I’ve tried this before, many times. Indeed, in many ways my life these past few years is defined by a wandering star. But I’m hoping the next few weeks will provide a walkabout vision quest where I throw out a roadmap and just rely on pushpins on a globe.
I know big picture where I’ll be day to day… and I did prebook AirBNBs and hotels so I always know where I’ll sleep at night… but other than that I’m just scribbling out a list of places the morning of to try and sightsee.
What comes of it, big or small, time will tell. But for now, let’s see what the road takes me.
A quick side note on the one major snag I’ve hit on this trip so far for sightseeing. I wasn’t sure if I could do this or not, but there’s a day trip out to Auschwitz.
Inexplicably, one commentator on tripadvisor or viator described the experience as a “very enjoyable trip.”
I cannot imagine my describing visiting a Nazi death camp as “enjoyable.” I’m usually one for snark and self-deprecating nonsense in my descriptions, a defensive coping mechanism to hide behind rather than address the harshest realities. I live in a fantasy bubble of “La-de-dah”-ness where repercussions and difficulties are much more of the “ugh – I’m a self-centered American and can you believe THIS”-ness cut of my jib. But I thought it was precisely because Auschwitz is such a horrible, terrible, awful nadir of humanity, of evil, that I thought I should go and see it. It was precisely because it made me so uncomfortable in confronting that that I felt like this is something I should do. We need to remember our history, to confront evil and stand against it whenever it rears its ugly head once more… and make no mistake, evil is never destroyed, only vanquished for a time. Lurking in the depths of our collective black hearts is a capacity for inhumanity. And in times of rising nationalism and jingoistic antagonism, of hate and fear mongering, it’s perhaps all the more important to remember and confront a shameful past.
And yet as a solo traveler I often run into problems. Some tours require a minimum of two to book, unless I want to pay a massive single supplement tour fee. For USD$700 I could do a part of one private tour but that’s more than my entire transportation budget for this trip. On top of that, as much as I think it important to go, I’m not sure I could handle going it alone. Even with a tour guide to take me through, this is one of those times when there might be a comfort in being with strangers experiencing the recoil inherent in gazing into a black mirror of our souls.
I’ve contacted three different tour groups and the answers have all been the same — no single travelers (yet). If they get some other folks to book, they’ll give me a call to fill out the van but otherwise I may not make it out to see and breathe and feel that place. There’s a part of me that’s relieved but then there’s a larger part of me that feels ashamed of that as well. We cannot hide from our past misdeeds… and we certainly shouldn’t hide from our past horrors. We can do better, we can be better, but we cannot lose sight of or forget that the price of our humanity is eternal vigilance against our inhumanity.
I’m hopeful… which is a weird way to phrase it… that I’ll get to go. I do not think it will be enjoyable… but I do think it would be enlightening.
***
On a lighter note, my host Marta made a googlemaps page of her favorite things to see, eat, and drink in Wroclaw; I’m using that therefore as a starting point for today. Last night I hit Bernard’s as a drinks and dinner place because it sounded like a good place to start. Unbeknownst to me at the time and beknownst to me this morning, it was right across the street from the Wroclaw City Hall. So I can check that off the list. Not that the point of this trip is to just snap a photo and cross things off in some weird “hey, look at this!” blog post. Albeit, I suspect there’s far too much of that before and now and in the future on ol’ RKR.com. But it’s not THE focus… it’s just a byproduct.
In any case, today I’m going to amble about and see a few things from Marta’s list.
I started at the Panorama of the Battle of Raclawice. I don’t know why, as much like the story told in Common People (best performed by Mr. William Shatner), but I had to start it somewhere, so it started there.
Here’s the thing about this place. It’s overwhelming to me as a non-Polish speaker. I deduced the entry required booking a time for a tour… but it seemed to me like they only had Polish tours. And let me be clear here – that’s totally right and proper given that I *am* in Poland. But I didn’t think I’d get much out of the tour other than the experience of gawking at this huge 360 degree painting. Supposedly there’s lighting and forced perspective used to make the whole thing a virtual reality sensory masterpiece. I may still go back and try and see it next week but as this was Saturday morning, a lot of tours were already booked and the lines were a bit intimidating. I’m thinking maybe a non-weekend might enable me to walk up and see the thing. It wasn’t the 30 Polish złoty (pln) they were charging (at least I *think* that’s what they were charging. Every time I’ve bought a soda or a water at the grocery store I think I know how much it’s going to cost and invariably I’m wrong). Eight dollars US seems perfectly fine to see this Wikipedia proclaimed “main tourist attraction of Wroclaw.” And that’s especially true if Auschwitz is a no-go.
I did however wander about and snap a few photos of “free to see” exhibits chronicling this famed battle of the Kościuszko Insurrection, a “heroic but ultimately failed attempt to defend Polish independence.” (see Wikipedia reference). Apparently this battle’s major win for the Polish was, is, and always will be a point of pride. In any case, I’ll try and google a bit more before going next week in the hopes of not needing any translated commentary.
I had planned on hitting the Wroclaw Cathedral next but instead just sorta wandered the city streets in that general direction. I stopped to read a chapter or two of my book whilst overlooking the river.
The church itself was having a service so I couldn’t tour it… I was striking out all over the place.
I was therefore already on Ostrów Tumski, one of Marta’s items of interest. This is “cathedral island” and is the oldest part of the city proper. Lots of middle ages stuff, and there’s another church right next to the one above that’s called the Church of the Holy Cross ( which while I failed to snap a photo of the outside I did get one later on my way to dinner) . This Church is where Copernicus spent some time. *The* Copernicus. As in the guy who said the earth revolves around the sun (amongst other things).
Leaving the island I had to cross over the Tumski Bridge. This is one of those nouveau attractions where couples put locks on the bridge to symbolize their love and devotion. I think I’ve told this story before in reference to another city’s lock bridge but when I was seriously dating a girl and we were in Paris we were going to do this… until we found out it wasn’t a charming tradition of yore but was in fact a modern innovation, seemingly created for local vendors to sell more merch to tourists in a bid for a social media meme. On top of that, the Parisian government was actively dissuading tourists from doing it as the locks added tremendous weight to the bridge and compromising its structural integrity. I vaguely recall reading it was like having 10 elephants stage a pachyderm sit-in on the bridge, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Something’s gotta give.
In any event, while I pondered if skipping that in Paris contributed to my relationship’s end, a literal failure to lock it down as it were, I also found myself wondering how many of the lovers’ locks needed to be rekeyed and/or cut off because they hadn’t made it. Gotta be at least 50% and probably more than that. I may be a fatalistic romantic at heart, but I’ve got a cold-calculating realist head on my shoulders too.
I then figured I’d try the Sky Tower viewpoint but this would ultimately be another detour to futility. It’s an observation tower in a mall but once again you need timed tickets… and this being Saturday around lunch, I’d have had to stick around for a couple of hours to get the next available. I sighed and figured that’s just the way was going — a series of U-Turns and No Gos. I thought this would be the end of it… but that’s like tempting fate and saying, “Well, it couldn’t get any worse.”
I picked a lunch spot off Marta’s list, a kebab place that was highly recommended by her boyfriend Jan. But alas, this is what confronted me when I punched in the address:
Later on for dinner, I thought I’d do a pasta dinner at a place… that apparently is on vacation until September 16th.
I opted for a backup place… which apparently was closed until 7:30 PM.
On my third try, I had a nice margharita pizza at Iggy Pizza (not the “DOP” version a term I had never heard of but apparently stands for the Italian phrase Denominazione d’ Origine. Bascially it involves using a verified fresh tomato and not from a can, the difference one Quora respondent said between “champagne” and “sparkling wine”). I also had a couple glasses of wine, for a lot less than at Bernard’s the night before. All in all, a good experience… until I wanted to wash my hands at the end of the meal and was confronted with a WC that was I presume “out of order.” I didn’t bother trying to google translate that as honestly I was a bit exhausted.
Note: apaprently the Polish phrase “Awaria Zamka” means “lock failure.”
And thus, when life gives you lemons, have a two-scoop gelato. $2.28 American… a bit more than my Dusseldorf 1 euro bargains but that was kinda bananas.
Note: I had to google translate every single flavor on this list before I settles on peanut butter and caramel.
On the things that went right today, however, I kept seeing people wearing red cone gnome hats. I finally googled it and this weekend is Wroclaw’s annual Dwarf Festival, honoring the various dwarf statues around town which are kinda like a Hollywood Walk of Fame for diminutive fantastical creatures. They started popping up in 2001 to commemorate the Polish anti-communist group the Orange Movement (their symbol is a dwarf) and then the city embraced it, perhaps one of the rare occasions when a city government would choose to honor a subversive group (or so says Wikipedia). But really, for example, isn’t pretty much EVERY monument in the USA a tribute to the subversive colonists who stuck it to Great Britain in the Revolutionary War? Just typing aloud.
In any case, I’m carbo loaded, wine’d up, and waiting for the race tomorrow. I’m nervous about it. I’m feeling old and hurt and, well, still a bit lost. My body isn’t bouncing back as it used to from the runs. Even now I have a weird hip pain that I hoped staying off the road for a week would help cure. But I went for a short shakeout run the other day, seven days of “rest” later, and it still hurt… and still hurts today after roaming the friendly streets of Wroclaw. I’m better, to be sure, but there’s something… off. My host asked me how many marathons I had done and when I told her she questioned why ever would I be nervous. I didn’t know how to explain it other than to say I never know what the day is going to be like.
She told me, however, that she would hold her thumbs. Off my puzzled look, she asked what the American phrase was for good luck — something with the fingers she said. “Crossing the fingers!” I said, convinced that “holding one’s thumbs” was infinitely cooler.
So thumbs held for tomorrow.
Wroclaw by night:
Oh, and for two nights in a row, from two different buskers, “The Godfather” theme. My kind of town.
***
As an aside, I wandered down the start line today to make sure I knew how to get there tomorrow morning. I wanted to take a photo. This is what happened:
Hey, I’m selfie-ing, here. I’m selfie-ing!