Wrocław Day 1

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Leaving Oświęcim after lunch, the Globus took us through southwestern Poland via the Autostrady A4 motorway. This was Lower Silesia, an area of Poland that had been under Austrian and then German control from the 16th century until 1945. We arrived at our destination, Wrocław, at about 6:15 p.m. and checked in to the Art Hotel. Our room looked out over the Old Town.

Wrocław was known as Breslau until 1945 and was very much a German city at that time. Like Warsaw, it was greatly damaged during World War II, but the historic structures in the old town have been restored.In the evening everyone attended a welcome dinner at Karczma Lwowska on the Market Square (Rynek). (Karczma means Inn and many restaurants around the region use this nomenclature.) We were in for a hearty Polish meal! The food was characterized as Lwów style cuisine: Pâté with black currant sauce appetizer; Zupa Chlebowa (a type of Zurek); and finally a Mixed Grill with beef, kielbasa and baked potato. Yum!

After dinner thee was time to begin exploring the Market Square. The Market Square was illuminated after dark as had been Kraków's.

The nature of the cuisine at dinner highlighted a fact I was to learn about Wrocław. After 1945 when the borders of Poland were altered, loosing eastern territory to Ukraine and graining western territory from Germany, the population was also shifted. Lwów in Poland became Lviv in Ukraine (It had been Lemberg during the Austrian partition.) Polish speaking people from now-Ukrainian territory were moved into the the area around Wrocław, while German speaking people from the former Breslau were moved west to Germany. The movement often meant loss of homes and property without compensation.

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Photos

Rynek we Wrocławiu
Rynek we Wrocławiu - Market Square at dusk. South side of the Market Square - "Złotego Pucharu" (Golden Cup).
"Near the centre of the Altstadt is the Ring, originally the market-place, the four sides of which bear different names".--Baedeker 1910. IMG_5584

Karczma Lwowska
Karczma Lwowska restaurant at night. Originally Kamienica "Pod Złotym Orłem" - Tenant house Under the Golden Eagle. Built in 1564, rebuilt after the war in 1945. Adaptive reuse as a hair salon and then as a restaurant in 1996. Rynek 4, Wrocław. IMG_5605

Pasztet Domowy
Pasztet domowy z mięs wszelakich z sosem porzeczkowym -
Home-made pâté with black currant sauce appetizer served at Karczma Lwowska, Wrocław. IMG_5586p1

Zupa Chlebowa
Zupa chlebowa z białą kiełbasą i grzankami - Bread soup with white sausage and croutons (Żurek) served at Karczma Lwowska, Wrocław. IMG_5587

Mixed Grill
Main course for our tour group at Karczma Lwowska, Wrocław. Mixed Grill served En Flambé with Beef, kielbasa and baked potato, served at Karczma Lwowska, Wrocław.
IMG_5592p1

Rynek we Wrocławiu
Rynek we Wrocławiu - Wrocław Market Square at night. IMG_5596p1

Nowy Ratusz
Nowy Ratusz - New Town Hall and Rynek we Wrocławiu - Wrocław Market Square at night. IMG_5602

Lower Silesian Public Library
Dolnośląska Biblioteka Publiczna - Lower Silesian Public Library Tadeusz Mikulski. On the Market Square. Originally Kamienica Pod Złotą Palmą (House under the Golden Palm), a Renaissance Revival tenant house ca. 1867. The ground floor and entrance were modified in the 1930s. Rynek 58. IMG_5607

St. Elizabeth's Church at Night
Bazylika św. Elżbiety Węgierskiej - St. Elizabeth's Church at night.
Building of the current Gothic church was supported by Bolesław III in the early 14th century. Built in 1309-1387. A Lutheran Church from 1542 to 1946 and then a Catholic church. Rebuilt in the 1980s.
"...Church of St. Elizabeth, to the N.W. of the Ring, founded about 1245 and largely rebuilt at the end of the following century, has a tower 300 ft. in height (1452-56) and three choirs".--Baedeker 1910.
IMG_5610

Wrocław Central Station
Wrocław Główny - Central railway station. Built in 1855-1857 as Breslau Hauptbahnhof. DSC_0832p1

Kłosów
Kłosów village in Lower Silesia from the A4. The church is Kościół Rzymskokatolicki pw. św. Jadwigi. DSC_0829p1

Art Hotel
Art Hotel. Kiełbaśnicza 20, Wrocław. IMG_5665

Ulica Jatki
Malarska 1-2 / Jatki 1. Ulica Jatki traditionally had been a street of butcher shops with stalls on the ground floor. It is still a trading alley with shops o he ground floor and residences above. Old Town Wrocław, View from the Art Hotel.IMG_5582

Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

New places new foods
We love trying the local foods and better understand the culture and the people.

[AndrewHL]

Zurek
I loved the Polish Zurek sour rye soup! I ordered it whenever I could.