From Zakopane we drove to Wroclaw. Wroclaw has gnomes.  They are everywhere in Wrocław. Like a miniature army they dot the city’s doorways, alleys and street corners.  They say there are about 180 of them around the city. They are knee high and adorable.  It was a bit of fun to go around town looking for them. We only managed to find 4 though.


Gnomes have a long folklore history in Poland , but their current iconic incarnation in Wrocław began in the 1980s. Under communism gnomes became the absurdist calling card of the 'Orange Alternative' movement – an underground protest movement that used absurdity and nonsense to stage peaceful, yet subversive protests.


Apart from the gnomes there was quite a lot to see in Wroclaw.  It has a magnificient town hall which I mistook for a cathedral.  It has an underground tavern that has been in existance since the 1200's making it the oldest in Europe.  It also contained a prison, a small room with a hole in the ceiling where prisoners were dropped through and left where they fell.

One of the cute gnomes

Wroclaw Town Hall

Colin in town square Wroclaw