The first word in the title gives you a little clue as to how to say the first half of this stunning Polish city’s name! Helly & I spent quite a lot of the weekend to get the hang of it ourselves: Vroh-tswarv is where we ended up.
Meeting halfway
This weekend was the first time just the two of us had spent more than a few hours on our owns together in five years, and it was splendid.
And quite chatty.
In between the gossip we managed to see quite a few things.
Arriving at Hotel
There were a few hiccups on the way from airport to Hotel Patio (my taxi driver got lost and was mortified; Helly’s didn’t speak a word of English which didn’t help when he phoned to ask her where she was) but we made it. After just a few hours sleep – admittedly we talked ourselves TO sleep – we were at breakfast working out a plan of action.
Walking & Talking
We started with a Free Walking Tour run by a Polish Michal Sheen. A good introductory overview of the city; historical back story, amusing asides and excellent food/drink recommendations, we came away bubbling over with knowledge which we spent the next couple of days referring back to. And slightly forgetting. Particularly hilarious was Michal’s excellent deployment of the phrase ‘kicked the bucket’ when recounting a historical tale.
Before we knew it we found ourselves admiring some mad 1996 architecture at Kolorowa PLOMBA and hopped on a cable car to …well we weren’t sure.
Walking & Shopping
Oooh wait. It’s not far from SHOPS! Helly had noted a couple of second hand boutiques (aka charity shops) which gobbled up the hours, and we were mesmerised by the beautiful patterns in the souvenir/folky shops. Popping to a shopping centre, we had a bite to eat and I accidentally bought a pair of trainers.
We had walked and WALKED (15km said my app), so it was about time we went back to the hotel to drop things off and head off for a well-deserved craft beer at Kontynacia.
Oof. We probably should have listened harder to the barman’s description, as when he said this beer was ‘sour’ he really meant it. Lychees? More like grapefruit. Anyway we drank it down like good girls and moved to the lovely Pod Kalambar Art Cafe. And stayed there drinking Ksiazece IPA (try pronouncing that after necking a 5.7% craft beer) all evening until we remembered to eat.
Walking Up, Down & Around
Saturday morning required a sausage sarnie before we hurtled up the St Elizabeth’s church tower. It was a staggering 304 steps and possibly a bit much for two lasses with a light hangover. Ahem. Still, Helly rescued a pigeon from being trapped indoors and the views were amazing, so it was worth it.
It turned into another day of walking. We visited the Neon Side Gallery (underwhelming in the daylight but great par nuit); found the Toy Piano Gallery closed; hunted for a beautiful mosaic Heart of Nadodrz (and were very nearly roped into a latin dance class in the process); wandered the aisles of the Hala Targowa admiring the fruit & veg and found some new coffee beans there for Jeremy.
We started an audio tour of the more run-down Nadodrze district but didn’t get on with it so ended up just wandering the streets cooing at the different architecture, found the ‘Transition’ sculpture, walked some more (16km apparently!), bumped into the stylish Renoma shopping centre and finally stopped for some late lunch.
Mmmm thank you Chatka Przy Jatkach for the very delicious and surprisingly filling pierogi and stuffed cabbage leaves (golabki) – boy, were we ready for this! Oh, and the hair of the dog of course: “dwa piwa proszę”
Dwarf Invasion
Throughout our stay we met many members of the Wrocław dwarf population which counts apparently somewhere over 1000. It’s so lovely to come across them! They have a very interesting back story commemorating the anti-communist underground movement, the Orange Alternative. Here are a few of the ones that we saw…
Walking Fleas
We couldn’t leave Wroclaw without visiting the MASSIVE flea market Dworzec Świebodzki located at the disused train station. As the temperatures pushed to 26 degrees, we trailed around some of the literally hundreds of stalls selling everything from German washing powder to plastic shoes via underwear and fish. (Fish!) It was fascinating seeing the full spectrum of locals out and about on a sunny Sunday morning.
Filling up with food from the Browar Stu Mostow gastropub and after that a pastry shop, we finally made our way to Renoma shopping centre where we caught the bus to the airport. PHEW what a weekend!
A big DZIĘKUJĘ for having us Wrocław – we hope to be in you again one day!
Adventures With The Johns 
I’m sold, when can we go?