Breslau, Poland

Buildings in the main square

Far out what a full on holiday. School was definitely a shock to the system this morning! On Thursday Manuela and I flew to Breslau, Poland to see Vera. Her friend Ariane and her mum came too and so did family friend Claudia. It was a new experience to be travelling as part of a big group and I found flying with other people way more enjoyable than by myself. my first impressions of Breslau weren't that great and I felt like we'd stepped back into post-WW2 Eastern Bloc. The houses are all grey and run-down and the place just has an un-looked after kind of feel. But the centre city has been beautifully restored and rebuilt and was an incredible place to visit. The other thing about Breslau it that food, accommodation and culture are ridiculously cheap. We stayed in an awesome apartment in the middle of town and payed less than half what we would in Germany.

Our first day we checked out the main square in the evening we went to a Bach concert. Sadly the Bach was pretty average (very poor choice of pieces) but the random Polish composer was worth going for. The next day was All Hallows and a national holiday so nearly everything was shut and the entire Polish population in church services or visiting graveyards. We strolled around the Cathedral island, saw where Vera is studying and living, looked at more churches (it's incredible how many churches there are in one place) and waited until evening. Then we also visited the main Breslau cemetery which is HUGE. We seriously walked around it for over an hour and a half. But every grave had massive bunches of flowers and coloured lanterns so that the place looked incredible in the dark. There were families out with their kids, couples, widowers, friends, all visiting family graves. Definitely something I hadn't ever seen before.

Breslau from the Elizabeth church

Saturday it rained so we slept in a bit and then visited the main Uni which had some amazing rooms that have all been restored after the war. Breslau has around 135,000 students over 30 universities and students come from all over Europe to study there. We also climbed the Elizabeth Church tower to get a view over the city. 300 and something steps and my legs were like jelly by the time I got back down. My physio would be happy! Claudia and I had a look around the city hall which is one of the oldest in Europe and then we all went to a cafe in the evening. I had a mint hot chocolate which was literally just melted chocolate with a mint syrup.

I could nearly stand my spoon up in it! Very yummy but a lot of sugar and I didn't feel like moving afterwards. We flew back to Frankfurt early Sunday and I came home rather exhausted. Thankfully school wasn't too strenuous and it was nice to be back in the classrooms. I hope everyone at home is enjoying spring and the students are looking forward to freedom at last!

Ritchie with some of the gnome statues which are all over the city. I have no idea why they are there!