Frogs, Gingerbread, and Former Fatherland

It was to be another bus day, which was frankly pretty welcome, at least to those of us who hadn't had a foot massage the previous day.  In fact, I had been tracking how far we were walking during each day of the trip, and it was clear that this was a very physical trip, as we were covering a lot of ground.  We'd covered more than 10 miles on foot the previous day, so a little respite was appreciated.  We would reach our record 15-mile day later in the week, in Kraków.

View Along One of the New Highways

We drove westward into what had been historically German territory.  As you know, my mother was born in an area of Germany called Schlesien, more commonly known in English as Silesia.  It was an eastern state in Germany up until the end of World War II, and was ethnically German for centuries.  Our home for the next two nights was to be the city of Wrocław (pronounced Vro-Suave), which was known as Breslau until 1946.  Breslau was the capital of Schlesien, and is approximately 75 miles east of where my mother was born and lived until the end of the war, when they became refugees.  Anyway, as we entered Silesia (Słońsk -- shlong-sk, in Polish), the architecture was markedly German looking, and that intensified as we traveled westward.  As I wrote earlier, the Potsdam Agreement redrew and shifted the borders of post-war Poland, with Danzig, Silesia and territories north (Pomerania, parts of East Prussia, and Neumark) being ceded from Germany to Poland, while Poland lost large swaths of territory in the east, which went to Lithuania, Belarus, and Ukraine.  The former German lands now in Poland were dubbed the "Recovered Territories" by the new communist government, which launched a propaganda campaign to portray the land as ethnically Polish, which was now rightfully returned to the motherland.  In reality, the area was never ethnically Polish.  There was more than 11 million Germans living in the lost territory before the war, with about 2 million remaining at the end of the war, including my mother and her family.  These people were all unceremoniously expelled.  My mother only spoke about this time once that I recall, and just the bit I heard was enough to understand why she chose to not talk about it.  At the same time Germans were being expelled, millions of Poles were being resettled from the lands in the east, lost to Soviet Union, to the "newly empty" western territories.  That brought in new residents who had no link to the area.  We would later see in Wrocław many statues which were relocated from Lviv (in modern-day Ukraine), which were brought eastward with the resettled Poles.  More about all of this later.

Map Showing Poland's Borders Before and After World War II

Our stop along the way was in the the medieval city of Toruń, which is famous for its gingerbread and as birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus.  In fact, they are marking the 550 anniversary of his birth this year, and we saw posters advertising special events throughout our visit. The entire city is deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it is one of the oldest cities in Poland.  It was first settled in the 8th century and in 1233 was expanded by the Teutonic Knights.  From 1264 until 1411, Toruń was part of the Hanseatic League and by the 17th century a leading trading point, which greatly affected the city's architecture, ranging from Brick Gothic to Baroque.  Though occupied during WWII, the city was spared devastation, as German troops withdrew well ahead of the Soviets' arrival, and the city had no military importance.  As such, its Old Town and iconic central marketplace have been entirely preserved in their original condition.

The original medieval walls still surround the city, and we had a local guide (dressed as Copernicus' older sister) provide us with a very thorough walking tour. Toruń has the second and third largest brick churches in Poland, behind Gdansk, but its are in their original form.  The city is famous for its gingerbread, and we heard the story of how the original was the result of an accident perpetrated by a lazy baker's apprentice.  We, of course, also heard all about favorite son Nicolaus Copernicus, and saw the home in which he was born.  We learned of Napoleon's obsession with Copernicus, and that when he announced a visit to the city to see where this "wonder of science" was born, the local leaders were unsure of the actual home.  They identified a nicer, larger house nearby as the birthplace, and only later pinpointed the actual building.  I also enjoyed the story of their own version of the Pied Piper fairy tale.  In the case of Toruń, following a heavy flood, the city was inundated with frogs.  The mayor offered his daughter's hand in marriage and a sizeable dowry to the man who could eradicate the plague.  A penniless farmer boy allegedly charmed the amphibians with his violin, and led them out of the city and into nearby marshes.  Unlike the Pied Piper, however, the farmer was recompensated, married the mayor's daughter, and lived happily every after.

Entering the Walls of Toruń

Our Local Guide, Dressed as the Sister of Copernicus

One of the Many Former Granaries in Toruń

Map of the City

So-Called "Leaning Tower of Toruń" -- Like Marlbork, the Wooden Support Beams Are Now Rotting Away

One of two cathedrals in Torun, which rank as the 2d and 3rd biggest brick churches in the country.

Toruń's Favorite Son -- Nicolas Copernicus

Copernicus' Birth Home -- the Real One, Not the One They Showed Napolean

The Famed "Frog Piper" of Toruń

Before heading back to the bus, the three of us enjoyed a nice lunch outdoors, and appreciated a very German-centric menu from which to choose.  That was followed, of course, by a sampling of gingerbread, as well as some very tasty gingerbread-flavored gelato.

At Lunch

Rouladen and Rotkohl -- Yum!

Gingerbread Gelato

To break up our afternoon on the bus, and since we had yet to officially sample Poland's national drink, during a rest break we had an outdoor vodka tasting with the group.  Joanna brought some snacks and a couple of traditional flavors of vodka, including lemon and the famous zubrowka, which is flavored with blades of buffalo grass.  There are wild buffalo in east Poland which, through whatever series of miracles, have survived for centuries on their own, even during the war.  Zubrowka was never my favorite, but it is distinct.  We all enjoyed the lemon flavor, however.

Enjoying a Vodka Break

Heading further west again, toward Wrocław, the territory grew hillier and more distinctive.  Wrocław has a population just under 700,000, making it the country's third largest city, and it is called the "Venice of Poland," as its historic center straddles several canals and converging rivers.  During its 1,000-year history, the city as been part of Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, the Habsburg monarchy of Austria, Prussia, and Germany.  Wrocław is a university city with a student population of over 130,000, making it one of the most youth-oriented cities in the country, and that was evident during our visit.

Our hotel was located about a mile west of the city center, in a business-centric area of town with lots of start-ups and IT businesses.  Dinner was as a group in the hotel restaurant, which was normally the case after longer days on the bus.