.. not to be confused with Wroclaw, Poland (pronounced something like "Vrot-suave").
Above: the main square at night. Below: cathedral at night.
I visited Wroclaw one rainy weekend in March, and it didn't disappoint. I don't understand why people hate on Poland so much, because it seemed pretty nice to me. Wro is in the area of Poland that at various points was actually part of Germany, so it was like visiting a German city like Leipzig but with slavic writing everywhere.
I took a Flixbus to Dresden and then Wroclaw, passing through numerous little German and Polish towns, including the sort of unattractive Chemnitz (shown above with cheerfully painted smokestack) and Goerlitz, which is on the border and seemed like a pretty sweet little city.
Since I had a few hours to kill in between my connections in Dresden, I walked to the nearby Russian Orthodox church and had a look. The above photo doesn't really do justice to the beautiful blue minarets/Zwiebelturm. The interior was pretty but not nearly as elaborate (read: gawdy) as the Greek Orthodox church in Mobile.
While I don't speak Polish at all, I found it somewhat easier to get around in Poland than in Germany because there's so much English everywhere, and all the young Poles I met spoke English really well and seemed unbothered using it. (Side note: in Germany it's not unusual to encounter young people who either shame you for not speaking German very well despite living here or just refuse to use English with you. While the latter can be very helpful in improving one's German, the former is not and makes you not really want to interact with Germans and just stick to your English-speaking circle of friends.)
Like everywhere else in Europe, Wroclaw is an old city, with buildings and monuments around that are handfuls of centuries old. The main market square has an iconic clock tower, some beautiful architecture, and a pretty installation that actually used to serve as the public whipping post/imprisonment viewing spot. Dark.
It also has many newer additions, such as a collection of several hundred little bronze dwarf statues that you can find around the city, in a variety of poses and occupations. This little guy has had a bit too much to drink at what was the oldest pub in the city (but is currently closed and seeking new ownership).
I went on a walking tour of the city and learned some interesting factoids, including that Wroclaw ranks 5th in the world for number of bridges (crossing water) in the world (1st is Hamburg). Not to mention just seeing the sights, including Wroclaw's own "Manhattan" with some 1970s-era funky architecture and various churches and the cathedral (Church of St. Peter and Paul shown below).
My trip back to Jena was with Blablacar (kind of an Uber/ride-share for long-distance trips) and took about half the length of time that the Flixbus trip did, for about the same price. Poland is nice, go there.
