Wroclaw - Poland

Here begins the road trip part of our journey.  Our ship docked near Rostock, Germany and we got our excellent deal Hertz car rental, which Cassio had booked online beforehand with a small American brokering firm, and had managed to get a much better deal than booking directly with Hertz.  Go figure.  We got on the road immediately and headed for Wroclaw (pronounced Vrotz-lauv), Poland.  We had booked a night at Grampa's Hostel which, in addition to having typical hostel style shared bathrooms etc., also had a room with a king bed, a couch and a private ensuite, which we rented. It was inexpensive, downtown, had parking and was clean and funky.  The building on the outside and in the hallway was definitely on the seriously run down side.

Wroclaw feels like a mix of old European charm mashed with postwar Communism in the midst of restoration and disrepair.  Definitely worthwhile.

Our hostel was a short walk from the former island of Ostrow Tumski, located in the centre of the city and close to little bridges Cathedral of St. John the Baptist

This was super cool.  In the evenings, there is a man whose job is to individually light ALL of the working gas lanterns on the Ostraw Tumski island where the Cathedral is located.

Pretty European trams.

The inside hallway of our hostel was not unlike this.

I absolutely adored our morning downtown stroll in Wroclaw.  It was still early and shops were just starting to open, but this started to fill with bustle and energy with each passing minute.

Pockmarked buildings remind one of the war.  There were a few photos posted about town that showed images from the war and you could see exactly how things had been reconstructed.

There is a stunning and large botanical garden with a huge variety of flowers and plants right in the center of the old town which we only had time to see through the gate.  We had only chosen to visit Wroclaw as a stopover so Cassio would not have to drive from north of Berlin to Krakow in one shot.  We had never heard of Wroclaw, and so only budgeted a few hours there.  I could easily have spent another day or two in this pretty city.