Blogs from Wroclaw, Lower Silesian, Poland, Europe - page 2

When a traveller has visited the top 2 or 3 urban areas of one prominent nation, is it worth them delving beneath the surface and focusing on urban areas of smaller sizes? Well, if you lend some thought to this reflection, then in the case of Japan's Kyoto, Ukraine's Lviv, Uzbekistan's Bukhara and countless others besides, the advice is never to just assume that bigger is proportionally better. With that in mind, step forward Poland's Wroclaw, the nation's 4th largest city, but in many ways, certainly no 4th-placed contender, for what this pretty package has to offer. The best indication of the level of prettiness we are talking here in Wroclaw's city centre, a colourfully eclectic collection of buildings, each with its own colour and architectural style, each one destined to outclass its rivals. Nearby Wroclaw ... read more

Today began with a morning sightseeing tour of Wrocław with a local guide. The group boarded our motorcoach over on Nowy Świat, along the Odra River. (Coaches are not allowed along Kiełbaśnicza where the hotel was located. I liked that name--Kielbasa Street!) The coach drove us over to the Exhibition Grounds. The Wrocław Exhibition Grounds opened in 1911 in a then far eastern part of the city. The centerpiece is still the Centennial Hall (Hala Stulecia, originally Jahrhunderthalle). (The centennial was that of the proclamation by Frederick William III of Prussia for the Prussian people to resist Napoleon.) The modernist exhibition hall designed by architect Max Berg and opened in 1913 was named a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2006. It still looks like a modern round sports arena, or something one might encounter at Epcot. ... read more

Soon after our arrival in Wrocław we began to notice the tiny statues around the city. One was right outside our hotel! These are the Gnomes or Dwarfs of Wrocław (Wrocławskie Krasnale). They are everywhere about the city. The tiny sculptures were installed beginning in 2001. They commemorate the Orange Alternative movement that peacefully protested suppression of free speech and assembly during the time of martial law in Poland from 1981-1983. The movement's tactics included street art that featured images of dwarfs. They new dwarfs assume whimsical poses, with themes often associated with the area of the city in which they are located. Some are easy to spot on the ground or on window ledges, while others are hidden on lampposts and such. More continue to be added and it is thought that there are more ... read more

Before we go too far, none of the above are directly related. Well, Poland does have public toilets and we arrived on a Ryan Airline flight, but stay with me here. Bright blue skies took the edge off our, at times,140kmh trip to the Brussels Sud Airport, and with booked parking and a free shuttle bus we arrived with time to spare. Tim had an exam in the morning which limited our travel time but Natalia had us there, safely ( she’d want me to add that) , in time to pass the military check and the airport security check. ( As a side note, wherever Sue sees the word SUD, she thinks we’re approaching a laundromat.) Alicia, Natalia’s mum, met us with big smiles and hugs and we were soon parked in the peak hour ... read more

The hostel provided a free breakfast, which I helped myself to. When reading reviews of the place online, I loved how some people were moaning about how basic the breakfast was. It's a hostel, it is cheap, be thankful you are getting free food at all people. Tea, toast and cereal filled me up nicely and set off to explore some more of Wroclaw. I had decided to head over to Cathedral Island and explore some of the surrounding midtown section of the city. I headed up through the Old Town, near the Town Hall, but up a different street that I hadn't explored the previous day. Once again, the style of the buildings reminded me a lot of those I had seen in South East Germany. I saw the former St. Joseph boarding school, which ... read more