, but that was a start and we both wanted to get out from that cursed bus stop. All this information I got to know while I was folding a map of Poland, which the driver asked me to fold. I am not very good at map folding, but in few tries I got it. All the time woman was driving fast and quite crazy and telling something about how she has not ever driven to that place. Eventually she dropped us off at a gas station.
It took just around 10 minutes for other driver to stop. He has a nice new car and (woohoo) he was going all the way to Wroclaw. I tried to sit back and relax while Edita was speaking, but I could not, as we were going at incredible speed. Well, apparently he was going to some sort of race. (You don't say?.. )Well, but we got to Wroclaw safe and sound. After short tram ride we were in the sunny city center. First thought - to get food. Second thought - to get some desert. There was one vegetarian cafe in center so we decided to go there (as it got so usual for me to eat vegetarian during travels). The Market Square was really nice. After getting food we could relax and enjoy everything. And there was much to enjoy - nice architecture, street musician playing old rock ballads with electric guitar, lots of people moving around. For the sweets part we decided to get some gofry (a waffle with whipped cream, fruits and whatever other stuff on it). With fresh (at least I hope it was) and warm gofry in our hands we got to the shade of church and sat down. Soon the free riders started gathering around and by free riders I mean sparrows and pigeons. Of course, as we are kind heart people we gave them little pieces of our gofry, but more and more started gathering around. Surprisingly they came very close to us. More surprisingly, they ate from our hands. Even more surprisingly they were flying around us and trying to get gofry out of our hands. I lost my last piece of gofry in this battle as a sparrow bumped into whipped cream and (oh no) I was not going to eat it after that. So it was sacrificed. Edita was still fighting her battle, eating her waffle and avoiding the sparrows flying around her. She managed to eat most of her portion, just throwing some of it further away to get attention of birds from her. When she finished sparrows hung around a little more expecting that we may eat something more. With disappointment one by one they flew away. On the other hand they were not disappointed for long - another couple of people came and sat not so far from us with gofry as well. As sparrows approached they started feeding them, just like we did. They did not know what was ahead of them...
After sweets we could do some more relaxed sightseeing, which means we did not have too know how objects we look at are called, we just look at them. Eventually we decided to go to our hostess. She lived a bit further from center in private home area in a nice attic, which was separated as a flat. After short warm welcome we were already getting ready to go punk rock concert (yay). Concert was in some sort of an alternative place and all people were punk-looking, artistic and as usual in these places, very friendly. Dogs and bigger dogs were running around us, people moving, enjoying the fresh evening weather and beer in the yard. Concert was in a building, quite a small crowded place, but it was nice and music was something I was missing in Warsaw a lot - powerful , energetic, moving rock. This evening really stuck into my mind as so pleasant, that I still now can remember the feeling of being there.
The next day was for sightseeing. Our hostess Karolina is a vegetarian, and often cooks vegan. And I will go ahead and tell that she was a person who inspired me to start exploring veggie/vegan eating habits more. Breakfast was really nice, and the desert - vegan chocolate cake was just awesome. We got so much into talking that we got out of the place just after noon. Karolina was showing around nice places and telling some stories about Wroclaw. We ate lunch at my usual place - vegetarian Green Way cafe. Soon after lunch me and Edita had to go to Music Theater as we had tickets to Swing! concert. We bought those tickets day before, as seeing a play with dancing and Duke Ellington music was alluring for both of us. And that was really good decision, as the play was great. Music, costumes singing and dancing all were in 30s-40s style and we both were charmed and went out in greatest mood. More in that evening we went with Karolina and her boyfriend to a park where in German occupation times Hitler told his speech. There was also a monument from him - a very tall shooting into sky pole thing... (what a surprise, huh). (see pictures).
We walked around that nice evening more, drinking juice (or beer), talking about things, like, for example, that in German language word "shmeterling" means "butterfly", which was a funny surprise for me and Edita.
Next morning we just relaxed at Karolinas place. As we sat down to eat breakfast, we (again) got into so much talking that 5 hours went through like nothing. As hard as it was, we had to stand up and leave, as it was hitchhiking back day.
First trouble was when the bus that used to go to outside of city supermarket was not going anymore. So with Edita's Polish skills it did not take too much time to find a bus that was going more or less to same place. After getting there we had to walk far and there were no good hitchhiking spots so we started asking around in a gas station. An older couple after few doubts took us in. They were very nice, but in a hurry (as all people in this trip, as it seemed). They dropped us off at nice hitchhiking spot and it took just around 5 minuted for another car to stop. That driver was extremely nice. He talked with Edita almost all the way even trying to get me with my poor Polish into conversation. His radio was not working, so he said he wanted to pick up some hitchhikers instead of it. We answered that we would better be talking radio, not singing one (really, for everyone's sake). So in this pace we got into his hometown and he dropped us off. Then we were just walking down the road to find a hitchhiking spot. We still had our thumbs up, but we were facing our backs to the road, so we did not expect anything. But surprisingly a car stopped almost instantly. There were two women - older one driving and younger one looking at us with a surprised look on her face. Apparently older one wanted to pick us up and stopped, but she was talking on phone, so she did not tell about her intentions to her daughter. But it was cleared up and we got our ride all the way to Warsaw. The woman was very energetic and fun. Even though she did not know how exactly to get to Warsaw and often was missing the signs and we were staring at the road all the time not to miss a turn, we had great time. The woman told that she was hitchhiking when she was young. Even had a story when some man took her off the way, but she told him to back off and that he would get into so much trouble if he touched her... and he listened. In one trip we got two women stopping for us, and before I had this just once in Poland, in my trip to Serbia. So eventually we got to Warsaw and she let us out not far from tram stop. With our hearts filled with joy me and Edita both got back to our dormitories. The road was really giving this time.

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Photos

Naked guy statue
Students say that when pretty girl passes, the sword rises...

Hala Turgova
Made by Hitlers architect,

Pigeons
Pigeons are spoiled there, they eat just inner part of bread.

Hitlers Monument
Or by local name monument of erection.