Tom`s travels: Wroclaw (05-06/11/2016)

Just after a few days back from Gdansk I decided to head to Wroclaw for the weekend. A friend of mine from Venice told me he was studying there so I took the opportunity to sleep at his place and visit the city. After taking an early bus from Krakow, I reached Wroclaw bus station 3 hours later. After heading into town, I started by visiting the Church of St Mary Magdalene. Built in the Gothic style during the 13th century, it has a nice but unfurnished interior due to it belonging to the Protestant church for most of its history, and holds a 12th century portal belonging to a destroyed abbey. The main thing though is the tower, which I decided to climb after paying the entrance fee of 5zl. At top stands a bridge that connects the two towers which were never fully rebuilt after the war, thus missing their cupolas. The bridge that connects the towers is called the Witche's Bridge, as a legend says that the shadows visible on the bridge are the souls of girls who used to seduce men without wanting to be married, being scared of housekeeping; stories aside, the view from there was really nice, and despite the weather I enjoyed viewing the old town from there for a while. Descending back down i continued my walk and reached the University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus. As the name suggests, this church belongs to the nearby complex of the University, and was founded during the 17th century by the Jesuits. With an impressive Baroque interior, it is considered one of the most impressive in all Central Europe. Right in front of the church is the pretty Plac Uniwersytecki, or University Square, with the Fencer fountain at its center. Heading on, I noticed a little bronze statue, hidden below an archway. It was the first gnome statue I encountered in Wroclaw, but not the last, as I had read there are around 300 of them scattered throughout. They are a nice and funny addition to the city and make for an alternative and creative way of the discovering the surroundings. Not much further on, I stopped at the Cathedral of St Vincent and St James, the cathedral of the Greek Catholic community. Though mostly Gothic and unadorned, it holds a beautiful Baroque chapel on its southern side. Behind the church I reached a panoramic point where I could see the so-called Ostrow Tumski, or Cathedral Island as it used to be in the past; the oldest part of the city of Wroclaw. Now, due to the deviation of the Oder river, it isn't an island anymore but has still an important part on the banks of the Oder. After crossing the first bridge, I entered the Church of Our Lady on the Sand, built in the Gothic style, it has a large single nave with Gothic altarpieces. On one of the chapels was also a nice moving nativity scene with an old nun attending it. After exiting the church, I crossed the Tusmki bridge, and reached the pretty Plac Koscielny with the Collegiate Church of the Holy Cross and St Bartholomew at its northern end. From the square a street headed eastward leading right up to the impressive Cathedral. Built in a Gothic style during the 13th century it holds to bell towers and an impressive facade. Right below it, I finally met with my friend and after a conversation to catch up with what was going on in our lives, we decided to head inside. After visiting its dark yet intriguing interior, we decided to pay the 5zl ticket and take the elevator up the northern tower. The view from the top was great despite the rainy day and we enjoyed it for a while. There was also a small museum dedicated to African art at the base of the tower itself. Descending down, we finally decided to head towards the main square. Walking past sites we had previously seen, we eventually entered the Rynek. Probably one of the prettiest market squares in Poland, it is lined by colorful and beautiful burgher houses all around its perimeter. At its center stands the beautiful Gothic Town Hall, which was fortunately spared from the wwii bombings and thus maintains its original aspect. Inside, in the great hall, was a small free museum we were able to visit. After exiting we headed on and stopped in front of the so-called Hansel & Gretel houses, or Jas & Malgosia for Polish people; these two house stand at the northwestern corner of the square and resemble those of the famous fairy-tale. It was time to eat, so we headed to a restaurant serving local cuisine called Kurna Chata; there I had a hearty and filling goulash soup inside the traditional bread. After filling up with food we were back on the streets and headed to the Gothic Church of St Elizabeth. Inside was the typical vaulted nave with tombstones lined along its walls. This time we decided to skip the tower as we had seen enough panoramas for the day. Once out we headed through the main square again and reached the Baroque Royal Palace which now hosts the Historical Museum, detailing Wroclaw's history. Admission was free and inside the museum was very informative and held some nice objects and paintings. Right behind the Palace, we found an orchestra of gnome statues; and being it winter someone had put some yellow and black scarves around their necks. After that we decided to take a tram and head a little outside town; the next stop was the Centennial Hall. Now a Unesco World Heritage Site, it was constructed by architect Max Berg in 1913 when Wroclaw was then called Breslau and under German rule. As the sun had already set and there was no event going on, the entrance to the building was closed, but it was nonetheless stunning to see it's size and past grandeur from the surrounding park with the large fountain.Taking another tram we were back into town and ready for dinner. We decided to head into a restaurant called Pierogarnia Stary Mlyn, which, as the name suggests, served mostly pierogi. I had pierogi with duck filling and cranberry sauce; delicious! After dinner, we decided to head to a bar; the closest was the usual Pijalnia Wodki i Piwa, also popular in Krakow, where we took a few shots and beers. After that we looked for a club, close to the main square, where we stayed for a couple of hours. It was then getting late and I was still hoping to see some more on the next day, so we decided to go home and sleep. The next morning, not too late, we woke up, had breakfast and headed out to explore further. We passed the large Church of St Michael the Archangel and reached the Ostow Tumski once more. Crossing the bridge we reached the main and historic building of the University. Together with the church i had visited the previous day, the university was founded in the 17th century and housed in an impressive Baroque building. After paying the entrance ticket of 12zl, free for my friend as he studies there, we headed inside. The main room, the Aula Leopoldina, though partly under refurbishment, was impressive as I though it would be, with beautiful baroque paintings and decorations. We then climbed up the stairs reaching the top of the Mathematical Tower with a beautiful view over the old town. After exiting we headed on and reached the National Museum, housed in a nice neogothic building covered in beautiful weeds growing over it. Inside was a large collection of medieval art and paintings from the 18th and 19th centuries. After the visit it was time for me to go, so after thanking and saying goodbye to my friend I headed to the bus station where I then took a ride back to Krakow.