Carolyn and Bella hadn't seen anything yet, so first we went back to the little street with the cast iron animals so they could see it and Catherine could pick up some art supplies. Then we continued on to the University--open this time, and saw the famous lecture hall.
Socrates, one of many great minds featured in the hall.
After this, we climbed to the top of the math tower for great views of the city.
Then next door to the Ossolineum, which used to be a palace, but is now a library.
Great doors and great people, Bella, Carolyn and Catherine.
THIS was the real library--there was a fun room on the main floor displaying professorial robes. Why doesn't Dave's look like this?
And Professorial scepters. Again, why doesn't Dave have one of these?
And nifty gadgets of all kinds.
Upstairs there were more exhibits. Somewhere in there there is an original manuscript by Copernicus,. We never found that, but we did find original works by Albrecht Durer.
Self portrait.
Then to my delight, we found a room full of real card catalogs!! This was not an exhibit. People were using them.
After this we were all hungry, so we stopped at the library cafe for lunch. This was a bit of a challenge. There were no pictures and no English on the menu. Between us we spoke German, French, Russian and Italian none of which helped a lot here (Russian was the closest). Carolyn could tell the difference between soups and the main dish and roughly what the main dish was, but the only thing we were 100% ssure about was the cheesecake because we could see it. So lunch was a surprise.
We wound up with two bowls of lentil soup (very good), and two bowls of beet soup with chunks of hard boiled egg (better than it sounds, but not a favorite). Carolyn and Bella had chicken with rice and pickled cucumber. Catherine and I had pork? veal? with potatoes and cauliflower. We all had the fluffy cheesecake.
Next, I thought Carolyn and Bella needed to see Cathedral island, which was nearby and definitely worth seeing twice for us. On the way we looked into a random church. BEST church ever!!
Almost all the churches we saw had this lovely redbrick interior.
But one of the wings of this church had something different.
Yup. A religious altar on the left, a wonderful toy scene on the right. Put in a couple of zlotty's and it all moved.
Beautiful details everywhere.
I think every church should have something like this. Just think of the money we could raise to send missionaries out! Catherine says that I would never pay any attention to the talks if there were toys. I told her that that is completely irrelevant.
On Cathedral island, we went back to St. John's.I saw all kinds of details that I had missed before.
But first, here is Peter with the keys of the kingdom.
We climbed to the top of the cathedral. Awesome views and gargoyles.
We also paid to see one of the side wings which had exquisite baroque sanctuaries. I loved the doors, not just here, but everywhere in Wroclaw. There were all kinds--big medieval doors with iron hinges, beautifully carved wooden doors like this, graceful tall doors. It would be fun to make a picture book, "The doors of Wroclaw"
All over the city, but especially on this island, priests and nuns in full dress. One picture I would have loved to have taken, but didn't dare, was on our way out. In a small sanctuary was a pretty young nun on her knees arranging flowers. She seemed to me to symbolize grace and devotion.
After this, we were all tired and went back to our hotels for a short nap.
One of the things all the guidebooks are adamant about seeing is Centennial Hall--even though by their own description, it isn't all that great. Still---you haven't seen Wroclaw if you haven't seen the hall. So go see the hall or you'll be deported!! Not really but close. Ok! Ok! we'll go see the hall. Carolyn and Bella were still asleep, but we had agreed to meet at the hall because Carolyn knew of a good Georgian restaurant not far from there.
The story of the hall is pretty funny. I quote from Wroclaw in your Pocket, "...his proposal was chosen over 42 others by city council despite abject objection from almost everyone who laid eyes on the design which resembled a colossal concrete hatbox." It remains an engineering monument of its type. So, is this really a winner after all? Or just first in a field of one?
The grounds also feature this giant steel spire, which has an equally problematic history. It was built in 1948 as part of a celebration of Poland's stunning achievements since its return to communism. Originally, it was 106 meters high and topped with a big spinning contraption of mirrors which would create a "dazzling umbrella of light." Instead it was struck by lightning only hours after completion and became a "dazzling catastrophe." The remaining bits were a real hazard and the military couldn't figure out how to take the the top off. Instead, two college students from the climbing club came to the rescue, and the spire was reduced to 96 meters. Again I quote from the guidebook, "Today the ugly ribbed structure continues to stand outside Centennial Hall and is probably one of the tallest pieces of useless bolted metal in the world."
The area did have some redeeming features though. The guidebook also sang the praises of the nightly water fountain show. There were also lovely covered walkways.
Plus, a beautiful Japanese garden. We strolled through the gardens and finished just as Bella and Carolyn came to meet us.
The fountain is nice in the daytime, but we were determined to come back later and see the show.
Now it was time for dinner! The Georgian place was about 2 kilometers away, not bad and we got to see to city on the way.
Carolyn spent years in Russia, and knew just what to order. This was a fast-foody kind of place, But you could still linger forever. There were different kinds of bread with meat and cheese. One came with a raw egg on top. Ick, but Carolyn knew to mix the egg with the cheese while it was still hot so the egg cooked. It made a delicious creamy, cheesy topping.
This little gnome is striking the same pose as the big statue. I think Dave looks equally studly as well.
The light show really was world class. A lot of the people from Dave's conference were there to see it as well. A perfect end to the day.
Well, almost an end. We still had to wait for the train which dropped us off near Carolyn's hotel. Then walk back to our own. Total for the day was 26,153 steps (11.41 miles) and 40 staircases.
One of the things all the guidebooks are adamant about seeing is Centennial Hall--even though by their own description, it isn't all that great. Still---you haven't seen Wroclaw if you haven't seen the hall. So go see the hall or you'll be deported!! Not really but close. Ok! Ok! we'll go see the hall. Carolyn and Bella were still asleep, but we had agreed to meet at the hall because Carolyn knew of a good Georgian restaurant not far from there.
The story of the hall is pretty funny. I quote from Wroclaw in your Pocket, "...his proposal was chosen over 42 others by city council despite abject objection from almost everyone who laid eyes on the design which resembled a colossal concrete hatbox." It remains an engineering monument of its type. So, is this really a winner after all? Or just first in a field of one?
The grounds also feature this giant steel spire, which has an equally problematic history. It was built in 1948 as part of a celebration of Poland's stunning achievements since its return to communism. Originally, it was 106 meters high and topped with a big spinning contraption of mirrors which would create a "dazzling umbrella of light." Instead it was struck by lightning only hours after completion and became a "dazzling catastrophe." The remaining bits were a real hazard and the military couldn't figure out how to take the the top off. Instead, two college students from the climbing club came to the rescue, and the spire was reduced to 96 meters. Again I quote from the guidebook, "Today the ugly ribbed structure continues to stand outside Centennial Hall and is probably one of the tallest pieces of useless bolted metal in the world."
The area did have some redeeming features though. The guidebook also sang the praises of the nightly water fountain show. There were also lovely covered walkways.
Plus, a beautiful Japanese garden. We strolled through the gardens and finished just as Bella and Carolyn came to meet us.
The fountain is nice in the daytime, but we were determined to come back later and see the show.
Now it was time for dinner! The Georgian place was about 2 kilometers away, not bad and we got to see to city on the way.
Happily, we didn't stop at this burger joint.
Carolyn spent years in Russia, and knew just what to order. This was a fast-foody kind of place, But you could still linger forever. There were different kinds of bread with meat and cheese. One came with a raw egg on top. Ick, but Carolyn knew to mix the egg with the cheese while it was still hot so the egg cooked. It made a delicious creamy, cheesy topping.
After dinner, on the way back to the light show we made a pit stop at the mall. World's greenest bathroom I think.
The mall was a bonanza of gnomes.
This little gnome is striking the same pose as the big statue. I think Dave looks equally studly as well.
The light show really was world class. A lot of the people from Dave's conference were there to see it as well. A perfect end to the day.
Well, almost an end. We still had to wait for the train which dropped us off near Carolyn's hotel. Then walk back to our own. Total for the day was 26,153 steps (11.41 miles) and 40 staircases.
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