Every since seeing Kirsty Leanne’s first Wroclaw photographs on Instagram I’ve been curious about the city. I’d never heard of it until I started reading travel blogs, although Poland itself has always intrigued me. When I got my new job and realised I’d have very limited holiday, I knew I’d need to be clever about how I booked my travel, and so when bank holiday weekend came around I searched for flights that allowed me three days at my destination without any time off work. I was so pleased when I found out I could fly with Wizz Air to Wroclaw, and finally explore the city. My flight times gave me around 72 hours in the city, and so here’s what I managed to do and see in my long weekend in Wroclaw.
Saturday
After a bit of a lie in, I was out of my hotel room later than I’d hoped. I spent the morning exploring Rynek/Market Square, grabbing some food at McDonalds and hand feeding a sparrow (because this city is like a fairytale land, of course I had the fairytale creature experience to go with it) and taking lots of photos. Then I walked as far as I could be bothered (not far, it turns out) and found the very lovely Park Staromiejski, where there’s the Carousel, a lovely old fashioned Merry Go Round. I then went back to Market Square and had a browse around some shops before heading back to my hotel for a rest, and to write up a couple of blog posts. At 4pm I went out again, walking along the river to Wroclaw University and having a look around the outside of the buildings. I crossed the bridge over to one of the small islands and had a sit down there, watching the world go by, before jumping onto a boat for a river cruise (25 Zloty-around £5, for an hour) The cruise helped me to spot some things I really wanted to visit the next day, as well as some street art that I went to photograph after the cruise.
Once I’d walked back down the river towards my hotel and Market Square I realised how hungry I was and went to Whiskey In The Jar for tea. I made the mistake of drinking three cocktails with my tea and as they were pretty strong that meant game over for me. I headed the long way back to my hotel to do some work and have a decent nights sleep, as Friday had taken its toll on me (I worked all day then went to the airport for a 10:15pm flight, getting into bed at 3am-no wonder I was tired!) On the walk I passed the Shambles (Jatki) and saw the brass farm animals there.
Sunday
I woke up at 8am feeling refreshed and well rested, and decided that 8am was probably too early to go out. So I wrote for an hour, then got ready and left at about 9:45. This time I walked further down the river to Ostrow Tumski, seeing the Tumski Bridge (Lovelock Bridge), and heading to Cathedral Island, where I had a look at Cathedral of St John The Baptist. I happened to catch a parade that felt very much like the Princess Mia in Genovia parades, so took lots of photos there, as well as of the Cathedral in general. Sadly I couldn’t go inside as there were services going on but I did get to have a quick look through the door to see how stunning they are. I stopped for a drink and a cake at a little cafe there before setting off to look for Sephora-I always like to do a bit of makeup shopping (although, miraculously, I didn’t buy anything this time)
After shopping I realised I was really tired and walked back to my hotel for a nap. I slept and then worked for a few hours before going out for some tea, but before I did I decided to head to Mary Magdalene Church and climb the steps in the tower so I could take photos from the balcony. That was incredibly scary, as half way up the steps change from stone steps to metal grates you can see through, and I am not good with those. I’m glad I did it, though, even though I did need a long sit down at the Football Fountain afterwards!
Monday
As Monday was my last day I slept late and then spent some time packing, before going out for brunch. Once I’d eaten I set off to see the famous Multimedia Fountain, which puts on a show to music every hour. I timed my visit so that I saw two shows, a pop music one at 1pm and a classical at 2pm, before heading back into the city. The shows were amazing, well worth the trip, though I tried to walk back and quickly regretted it as, even though I knew the way, it was a stupidly long walk. So I jumped onto a tram back to Market Square. The fountain is in Szczytnicki Park, near the Centinial Hall (which I also saw) and it’s also close to the Japanese Garden and Wroclaw Zoo, both of which I want to see next time. I had a walk around the park and a drink and cake at the cafe before I went back, and when I’m in Wroclaw next time I’ll make sure to catch an evening show at the fountain.
Sadly I didn’t get chance to do much more when I was in the city. I decided that down time was as important as exploring and, lets face it, it’s just a good excuse to go back to do the things I didn’t do this time.
Have you ever been to Wroclaw before?
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