Wrocław 2016

A visit to the largest city in western Poland.

This was a work trip, but I managed to scrape enough time to see the sights of this beautiful old city, taking two good cameras and using both. With my route taking in two German airports that I had not visited before, there will be a number of pictures from those as well. Just 4 nights were spent in the city, with 19.5 km of walking taking up my spare time on the first day, followed by a mere 3.75 km and 4 km on days 2 and 3, covering a large part of the city centre and some of the outskirts. With everything (including excellent Polish dining and drinking) costing so little, it would easily have been possible to use taxis or public transport.

My earlier visit to Poland concentrated on the cities and mountains in the south, as well as the capital Warszawa (Varshava - aka. Warsaw). Wrocław (Vrotswaff) is different. A substantial amount survived World War II, and the forests of Soviet tower blocks are much smaller than those of the capital. Far more of the older buildings (some original, some restored) can still be seen, giving the city a much more historic character. In fact, some of the historic buildings were actually torn down after the war, so that their stone could be used to recreate the buildings that had been destroyed in Warszawa.

With the pictures being of architecture, manual panorama stitching is extremely difficult, so the panoramas are mostly autostitched with Microsoft ICE, unless otherwise stated.

• Approaching Frankfurt Airport in Deutschland (Germany).
• Frankfurt is huge in a way you don't normally get to see with European airports; the buildings begin at one end of the runways, and just keep going, on both sides of the site. The buildings are long enough, and the site wide enough, to contain a city of 150'000 people.
• Buildings as far as you can see in either direction, but only a compact layout for a few runways.
• Disappearing off into the distance. The internal layout is pure chaos, and you could fit most airport terminals into the space taken up by the corridors between the terminals.
• Travelator into infinity, between the terminals.
• One of the two main arms of gate A, teminal 1. The picture does this no justice. The distant end is 800 metres away. That is where the shopping centre starts, big enough to hold a large city shopping centre, and as big as the entire terminal of other large European airports.
• The final 350 metres of the second arm of gate A. After gate A, there are gates B, C, D, E and Z, And terminal 2. And they are building terminal 3.
• Waiting room waiting for waitees to wait in the waiting room.
• Taking off from Frankfurt, glowing through the haze.
• Coming in to land at Wrocław. This appears to be Środa Śląska (Shroda Shlo(n)ska).
• The old train station. Most of the rails are now missing, and the sidings area appears to be a market instead. Before Poland was reconstituted, the different areas of the country were owned by the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and Russia. The former two built extensive railway infrastructure, while the Russian side (including the current capital) built almost nothing. Old railway maps clearly show the difference. This city was in an area that got railways, a part of Prussia in the German Empire.
• Turrets on the courthouse.
• Courthouse.
• Sunrise at Plac Wolności (Plats Volnoshchee).
• A prison? No of course not, it's the back of a church. Kościół świętego Antoniego (Koshchoow shvee'ew(n)teg'o Antonyeg'o) from Pawła Włodkowica (Pavwa Vwodkoveetsa).
• A church? No of course not, it's a library. Something is a bit backwards here.
• There are loads of little gnomes (or dwarves) dotted around the city in funny poses; climbing ropes up buildings, typing on laptops, or this one riding a film projector that doubles up as a bicycle.
• Plac Solny (Plats Solni(h)), one of the two central squares of the old city, with a really ugly bank blighting the otherwise beautiful old buildings.
• Plac Solny gables. They look Dutch.
• The rynek (ri(h)nek, markey square) at the centre of the city. The central building is offset and rotated slightly, so that it is not parallel with the surrounding buildings. The left side of the central building is the new ratusz (ratoosh - town hall), and the right side with the tower is the old ratusz. Most of the other buildings are restaurants and pubs, as this area (like the old centres of other major Polish cities) is a tourist magnet.
• Bazylika świętego Elżbiety Węgierskiej (Bazi(h)leeka shvee'ew(n)teg'o Elj(e)bee'eti(h) Vew(n)gee'erskee'ey), the Basilica of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, commonly called St. Elizabeth's Church.
• Bazylika świętego Elżbiety Węgierskiej.
• Wita Swosza (Veeta Svosha), the street at the end of the rynek.
• Ratusz. A very dramatic old town hall.
• Gnomes on Świdnicka (Shveednyeetska).
• The original gnome, on Świdnicka.
• The Opera Software office, Plac Teatralny (Plats Te'atralni(h)).
• The shop opposite it. Strangely, the shop's signs are all written in English, even though many Polish people do not speak it (foreign television only became available in the country relatively recently). Maybe it ensures that only the target age group will understand it.
• Plac Teatralny, with Teatr Lalek (Te'atr Lallek) on the left, and the national opera (the music) building at the end of the street - diagonally opposite the Opera Software building. There's something poetic about the arrangement of those buildings. Microsoft ICE made a mess of stitching the wires, and created ghosts of moving vehicles, which needed to be manually corrected.
• Buildings on Teatralna (Te'atralna).
• Wzgórze Partyzantów (Fzgooj(e)e Parti(h)zantoof), or Partisan Hill. The hill was made in 1807 for the French occupiers on the site of the old city's fortifications which had been demolished. The building was added in 1867. The German occupiers later added a monument which was destroyed after World War II. The old fortifications were ringed with a moat, much of which still survives, and can be seen in the trees to the right.
• Plac świętego Krzysztofa (Plats shvee'ew(n)teg'o kshi(h)shtoffa), named for the little church on the left.
• Plac Nowy Targ (Plats Novi(h) Tark), a blatent reminder of the Soviet era, with the concrete clone housing, stuck amongst the beautiful old buildings. As I was told; this is just a sleeping room, not where you really live. Microsoft ICE failed to stitch several of the floor tiles correctly, which needed to be manually corrected. Moving vehicles caused some bad ghosts, requiring manual recreation of some of the shop-fronts.
• Świętej Katarzyny (Shvee'ew(n)tey Kataj(e)i(h)ni(h)), at the end of Plac Nowy Targ.
• Between blocks at Plac Nowy Targ. The colourful cars are the obvious sign that this is now a non-Soviet city. Microsoft ICE got one stitch wrong, requiring a building and car to be manually reconstructed.
• Katedra świętego Wincentego (Kat'edra shvee'ew(n)teg'o Veentsenteg'o) with a baroque chapel crudely bolted onto the side.
• Katedra świętego Wincentego. The three buildings behind it are entirely separate churches of similar size. Do you think this place has enough churches already? Apparently not; there will be more.
• The Ossolineum, a cultural library.
• Most Pomorski (Mosst Pomorskee) bridge gateway.
• View of the Odra (Odd'ra) river from Tamka island. In German, the river is known as Oder (literally meaning "or"). The river is split into multiple channels as it flows through the city, creating numerous islands, moats, shipping canals and oxbow lakes. The entire city centre sits on an artificial island, and the northern and western portions of the city sit on two separate artificial islands bounded by shipping canals. This is the original river channel (it splits in two at the bridge to create another island).
• Wyspa Piasek (Vispa Pee'assek) island, and its smaller islet created by a canal. More buildings means more churches, and there are two on this tiny island alone. The obvious tower is Kościół Najświętszej Maryi Panny na Piasku (Koshchoow Nayshvee'ew(n)tshey Mari(h)ee Panni(h) na pee'askoo), and the smaller one in front is Cerkiew świętych Cyryla i Metodego (Tserkee'ef shvee'ew(n)tih Tsi(h)ri(h)la ee Metod'eggo).
• Kościół Najświętszej Maryi Panny na Piasku. I do promise there will be some pictures of something other than churches. But since I like their architecture, bear with me.
• Wyspa Młyńska (Vi(h)spa Mwi(h)ny'ska), another island, separated into 3 islands by canals.
• Two large churches in an area known as Ostrów Tumski (Ostroof Toomskee) or Cathedral Island (not a little island any more, despite its name - it is now part of the northern city island, but it used to be a natural little island), the oldest part of the city. On the left is Kościół świętego Krzyża (Koshchoow shvee'ew(n)teg'o Kshi(h)j(e)a), and on the right is Katedra świętego Jana Chrzciciela (Kat'edra shvee'ew(n)teg'o Yana Hshcheechella). There are a further three churches in this tiny area (plus several in the city district beyond it), and most of the buildings seem to be for religious use. The city began here as wooden buildings around 1100 years ago, large churches being as much as 800 years old.
• Looking over Most Tumski (Mosst Toomskee) bridge towards Church Island. The same churches can be seen. In front of the left one is Kościół świętych Piotra i Pawła (Koshchoow shvee'ew(n)tih Pee'otra ee Pavwa), and tucked out of sight on the left is Kościół święty Marcina (Koshchoow shvee'ew(n)ti(h) Marcheena) - the earliest solid building, at about 1000 years old.
• Love locks covering Most Tumski.
• Kościół świętego Krzyża and its statues. A group of children here were being led around by nuns, using a long pole to light the streetlights like they would have done if they were old candles or lanterns, except that they are electric lights. Strange custom. This picture was taken and autostitched with a phone camera, since it needed to be a much wider angle than my proper camera could manage. The colours suffer as a result of using a phone camera (especially the odd green glow on the left).
• Katedra świętego Jana Chrzciciela with Kościół święty Idziego (Koshchoow shvee'ew(n)ti(h) Eejeg'o) hiding on the left. At this point, the group of children and nuns had switched tactics and were surrounding people, and trying to beg for something - I assume money - to be put into a pillowcase. After making some excuse about not understanding Polish, I walked off. Churches and begging for money may go hand in hand, but using children out in the streets to try to get sympathy money is pretty weird.
• The old city ends, and the Soviet era tower blocks begin. These almost surround the city, with a large group to the north, another huge group to the south, and a few scattered groups to the west. These are part of the nothern forest of towers, at Kardynała Stefana Wyszyńskiego (Kardi(h)nawa Stefanna Vi(h)shi(h)nyskee'eggo). Fields of tower blocks sprouting from the ground, all uninspired, featureless and characterless. Build fast, build minimal.
• Most Zwierzyniecki (Mosst Zvee'ej(e)i(h)nyetskee), a bridge over one of the shipping canals.
• After crossing the bridge, I had left the large northern artificial island, and entered the the western island.
• The sculpture "Hunting Diana" depicting the goddess hunting with her dogs. The original was made in 1898, but "lost" after World War II during Soviet occupation. This is a 2015 recreation.
• Centennial Hall, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, completed in 1913 under the German Empire (apparently listed for its pioneering use of reinforced concrete!). It is basically an empty arena, intended to be used as a concert or sports hall, or for exhibitions. This is seen through the Wrocław Fountain, with the domes of the Pergola on the right. The Iglica spire had been taken down for maintenance, but would normally be between the two buildings.
• Lovers at the Wrocław Fountain.
• Heading out of the city to the west, and into the scattering of tower blocks. This is at Śrubowa (Shroobova) in the Szczepin (Shchep'een) area of the city.
• And the cluster at Nowy Dwór (Nov'i(h) Dvoor).
• There has been a good crop this year.
• Painted in an attempt to not seem so dull and identical. My lasting memory of the capital was seeing these for mile upon mile as I headed out of the city, and I am happy to say that here in Wrocław, I didn't see many of these until I intentionally went looking for them. My taxi driver clearly thought I was mad for taking pictures of the most boring buildings that the city had to offer.
• The last tower blocks, bidding goodbye to the city.
• Taking off from the tiny Wrocław Copernicus Airport, a complete contrast with the giant airports I was transiting through. That is the whole thing.
• Looking over the Leśnica (Leshnyeetsa) district of western Wrocław.
• Fields beside the German village of Mettenbach, near Landshut in the Isar valley.
• Road between Essenbach and Ohu.
• Stausee Altheim, a reservoir on the Isar river at Altheim in Landshut.
• View of the Austrian Alps from the sky above München. At the right edge are Zugspitze (2962 metres) and Hochwanner (2744 metres), the two highest peaks in Deutschland, followed by the Karwendel range (highest point at Birkkarspitze, 2749 metres). After that are the Central Austrian Alps. Beneath the mountain group containing Deutschland's highest peaks is Lamprechtsofen, currently the deepest cave in the Alps and fourth deepest in the World (1632 metres).
• The eastern end of the Austrian Alps. On the left edge of the picture, the Totes Gebirge range (highest point at Großer Priel, 2515 metres) is almost indistinguishable from the clouds. After that are the visible Dachstein massif (highest point at Hoher Dachstein, 2995 metres), then the Berchtesgaden Alps (highest point at Hochkönig, 2941 metres), and the Central Austrian Alps hidden by a dirty window. The Dachstein is home to the immense Hirlatzhöhle and Dachstein-Mammuthöhle cave systems, and the neighbouring part of the Berchtesgaden Alps contains the extensive Eisriesenwelt ice cave.
• Right (western) side of the Cental Austrian Alps. The high point on the right is Großvenediger (3657 metres), the sixteenth highest summit in Österreich (Austria). The dark sawtooth peaks in front of it are the Kaiser Mountains (highest point at Ellmauer Halt, 2344 metres).
• Left (eastern) side of the Cental Austrian Alps. The twin high points on the right are Großglockner (3798 metres), the highest mountain in Austria with its indistinguishable Kleinglockner sub-peak (3770 metres), and Glocknerwand (3721 metres). On their left are the other summits in the Central Austrian Alps. After that are some of the Berchtesgaden Alps on the left of the picture.
• View towards Geisenhausen.
• View over Kirchberg, near Wartenberg.
• Self-portrait, landing at München (Munich) Airport.
• Orderly arrangement at München Airport.
• Main gate arm of München Airport Terminal 2. So much easier than Frankfurt.
• Painted skies at sunset, München Airport.
• Trees in the sunset.
• Preparing for takeoff at München Airport.
• Lights of the administration and parking areas.
• Bundesautobahn 92 crossing the Isar at Achering.
• Towns surrounding München.
• Clifton Suspension Bridge at Bristol. Heading home.
• Polish pronunciation and glossary

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