A Night At The Opera

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A Night at the Opera. At one point in history, this would have been a Bohemian Rhapsody. Wroclaw is disputed territory. It has changed hands through history, passing only most recently back under Polish protection in 1945. The city, the dominant place in Lower Silesia, was once known as Vratislava, under Bohemian rule. By 1526, the Austro-Hungarian empire was back in charge and the city became known as Breslau. The King of Prussia then intervened and took over in 1741. Napoleon arrived for a while as a liberator - perhaps an alternative theory why the concept of the dwarf is popular - before Breslau grew into the 2nd city of Prussia after Berlin. At the point of German unification, the city was the 3rd largest in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. It is now the 4^thlargest city in Poland. Is everybody following?



You might have noticed that many other blogs are titled, Breslau or something similar. As relayed to us by a Polish local, it is said if you ask a German to point to Wroclaw on a map, the majority will struggle. It is also said on the other hand that the whereabouts of Breslau is no mystery to them. The city played a prominent role in the end of World War 2 and carried on the struggle until 6th May 1945, even 4 days after Berlin had surrendered. The War in Europe ended a mere 2 days after the "Fortress" fell. In front of the advancing Soviet, the city was declared Festung Breslau - Fortress Breslau - to be held at all costs! The result was almost total destruction - after 80 something days of siege, only 31%!o(MISSING)f the buildings survived. As the majority of the visitors marvel at the Rynek – Old Town Square – I wonder how many realise which are the original bits?



As with Wooge or Lodz, the initial attempts at pronunciation flawed the English tongue. The temptation is to go with Rock Claw, but the reality is Vrotswav. It does not come natural. The hotel was very different to the last abode at the Hotel Savoy – the home of character. The Premiere Klasse was a modern box – perfectly adequate and price competitive, but not an architectural marvel. A lesser cousin of the Campanile, which was next door. It was the wrong side of the tracks – the railway tracks – but a mere 8 minutes from the current temporary Bus Station and 10 minutes from the railway. The Orange Alternative had begun the dwarf campaign in Vrotswav. Today the Railway Station is the Orange Alternative – a gothic castle of a building that stands out from the grey surroundings with it’s orange painted exterior. A vintage of 1855, it is certainly a striking building.



The Rynek was about a 25 minute walk from the hotel. Alas, there was no sign of the rain abating. We sneaked through the Renoma Shopping Centre en route – a classic art deco building department store from circa 1927, it was once the “retail” destination in the city and famous not only for it’s design but having the first escalators in Lower Silesia. We crossed the road, not realizing that not waiting for the green man is an offence in Poland. The next port of call was the Wroclaw Opera. In the absence of major football match possibilities, I’d conceded the possibility that Puccini’s La Boheme might get a visit. The ticket availability was fairly good, so my get out of jail card was blown. It was very expensive by our previous Eastern European opera / ballet visits, but at £14 each it was not a disaster by western standards. They even have a free cloakroom included in the price. It would all make no sense though – singing in Italian with Polish sub-titles on a screen was always going to be a challenge. At least we were spared my Bucharest experience, when the ticket office girl went out of her way to ensure our seats had a good view of the screen with ............ Romanian sub-titles. She meant well. Wroclaw is the European Capital of Culture 2016, so the connoisseurs of such things will no doubt be flocking to the city next year and the reputation and the prices will no doubt rocket. La Boheme was in 4 parts. At the start of each, the conductress appeared to great applause and popped her head out of the orchestra pit like a small meerkat on lookout duty. I doubt I will ever be a fan, but we'll be generous and say that at least Act 2 was a spectacle. The other members of the audience had dressed up in their finest for the evening and studied the proceedings with great interest. We assumed it therefore to be good. At 2 hours 55 minutes, the performance went on a wee bit. The other half made a mental note never to complain about any extra-time and penalties in a football match again, should I remind her of the opera experience.



The Old Town Square is picture book pretty, but then most Polish town squares are. If you could overlook the obligatory McDonalds and the concrete block on one corner – a bank – it is a photographer’s delight. The latter building is actually one of the few original pieces and rather than being a communist inspired piece of architecture, it is a modernist German building from 1931. The Town Hall dominates the inner quadrant, the Elisabeth Church another corner and the remainder of it is either a souvenir shop or a restaurant / bar fighting for the tourist zloty. Despite the rain, there were a fair few around. The dwarf community was also well represented, but they have received more than enough attention on my Middle Earth blog. We pressed on towards the University quarter.



The area immediately to the north is student country. The backstreets towards the main University were filled with restaurants and bars. The best value is closest to the University. There was the old butcher's street - now occupied by some overpriced souvenir shops. Glass by the way is the local product. A collection of brass farm animals dominates one end of the street. Tradition states that touching the goat poo means you will find your fortune. It glistens bright compared to the other brass. The other half gave it a go, just in case - we hadn't checked the lottery ticket yet! The old University building is open to the public - 4 exhibits for 12 zloty. The old music hall is particularly impressive. The upper hall is no more than a run through of all the famous professors who have lectured at the establishment, but it leads to a roof top view over the Old Town. Alois Alzheimer should have been on the lists of professor, but he fell ill on the way to take up his post at the University of Breslau in 1912 so I guess he didn't properly count. The mist and the rain didn't make the roof view worthy, but on in better weather it would be a good vantage point.





We proceeded past the University Library and took refuge from the rain in the Old Market. A curious aircraft hanger of a building, it was the most modern structure in Wroclaw in 1908. The original purpose was apparently for storage of ammunition. Today, it houses the indoor market where all things are available from fresh veg to pets. There is a fine collection of all types of some of the most hideous mushrooms ever seen, but a distinct lack of onion. The perogis in the cafe in the lower ground corner are a give away price. We crossed the Sand Bridge, which linked the Old Town with appropriately Sand Island. Bridges are in plentiful supply in Wroclaw with the city boasting the 4th highest total of any in Europe. Venice and Amsterdam spring to mind as having more. The most famous bridge is Tumski Bridge. A fairly non-descript metal bridge structure - it is more often known as Lovers Bridge. The weight is possibly doubled by the number of padlocks locked on, all enscribed with the names or initials of those who could still be together by virtue of leaving the object behind and throwing away the key. We went on a Free Wroclaw Walking Tour during our visit - the guy advised that the city had reached the point where it was cutting padlocks off the bridge to decrease the weight and stop the bridge collapsing.



The Oder River looked grey and miserable, but not as grey and miserable as the buildings in the distance behind the Cathedral. This was the site of the new airfield built in 1945 after the loss of the original strip and only used for a couple of flights, as the SS commanders sought a way out before the Soviets battered the door down. We crossed on to Cathedral Island - deserted on a miserable, wet afternoon - but possibly the busiest street on a tourist friendly day. A number of the buildings tried in vain to brighten things up with their orange elevations. We passed the Cardinals House en route to the St John the Baptist Cathedral. A number of photographs on the walls of the street depicted the view in 1945 to today. The Cathedral had been substantially rebuilt - the different colour bricks being the result of 2 different donors or sponsor. If you look at the right hand side, you will still an un-exploded shell poking out of the facade ............ and Mosta in Malta thought they had the unexploded ammunition market in a church cornered.



The visit was all too short. A repeat journey to watch Slask is a possibility. We were soon on the 406 bus back to the Airport. It was still raining!

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