Breslau (WROCLAW)

Robert helped me find tickets, and recommended that I transfer trains in German stations so that I would be able to read the signs. When I found my train in Gorlitz heading for Poland, I was completely and totally alone. At around 8 at night it was very dark, and the train itself had no lights on. No lights! I walked through the corridor, eerily quiet and old, nothing like the fancy fast German trains I've been getting used to. I stood sort of frozen in the corridor and then heard two voices. A police woman and police man walked towards me. I asked if I was on the right train, and they said, well, if you want to go to Poland you are! I asked if there was any way to turn on the lights, and they, noticing how short I am, laughed and helped me find the switch, way at the top of the empty cabin. I heard them say on their way out, "that girl was french, right?". Slightly proud of myself I felt a bit better and very much looking forward to seeing Robert. A Breslau-native who happened to speak fluent German joined me in the cabin about an hour later, and he gave me a good description of what I could expect.

I arrived at around 10 to find Robert a bit frantic from his first run-in with the Polish police (it's a good story, but I'll let him tell it). We took trams back to his dorm on the other side of town. There was a fair amount of negotiating with the receptionists, who spoke no English and insisted on keeping my ID overnight. From the start I was impressed that Robert could understand what they were saying; it sounded like a big mess of ch's and sh's to me.



I was surprised at how little German and English there was in the city, finding myself a bit disoriented by the Polish. I'm finally comfortable in German and all of a sudden, a whole new language! A language with more cases than latin-lovers would know what to do with. But the city is beautiful, small and old. We spent the weekend taking long walks, first through the market in the old part of town, then to the flower stands, then through the meat hall, then by the universities, and then along the Oder. It was unbelievably peaceful by the river. I was beginning to understand just what Robert prizes from his time spent there - he fishes from early morning till sundown whenever he gets the chance. I'm not ready to go out and buy fishing gear, but I would love a day of walking and taking pictures from its banks. And I didn't think of the river as having a funny name until I wrote this in English.... don't worry, the water is not really... odorous :-).


To my absolute delight (am I allowed to use such a corny phrase?) we happened upon a series of dwarves during our walks. Dwarves! Erika would love this place! Caitlin, too! They were literally tiny little creatures scattered around the old and new parts of Breslau. They are a reference to anti-communist protests in the 80's (I figured that out at http://www.icsc.org/2007EU/Wroclaw.pdf) but for us they are just flat out charming. An oblivious tourist could easily trip on one on his way to a perogi stand.

Oh, and peroges! I have no idea how to spell them, but they are cheap and fabulous. What a great excuse to add a dollop of sour cream to a plate full of carbs... and a dish that starts with an N- that tasted to me just like Montreal cheese blintzes. The cheapest places in town are called something like Milk-Cafes even though they don't serve milk (I haven't figured out that one yet). They're sort of cafeteria-style eateries, where you look at a large menu up on the wall and tell a person behind a cash register what you want to eat. She then gives you a receipt with your order, and you go to the other side of the room to pick it up. This sounds simple, but remember that polish is an unreasonably difficult language. Robert just points to names that sound familiar, and then waits to see what he ordered. Thus Robert's sort of trial-and-error process of learning polish food vocab.

We spent some time with the Erasmus students in his dorm. Surprisingly it was the first larger group of Americans I had seen in a while; many students came to Breslau (for instance Robert's roommate Silvain) to learn and study in ENGLISH since they offer so many English courses at the University. Who would have thought you could do that in Poland?!? I can't wait to spend more time with Robert's roommates (one from Prague, one from Saxony in Germany, and Silvain from northern France... what a great combination) and explore more of the city when I go back there in a couple of weeks. Needless to say the train is as slow as I expected it to be, and two hour delays are inevitable, but the gorgeous countryside and the snip-it of Polish culture (not to mention seeing Robert) is definitely worth it.