Hooray for Görliwood

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Hooray for Görliwood. Walking through the streets of Görlitz is truly like walking on a film set, and that's because it has been a film set on many occasions! You can pay for a tour, or just wander around like we did. There is a website to help you plan a little: Görliwood.

Of all the films that have been made there, we have seen one or two. The Grand Hotel Budapest is the one that stands out but not because we particularly liked the film - we didn't! The department store where it was filmed is closed to the public but peering through the doors and windows you can just about make out the art deco interior. It's a shame as I'm sure we would even have paid a Euro or two to go inside. We have also seen The Book Thief, The Monuments Men, The Reader and Inglorious Basterds, all of which were much better films!

Other than stunning street scenes around every corner, you also shouldn't miss the St Peter and Paul church just over the pedestrian bridge from Zgorzelec. It was fairly simple inside but worth the visit, although I just was not prepared to pay €5 for the right to take photos. The nearby gardens inside the old city walls are nice for a short walk too.

Alongside the river is an old abandoned factory. It would be ripe for a bit of Urbex but there was no way inside! Still, curiosity killed the cat and all that, so we did manage to get a peek inside through some broken windows. Oh, and talking of old abandoned buildings, the city's Stadthalle is quite impressive next to the main road bridge to Poland. Getting a decent view of it was far from easy though because of scaffolding and boards showing what the restoration project was supposed to look like. It would seem that the funding for it never arose.

Stunning architecture is everywhere so just let yourself get a little lost at times. One place to head to is the Kartoffelhaus where we had an incredible lunch of schnitzel, and kartoffel of course(that's German for potato!)

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