Wroclaw, Poland - A beautiful city and so yummi

A while ago I have been to Wroclaw, Poland. It's a beautiful city, especially in June, when you can sit at the 'Rynek' (the market place around the town hall) and get lovely traditional food and very good beer. At the picture you can see the entrance to 'Karczma Lwowska' a nice local restaurant at Rynek.

When strolling around town you should definitely watch out for the little gnomes, they are busy, rolling stone balls, offering flowers, eating piroggi, resting in a pizza pan at Pizza Hut, taming pigeons, climping laterne posts. Some are in prison or at the swimming pool. So don't miss them. Go to www.krasnale.pl for latest updates where to find them (Polish only) or look up beautiful pictures of them and the city here.

Why are there so many gnomes in Wroclaw?

They say the gnomes are in town since 8th November 780 and only speak German, Czech, Latin or French. However, the ones you can see are sculptures by Tomasz Moczek. The gnomes have a serious background connected to the Orange Alternative movement in the 80s.

2 nice walks through town

Check out the Wroclaw website. Sightseeing the oldest parts of Wroclaw and Around Old Town.

Here is my alternative (not visiting all the sites at once).

Starting at the Rynek/Ratusz (Market Square) walk up North taking the Kucnicza street to the University, turn right to Uniwersytecka street and walk until the end, cross the tram line and you will find the Market Hall (Hala Targowa), built in 1907 (open Mon-Sat). From here you can take the tram to Jahrhunderthalle (Hala Ludowa / Hala Stulecia), buit in only 20 month, finished 1913, the building from Max Berg is now listed as a UNESCO world heritage site and afterwards take a nice walk at the Japanese Gardens.

Or you can stroll to the Cathedral Island, the oldest part of the city. When leaving the Market Hall turn right over the Piaskowy bridge, on the island turn right again over the Tumski bridge to Ostrów Tumski the Cathedral Island. From here you can easily visit the Botanic Gardens via Henryka Sienkiewicza street.

Another route leads you South of the Rynek. Take the Swidnicka street, see the Opera building and pass the Kosciuszki place,walk further down and you will find the Anonymous Pedestrians, a memorial for the people who dissappeared in the middle of the night on 13th December 1981, at the junction Piłsudskiego and Świdnicka.

If you walk further down the road, passing some very plain concrete buildings, built to accomodate lot's of families, long lasting and cheap, but very hard to demolish as I have seen once in a documentary, you will come to a roundabout, take the Sudecka street (left) and walk up until you see the Water Tower, built between 1903 and 1905, that also hosts a restaurant.


Getting hungry after all the walking around town?

Try some of the following dishes while in Poland:

Pierogi: a deep fried or cooked kind of ravioli, filled with meat or sauerkraut or quark (light cheese).
Bigos: Sauerkraut with meat and potatoes (cooked together).
All the yummi meat dishes, often with seasonal mushrooms, where I forget the names, but they can easily be spotted at the menus of the restaurants around the Rynek.

But don't worry, if your are not into traditional cuisine, there is a very good Greek restaurant at Pl. Solny called Akropolis. You also can get Sushi, my colleagues say the best place to go for it it is Sakana. Although, I haven't been there myself I trust their judgement as the have a weekly Sushi dine out and probably tried every place in town. I tried Maru restaurant at the Rynek, where I tried a Korean dish of beef marinated in a sweet soy sauce with rice with kimchi. I loved it. And if you fancy some ice cream (like the ones you get in Germany at an Italian Ice Cafe) go to the top floor of Galeria Dominikanska a shopping center and enjoy ;o) or try the Ice Cafe at Solny place.

When going to Wroclaw, have a look at InYourPocket Guides for the latest reviews. You can download them beforehand or get them at your hotel.

Enjoy your trip.