There’s power in looking silly and not caring that you do. -Amy Poehler
Where I Went
Wroclaw, Poland! When I first looked at this word I had no idea how I was supposed to say it. The letters just looked jumbled up to me and I feel like whatever sound would come out was a mash-up of some mumbled letters that didn’t sound like a word. So, I did what I had to do and admitted to a Polish friend that I didn’t actually know how to pronounce the name of the city I was going to. I now know that it is pronounced vrahts-wahf.
This charming town is located north-west of Kraków. The city is known for its gorgeous square and gnomes. Yes, just like those charming little garden gnomes some people have. The city is swarming with gnomes. Now, technically they’re really called dwarves, not gnomes. These gnomes originated to commemorate the Orange Alternative- a Polish anti-communism movement. The first gnome was placed in Wroclaw in 2001 and now there are over 400 of them!
How I Got There
To arrive in Wroclaw we took the train. It is fairly simple to travel by train throughout all of Europe. It is especially easy in Poland. We booked our tickets using Polrail and they were emailed to us later. Now you do have to print out your tickets when riding the train in Poland, something that we almost forgot to do. We rode first class, which is obviously my favorite class to travel despite the fact that I rarely can afford to do so. The train ride was about 3 hours from Krakow to Wroclaw.
Where I Stayed
Literally at work the day we left, I asked my friends where we were staying and we quickly realized that no one booked a hotel! Whoops! We went online and quickly found Hotel Europeum. This hotel had the most comfortable beds that I have ever slept in! Our hotel room was quite large and the hotel itself was very nice.
Where You Need to Go
Obviously, you need to find all of the gnomes that you possibly can! I literally went a little bit nuts while gnome hunting. At first, I thought I would just have fun seeing some every once in a while. By the time I saw the first one I just had an intense passion for gnome hunting and was determined to find as many as possible!!! Now, maybe you want to learn more about all of the gnomes. Perhaps you want to learn their names and their stories. Click here to be taken to a website in both Polish and English that tells you everything that you ever wanted to know about the gnomes.
Lucky for you I will now post pictures of all the gnomes I found. You’re welcome in advance. Keep scrolling through because there is more information about Wroclaw after all these little gems!!
This one was gold and was inside a building. Since we passed it as night this is as good as I could get it. I’m still leaving it here for your viewing pleasure!
This little guy with his pierogi was missing his golden fork. Someone must have taken it from him… poor thing.
This one kills me! A tourist gnome taking a picture of a smaller gnome!
Where I Ate
Oh my gosh, I had one of the greatest brunches in my life in Wroclaw. One of my friends constantly talks about her favorite restaurant Charlotte in Krakow. She raves and raves about it. I didn’t realize that it was a chain restaurant and we visited the lovely Charlotte in Wroclaw. The bread was divine. The champagne was bubbly and delicious. The jams were so tasty. Life was great while I was brunching.
