Arrival in Wroclaw, Poland, May 11

We drove from Prague to Wroclaw, Poland today. We started with another sumptuous breakfast at our hotel in Prague. (3 cappucinos each!)Then, we went to the Billa and spent the last of our Czech money, the koruna. We got some nuts and fruit.

   Part of the way was highway, but part was also on very bumpy roads. We found our way to the carpark recommended by James and then made our way to the central square, a fairly short walk. The central square is beautiful and we were very impressed. We were early as James and Shooka were at work, so we went to Crete, a Greek restaurant right on the square.
   Shooka and James met us at the fountain in the square.

James and Mark went to the car park to get our luggage and Shooka and I went to their flat, which is right off the square. It is on the 5th floor, so we only took what we needed. (No lift.) Their flat is great - overlooking the rooftops, very light and spacious and with two bedrooms.

    James and Shooka changed from their school clothes and then we walked out for dinner which was at a pierogi place. It was very good. The evening was lovely and we walked around with them and stayed up late chatting. That evening Shooka got good news that she will be a trainer at a Climate Reality Conference in Berlin next month. She is very excited.
   Wroclaw has a complex history. It has been conquered by lots of empires. Before World War Two, the majority of the population was German speaking. Thus, the Nazis were a strong presence and when war broke out, the Jews of the city were rounded up and sent to camps. Thousands of Poles were put into forced labor and also had a high death rate. After the war, the Soviets moved thousands of Poles from eastern Poland into Wroclaw and displaced the Germans, most of whom moved into Germany. So, the city became mostly Polish speaking and was de-Germanized.

   Today, there are about 600,000 people in the city. Walking around the square, it seems like a very happy city. But, like in Vienna and in Prague, we felt the absence of the Jews.
 We had a full day walking Wroclaw with James and Shooka. James had to go to work to an Open House at his school in the morning and we did a laundry and lazed about getting to know Shooka.

  After the wash was on the drying racks, we walked to the Wroclaw Museum. It highlights 1,000 years of the city's history from its founding on islands in the Oder River. We were moved by the suffering of the city from World War
One though 1989 when the Solidarity movement brought about Polish independence.

   James met us in the garden at the Museum and we went from there back to Rynek, the central square where we at sandwiches and salads at a famous chocolate shop. We had iced coffees and James and Shooka chocolate-based drinks. It was all very delicious.

     From there we walked through one of the old covered markets and onto the islands in the river where there are many famous churches. It was very pleasant walking over the pedestrianized bridges and along the river banks. (There are 12 islands and 130 bridges in all!) It seemed there were festivals going on all around us all day.
    We much enjoyed finding the little dwarf statues that are sprinkled throughout the city. They are very engaging and cute. But, they began as symbols of resistance to Soviet rule. The first ones were drawn, often to deface propaganda posters.  A journalist recalled, "the dwarves gave us something to laugh at and
that was the whole idea: to show how absurd the situation was and encourage
people not to be afraid." It became known as the Revolution of Dwarves.
   The city chose to commemorate its history in 2001 with a bronze statue of a large dwarf - Papa Dwarf. In 2005, Tomasz Moczek, a sculptor, started to create the tiny dwarves that are sprinkled throughout the city today.

   They lurk in alleyways, sit outside businesses, swing on lamp posts. There are over 400 of them now. They are clever and often advertise a business where they are found - like a butcher outside a butcher shop, or a dwarf mailing a letter at the post office, or eating pizza outside a pizza restaurant. People get maps and "collect" them. Moczek is no longer the only sculptor working on them today.
    Then we got some ice cream across from the old jail - built in the 1400s, now a restaurant.

    After a rest at "home" we went out to dinner at Konspira restaurant, supposedly also a spot for the underground resistance. We all had traditional Polish food and all pronounced them delicious. Then, more walking - into the old Jewish Quarter and by the synagogue. We had planned to go to a jazz concert, but we were all quite tired and felt that we'd had a very full day. A wonderful day.