Travel in Poland: The Darling Dwarfs of Wroclaw

Welcome to the wonderful city of Wroclaw! 😀This city is a hidden gem in Western Poland that I only recently discovered, thanks to Pinterest. 🙂
You see, I was on Pinterest one day looking up beautiful sites in Poland, and came across this rather adorable looking town.A town, in fact, that has been taken over by some rather teeny townsmen. ❤This anomaly, some may call an a-GNOME-aly. 😂😂

Since then, I knew I wanted to visit this place and meet these little guys for myself. 😀So if you like darling dwarfs and fun-size folk, then this is the place for you!

Now when I first got to Wroclaw, the first thing I learned was how to pronounce the city’s name. 😛

You see, I was calling it rock-CLAW, when in fact, in Polish, w=v, c=tz, and l=w, so Wroclaw is pronounced VRAT-suave. Now when you visit, you’ll sound like a pro. 👍Next, I learned how this gnome craze all began. To find that out, I took a free walking tour with my man, Karlov. This Wroclaw local did his PhD in Polish history; however, since education is free in Poland, many people here have the same degree, so getting a job in his field was rather difficult. As such, to earn a living, he is a tour guide during the day and a bartender at night. He jokingly added, that going out drinking in Poland can be rather educational, considering most bartenders here have their doctorate. 🍻 📚Anyway, Karlov told me that this gnome obsession began in the ’80s, when an anti-communist group called Orange Alternative began painting dwarf graffiti across many of the city’s government signs.

This group’s humorous antics showed a non-violent way to oppose Communist rule, and their following began to spread across Poland like wildfire. At one point, in 1988, 10,000 Polish people marched through town dressed in orange dwarf hats. 😛For their impact, the organization is credited with helping to defeat Communist rule, and in 2001, a gnome statue was placed in the center of Wroclaw, to commemorate this spunky and successful society.Since then, dwarf statues have been popping up around town by the dozens. Some say Wroclaw now has over 500 resident gnomes!

With so many dwarfs, there is even an app you can download on your phone like Pokémon Go. Gnomes…you’ve gotta catch ’em all! 😛

Well, with only 24 hours in Wroclaw, I found a respectable 45 small-scale citizens, and it was hard not to fall in love with each and every one of them! 😍😍I didn’t use an app either, since it was more exciting for me to just wander around and hopefully find one. I felt like a little kid on Easter morning, looking around for colorful eggs. 😀The only problem is that these gnomes blend in with their surroundings, and finding them is not an easy task.🤔🤔

I kept mistaking a dark pigeon on the ground for a gnome, and at one point, I eagerly ran up to a dark blob on the sidewalk, only to find out it was an empty beer bottle. I looked like a crazy person! 😂😂

Anyway, not only are these pint-sized people utterly adorable, each one has a name and a story behind them.For example, this is one of the oldest gnomes, a butcher, standing in the former meat market in Old Town Wroclaw.There is a livestock memorial on this street as well. 🙂Now, in many cases, the gnomes reflect the businesses that created them. Here are just a few marvelous munchkins, trying to help out the local community. 😉

Warning: there are A LOT of adorable pictures ahead. 😀

Now don’t get the wrong idea, it’s not all hard work for these diligent dwarfs. 🙂

They get to have some fun too!

Naughty by Nature (revised lyrics): “You down with OPP? Yeah, you GNOME!” 😂😂

And some may have had a little too much fun! 😮

And while some enjoy partying on their time off, others prefer a little rest and relaxation. 🙂

Now, what I enjoyed most about these gnomes, is how each one looks so unique, facial features and all!

This one reminded me of my dad, since he likes gathering rocks to landscape our yard. 🙂And hey, this one looks like me, with my map and camera, standing outside the local tourist office. 😀This one might of been me, but who I am kidding, I have way more luggage than that! Hah! 😂😂

Now other than gnomes, Wroclaw has a lot of other things to offer too. ❤It’s a unique Polish city, since it only became a part of Poland after WWII. Before then, it was part of Germany.

Since WWII, the building architecture has been completely renovated, and the city is full of relatively new Polish residents. In fact, it was named the 2016 European Capital of Culture, which helps to promote community development and cultural expression. The city now has many interesting art sculptures around town, and with this new award, the museums will not be charging an entrance fee. 😀Anyway, hopefully this post will inspire you to make a visit there too! 😀Well, I didn’t have long in this town, but it was gnometastic while it lasted. 😛

Stayed tuned to hear all about my next destination, Krakow. Until then. 🙂

Getting There

From Berlin to Wroclaw, I took PolskiBus, which cost 8 USD and took 5 hours.

Accommodation 

I stayed at Cinnamon Hostel, which had impeccably clean showers and a full kitchen. It felt so cozy, like staying in a friend’s apartment.The hostel had complimentary breakfast as well, with toast, coffee, fruit and cereal. I sat with a nice Polish girl there, and chatted with her about her PhD studies in theater. Part of her current role is in theater recruitment, and at the time, she was trying to find 50-year-old performers willing to stand on stage in the nude for their next show. Definitely not an easy sell! 😮

Cost: 10 USD per night