Wroclaw

Election day at home. No conclusive result before everyone went to sleep in Oz. Tassie returned to its roots - nearly! But 4 out of 5 is heading in the right direction.

It might have been hot politically in Australia but it was also hot here in Poland as well - temperature rising above  30 degrees by late morning. A slight breeze though had a great cooling effect.

Our drive into Wroclaw was very interesting. It was the first time on a Polish motorway and what a great piece of infrastructure. We can recall 36 years ago when a major road like this would have been busy with horse drawn vehicles amongst the very few mechanical vehicles. Today the motorway was very busy with Polish cars travelling in all directions. What a turn around in a generation! 

And what a surprise we had at the end of our trip - Wroclaw, a city of over 600,000. For a town that was virtually devastated in the final battle of WWII it has been transformed into a very enticing city for residents and visitors. We were not expecting such a redevelopment in such a short space of time.

Market  Square Wroclaw. 

Our first visit was to the National Museum which exhibited many outstanding works of Silesian and Gothic art as well as modern Polish art of the last two hundred years. An fascinating museum which we enjoyed greatly. When enquiring as to how all these pieces of art survived the the destruction of the city the reply was that a Gernan art restorer adviced the Polish authorities to place as many pieces as possible into hiding. They did this by distributing the art works to hundreds of locations around the territory- this though didn't stop many from being destroyed or stolen. 

"Marina and Child with a Goldfinch" - 16th century.

Exquisite 15th ccentury woodcarvings. 

After the museum visit we strolled along the south bank of the River Odra which has a great view of the river island, Ostrow Tunski. This is the area where settlement was first made. 

Churches and buildings on the river islands. 

It was when we reached the Market Square that we could see the real attraction of the city  having been given very little money over time for the reconstruction it is amazing the extent of the finish. The square was alive with people with many activities being conducted throughout. 

Pictureque facades. 

Soccer in the Square.

The tradition of woodcarving has been a part of the heritage of this part of the world for hundreds of years. 

Interesting to note that very little English was available in brochures etc where as there was German readily available . I wonder if this was a legacy of Wroclaw once being a German city. The history of the city over the last 75 years is very interesting. 

The day was drawing to a close - and thunder storms were fast approaching - we got on our "bike" and headed for our overnight in the village Zielecice. 

Jelena Gora and Karkonoski National Park

Today we entered a region of Poland that is considered to be one of the most scenic areas in the country.

A traditional Polish costume - once a memory!

Some very Polish scarves. 

Beautiful local hand knitted jumpers. 

Firstly our visit to the town of Jelenia Gora was one of many surprises. Jelenia Gora is the launching town for a visit to the Karkonoski National Park, but it is also a town worth visiting in its own right.

Some of the tenanments around the Market Square with arcades running underneath. 

The Castle Tower - saved from demolition in the 1800s - now offers lovely views across the town when one climbs the, what seems a 1000, steps to the top.

A view across the square. 

Rathaus

Rathaus. 

More tenanments. 

A town more than 900 years old, it has kept its character really well over such a long time. The town was bustling and a vibrancy was detectable. In fact, we get the impression that Poland is well on the way to be strong economically. There seems to be lots of activity and the people seem to have available cash to purchase as they see fit. 

Delightful arcades surround the square. 

The tourist material was available in many languages and in plentiful supply - suggesting a confidence in visitor numbers. 

We later headed off towards the Karkonosz Mountains  close to the Czech border. A beautiful part of the county with our first stop being the Szklarka Waterfall. We had an extended walk through the forest of fir trees and beeches - a very pleasant and relaxing place to spend time. 

Approaching the Szklarka Falls. 

The Falls. 

Some feature outcrops.

The fir forest. 

A forest fossil!

After this we visited the national park and villages associated with it. Lots of activities for all ages with hiking being one of the summer favourites.  Obviously skiing is the winter option here. 

Later in the afternoon we stopped at Dobromiez for our overnight stay in a very pleasant village.

Driving in Poland is much the same as everywhere else but with a few idiosyncrasies- lights must be on at all times, and when you come to a train crossing you must stop. There are no lights or boom gates to warn of an approaching train! But it works. Would this be possible in Oz!

Czocha Castle

We have been a little smug about the lack of rain over the last few days but it started again this morning (and it is raining as I write now), fortunately the temperature has remained in the mid 20s. 

A quick park!

Spent some of the morning planning our moves over the next week with a hotel stop over in Kraków later next week. 

We briefly checked out Luban before moving onto Czocha Castle. Interesting to note that it took over fifty years for the complete restoration of the Town Hall (Rathaus) due to lack of funds from the central government. Luban was part of the Upper Lusatian Six Town League - a small trading block from the Middle Ages. It's  contribution was mainly brewing and cloth and woven fabrics. 

Bracka Tower - erected in 1318 as part of the defence of the town. It has been used for many other things over its time. Armies have attempted to destroy it in the past but have failed - it now is a symbol of the towns endurance. 

Czocha Castle was touted as the chief tourist attraction in Upper Silesia so we thought this would be worth a visit. And an interesting one. The castle was originally for border defence being located on the Polish-Czech border back in the days. It had been destroyed a few times over the centuries, rebuilt and now is a hotel and tourist attraction. 

A cat nap!

Perhaps we were expecting a little more polish(!) but nevertheless an interesting experience. We marvel at the lack of "nanny state" intervention at some of these places - here , as part of the guided tour we were left to our own devises to ascend a crimbling brick staircase to climb to the tower of the castle, in near total darkness! But we are glad we visited Czocha Castle. 

An interesting bedroom - the bed has a secret trapdoor which connects half of the bed with the basement. It is thought that this was a way for the owner to be rid of unwanted mistresses! But for the ladies - the walls contain hidden secret hiding places for their lovers! 

As it was getting late in the afternoon we headed for the town of Jelenia Gora, stopping for our overnight a little short of there at the village of Rybnica. 

Much is said about the roads in Poland. It is true that they are not in the same league as those in Germany. It can be a little pig-in-a-poke, the main highways are generally very good but you take your  chances on some of the other grades of roads. It is obvious that the country has had other priorities but we must say that since our last visit infrastructure has improved greatly. 

Patched roads.

It is the same with the house in villages - many look derelict but when you look closely you can see new double glazing window frames with expensive lace curtains on the inside and other hints of a very nice interior. Under the old communist regime it was not advisable for you to have the outside of your house looking attractive otherwise it may have been confiscated. Perhaps this custom has just been continued with the emphasis being on the interior of the house.  

Started the day with a traditional Polish poppyseed pastry .... 

... and ended it with some Polish sausage!

Bautzen-Gorlitz-Zgorzelec

Raining this morning so a little longer sleeping!

We had a leisurely breakfast before venturing into Bautzen for a more serious look around the town and to have a final lunch in Germany at a fish restaurant. The town was most interesting and the lunch, with fresh Norwegian fish was very tasty.

The very pictureque view of Bautzen. A delight at every turn.

We visited the cathedral - as one does in these places - and noticed it was both a Lutheran and a Catholic place of worship. What is more amazing is that this sharing has been going on since an agreement back in 1530. At that time a 4 metre high divider was in place between the front and the back of the church. Today it is about 70 centimetres high! 

Looking from the Lutherian end to the Catholic end.

The present day fence dividing the two sections. 

The Catholics hold their service at 8.30am and the Lutherian service is at 10.30am! What a great arrangement, seeing that there  were wars fought in the name of these two religions!

A further wander around the town took us to the Schloss, the Waterpower,  and the Rathaus - all central to the charm of the city. An interesting museum at the Schloss outlined  the ethnic groups associated with Bautzen- the Sorbs. 

 

The 14th century Rathus with interesting sundial.

Market Square

Quaint streets

We later returned to the van and set our GPS to Gorlitz and the Polish border. 

Welcome to Poland -aisles of vodka!

Our first task on crossing the border was to purchase a Polish pre-paid SIM card. These were not sold in a phone shop but instead we were directed to a newsagent where we purchased a card with 3gb of data for about $5 Australian. And further to this, when I asked the chap to activate it for me he replied, "It should be working immediately!" And it was - no messing about with ID etc, just plug it in and you are up and running.

We drove on to our overnight stop at the small village of Zareba. 

Colditz- Bautzen

A morning of catching up with some of the chores. It was always going to be a slow day but in the end we traveled quite a distance - now only 59 km from the Polish border. 

Once we started we again found that the countryside is very pictureque, abounding in lush crops and forests. We crossed into Saxony, arriving at our lunch destination, Colditz. 

Hilton, Helene and Colditz. 

Colditz is famed for its Schloss - in particular for the daring stories of escape during WWII. We stopped for lunch and then went for a wander to the castle to put a face to the stories. The castle over the years has had a very checked history. It was burnt down twice in the Middle Ages, used as a poor house in the 19th century, as an asylum in the 20th century and as a prisoner of war establishment during WWII. 

Colditz Schloss perched high above the town. 

The causeway to the main entrance of Colditz. 

Lucas Cranach's painting with Colditz Castle in the top left hand corner.

We admired some of the paintings and drawings done by a British officer who spent part of the war here, he captured many of the day to day experiences of the men.

John Wattin's illustration on the wall of his cell. 

William Anderson's rain, winter and Spring show.

We later returned to Hilton and continued in to the delightful town of Bautzen for our overnight stop. 

An evening view of the old town of Bautzen.