My winter wonderland – from Wroclaw to Prague

Letter 155

My previous letter culminated in my final evening in Wroclaw, spent in a bar with 10 relative strangers. However, my last day in Wroclaw was so full and lovely, that I felt it deserved it’s own letter.

I woke up to a city dusted in snow beneath blue skies. These truly are my favourite winter days. Those with a crunch beneath your feet, breath visible in the air and the sun warming your skin. I began my day with a short walk into the centre, aided by my fantastically located hostel, and went to meet a couple of my new pals. The same pals that I’d spend the last few days with, including New Year’s Eve. I got very lucky.

We had arranged to do a Escape Room because it sounded like fun and it was super cheap because it was Poland. It was A BLAST. We weren’t very good at it but it was so enjoyable and we it felt so real! I now just want to do more. Definitely recommend doing this if you’re travelling in the winter months when you can’t spend more than a couple of hours outside.

After we finished up here, we grabbed some lunch – a £2 toastie which was delicious – and said goodbye as we were all leaving the city. I still had a couple of hours before I had to leave and I wanted to soak up as much as I could of this gorgeous place under a small layer of snow and ice. It looks much better than on a dreary day – as does everywhere. I walked aimlessly until I realised I shouldn’t stray too far away from my hostel, as I did have a bus to catch. I explored the riverside, a beautiful park and many of the central streets and architecture. This was actually one of the first walks alone I’d had in a while. It was bliss.

There’s something about wandering around a foreign city on your own that feels rather exciting. Nobody really knows you’re a tourist – you could quite easily be a local. Nobody is taking any notice of you, they’re just going about their day to day business. It’s funny that often these are the most vivid memories I have. I remember walking along the river, down a snow-capped, tree-lined avenue, and watching a boat peacefully floating along amongst the ducks. I remember watching a young family playing in the snow whilst I spotted another tiny dwarf on the pavement just outside the quiet park.

I remember enjoying the brightly coloured buildings against the fresh snow and blue sky and thinking how cheerful it made the place.

You would think that would bring my short and sweet stay in Wroclaw to an end. You’d be wrong. I thought I would only be in the city for a mere hour, until my bus would take me over the border to the Czech Republic. That was not the case.

I got to the bus station with a healthy half an hour to spare and picked up some treats to get me through the long journey. I waited by the stop, and no bus appeared. I was asked 3 times by locals (in Polish) about the bus, and obviously I had no idea because, 1. I am a clueless Brit abroad, and 2. I do not speak Polish and was therefore at a big disadvantage in the knowledge of Polish bus travel department.

The last person who asked me was actually a Ukrainian living in Prague and quickly switched to English. Right at that moment, the board showed that there would be a 2 hour delay on the bus. It went from ‘on time’ to ‘delayed’ in minutes. If I was back in the UK, this would probably put me in a foul mood, but in Poland, it didn’t feel like a huge disaster. Actually, it barely affected me. My new friend and I went to Costa to enjoy a drink and conversation whilst we waited for the bus. Turns out, she was great. We had a lovely time and the 2 hours flew by.

Long story short, the 2 hours turned into 3 and we eventually boarded the bus at 6pm. This meant we didn’t arrive in Prague until 10:30pm, and I didn’t get to my airbnb for another hour. This wasn’t a reflection on the location of the airbnb, more a reflection of the amount of time I can spend faffing over tickets, metros and google maps. I got there in the end.

This leads me to the last leg of my New Year trip. I spent this with my boyfriend, staying in a stunning apartment, in one of the most beautiful, historic cities in the world.

Stay tuned for Prague.