We split up for the first part of the
morning. Aimée and
Steve checked out places they remembered from their previous visit
here, and Sue Anne and Bruce stayed back at the apartment, doing
laundry et al. We met up
downtown for the English
language tour we had learned about last night at the tourist office.
Our
guide, Simon, had a good command of English and a very thorough
understanding of the rather dynamic history of Poland and of
Wroclaw's role in that history. It's complicated. The composition
and location of what's called Poland has changed quite frequently
over the centuries. As recently as WW II, Wroclaw was for a time a
part of Germany known as Breslau. After the war the borders of
Poland were shifted quite a distance to the west, taking land away
from Germany and giving land in the east to Ukraine.
Wroclaw
once rivaled Berlin in the scale of its economy. Its university
produced a number of Nobel
laureates. (And Simon as well, with a degree in philosophy)
Compared to Poznan it seemed to be more robust in its state of
recovery from wartime damage.
Most
of the pictures below come from our tour with Simon, so the captions
there will add to the description of the kind of good information we
acquired from the tour.
The
tour wrapped up at about 3 in the afternoon, calling for a pretty
late lunch. Aimée
and Steve directed us to a traditional Polish restaurant that they
had discovered on their previous trip, and we feasted on an
assortment of perogies and such. All very delicious.
We
split up again, Sue Anne and Bruce heading back to the apartment via
the row of galleries and artists' studios in the former
slaughterhouse row. Light meal in our room. Back
to Germany tomorrow.
The pictures:
Rear view of Sleepwalker Apartments
Archaeological site behind the apartments
City Hall Square
CIty Hall
Scene of last night's great dinner
24-hour flower stalls, just off of City Hall Square
Our 10 zloty ($3.50) arrangement
Immense market hall. A quick pit stop on the walking tour.
Mushrooms, mushrooms, mushrooms. They were everywhere: throughout the market, all over town, and for sale by the roadsides in the country. Some of the roadside sales were unattended, on the honor system.
Cathedral
Monument to the Polish Cardinal who was instrumental in initiating the reconciliation between Poland and Germany after WW II.
Bridge festooned with padlocks.
By tradition, a newly married couple puts a lock here and throws the key into the river, symbolizing an eternal bond.
Locks
Dwarf graffiti began appearing around town as wry commentary on the failings of the Communist regime. The concept caught on, and it's remembered today by many small sculptures.
This dwarf is raiding the ice cream and pastry shop,
... and lowering the loot down to his accomplice on the sidewalk.
A row of art galleries and artists' studios, constructed along the site of the former slaughterhouse.
Memorial sculpture to the victims of the slaughterhouse
We had a great tour, but now it's lunchtime.
Perogies and other traditional Polish fare for all!
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