Day 11: Long Drive to Wrocław With a Visit to Toruń

[Tuesday, June 18]

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We got up relatively early because today we would be on the road a long time. We had to travel from the very north of Poland to Wrocław, a city in the south. Along the way we would stop at Toruń, another Medieval town on the Vistula that was the birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus. I had no time to go for a morning run, which made Gdańsk the only city we stayed in in Poland that I did not run in.

It was a nice, sunny day. The ride to Toruń. which is a little over two hours south of Gdańsk, was quite pleasant. Toruń was founded as a port city at the ford of the Vistula River. The Vistula is navigable for the sea-going vessels of Medieval times up to Toruń, but becomes too shallow upstream of Toruń. So cargo would be off-loaded and transported by barge or smaller vessels inland. Barges laden with grain for shipment on the Baltic would be loaded on to larger ships at Toruń. This loading and unloading of ships, and the duties and taxes imposed on it, made Toruń a wealthy city. During the 13th through 15th centuries, the Teuotonic Knights and the rulers of Poland vied for control of Toruń. Toruń was a member of the Hanseatic League for much of this time, and was heavily influenced by Germanic culture. From the late 15th century until the partition of Poland in the late 18th Century, Toruń was firmly part of Poland. Poland was occupied by the Nazis during World War II and they carried out many atrocities on the civilian population there. But unlike many of the other cities we visited, Toruń was not heavily damaged during the war and most of the older Medieval, Renaissance, and Baroque buildings in the older parts of town are original.

Toruń is a tourist destination for three reasons: its Medieval old town, Nicolaus Copernicus, and gingerbread. More on these in what follows. Our local guide was Monika, who dressed in Medieval costume and played the role of Barbara, a sister of Copernicus. Several places in Poland lay claim to a piece of Copernicus's legacy, because he lived in several places during his career. We had already visited a museum dedicated to him in Olsztyn, and he also spent a good deal of time in Kraków, but Toruń was his birthplace in 1473.

We walked along the remnants of the old walls of the city and visited the Brama Mostowa, or bridge gate, which was the entrance closest to the Vistula River. One part of the old wall has a Leaning Tower of Toruń, a tall part of the fortification that has had a decided lean to it for a long time. There are several legends associated with the leaning tower, including one about a Teutonic Knight who was required to build the tower when it was found that he had violated his vow of chastity with a local merchant's daughter. The tower supposedly leans because of his sin. Most likely it leans because of the loamy ground and bad engineering.

Our local guide Monika, aka 'Barbara Copernicus'

The old city walls of Toruń

Approaching the Leaning Tower

It really leans!

The Brama Mostowa (Old Bridge Gate)

Outside the bridge gate, an old harbor mine

We walked by the house where Copernicus was born, which is currently a museum. We also visited the Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and St. John the Evangelist, originally built in the 13th century and rebuilt and enlarged several times afterward, attaining its present form in the 15th century. The church contains the baptismal font where Copernicus was baptized. The church is richly decorated and contains one of the tower largest bells in Poland. It is so large that the Swedes could not make off with it when they invaded that part of Poland in the 17th century.

Birthplace of Nicolaus Copernicus

Door inscription

Cathedral Basilica of St. John the Baptist and St, John the Evangelist

Inside the Cathedral

Vaulted ceiling

Altar inside the Cathedral

Altar in side chapel

During our walking tour of the city, we were continually buzzed by 'mosquitos', the term for groups of Polish schoolchildren on field trips. School ends for the year in Poland on the first day of summer, and in the weeks approaching the end of school, the kids go on educational field trips all over the country. At one point Jolanta startled a group of rowdy middle schoolers by loudly admonishing them in Polish!

After our tour with Monika was over, we were given some time to grab some lunch and shop for souvenirs and gingerbread. Toruń is noted for making some very good piernik (gingerbread), and several shops sell elaborately decorated versions of that confection. There's even a Gingerbread Walk of Fame with plaques that honor national and international people with a connection to Toruń.

We went to lunch at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant near the center of town that Jolanta had recommended serving traditional Polish food. We bought some decorated gingerbread, some to taste and some to give away when we got home (if it survived the trip!). We hung out in the central square near the Old Town Hall under the statue of Copernicus. We had a few amusing exchanges with some middle school mosquitos who knew a few words of English. Taking English is now required of students in Poland and so it is more likely that a younger person will be passably fluent in English that an older one. Then we were back on the bus for the rest of the long drive to Wrocław.

Assumption of Mary Church near the town center

Old Town Hall

Mosquitos crowd the square near the statue of Copernicus

More mosquitos

Humorous bathroom rhyme in the hole-in-the-wall restaurant where we had lunch about keeping it clean for the next person

You could get Indian food in Poland in every city we visited

Brass ass was polished by tourists

Nicolaus Copernicus

Brass plaque on Gingerbread Walk of Fame

Ornately decorated gingerbread

The ride the rest of the way to Wrocław was long. We had a pit stop at a roadside rest area with good 'facilities'. Jolanta surprised us with a box of delicious pączki (deep fried spherical donuts filled with fruit jelly or other fillings). She also brought out some flavored liqueurs. One was red currant, another orange coffee. Nice way to relax us for the last miles.

Roadside rest area

Pączki snack

Something to improve the mood for the last hour or so on the road.

We got to Wrocław in the early evening. The tour provided a buffet meal at the hotel, which was about a block from the large town square. After dinner, we took a stroll and had our first encounters with the gnomes of Wrocław. The bronze gnomes have been appearing around town for about 20 years now. We ended up finding dozens of them in our time in the city, but there are hundreds. More pictures of the gnomes we found are here. We finished the evening with a beer at one of the outdoor cafes. A woman with a sweet voice was singing some jazz and R&B that was all wrong for her voice. Imagine a young Polish soprano doing Aretha! But it was time to relax...