Rosie and The Operator are driving from Prague into Poland where we will be staying nine days over two locations, visiting Wroclaw and Krakow. Both are cities, within a country we have never visited before. We are excited!
Our first stop is Wroclaw, we drive for three hours and pass with no fanfare, discernible knowledge or signage into Poland from the Czech Republic. The only hint that we have crossed the border is the change in place names, they are longer, more indecipherable and have more accents above them.
The landscape is flat, newly ploughed crop fields that are misty and ghostly white from the morning frost. The motorway is new, fast and cuts through the fertile rolling countryside easily getting us to Wroclaw nice and quick.
Our apartment is central, right on the edge of the town square and the location couldn’t be better! We are right in the heart of all the action and Rosie and The Operator are raring to go out and explore.
Stepping out into the main square of Wroclaw was like walking through the wardrobe and into the fir tree forest of cold wintery Narnia…literally. The city Christmas Market has already been operating for the last couple of weeks and is positioned around the large open Market Square called The Rynek.
This square is one of the largest medieval, market squares in Europe and still sits on exactly the same footprint as when it was first laid out in the 13th century. This square, in December, has been transformed into a winter wonderland! Pine trees are everywhere providing decoration and screening for different market areas. Some trees have gleaming ropes of bright lights and some just have colourful decorations. By day it is amazing, by night it is magical!
Wooden Christmas huts full of souvenir and food stalls form orderly rows and larger, multi storied relocatable eating and drinking huts especially erected only for the two months of Christmas festivities are full of people enjoying a hot beverage or two. Some of the these large chalet style huts even have roaring fire places inside them for the punters to enjoy the warmth from the cold outside…anyone can come and go from them and everyone is having fun!
This market is busy, but so much less so than Prague, it is like a breath of fresh pine scented air. Santa himself welcomes you into the dazzling brightness of the Market where the focus here is definitely on family; young and old are presented and are all having a great fun filled evening filling the square with a great relaxed vibe.
A children’s carnival is set up with sideshow arcade games, and rides for the littlies right next to the drinking areas of the adults.
Fairy tale booths are scattered around the market, push a button and a red velvet curtain opens to a beautifully sculpted, automated diorama depicting a scene from a famous fairy tale.
They are so well done and its not just kids pushing the button to listen to a section of the fairy tale being read aloud…in Polish. It puts a smile on Rosie face seeing the small children dressed in tiny puffer ski suits with pompom hats and mittens on.
Their rosy cheeks with big smiles and an excited sparkle in their eyes….what great memories of Christmas for these little tackers, and what a magical time to look forward to next year.
Overlooking the Market Square and lit up in the late afternoon dusk is the amazing building that is the Town Hall, Ratusz. This huge building sits in the middle of and dominates the square….except in winter, when it is the center piece of the Christmas Market that surrounds it.
This building is so eye catchingly beautiful but so hard to get a good complete look at it with the market up so close. Whilst Rosie was trying to get some good photos of the Ratusz from all angles it was pretty easy to get distracted by all the beautiful smells of roasting Polish sausage and so many different styles of cooking from the Christmas stalls lined up in front of the Town Hall.
Construction started on the Ratusz in 1290 and continued over the centuries with additions and rebuilds. The face you see today is a Gothic and Renaissance combination and its gingerbreadesque decorations are quite breathtaking and totally in keeping with the season.
The shadows of the up lighting at night show the sharpness of the glorious relief carvings and accentuate the immense timelessness of this building.
On the top of the 66 metre high tower is the city crest from 1536. Sadly, because of winter, the inside was closed for renovations, but, in front of the Town Hall and not covered by Christmas tress or stalls is this beautiful cobble stone mosaic of the City Coat of Arms.
SPOILER ALERT —–Who would have thought that the Town Hall was entirely rebuilt after being destroyed by bombing during WW2. Yesssss serious! Such was the devotion to this beloved landmark and the attention to restorative detail it was recreated perfectly true to the original that was lost. Scroll back at the pictures and marvel with new eyes!
The houses that line the edge of the Square are also remarkably beautiful and so picturesque in their individual style and shapes.
They were all built by wealthy prominent businessmen and traders in the 1400s. A few originals still stand today but, like the hall most are rebuilds after the war destroyed them.
They certainly look like they have been standing forever and each is so different, opulent, colourful and detailed. Up close and personal, the new, bright orange roofing tiles are normally the giveaway as to what has been rebuilt.
Rosie was too busy looking up at the buildings when The Operator recommended she look down, and lo and behold she discovered a whole new tiny world at her feet….check out the blog tomorrow and Rosie will introduce you to The Gnomes of Wroclaw.
Sitting on the corner of the Market Square are two small, yet tall houses, linked by an archway known as the Little John and Little Margaret houses, or, The Hansel and Gretel Houses.
On the arch is the Latin inscription, ‘Death is the Gate to Life’. This archway is the entrance to the courtyard in front of St Elizabeth’s church which was the place of worship for the towns wealthy merchants. Rosie and The Operator wanted to climb the 91 meter tall tower to check out the view of the town square from the top….sadly it was closed in wet weather…and yes, there were a couple of spits….hardly really rain though….
Around the back of the church is a small narrow lane called Stare Jatki which translates to The Shambles. In the 1240s it was a street that housed the cities butchers which were a highly respected Trade and Guild to belong too.
The butchers resided in this location until the mid 18th century when the council relocated them farther away from the city square and replaced the butchers shops with less bloody industries to provide the image of a clean, civilized city. The cute, small, butchers shops were rebuilt after the war and now house galleries and artists workshops. A memorial to the original trade is depicted by the bronze animals that were once slaughtered here en mass remembering the original enterprise of this cute alley way.
The City of Wroclaw sits on the banks of the Odra River which was once strategic for defense in the way it surrounds the Old Town. Today there are plenty of locks and dams to stop the old town from flooding as it had in the past, and the city is now spread out over both sides of the river with 110 bridges spanning the river within the city area that houses 632,000. Twelve small, islands in the river also make the city unique and beautiful to walk around.
Rosie and The Operator wandered along the grey riverbank, lined with naked trees under the grey drizzly sky making our way to Ostro Tumski – Cathedral Island, which, along with the Old Town is one of the oldest and most historic areas of Wroclaw. From 1504 to 1810 this island was exclusively church territory and a sanctuary for state deemed heretics.
Crossing this beautiful iron bridge made in 1884 to the island Rosie was stunned at all of the Love Locks attached to it. They were so thick and dense, it was literally lock clasped to lock upon lock. Welcome to the cities official Bridge of Love. Paint your and your lovers initial onto the padlock. Clip your padlock onto the bridge. Throw the key in the water and your love will last forever.
The Operator was quite concerned about the extra weight loading imposed on the structure of the bridge…..these locks stretched the whole length of the bridge! Rosie was more interested, upon closer inspection of who would get custom printed padlocks made. Crazy.
Apparently upon further investigation….The Operator was right….the weight of the padlocks and the placement of others are becoming a problem to the Wroclaw City Council. Every year the council cuts off a couple of tons of locks to lesson the load and dredges underneath the bridge for the keys. Rosie has also found out that the council advertises the cull and keeps the locks for three months so that lovers can claim them back….if you have a spare key. Rosie is very doubtful any actually ever get reclaimed…..
Across the bridge, on the island proper you can see the beautiful twin spires of St John the Baptist Cathedral. It sits at the end of the eerily quiet, perfectly manicured street. The Cathedral was first built in 1244…then again in 1945….you guessed it 70% was destroyed in the war. Looking at these pictures, its hard to tell what is new and what isn’t.
Inside the church, you think you would get a bit of reprieve from the sub zero temperature outdoors, not so in Polish churches. The air inside is colder than outside….there seems to be no budget for heating and lighting inside churches in this country. The interiors of the churches are dark and spooky with long shadows cast from the giant statues of stern saints from the minimal spots of light cast from the stained glass windows.
Across the square from the Cathedral is a small picture on the wall of a building. It shows how much of the building across the road was destroyed in the war. Look at the statue standing in front of the rubble…this is the same statue standing in front of the building today….after it has been rebuilt. Awesome effort Poland.
Rosie and The Operator have truly loved our magical, wintry prelude to Christmas time in this beautiful city of Wroclaw and what an introduction to Poland! Check out Rosies next blog as she gives you the low down on the ankle height attraction that makes this city so special as she introduces you to – The Gnomes of Wroclaw.
