The Dwarves of Wroclaw

 Yes Dwarves. These little beauties are all over town and there are over 800 of them with an interesting history of citizen rebellion behind them. Now there are a huge tourist attraction with maps and stickers for wayward travellers to hunt for them while exploring the city. I saw more than one group of people, not just kids, with maps opened up with glazed eyed smiles all around. 

They originate from dwarves painted on the walls of buildings in the 1980s as part of happenings organized by the anti-communist movement called the Orange Alternative. It was created by students from Wrocław, and its aim was to ridicule the communist system in a peaceful way. -- Wiki

During WW2 Wroclaw was called Breslau that endured a three month siege from the advancing Russian forces heading to Berlin. Of course Hitler demanded it be defended at all costs, blah blah blah. It fell ony  May 6th and all German forces surrendered on May 7th.

Aside from a bit of history, I had no expectation for Wroclaw. It was a halfway point between Warsaw and Prague and I had time, so why not. There was the posts and reviews that it was not a "touristy" as most European cities and I was ready for that, so I guess that was my expectation.

Bullet Damage from WW2

As I mentioned before, if I want to extend this trip as long as I can, I will need to cut down accommodations costs while in Europe so, I have booked hostels and will continue to do so until I have an absolute shi** experience. What I have seen as of now is it is NOT like it used to be "back in the day." Now, nobody talks to each other, and so far everyone is respectful and quiet because, well nobody talks to each other. Most of these "young uns" spend  hours a day laying in bed looking at their phones, and it carries over to the evening. The first time that I came to Europe in my 20s it was a free for all, but times have changed and to an old guy like me that works out just fine.

In Wroclaw I stayed in a 4 bed dorm with it's own bathroom, the Hostel Wratislavia, which has an odd website making it look like this crazy fun place, it is not, but it was fine for C$17 a night and a short 20 minute walk from the bus station. I guess also in order to save a few bucks I also have to give up coffee as it averages about $5 a cup and it ain't no Timmies Medium!

Historical Island Church and Outbuildings

An easy morning amble on a nice day, took me to the riverfront and I found a cafe with, you guessed it, a $5 coffee but whatever, the morning was nice and the view was as you see above. A series of ancient bridges let to the island and the place was relatively tourist free. This church was first constructed in the 10th century and has been destroyed by fires, The Mongol invasion and WW2. Those pesky Mongols were everywhere. It was on the iron bridge going to the island that I discovered my first Dwarf. The bridge has become somewhat of a "lover's bridge" much like various bridges in Paris. Couples would attached a lock to the bridge and toss the key into the river to show their love is forever. I wonder how many guys have dove into the river to find the key over the years? There were locks on the poor little dwarf as he became the symbol of tradition.

One of the many colorful town squares

With a large McDonalds coffee I found the first of many colorful town squares and streets to just sit and enjoy the morning. I don't know the names of any of these places and I did not look them up, it was just incredibly nice to sit and drink my coffee watching the wide eyed Dwarf Map Followers and the locals just doing what they do in Europe. There was NOBODY rushing around even though it was a work day. I am just going to repeat myself, I wandered around, street by street, square by square enjoying the day. I chatted up a pack of Scottish ladies doing the dwarf thing and they were having the time of their lives. When they found 5 dwarves they stopped for a drink. Now that is how you go dwarf hunting.

I guess you would call this the Seinfeld post, it really is about nothing. Go for a walk, drink coffee and a few beer, eat lunch, walk some more, learn a bit of history, take some photos, chat with a few people, hunt for dwarves and ponder a bit of WW2 damage... but it was about nothing.