I am the type who generally plans every trip abroad
down to the smallest detail; after putting together a list of things I’d like
to see, I make a day-to-day plan that includes a precise account of where to be
by when, where to eat, what to expect to see or do. My visit to Wroclaw was
different though – I was quite spontaneous, changing a backpack for a shoulder
bag, walking sneakers for boots and a Baedeker for a mobile city guide. Maybe
that is why I didn’t feel so exhausted at the end of the day – being a tourist
is a state of mind, but with a friend who studied in this city for a semester
by my side and a rough, not-yet-so-clarified idea on what to see or do, I felt
no pressure to race against time as I usually would.
I stayed at my friend’s dorm apartment that was shared
with 3 other German Erasmus students. I won’t lie - there was an Erasmus party
every night, but most of them were good-bye ones, since many were leaving back
home. Slow mornings, late breakfast, pizza dinners and between these, internet
surfing - consider that a normal daily routine. My friend and I repeatedly
broke it though, taking a tour of the city first in the early afternoon and
then at night with a stop at the dorm during the day. I personally preferred
the city at night, when the Gothic churches were lighted dramatically, the
University of Wroclaw’s reflection floated on the Odra River and half-drunk
university student crowds danced and laughed in the streets.
During the day, the city put on a different face. The Rynek (main market square) is the
colourful sibling of Prague’s City Square through which the scent of flowers
from a nearby flower market flows; the “bistros” fills with people of all ages
eating pirogi; people rush into one
of the many shopping malls; many run to get on the tram after mounting up 3
high steps (honestly, these are very senior and short people unfriendly
trams!); meeting dorm mates on the way to the UNESCO heritage congress centre.
However, be careful; with the Sun up, 12°C temperatures roam the city yet they
fall below 0°C after sunset. It is a quick process, so it is better to have
layers to put on so you don’t return back home sick (true story).
And what
were the main surprises of the visit? Things like being able to pay for your
public transport ticket only by
credit card (a one-way ticket costs 11Kč, by the way), being taken to a Polish
restaurant in the city centre where lunch costing 17zł (110Kč) is considered
“expensive” and lastly being asked almost constantly by the locals if I need
help. Another surprise was walking through the city and bumping into
small dwarf statues like the one pictured. Back in the Communist era, the
locals placed these statues around the city as an innocent anti-regime protest.
The excitement caused by the figures continues to this day, for not only can
you run around the city in search of them, but also chances are, the dwarf you
saw this morning in front of the indoor Targowa
market will be gone and you have to look around for it again in case you
forgot your camera (again, true story).
But perhaps the event I will remember the most is
being waken up at 3am due to the smoke alarm and finding myself and other 150
people standing in the lobby of the dorm building to find that somebody
probably just forgot to put out their joint or cigarette. Fearing losing
everything you left in your room to a fire and then mumbling curses to yourself
while climbing 8 floors of stairs after being dismissed with the words “false
alarm” is something that one can just laugh at when remembering back. Still, it
ain’t something you want to experience
again – but Wroclaw? That certainly is.
-
Anna Hupcejová
