Wroclaw (Vrotswarf) another 3 day catch-up

Monday started out well with a pleasant drive through some attractive countryside towards Wroclaw. We arrived on the outskirts of the town around 12.30 and started trying to follow the directions in our campsite book to a site near the centre of the city on the bank of the river.

To be fair, even the book's author said it was hard to find! After circling the town and getting back to where we began, we pulled into an LPG station, filled up and asked for help. The young man had no idea but did an internet search and found out where it was. He gave us precise directions which got us straight there ….. except the site had closed down! (Our book “Alan Rogers - Central Europe - Quality camping and caravanning sites” is the 2007 edition.) Eventually we drove into the centre and found a carpark from which we were able to walk into the old market square (Rynek) where the helpful lady in the Tourist Information Centre directed us to another site at the Olympic Stadium. Somewhat basic in the facilities department but now the only one in the city and very conveniently situated near a tram stop. We arrived somewhat hot and bothered and tired.

Tuesday morning we caught the tram into the city centre and then spent the day exploring.

Wroclaw has a very large town square, big enough to have the Town Hall and two streets of houses in the middle. It has been very attractively restored and has many bars and restaurants in the surrounding buildings.

The city is a candidate to be a European Capital of Culture in 2016 and there was a marquee up in the square for a concert this weekend in support of the bid.

We visited a church, dedicated to Elizabeth of Hungary, which had a tower with a viewing gallery 300 steps up! I was happy to give it a miss but Edith was keen to go up, at least she was until about half way up! We did eventually puff our way to the top and the views were very good. We also walked across town through the University to the main Cathedral on what was once an island in the river. It was rather dark and gloomy inside unlike St Elizabeth's Church.

We ate in town at a nice pavement restaurant Edith ordered the Farmer's salad and I had Hungarian potato cakes with beef casserole. Both were delicious and we decided that Hungarians and Polish farmers must have huge appetites!

Today, Wednesday, we got the bikes out again and rode from the campsite through a large wooded park to the grounds of the Centennial Hall, built for an exhibition in the early twentieth century, when Wroclaw was still German and all the later unpleasantness hadn't started.

The centrepiece of the Centennial Hall grounds is a huge lake with a computerised fountain that performs to music. The Japanese Garden was also made for the exhibition and had become derelict but was rebuilt with Japanese help in the 1990s. It is very impressive and was a good quiet way to spend an hour on a very hot day.