Poland (Country #4)

Upon leaving Midwest and the family, I flew into London, met Dave, and we flew back out in one day. Not my best idea ever - but there was a free hotel involved at our destination, so I will suffer a bit. Time for a little Wroclaw, Poland.

"So do they tell Polish jokes all the time?" asked a friend. No actually, but what the hell would I know. Polish is one of the more difficult languages I have encountered. I couldn't pick much up. I learned hello, please, thank you, good bye, and toilet - the essentials really. Other than that, it was all pointing and holding out handfuls of change to the waitress so I could buy my cappuccino in the morning.

And there is said cappuccino.

And so starts the week in Wroclaw (formerly, and sometimes still, known as Bresslau). This area of the world seems to have been occupied, owned, ruled, and bombed by everyone from the Mongols to Stalin. Yet the town and the people there are still pretty awesome. There is a lot of energy, which I wasn't expecting from a formerly Soviet Block town that I had never even heard of before. Wroclaw has been described as "The Next Prague". I am not sure I would go that far, but it wasn't a bad place to spend a few days - especially given our stay at the fancy Art Hotel.

I had the mornings to myself and then worked in the afternoons until Dave got off work. You pretty much can see EVERYTHING the town has to offer in 3 days, trust me. I could be a Wroclaw tour guide after this trip. Honestly, while the town really cute - it is probably not worth going too far out of your way to see. This is going to sound pansy, but they lack a real tourist infrastructure. The museums and churches are really cool, but there is no (I am cringing to say this) English signs or audio tour-type things. You can be looking at a priceless work of art and not really appreciate it because you know nothing of the artist, subject, time period, or significance of the work. But on the plus side of of lacking hoards of tourists, the town is CHEAP. Food and beers are quite tasty and you can get a meal for 3 people with loads of beers for $20.

Here are a few pictures from the trip for your viewing pleasure.

View from the bike path on the river.

My favorite church

Favorite church before and after being bombed during WWII by Stalin's Red Army.

Here is a bridge with 8 million locks attached to it. A lot of them had two names and hearts and such - so I am assuming this is some sort of romantic "locking our love" thing. Cute and barfy at the same time!

A lovely spot to rent a boat.

The kick-ass town hall from the 13th century.

The view from one of many church towers I ascended.

The town square, it is so nice and clean because fast food it its obligatory containers have yet to discover sweet, innocent Wroclaw.

Of course, there are some interesting things about Wroclaw:
- Beers sipped through straws out of a pint glass, that is just not right.
- Weird bacon fat and walnut sandwiches you get when you order your beer and straw.
- A language that resembles nothing I have ever heard before.
- Everyone is thin, except for the older babushka-ish ladies, it is really remarkable. This is probably because of the lack of fast food and to-go containers, man I hate to-go containers.
- Vodka for dessert, why not!
- The folks here all look like Midwesterners, there are loads of Poles in central Illinois.
- Wroclaw really likes God, we are talking some serious Catholics here - and not just the little old ladies. Mass at midday on a Tuesday was full of people of all ages, even dudes.

A mellow weekend awaits us in London. I am looking forward to finally being "home", plus the weather is the best it has been since we arrived here! I'll give another update soon.

Next stop - COPENHAGEN!