So I was in Poland in late June in order to participate in the Angloville program (highly recommend, I had a lot of fun!). The particular venue I was part of met in Wrocław, had a walking tour/lunch on Angloville, then spent the first day traveling to Hotel Chojnik in the Karkonosze Mountains. It was beautiful there and I'm going to write about the week I spent there (eventually). But before that I just want to say for the record that, although everyone ranted and raved about how I had to go to Krakow and it's the most beautiful city in Poland and it's so fantastic, I actually liked Wrocław better. No, it doesn't have the same grandiose central square that Krakow does, but Ostrow Tumski ("Cathedral Island") is seriously cool and the rest of the old city just has a really great atmosphere to it. I was only there for one day and two evenings but I really enjoyed it. So there!
Looking at the towers of Wrocław Cathedral, which is on Ostrow Tumski, from the Sand Bridge (Most Piaskowy).
The bridge (most) to get onto the "island".
They do the whole "lovers' lock" thing here, also. Apparently these are all going to be removed at some point next year because the bridge needs some repairs and the weight of these locks starts to add up, but according to the tour guide of the walking tour Angloville provided for us, the city of Wrocław is going to save all the locks so that people can come and claim them if they so choose. Nice of them, no?
From the other end of the bridge, the Church of St. Mary on the Sands. What is really kind of incredible in this part of Wrocław is that from the front door of any of these churches you can spot at least two other churches in the immediate vicinity. It's like a little Polish Vatican, which makes sense since I believe our guide said the church still owns something like more than 80% of the property in this district.
St. Mary's Windows.
Wrocław remembers.
Church Square. The Church of the Holy Cross (background) and the statue of St. John Nepomuk, who apparently is a big deal in Poland and the Czech Republic. He's famous for not telling some king of 14th century Bohemia the contents of his queen's confessions (adultery?!?!?!) and being tortured/martyred as a result. Pretty juicy stuff. Random fun fact about the Church of the Holy Cross: it's actually two separate churches, one on the ground/basement level dedicated to Bartholomew and then a set of stairs leading up to the Holy Cross one.
Detail on the statue.
In the background, the bishop's palace (zzzz) and in the foreground, and interesting crest on the gate to keep us plebes out.
I think this map has something to do with the formation of the city as part of the church in 1000. Or, according to one helpful website, "City part of territory annexed by Bolesław I (the Courageous) of the Piast Dynasty; the same year, a Bishopric at Vratislav was established, under the jurisdiction of the Polish episcopate at Gniezno."
Wrocław Cathedral (of St. John the Baptist).
Appropriate imposing side-entrance.
Interior.
Organ, which is apparently the largest pipe organ in Poland and at one point was the largest in the world. I kind of remember the guide telling us it does not even have all of its proper pipes attached as seen here and they don't really play it using its full ranges because they're afraid of breaking the glass.
There was this whole story about how these lions, outside of Wrocław Cathedral, are supposed to be rubbed by those looking to be married. And the lion to the left of the entrance is the one rubbed by men, while the lion to the right of the entrance is rubbed by women. It was kind of cute, I guess, but it also made me kind of sad.
I actually left my hostel to meet up with the walking tour and my fellow Angloville participants pretty early so I stopped at this lovely cafe in Church Square. I had a latte, it came with a cookie. Fantastic, especially since Cinnamon Hostel's "free breakfast" is a little lame (especially if you wake up late, I got to the kitchen earlier on my second morning and things were a little better stocked although still unimpressive).
Churches upon chapels upon churches, of all imaginable styles. In these picture alone you can see some of the various styles, including Baroque, Neo-Gothic, and Romanesque.
Statue of some pope whose name I do not care about (Okay, I looked it up-- Pope John XXIII). It had an interesting story though since apparently it was one of the few public works of religious persuasion allowed in Poland during the communist times because of the Vatican recognizing some border enforced by the communist governement. Also, the direction is the Pope is pointing is significant somehow. In the background, St. Martin's Church.
Gnomes, everywhere! Our tour guide kept pronouncing it as "g-nome" and even though a couple of us repeated the word correctly he stuck to his guns, which I have to respect. I loved the little gnomes, and I loved that each one was different and that often whatever their character was related to the history of that particular spot in Wrocław. (In case anyone is wondering, OF COURSE someone has made a website devoting to hunting and discovering these little guys. OF COURSE THEY HAVE.)
This guy is the Lamplighter, located on the bridge.
Market Hall, which was built to look like a church in keeping with the general theme of the neighborhood.
Inside, weirdly cathedralesque place to be selling fruit and candy and for there to be...
BAR, the local hot spot for all your pierogi and Polish cuisine needs.
University area.
Erudite gnome, Ossolineo.
These are what you think they are.
This naked troll has a pretty funny story having to do with this, although I can't find him in the ol' Gnomepedia.
These doors, though.
Uhh... it's a Meridian thing.
This is a fun bar (they were showing the world cup! We stopped and had a few drinks here later while we watched) that used to be the city prison in the 14ish century?
City Center/Market Square! I found this part of town to be really beautiful. As you can see the weather was not 100% amazing but it did hold off raining, more or less.
Now that's how you cover up a sewer.
Oldest restaurant in Wrocław, from the 13th century I believe.
Bears gonna bear.
This is the town hall. LET ME REPEAT: THIS IS THE FUCKING TOWN HALL.
Another beer location, Spiż is a nice brewery with a pub vibe.
I found this amazing award, apparently bestowed upon the "toaleta" of Spiż Brewery. Czysta means clean. So, given by the cleanliness patrol? I mean honestly it looks like they made this themselves on the stick-making machine somebody's mom bought them for Christmas but you know what? The bathrooms were alright. Not life-changing, but not the worst bathroom I've peed in.
Market Square, by night.
Dr. Gnome.
Like I said, I really like Wrocław. The day after the grand tour we left for the hotel and the program and upon returning I was in a rush to get moving towards Krakow but I think this is a city you could easily spend a couple days hanging out in.
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