First things, first – I learnt to pronounce the name right “Vrots Wauv”.
And it’s a lovely city – beautiful buildings, art pieces, rivers, and less touristy and lively crowd.

Free Walking Tour

As I have said before about Pondicherry, it’s good to start with a guided, but free, walking tour. The walk starts every Saturday at 11, from the statue of poet Aleksander Fredro in the city center, Rynek. We walked for 2 hours (break included) with a guide called Lukasz. Half of the information in this blog is from what he told us. Once you have this tour, you can decide what to focus for the rest of your stay. Do spend those 2 hours, it is worth the walk!

If you so much resist a guided tour, do walk on the street near the Wroclaw university, looking carefully at your feet. There are small engravings of historical milestones symbolically represented. That would give a context of where we are now.

Krasnales and Street Art

Usually I start writing with the city center or major attractions. But in Wroclaw, do look out for the dwarfs, or Krasnales! They are everywhere – under your feet, hanging on the pole, even on a tram – little statues of tiny old men and women doing something.

The first ones were installed by the city to commemorate the Orange Alternative that resisted Communist regime through total ridicule. People suddenly appear wearing orange pointed hats, throw toffees on police men and run upto the trees. They painted krasnales over state posters. Quite a new way of resistance! The Major (An art student from Wroclaw University) was finally arrested, but many believe it helped to strengthen the resistance against Communist regime.

City Center

It’s called Rynek, as in “ring”. Extremely beautiful square surrounded by fairy-tale like buidlings, all re-built after 1945. As in most Eurpoean city centers, this place is filled with fun, food, drink, art and music. You would keep coming to this square for one reason or the other, during your stay in Wroclaw.

Islands – Ostrow Tumski

There are these small islands that are so beautiful and peaceful – quite a contrast to the lively Rynek. Some call it the Venice of Poland, but it is so much more peaceful and far less crowded. An evening stroll here is really relaxing. Each bridge connecting the islands have small incsriptions on them. And in fact, they are no more islands, as one side of it is now connected to the main land, with a sprawling botanical garden. This is where the early settlement started, it seems. It is considered a Church island; that’s what the Polish name suggests. Lighting of the evening lamps, here is a ritual performed manually by a long robed clergy, lighting each light with a long rode. I missed seeing that.

Buildings

Those pretty fairy-tale like buildings would definitely attract your attention. So picture perfect that one would forget the bombs and shelling that they carry in their memories. Most of Wroclaw was in shambles after the World War II, without power and water. The Nazi army broke almost all buildings for bricks to barricade the advancing Soviet Army; they even took bunches of books from the Wroclaw university! The few remaining buildings were blasted by the Soviets.

Getting Around

To visit the city center and islands, you can take a leisurely stroll. I used to take the tram daily to get to office. Trams and buses are quite frequent and comfortable, once you know which one to get into. Get inside, take a ticket from the machine (3 Zloty, in Apr 2013). The machines can accept only cards; if you prefer cash, take a ticket from the machines on the streets. Validate the ticket by sliding inside a small metal box. There are daily or monthly passes avaialable, if you plan to take more than 3 trams/buses a day. I believe they are also valid in buses.

I took taxi only to and from airport, and I had to specially look for taxies that accpet cards. And there is Bus 406, that runs frequently between city and airport. So, if you do not want to spend 60 Zloty on taxi, take the 3 Zloty bus ticket.

I tried to get to Auswitch or any nearby towns, but could not get direct trains or buses. Perhaps, I was too lazy to try hard!

Tips

– Tap water is not drinkable as is – only boiled. This is different from many other European countries.
– If you pay for meals and say Thanks, it means the waiter can keep the change.
– An umbrella is handy, it rains occassionally.
– Credit cards may not be accepatable in all places, especially taxies. Keep some Zloty.