Our last visit to Enzesfeld, just a week ago, saw us catch up with our good friends, the Dedics, and take in trips to Eisenstadt, Rust and Baden bei Wien. This next visit was no less interesting with the added attraction that our daughter had arrived from the UK for the weekend.
A number of wine heuriges were now open and we took full advantage of that during this second 3 day visit. We also visited Hinterbruhl and the pretty little town of Gumpoldskirchen and the small village of Holles (all conveniently located in Lower Austria).
Starting with Enzesfeld itself; while Vanya disappeared into Vienna to meet up with Rohan, the rest of us (Clare, Alex and Niki – Gerhard was still in Abu Dhabi on business) took the dogs for a walk and then, joy of joys, we stumbled on a pick-nick (that’s German for a picnic, as if you couldn’t work that out) but this was subtly different. The Weingut Mayer in Enzesfeld had opened for business in their vineyards (as opposed to back in the town heurige) with a wine tasting picnic.
Vanya met Rohan in Vienna while we all enjoyed Meyer’s pick-nick…… but it wasn’t all easy, I had to dog-sit.
Hinterbruhl is a small village 12 miles south west of Vienna. Now, it is almost a part of Vienna. It is said that Franz Schubert wrote Lindenbaum in Hinterbruhl but there is no documentary evidence of that. More certain is that it is home to Europe’s largest known underground lake, the Seegrotte. The lake was formed in 1912 when a huge explosion rocked numerous caves which had been dug under the village in the mining of gypsum. The explosion released millions of gallons of water which flooded the lower caves and formed the lake.
Mining was immediately discontinued following the explosion but some of the upper tunnels and caves were reopened during WWII as a satellite camp for Mauthausen Concentration Camp. Engine parts were produced here for the fledgling lightweight (almost disposable) jet fighter know as the Spatz or, in English, the Sparrow (the Heinkel 162). There’s a memorial above ground for the concentration camp inmates here who were all murdered.
We took an informative guided tour through the cave system during our visit; walking the upper levels and being ferried around on a boat in the lower levels. At 15 euro per person it was quite pricy but I’m pleased we did it. Effective lighting throughout the lower levels of the caves made for some very pretty photos.
That’s Vanya, Rohan and I being ferried around the Seegrotte. We also learned on the guided tour that some scenes from The Three Musketeers were filmed in the Seegrotte
From Hinterbruhl we made the short journey to the delightful village of Gumpoldskirchen. This is for me the prettiest of the villages in the area surrounding Enzesfeld. Of course this view may have been influenced by the excellent wines we enjoyed in a local heurige during our visit but, even so, Gumpoldskirchen is very pretty.
Scenes from GumpoldskirchenThere’s always something special about wine tasting in a vineyard
The last place we visited during this stop in Enzesfeld was Holles. Holles was about the pleasant walk to and from the village from Enzesfeld and our stop in yet another heurige where we sampled Gruner Veltliner, Rivaner (a speciality of this particular heurige) and a Gelber Muskateller and; not forgetting the food, various local cheeses, smoked ham and Salzstangels (salted bread sticks).
And then it was back to Enzesfeld. Thanks so much, Clare; both for introducing us to these wonderful places and for being… Clare. See you soon, we hope!
We used the campsite at Markt St Martin purely as a stop over on our way back to Enzesfeld. The campsite was a total disappointment , especially at 44 Euro per night. Austria at peak season.
The only half decent aspect to the place was the small bar alongside the camp site. It has a swimming pond.
The food in the bar was poor but the setting was fine
An unusual and very clean natural pond converted into a beach and pool
There was little to see in the town (or is it a village) but, it being a Thursday afternoon, everything was closed anyway except for a kartoffeln heurige. Wine heuriges I have heard of; a potato heurige is new to me.
Even the local church was locked up. The only place open was the potato heurige.
On the way in to the village I came across another relatively intriguing feature namely, a fruit (and nut) tree circle. If you’ve lived in Scotland (or any other country where the Celts once settled) you will probably have seen a stone circle or two. Markt St Martin has substituted a stone circle with a much more practical fruit tree circle. Well, I think that is what is was.
Part of the fruit circle. The centre piece and a couple of trees.
You know something? I don’t think I have ever produced such a pointless (and boring) blog before. Back to Enzesfeld.
Pausing only briefly in Heviz, we headed for Lenti, still in Zala County (named after the River Zala) but further west near the borders with Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. We were committed to going back to Austria at the weekend because our daughter Rohan would be travelling to Enzesfeld (and we were keen to both see her and pick up on where we left off with the Dedic family) but we had to keep our options open. Keszthely didn’t make the same positive impression on Vanya as it did on me and she remained unsure about this part of Hungary. As it happened, we needn’t have worried. Lenti proved a great place to visit and Vanya enjoyed it so much that our planned one night stopover was extended to three nights.
We were going to Lenti for a specific purpose. The campsite Vanya chose sits alongside a spa complex known as the Lenti Thermal Spa & St George Energy Park and guests of the campsite are given free access to the spa for the duration of their stay.
It proved to be a really good spa complex. Vanya rates it better than any of those she used in Budapest. According to the blurb the water is a 40,000 year old sodium-hydrogen-carbonated water. Okay, fine. The spa comprises 5 outdoor pools, 7 indoor pools and 1 pool which is half inside and half outside. We favoured two of the outdoor pools being, the medicinal pool at 36-38 degrees centigrade and the adventure pool (with the lazy river, water jets, bubbles and big slide, etc) at 26-28 degrees centigrade (but which was closer to 30+ degrees because of the hot weather).
What we particularly liked about this complex is that the spa pools are spread across 8 hectares of lawn around which are bars, restaurants, food kiosks, etc and we didn’t once feel crowded despite the place being busy.
Another unusual feature of the complex is the Energy Network or Earth Radiations, more often referred to as Saint George Lines or Dragon Streams. It seems that sometime in 2002, ‘Earth Radiations’ and ‘Crossing Points’ were discovered in the area of the Lenti Thermal Spa and, according to certain authorities, “the energy radiation here harmonizes the flow of energy throughout our bodies and triggers positive processes that can restore our physical and mental balance”. The Spa has marked the Crossing Points of the Lines with columns or posts and guests are invited to spend between 20 and 30 minutes at these posts to maximise the beneficial effects of the spa.
I know very little about Saint George Lines and Crossing Points but I do know that time spent in the spa complex was time very well spent. We used it every day and found the whole process very relaxing. Sated would be a more accurate feeling. I think if I were to visit the place again I would stay in the 4 star Balance Hotel next door to the Spa Complex. This comment does not reflect badly on where we stayed but the Balance Hotel also provide sauna rooms and massages. That would have been cream on the cake.
Doughnuts also make me feel sated and there was a kiosk selling warm doughnuts on the complex
But I haven’t talked about Lenti itself. It’s a small quiet town of just over 7,000 inhabitants. We didn’t see much of the place during our stay (preoccupied with the thermal baths, I suppose) but, I walked into the town centre a few times for a ‘look see’ and to replenish our supplies from two local mini-markets and we both took the dogs into the town for a meal one evening.
It’s a tidy town, almost Slovenian or Austrian in many respects (although the roads in this area by no means match those in Slovenia or Austria). There are a couple of small but nice squares and small parks (funded by EEC money judging by local signage) where a number of locals seemed to congregate as the day cooled. The largest of the two squares we saw was the one in the town centre where St Michael’s Church and the War Memorials are situated.
St Michael’s Church and the 1914-1918 War Memorial
The people we met in Lenti were very welcoming but none spoke English and the fall back language was definitely German. Our Hungarian is non existent. What really impressed us about the place was the low prices. In one bar opposite where we were staying, three pints of lager and five glasses of Irsai Oliver (a very respectable Hungarian wine) cost just 9 Euro. That is £7.56 at today’s exchange rate. We used that bar more than the once and we’ll no doubt be bringing some Irsai Oliver back from Hungary.
* Typically, Irsai Olivér wines from Hungary are dry, medium bodied, with low acidity and a pronounced aromatic fragrance giving it a Muscat-like character.
I wasn’t going to write even a short blog on Heviz because it was a place we simply passed through on our way to Lenti. Okay, that’s not altogether true. I made a short detour because I had read about the Roman Catholic Holy Spirit Church (known locally as The Blue Church) and I wanted to see it. I was going to mention the detour and the church in the Lenti blog but then, after researching the church on the internet and coming across some absolute drivel, I changed my mind and decided to write something about Heviz if only to put the record straight about this unusual and quite beautiful church.
So, it has been written on at least two internet sites that the Holy Spirit Church in Heviz was designed by the renowned Hungarian architect Imre Makovecz and that it was built in 1988. No it wasn’t! There, the record is straight. The church was actually designed by Janos Bocskai. Construction started in 1996 and was completed three years later. It is the largest church in Heviz. It can accommodate 1,000 people and it is made entirely of wood. The exterior of the church is a beautiful sky blue colour and it’s seven towers represent the seven pious gifts of the Holy Ghost. Not being a catholic, I had to look those up but can now confirm that the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord. The inside of the church is also beautiful and surprisingly minimalistic by Roman Catholic standards.
No prizes for guessing why it is known locally as the blue churchThe inside is quite austere by Roman Catholic standards and combines modern and traditional architecture
It is a glorious piece of work, inside and out, and I love it.
One other church perhaps worth a visit in Heviz is the Lutheran Reformed Church which was built in 1993. It is the only protestant church in Heviz and it’s small size reflects that of the local protestant population. Again it is a pretty and unusual looking church.
The Lutheran Reformed Church in Heviz
Only other thing I would say about Heviz at this time is that the Holy Spirit Church is close to the Heviz thermal bath which until 1948 was owned by the Festetics (i.e. the same family who own the Festetics Palace in Keszthely). I was going to pop in on the thermal bath (it is only a couple of hundred yards down the road from the Holy Spirit Church) but, with Vanya taking us to Lenti especially to visit the thermal baths there, it seemed a bit excessive. Having said that and in case you are interested, the Heviz thermal bath is purportedly the world’s largest (swimmable) biologically active medicinal lake. More important, the waters of the lake are completely replaced every 72 hours. That makes it clean, notwithstanding the lake’s average summer heat of 34 degrees centigrade.
I am certain that there is considerably more to Heviz but Lenti beckoned.
During our stay in Enzesfeld with our friends, the Dedics, Rohan (our daughter) advised she would like to see us all (the Dedics, Vanya and I) and that she would be flying out to Vienna the following weekend. Fair enough. We were all keen to see her. Vanya and I decided to spend the intervening time (that was 6 nights) in Hungary and we set off for Lake Balaton, a part of Hungary neither of us had visited before.
Lake Balaton is the largest lake in central Europe and it has almost 200 kilometres of shoreline. With the country being land locked it came as no surprise to learn that this is a very popular holiday destination in Hungary.
We made for Keszthely at the western end of Lake Balaton. It is much closer to Austria than the larger beach resort of Siofok and it is cheaper and quieter (probably because Siofok is that bit closer to Hungary’s capital of Budapest).
The shoreline comprises a handful of private pay beaches and a large public area with a small promenade and boating pier, fairground activities, cafe bars and wooden beach huts serving local beers, wines and fast foods. It was quite lively as we arrived with a local band playing rock music on a temporary stage.
Lake Balaton was as placid as could beThis ornate bathing pier on the Varosi Strand was built in 1864 and part of it is now the Sziget Cafe
After checking out the beach area (very touristy) I made my way to the town’s L shaped main square, Fo Ter, which was just over a kilometre away. It is an attractive square holding the town’s principal church (Our Lady of Hungary); the town hall, a theatre and a school (both closed); what looked like an old monastery and; a couple of hotel bar restaurants but all was surprisingly quiet.
The Our Lady of Hungary Church. The monument to the front of the church is a memorial to the failed 1956 uprising against the USSR occupation of Hungary following WWII
Leading off from the square towards the Festetics Palace (an absolute ‘must see’ in Keszthely) is the old town’s one main street, Kossoth Lajos Utca. It is on this street and in the lanes leading off from this street that most of the town’s interesting spots are to be found; shops, cafe bars, restaurants and some of the town’s many museums.
I didn’t visit any of the museums but some are quite unusual, to say the least – they included a Radio & TV Museum, a Toy Museum, a Puppet & Doll Museum, a coach museum (as in horses and carriages), a Marzipan Museum (I kid you not), an adult only Erotic Renaissance Museum (with wax model displays, so I read) and most bizarre of all one containing a scale model of the Hungarian Parliament in Budapest made entirely of snail shells. It was made between 1975 and 1989 by an old woman who has since died and she used 4.5 million snail shells in the making of it. It takes all sorts.
Kossoth Lajos Utca and, in one of the side streets the Puppet & Doll Museum
And so to the Festetics Palace, which certainly has the ‘Wow’ factor! It is a beautiful, sparkling white Baroque palace dating back to 1745 (and extended significantly in the late 19th century). It isn’t cheap to go inside and, most odd, you have to pay extra if you want to take photos inside the palace. Money grabbing b—–s. Having said that, I spent hours wandering the palace and the equally impressive gardens with small lake, fountains, bird park, palm house, etc and I loved it.
That’s the front of the palace in the first photo and the rear of the palace in the second. We arrived too late to listen to an open air classical music performance the night before. They were dismantling the temporary stage as we arrivedThat’s the rear of the palace from the English Gardens. I don’t think I mentioned that Edward VII was a frequent visitor here.Two residents of the small bird park in the gardens
We stayed two nights in Keszthely and then decided to move on.
So we made it to Enzefeld. Gerhard was away on business but Clare, Alex and Niki made us most welcome (as usual) and our two day stopover became 3 days. Their neighbours were not as pleased that we stayed on because on our last night we were up singing German Kindergarden songs until four in the morning. I think Vanya and Clare stayed up another hour or so.
We made a couple of trips out in the Van from Enzesfeld; Clare showing us the way to Eisenstadt and Rust in the Austrian region of Burgenland on our first day out and then; me taking Vanya to Baden bei Wien.
A little bit about each of them… Eisenstadt first. Eisenstadt is the provincial capital of Burgenland and the smallest of the Bundeslander or state capitals. From what we saw it must also rank amongst the prettiest and has a surprising number of interesting places to visit. Principal amongst them is the beautiful baroque palace known as the Schloss Esterhazy. The Schloss has been home to Esterhazy Princes since 1649 although there was a castle on this site as long ago as the 13th century. Other interesting aspects of the town are the Palace Park (with it’s four ponds, the Leopoldine Temple and a large Orangerie), the Marien Temple (now known as The Gloriette), the Joseph Haydn Museum (the prolific composer worked for the Esterhazy’s for 40 years and lived in this building for 12 of them) and, my favourite, the Bergkirche (Haydn’s Church, which is now home to the Haydn Mausoleum).
The entrance to the Esterhazy Palace and the Leopoldine TempleThe Marien Temple and the entrance to the Bergkirche
A couple of interesting facts about Haydn. First, he is credited with composing 104 symphonies and 50 concertos. Prolific or what! Second, in 1790 Haydn moved to London for a while and at least one of his biographies claims that his days in England were the happiest of his life. I wonder how many people can say that but, of course, at that time the rest of Europe was in some considerable turmoil.
Haaydn’s Church is one pretty little churchEisenstadt is a beautiful little town and a pleasure to wander
After wandering the town and parks for a while (and enjoying one of the best ice creams ever) it was time to leave Eisenstadt and make our way to the smaller but equally pretty town of Rust am Neusiedlersee. The Neusiedlersee is a large shallow lake (average depth 1.5 metres) which forms part of the border between Austria and Hungary and it is arguably the star attraction in the area. That is not to say that the small town of Rust itself is not also worth a day of anyone’s time. It is situated in one of Austria’s most famous wine producing regions, right on the banks of the lake, and has regularly won Burgerland’s ‘Most Beautiful Town’ award. One feature of the place which visitors will not fail to notice are the many storks nesting on the house chimneys. It reminded Vanya and I of our drive up through Portugal last year.
Other features worth visiting in Rusk are the local heuriges (you simply have to taste the wines here, white and red); the Catholic Church of the Holy Trinity (get your timings right and you will be able to climb the church tower for reasonable views over the Neusiedlersee) and; the Fischekirche (a delightful little church by any standards).
Rust Town Square with the tower of the Church of The Holy Trinity in the background and..one of the ubiquitous storks
The Fischerkirche (the fishermen’s church) deserves a special mention. It is a former fortified church which was dedicated to the Saints Pancras and Giles. It owes it’s name to a legend where Queen Mary of Hungary, while fleeing from Mongol invaders, was rescued from the lake by local fishermen. To give thanks, she founded the chapel, the inside of which is very quaint.
The FischerkircheThe inside of the Fischerkirche
Finally, we come to Baden bei Wien. Vanya had never been to Baden. That had to be put right. Also, it provided me with the opportunity to revisit the town and to walk up to the Konigshohle and then on to Castle Rauhenstein. Despite visiting Baden a number of times (and I have previously written a blog about Baden), I had never visited either the Konigshole or Castle Rauhenstein.
Famous for it’s sulphur springs and Roman baths, Baden bei Wien was another summer residence of Austrian and German rulers and in 2021 was recognised by UNESCO as one of the great spa towns.
Baden is a pretty enough town but it doesn’t have that many ‘must see’ places and it therefore doesn’t figure amongst my favourite towns to visit. It is more a place to go and do something particular whether it be to soak up the spas or gamble in the casino, enjoy fine wines in the local heuriges or wander the many short hiking routes in the area.
This time my reason for visiting Baden (other than to show Vanya the place) was to walk up to the Konigshohle and then on to Castle Rauhenstein. These are two very short easy walks that took absolutely no time. I combined them with a walk to Burgruine Rauheneck.
The Konigshohle – used as a home in the NeolithicThe 12th century ruin of Castle Rauhenstein where Ludwig Van Beethoven’s nephew tried to commit suicide in 1826
This blog was going to be about Brno but, I never made it to Brno. I made it as far as Bystrc (some 6 miles from Brno) and then I got lost in Bystrc until it was almost time to go back to Vereska Bityska! Hence the switch from Brno to Bystrc and it was all my fault!
The day started reasonably well with me catching my boat from Veverska Bityska on time. Vanya decided not to make the trip because her leg was playing up and she wanted to rest it but, she was happy for me to make the trip on my own. It seemed a straightforward trip. The boat (The Dallas) would take me down the River Svratka to the Brenenska Prehrada reservoir. We’d cross the reservoir and I would disembark at Bystrc and catch a tram into Brno. All I needed to do was enjoy the boat ride and the sights and determine what I wanted to see in Brno.
There’s my boat… and there’s the route
I spent a pleasant hour or so drifting down the river past various very small places Skaly, Meckov, Hrad Veveri, Pod Trnuvkou, Rokle, Ukotvy, Sokolske Koupaliste, Kozi Horka to Bystrc but, in hindsight, it all started to go wrong when Vanya elected not to come along. Upon arrival in Bystrc I decided to give the tram a miss. I would never have done that if Vanya had been with me.
Not a lot to see as we drifted downriver to the Reservoir Lake. That’s the Veveri Castle in the photo on the right. It was originally built as a hunting lodge but it was developed over the ensuing 800 years into a fortified palace. A few passengers got on here (having spent the morning visiting the castle) but otherwise the boat I was on was almost empty.
So, after we had docked, I walked from the harbour to where I would catch the tram into Brno and then… I carried on walking through Bystrc on my way to the old town of Brno (after all, it is only six miles or so of brisk walking) except… I didn’t quite make it through Bystrc. What a farce! Bystrc is an urban sprawl; a grotesque Russian inspired concrete jungle of apartment blocks; hundreds of them, all looking much the same and straddling narrow winding lanes which more often than not curved back on themselves, providing no indication as to where I was going or in which direction I was being led! It took me an hour and a half, that’s ninety minutes to escape the tower blocks; ninety dreadful minutes in 34 degrees centigrade of heat without my seeing a single shop where I could get a drink or a single person whom I could approach for directions. The place seemed wholly deserted; how I would imagine Chernobyl to have been at it’s nadir.
Of course I made it out. I found my way back to the port where the faithful Dallas was waiting to take me back to the Van. Actually, it wasn’t Dallas. I don’t know why I said that. It was The Leipzig. I’ve probably had a drink too many. After finding my bearings in Bystrc I paused just once on my way to the port; at a small bar where I consumed in just one go the largest glass of beer I have ever seen and then I did the same again at the port (only much quicker because I didn’t want to get left behind by the Leipzig).
That’s the Leipzig waiting for me.
Our last night in the Czech Republic (at least on this particular tour) saw us select one of the three not so good Cafe bars in Vereska Bityska for a not so hot meal and a few drinks. We will be in Austria tomorrow.
We stayed longer than anticipated in Germany and Poland and had to make up time (because we were to meet our good friends, the Dedics, in Austria in just two days time). So, we made fast time through the Czech Republic planning just one stop such that we could visit the country’s second city of Brno. We stopped at a campsite in Veverska Bityska, some 20 kms outside of Brno, because (a) it looked a good campsite and (b) we would be able to get a boat trip from the village all the way down the River Svratka and across the reservoir to within spitting distance of Brno. Well, that’s what we thought.
There’s not a great deal to Veverska Bityska but the campsite was as good as the reviews suggested it would be and the owner operators proved both friendly and helpful (not least because I had reacted badly to a horsefly bite I received in Poland and needed to get to a chemist). They steered me towards the town’s ATM (we had no Czech currency and everyone seems to want cash in this area) and the only chemist in miles (and she did want cash) and then I had a bit of a wander. There is very little to see in the town; the Church of St James The Great (St Jakub) which was built in 1771, a school, a handful of shops and three not very impressive looking cafe bars.
That’s the Church of St James and the statue in the town square is, I think, to commemorate the actions of Czech resistance fighters from WW2. Marie Kuderikova was one such fighter who lived in the town and who after being arrested was beheaded with an axe
The Svratka River is a pretty enough feature of the town and the hot weather (high thirties) had prompted a number of people to come out for a swim. As I walked back to the campsite along a 1 kilometre bicycle path which tracked the river I was sorely tempted to take a dip myself. Instead, I went back to the Van, cooked up a BBQ and then sat drinking Talisker whisky with a German and his wife until late in the night.
The River Svratka
A hundred yards or so downstream from the campsite is a small jetty where the next day I would get a boat (public shuttle service) down river and across the Brnenska Prehrada Reservoir towards Brno.
Klodzko is a small town of 27,000+ inhabitants in Lower Silesia, just a few miles short of the Czech Republic. It straddles the Nysa Klodzka River.
We paused at the place on our way to the Czech Republic and decided to stay over following the recommendation of a friend of a friend who had herself visited the place. She thought the 1760 Fortress which dominates the town would interest us. It didn’t. It is in good condition and provides reasonable views over the surrounding countryside but I have seen too many fortresses this year to be impressed by this one – I believe this was the fourth so far this year and, anyway, I much prefer castles to fortresses.
The fortress did little for me but it was good exercise
In contrast to the castle, however, I did find the town itself interesting. It is a small town with a fine, historic old town square which is dominated by the Ratusz (Town Hall).
On the same side of the river as the town hall is the Assumption of Mary Parish Church which dates back to the 1344 (although there was an earlier wooden church on this site some two hundred years before) and was built by the Knights of the Order of St John. I was unable to gain access to this church but it is supposedly very beautiful inside.
That’s the Ratusz and with an unusual clock affixed to a corner of the building. I understand that the lion holding the clock is a reference to the Bohemians who once held sway in this area.
My interest in the town increased further after I arrived at the St John Bridge which leads across the river to the Franciscan Church of Our Lady of the Rosary. This much smaller church dates back to 1631 and I was able to gain access.
Two very pleasing views across the St John Bridge towards the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary. This was my favourite part of the town.The inside of the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
Leaving aside the buildings I have already mentioned there is not much else in the town to interest a passing tourist (There’s a 1km underground city trail but while I found the exit I could not find the entrance) but it struck me as a friendly enough place. Indeed, everywhere we have been during our short time in Lower Silesia we have been impressed with the apparent friendliness of the local people and Klodzko was no different.
We went back into Klodzko for dinner that evening at a place which had been recommended to us, the Restaurant Nota Bene. Poland appears as welcoming towards dogs as the rest of Europe and Nala and Beanie were allowed inside. The restaurant had sturgeon* on the special’s board and the waitress (also the owner’s daughter) recommended it together with a German Riesling. Given that she is training to be a sommelier and is soon going to Paris to complete her certification it would have been inappropriate to ignore her advice and so, we ordered two bottles. The sturgeon and the wine were fabulous.
One of the particularly pleasant aspects of our visit to the town and in particular to the Nota Bene was listening to the waitress, a graduate from Wroclaw University, describe how the Poles in the area, especially Wroclaw where there are a significant number of students, have come to terms with the aftermath of WW2 and in particular the de-Germanisation of Lower Silesia. She understands and is sympathetic to how the Germans (and surprisingly the Italians) insist on referring to Wroclaw as Breslau. That impressed me.
A welcoming and friendly restaurant…… and I really enjoyed the sturgeon steak.
* When I ordered the sturgeon (which I have never eaten before) I didn’t realise how rare and historically important sturgeon now is or I would perhaps have ordered differently but, in my defence, the waitress went into some detail as to how careful the local people are in terms of conservation. At the time, I didn’t understand why she was labouring this point so much but then I read up on the fish.
Sturgeon are considered living fossils which date back to the Late Cretaceous Period (i.e. hundreds of millions of years old). They can live up to 150 years and while the smallest species grow to an average of 3 feet, the largest (the Beluga) can grow up to 25 feet long and weigh 3,500lbs. Sadly, the Sturgeon species is now on the endangered list because of overfishing, the demand for caviar and habitat loss.
We parked the Van at a secure car park in Wroclaw and booked into a city centre hotel (the Puro Wroclaw Stare Miasto) for a couple of nights. In hindsight, we should have stayed longer. What a great hotel and what a great city! We loved everything about Wroclaw, pronounced Vrots-Waaf. The city was buzzing the whole time we were there.
The hotel was clean and comfortable. The service was great. The price was excellent. And when they say pet friendly, they mean it. There was no charge at all for the dogs and water bowls were brought to the room without our even asking. Outstanding!
Previously known as Breslau, Wroclaw is currently Poland’s 4th largest city with a population of 600,000 people. It’s history is as long and complex (and as tragic) as any town in Lower Silesia but, rather than repeat it all here, I would refer you to my blog on Jelenia Gora if you want to know more. It will suffice to say now that the de-Germanisation which occured in the city after World War II was perhaps as bad as it could have been anywhere in Europe with almost 300,000 Germans (many of them refugees from Poznan) being forcibly evicted from the city with only what they could carry. The Poles that replaced the German population were themselves forcibly displaced from their homes by the Soviets (many were refugees from Lvov) and the city they inherited was largely (70%) destroyed by war damage. If that wasn’t bad enough the authorities dismantled much of what was left standing in the city (now renamed Wroclaw) to help rebuild Warsaw.
The new city leaders made a decision to ‘faithfully’ rebuild the Old Town just as it was before WW2. Reconstruction around the Market Square (known as Rynek) and the adjacent Solny Square progressed very quickly but, with some not so subtle changes. Indeed, nothing that was built by the Germans during the 19th and 20th centuries was replaced and the Old Town is now almost entirely baroque which predates German occupation. Even the statue of a Prussian King on the Market Square was replaced by one of a Polish poet, Aleksander Fredro. Also, many of the buildings on the two squares had to be rebuilt using utiliterian concrete blocks and were then given elaborately decorated facades. No matter, the city was quickly rebuilt and it once again ranks amongst the most beautiful in Europe.
Nowadays the Rynek and Solny Square are entirely pedestrianised and they really are the heart and soul of the city at any time of the day or night.The Old Town Hall, construction of which started in the 13th century but which has constantly been added to, is easily the most impressive buliding on the Rynek while; the two Hansel & Gretel Tenement Houses figure amongst the oddest The Market Square (Rynek) is the second largest in Poland
Throughout our visit, day and night, there was always something going on in the city’s two main squares and their surrounding streets.
Solny Square is famous for selling flowers any time of the day or night but, whilst you could still buy flowers from a number of market stalls while we were there, most of the square was given over to an amateur international five a side football tournament. I don’t know who won the competitions (there was one for men and one for women) but I watched a closely contested men’s game which saw Germany beat Belgium by 4 goals to 3 goals. The standard was quite high.
One event which has taken place on the Rynek every year since 2003 (except during 2021 because of Covid), and which I would love to witness, is the city’s annual attempt to claim the Guiness World Record in the ‘Guitar Ensemble’. Wroclaw claimed the record in 2009 with all 6,346 participating guitarists led by Steve Morse of Deep Purple playing the Jimi Hendrix version of ‘Hey Joe’ at the same time. Now that would have been something to behold!
One feature of Wroclaw that I absolutely love are the Krasnale (i.e. dwarves or goblins in Polish). There are literally hundreds of them scattered around the city. They started life in the 1980’s as cartoon characters created by an anti- communist protest group known as The Orange Alternative and started taking the form of small bronze statues in 2001. No one really knows how many there are throughout the city because as new ones arrive, others are stolen. I could spend a whole day looking for them and they are a great way to explore the city.
Honestly, there are hundreds of Krasnale scattered around the city……Usually the Krasnale come in ones or twos but I saw a whole orchestra while walking from the Van to our hotel.
Still much to talk about and so, I’ll be brief. In addition to the Krasnale, the city is full of street artists of all kinds. During the day, it was mostly buskers, bands and mime artists that played the squares. In the evenings it was acrobats and fire eaters and yet more buskers. If you wanted to, you could sit outside a single bar or restaurant and see most of them because many artists rotate around the two squares but; I’ll get as much joy exploring the side streets as I will sitting and people watching and I was off.
If you’re hungry it pays to wander the side streets. You’ll not find the quieter and cheaper restaurants on the squares and Vanya and I were both keen to try the local Pierogi Dumplings. Pierogi dumplings are filled with all sorts of ingredients; too many to go into here but, Vanya favoured the plainer potato and cheese variety while I went for a spicier meat variety (containing beef, leek, Chinese cabbage, mushroom, coriander, chives and chilli). OMG. They were great, especially when washed down with Polish beer and, if I haven’t mentioned it already, Wroclaw is regarded as the city of Polish Beer.
Evening time in Wroclaw and those Beef Dumplings were fantasticThe fun went on well into the night
There comes a time when you have to tear yourself away from the centre and where better to go for something completely different than Ostrow Tumski; a small island in the Oder which is filled with numerous religious edifices including the impressive 13th century Roman Catholic Cathedral of St John The Baptist. The island is within easy walking distance of the Rynek. A wedding was in progress as I arrived but by posing as a wedding guest I was able to see some of the interior of the church (I’m unsure as to what the official photographer thought of my following him around looking for photo opportunities) and it didn’t stop me getting a lift up to the bell tower albeit for somewhat limited views of the city.
The outside of the Catholic Cathedral of Saint John the BaptistNot the best photos I have ever taken inside a cathedral but there was a wedding in progressThe views from the top of the cathedral (and an old photo in the belfry of the cathedral as it was at the end of WW2)
Better views of the city can be obtained from the Church of St Mary Magdalene. There is a platform, known as the Penitent Bridge, connecting the twin towers of this latter church. Be warned however, there is no lift in the St Mary Magdalene and you have to ascend some 200 plus stairs (about 45 metres) to the Penitent Bridge. One other church tower with arguably the best view down onto the Rynek is that of the St Elisabeth Church but I didn’t do that one.
That’s the Church of St Mary Magdalene on the left and that is one of the views (complete with Krasnale)
I’ve not really covered the more cultural aspects of Wroclaw but it isn’t easy gaining access to theatres, museums and art galleries etc when you have two dogs with you but there is a great deal of interesting street art about the city and; none more so than two sets of bronze pedestrian sculptures, one each side of a busy intersection. One group appears to be descending into the ground (a subway?) and the other is ascending from the ground (I think).
Some examples of the local street art.
Of course, in just two days I was never going to get around the whole city but that’s reason enough to return. Some places which deserve a visit are the Wrocław Multimedia Fountain (Wrocławska Fontanna Multimedialna), the Wroclaw Zoo and the Kolejkowo Model Railway.
The Fountain, which is to be found in the Szczytnicki Park, is the biggest in Poland and one of the largest in Europe. It was initiated on 4th June 2009 on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the first free elections in postwar Poland and it comprises 300 water jets and 800 lights which create geysers, spurts and mists, etc and is synchronised to create spectacular light and music shows every day of the week.
The Wroclaw Multimedia Fountain in action
Wroclaw Zoo is the biggest and oldest in Poland and certainly worth a visit (but the dogs will have to be left behind for that one).
