Wandering around Wrocław

This was a crazy week for us. We landed back in Munich from Barcelona and immediately started the drive to Wrocław, Poland. It wasn’t for vacation, but rather Mike had a work event there and I decided to tag along. From our house it was a 6 hour drive but it really didn’t feel that bad. The hotel was in a sketch area and the rooms were small. Like so small that we had to put a chair inside the shower just to fit Lily’s pack and play. Also, in pure Europe fashion, there was no AC but this time the windows didn’t open. It was hot and stuffy in our room; the nights were going to be miserable.

We woke up Tuesday ready to attack the day! Lucky for us, the hotel had a heated indoor pool. Once Mike left, I took Lily down to the pool not realizing they have the most ridiculous hours and close at 9 am, ha. We swam for about 20 minutes. Lily was refusing to nap in our hotbox of a room so I loaded her and Lucy up in the car and off we went to explore the city. We roamed around the old town area, checking out the colored buildings that line the streets and getting a feel for the city.

Poland does not take the Euro, so I went to an ATM to pull out some cash. We had previously looked up the exchange rate but when you’re faced with standing in the cold with your purse out and your child and dog at your side and a line behind you, you forget said ratio and make an impulse decision. I thought I pulled out a small amount of money but it turns out I did not. I was now a Polish millionaire, ha! Wroclaw is fairly dog friendly like the rest of Europe so I popped into a place for lunch. I originally wanted Polish food, because duh, but I knew Mike would want that for dinner so I settled on a burger joint with good reviews. I was slightly disappointed and fed the majority of my burger to Lucy. At least one of us was happy. I wandered around some more and eventually found myself at a Polish bakery. I got a pączki, a Polish donut. It was filled with “cream fudge.” It had the color of caramel, but the consistency and taste of chocolate. It was super delicious, but the dough was fried and it felt very heavy. It hurt my stomach after just a few bites.

Mike got back to the hotel from work that evening and we went to dinner with one of his coworkers. The restaurant was called Pierogarnia Momos and it was delightful. It was a few streets off the main road so it wasn’t touristy or busy. The guys ordered a platter of 10-17 different pierogis and I ordered a set of 6 traditional ones and some soup. You saw the ladies stuffing the pierogis by hand so we knew they were going to be good…and they were. We even gave Lily some which she seemed to enjoy. The town square was cute illuminated at night, as well

My original plan for Wednesday was to go to nearby Bolesławiec to go shopping for Polish pottery. However, it was an hour and a half away and while it’s not that far, I was feeling lazy. It was on the route back to Germany so I hoped we could make a pit stop on the way home. I mean, I did have a lot of Polish money to spend! *Face Palm* I researched some stuff to do around Wrocław and hit the road. My day ended up being super frustrating. It’s not all sunshine and roses…

First stop was a park that looked promising. On route there I drove through a traffic circle and realized it was the only traffic in the world with the stupidest rules: the people INSIDE the circle yield to those cars coming INTO the circle. Um, what? Seriously, this works the exact opposite every other place in the world. Needless to say, I almost got into an accident. The park was nice, but muddy and I forgot my winter gloves in the car. Bad start, but we continued on. Lily loves the cold weather so she slept the entire walk. We stopped and got coffee and a pastry (hmm, I really wonder why I can’t lose weight. It’s a mystery) before heading into town.

I wanted to check out the area around the University of Wrocław. Of course, the moment I found a parking space and got Lily unloaded, she woke up screaming. I changed her diaper and attempted to feed her. She seemed content so we ventured to their market hall. It was very similar to the Great Market Hall in Budapest, just smaller. Lily started to get fussy again, so we retired to the car. At this point, it was 1:30pm and I was hungry for lunch, too. After feeding her, I popped her in the stroller and walked around the old town looking for lunch. Usually she’s super content in the stroller and falls asleep. Not today. Le sigh. I didn’t want to attempt to take a screaming child into a restaurant, by myself (traveling with my husband is so much easier than traveling solo). It finally got the point where I was starving and I needed to use the restroom, I’m not proud of myself, but I succumbed to lunch at a KFC. The most annoying part, aside from eating KFC in Poland, was that the restroom was upstairs with no elevator and I had the stroller. What a waste. I returned to the hotel defeated.

That night was Valentine’s Day so Mike and I braved the cold with our fussy baby and went to dinner. We found a cute little Indian place and crossed our fingers they would have room for us. Luckily they squeezed us in and we ended up having a very enjoyable evening with a bottle of red wine and spread of Indian food. Perfect ending to such a frustrating day.

Thursday we were scheduled to leave whenever Mike got done with work. We had a long drive back and wanted to try to get some sleep in our own home before going to Austria the following day. We left a little later than we anticipated, but were glad to be on the road. We drove through some snow, but were thankful to not hit any traffic.

In summary: Poland was cold. Wroclaw was super adorable. The locals were, for the most part, rude. I don’t think they mean to be, I think its just their culture. At least thats what I tell myself haha. It’s not a place I’m clamoring to go again, but we will be back to buy Polish pottery.

Next up: Austria! One of our favorite places!