It was Sean and Lisa’s 31st wedding anniversary and we were all going to have a special day.

First we did some sightseeing and cycled to cathedral island.

There were many churches there but the first to check out was Wroclaw cathedral. 

It was very impressive with its very bright windows.

It had been mostly destroyed in WWII so had been restored to what it used to be. It shows that windows from old churches would have been far more vibrant when they were created.

Outside the cathedral we found a photo of what the area had been like after WWII.

We came to the Dumpling Gate next to St Giles church. According to the story, a farmer from a village near Wrocław was devastated when his wife died. She had been famous for making the most delicious Silesian potato dumplings (kluski śląskie), and after her passing, nothing tasted quite the same. His grief was so great that he gradually stopped eating and lost interest in everyday life.

One day, while resting beneath the gateway beside St. Giles’ Church, he fell asleep. In his dream, his wife appeared carrying a pot filled with freshly made dumplings.

She promised that the pot would magically refill every day, allowing him to enjoy her cooking forever. There was only one condition. He must always leave a single dumpling in the pot.

As long as he kept that promise, the gift would never end.

For a time, the farmer followed his wife’s instructions. Each day, the pot filled once more, and each evening, he left the final dumpling untouched.

Eventually, temptation got the better of him.

Unable to resist, he reached for the last remaining dumpling. Before he could eat it, it leapt from the pot, flew through the air and landed on top of the nearby gateway, where it instantly turned to stone.

From that moment, the magic disappeared forever.

The stone is said to remain on the arch to this day as a reminder that greed can cause even the greatest gifts to vanish.

There were interesting sights in the streets where all the buildings are related to churches and religion.

The last church was St Martin’s Chapel – the first church on the island as it was built by the Duke in his castle .  The castle is now gone but the chapel is still here.

We then got on our way past the unflattering statue of Pope John XIII erected by the communist government in the 1960s believing he supported them in Poland’s jurisdiction over the “Recovered Territories”. The Catholic Church actually opposed it.

We went past the flat labyrinth which isn’t very effective as you can see it all.

We visited the Tumski bridge which had a gnome asking people to put their padlock on him and not on the bridge. The bridge had got too heavy and all padlocks were removed.

We walked back to get our bikes.

We then cycled to the Konspire restaurant in the town centre just off the market square.

The restaurant is based on the time when the people were battling against communism. There’s lots of recreated graffiti and jokes of the time.

Inside the restaurant there’s lots of memorabilia and the menu includes stories about the time under communism.

The boys ordered 1 litre glasses of beer – they were enormous.

The food was excellent. Glenn and Sean had goulash with potato cakes. I had duck with cranberry sauce, potato dumplings and red cabbage. Lisa had beef roulade with potato dumplings. We were stuffed as it was solid food!

The 4 of us shared a cheesecake. The boys continued pushing the boat out with shots – vodka and cranberry liquor and Slivovice firewater. 

After lunch we checked out the room in the restaurant where you enter through a wardrobe door. Here is where protests were planned. Everything has been left as it was in the 80s.

We then cycled to the botanical gardens. Sean had a rest on the seat while the other 3 of us checked out the garden. The beer and vodka had probably taken its toll. It was very beautiful with many art pieces incorporated in the garden.

There was an area representing a geological rift in the Tectonic plates.

We got a bit lost for a while.
There was an attractive pond with fountain.

There was also an aquarium with a variety of fish.

The piranhas were looking menacing – particularly as they had taken a chunk out of the back of one of their mates. 

There was a very fast red squirrel.

There were other interesting green houses. This one was dedicated to Ivy.

We found Lisa again and went to pick up Sean on the way out.

We cycled  back to the campsite. No cooking was done – dinner was  biscuits and cheese but not much, but accompanied by a nice St Emilion red wine we bought last year. 

We all went to bed after our indulgent day.