Another chilly day. I dealt with it by staying inside as much as possible. 

The national museum here has lots of altarpieces. I love me some religious art, so I enjoyed it there very much. Lots of depictions of st Barbara. She may be the patron saint of a nearby city.  Also lots of paintings by  20th century polish artists. A lot of the art in Poland was looted by occupiers of course. Still some good stuff left, tho.

After a cheap lunch of schwarma, I went to the Centennial hall. It’s a performance hall built post WWI. Like I’ve said before, architecture isn’t my thing, but I do try. It was actually pretty neat. The museum directors sneakily taught me some local history at the same time.

The Silesia area, which I’m in, has been ruled by six different countries ( or more) in the last 1000 years. The city still seems to be trying to find itself. The food and culture is strongly German and Russian and Austrian and Czech. Any way there’s a lot to learn here.

Moving on to Krakow tomorrow. Hope some warmer weather will find me there. 

I’ve learned to pronounce the city’s name, and I’m pleased. So is anyone I talk to. For some reason it was tough.

The weather cleared, and I’m pleased with that too. Two walking tours later, I’ve got lots of factoids floating around now. Hope some will stick. 

This is a nice place. Counting everyone, about 900,000 residents. A good metro system makes this area easy to visit, and low-ish prices makes it affordable. I think in the future, Wroclaw’s star will rise.

That’s all for now. Tomorrow,  outside the old city center calls me.

The train trip only took 3 hours. I misread the schedule. I kept wondering why the other passengers looked askance at my food bag. I literally brought three meals worth of food lol. I forgot how close everything is in Europe, and it was a high speed train.

Let’s just say that I’ve got meals for a day or two.

Anyway, the weather turned crappy. 

I met Min from Seoul and we had a lovely dinner. Porkchops and potato pierogis.

Tomorrow another free walking tour and the purchase of some long johns.

Happy Wednesday 

So lovely today. Had a nice coffee, a walking tour in the old town, some sightseeing, a long walk, some food, more walking, some food, more walking, and dinner.

My feet hurt lol.

The weather was fantastic. I’m glad I was able to enjoy it. 

I learned about the rebuilding of the old city. A lot of the work was done for free in exchange for living quarters above the shops. And that would explain why the old city is so quiet at night. People live there. You go party someplace else. 

There are more churches than I realized that made it through WWII. St. Anne’s is one. The interior has a splendid organ and 17th century frescoes.

I also learned about black madonnas. I’d thought the statues and paintings I’d seen where our lady was really dark was some kind of artistic choice, or paint in need of conservation. Not so. Lots to see in the coming months. Common in orthodox churches I’m told.

The rest of the day was spent looking at churches by the dozen, and strolling in parks.

Couldn’t have asked for a better day.

😀