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Published: October 21st 2015
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The PolskiBus pulled into Lodz Kalisko from Warsaw ahead of schedule. The other half was relieved. The waiting area was inadequate for the numbers waiting for the various services. The slick red machine looked first class. It certainly looked so in comparison to the PKS services using the base. An efficient baggage check, comfortable red seats, free wi-fi and that all important aspect of a long distance bus - a functioning toilet! The Polish version of Megabus looked like it would be good value and a good option rather than the train. The fare - a mere 23 Zloty - booked online with instant confirmation. The slogan is fares from 1 Zloty, but who exactly gets hold of a 20 pence bus ride is not totally transparent. The destination board said Wroclaw - Praga. We did not know at this point we were off to Middle Earth - European version.
The suburbs of Lodz showed very little sign of life, as we skirted the suburban motorways following signs for Katowice. A huge IKEA store was the last thing we saw, before we headed out into the countryside. The new motorway network was largely absent of other traffic. The
concept of intercity commuting doesn't look like it has caught on in Poland. The weather was gloomy and soon turned to driving rain. A few wind farms. A few small towns. A few dense forests and the odd motorway rest area. There was little else to distract. The Polish countryside has that look about it that suggests it has been over exposed to too many diesel cars that have done a bit more than distort their emission results. We pulled off the motorway at a sign that said - Wroclaw 30 kilometres. The rain continued to pour down. The bus driver proceeded cautiously. He was in the know. An enthusiastic band of Poland's finest were busy with their Gatso speed traps. They seemed to be approaching their task with the enthusiasm you would expect - determined to get the target, before being submerged under the torrent of water falling from the sky.
We pulled into the temporary bus station behind Wroclaw Glowny. It was a 10 minute wet walk to the hotel. In J R R Tolkien's fictional works, the dwarves (or dwarfs), inhabit the mythical world of Arda. This might be so, but they also have
a European base in Wroclaw. The dwarf first appeared on the streets on 2001 - the symbol of the anti-communist movement, the Orange Alternative. The figures received the blessing of the city authorities and have now literally exploded on to the streets in all forms. In 2005, a series of 5 were commissioned via the Art School of Wroclaw. It appears everybody wants to get in on the act. There is now a dwarf tour, a dwarf map and just to bring them into the real modern world, they have their own website. A smartphone app is also available.
The dwarves can become quite an addiction. In total, there are supposed to be over 300. The total tour would take ages to complete. There are some outside the city. The dwarf numbers can fluctuate. They are added to, damaged, vandalised and very probably stolen. Visually impaired dwarf had lost his cane. In a city with a large student population, it is surprising that they have not substituted collecting the odd dwarf instead of a traffic cone. It is suggested that there are also illegal dwarves. In order to have a dwarf, some form of tax is payable
to the city authorities. The odd business therefore could have erected their own dwarf to bring in business, even though he shouldn't really be there. There is a dwarf museum. The only snag is that you need to be dwarf height to get into the small door.
The Rynek - the old square - is full of other happy snappers all taking photographs of the dwarf community. The beautiful facades of the buildings are often ignored, as a gleeful expression reveal yet another opportunity has been spotted. There was even the bizarre sight of a TV crew and sound man filming the dwarves outside the Town Hall. A sound man was present, although no noise was heard from any of them. They were actually just filming in relation to some sort of local election, but clearly the candidates were not playing ball or were just a lot less interesting than the little people.
I wasn't actually planning on saying more than a couple of lines about dwarves, but before I realized it I found myself looking at copious photos of the little fellas. I figured that they would just get lost in another blog,
so to showcase them they needed their own forum. There is a current forum on the Travelblog community all about the most over rated blogs. It is a self assessment. There is often no correlation between good writing, decent photographs, a genuinely interesting location and the number of hits. A game of chance, often as a result of putting a word or two in a title that is catchy - the word sex should do it according to some, but it never propelled our Sex in the Desert blog from way back when in the Gulf of Carpenteria to big numbers.
https://www.travelblog.org/Oceania/Australia/Northern-Territory/Darwin/blog-83576.html Google can obviously play a factor too, especially if a destination has few entries on subjects people want to read about. Does anybody care about dwarves? Anyway, if this blog receives any attention it will definitely rank in the over rated stakes.
There is a question mark over the favourite dwarf? The Umbrella Dwarf was very topical, given the weather. The Cashpoint Dwarf is a piece of genius. The TV Remote Dwarf talking on his mobile is up with the modern times. The Professor Dwarf outside the University is very popular with students.
They touch his head for good luck before exams and if they pass, I guess he stays popular. I should have been drawn to Football Dwarf, busy waving his Slask scarf. Alas, I never spotted him. The award therefore goes to Perogi Dwarf - my favourite Polish food!
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Rainyb
Lorraine Brecht
Love the dwarves!