Wroclaw Revisited

Folk dancing at the Christmas market

Hi! I am in Wroclaw with all my friends, its good to be back! We are living in Hostel Babel still, which is right next to the train station, very handy. I also have better computer and internet access so I can finally upload all my photos in one go for you! Yesterday it was sad to leave. Kaspers parents took it upon themselves to feed me as much as physically possible for the journey back, I am so grateful because I now have to provide for myself and as the hostel has no kitchen, just a microwave it looks like sandwiches are going to be my staple meal. What they fed me - three cups of tea, a cup of coffee, tuna sandwiches, bread and butter, a plate of tomato and mozzarella, a plate of cake, plus for the bus - two sandwiches, four oranges, four bottles of juice, four chocolate bars... I think that was all!

I have had a few days in Wroclaw, which has been great to finally look around the city. The first weekend here I had AIESEC training so did not get a chance to see much. I found a more beautiful part of the city although the mix of architecture is mad everywhere. Gothic, modern, baroque, soviet... crazy!

Wroclaws mixed architecture

Living in Hostel Babel has been a bit of a shock after the luxury of a homestay. Now the only option for food is bread or cup noodles, and we only get one meal a day in a Soviet era milk bar on the other side of the city. Because we cant afford much more, this is lunch and dinner (and sometimes breakfast too). The water isnt safe to drink so we have to buy it. The queue to use the two toilets (between about usually 30 people) in the hostel is 15 minutes to half an hour in the morning. The internet is poor to awful. Some of the people here have been getting a little annoyed with AIESEC and I can see why. We live with random travellers (one who went to hospital yesterday from alcohol poisoning) have to lock our valuables during the day and share bedrooms with 16 others, which means no sleep, but we still have to get up (and queue for bathrooms) every morning. We have to commute to the schools by 8am - the buses here are crammed ten times the legal limit in New Zealand! Eek! The brazilians have named our dorm The Favela - slum in Portugese. Everyone just laughs about it. (are you hungry? have some bread)

Inside the favela

Living aside, the city is starting to grow on me. We tend to only see it at night because of work or sleeping, but there is always something happening. Last night we saw street musicians playing at the Christmas market in the square, and all these polish people started folk dancing.

At the Christmas market

It was really cute. Other nights we visit pubs and takeaway places - there is one place that does a slice of pizza for 2 zloty - about NZ 80 cents). On the weekend we went to the Cathedral and climbed it for the view. It had been totally destroyed in the war, so it was spookily empty inside.

We also went to see the Panorama of Raclawice, recommended to me by my Grandmothers friend, Wanda. She saw it before it was hidden during the WW2, only to be recovered at the end of the cold war. It was amazing. When we walked up the spiral staircase it was like stepping into another world. It was huge, and there was fences and earth giving it an optical illusion of being real. It gave me goosebumps for about 5 minutes, the first time Ive experienced it from a painting. Honestly, the detail was insane and it seemed more real than any painting. I am not sure if the others liked it as much.

At the top of the Cathedral

At bridge covered in padlocks with lovers names written on them

Right now I'm getting ready for bed, while some people are asleep in our dorm and the Brazilians are talking loudly about a photo! Sorry for my grammar, I am using a Portuguese keyboard and all the keys make different letters!