Wroclove

If there is a city in Poland for which I could leave Warsaw behind…

If there is a city in Poland whose beauty enchants me every time I visit it…

If there is a city in Poland whose energy recharges my batteries instantly…

Only Wrocław meets all criteria above. Unfortunately, moving to Wrocław would involve professional demotion (it terms of duties and pay) and the vision of my career ceasing to thrive so far has prevented me from considering relocation to Wrocław.

From 1 July 2016 Warsaw and Wrocław are eventually linked by network of motorways and expressways. The missing section of A1 motorway, from Stryków junction with A2 motorway down to Tuszyn, where it meets short section of A1 built in 1980s, serves as eastern bypass of Łódź and connects with S8 expressway running straight into Wrocław. Thus once you get onto S2 or S8 in outskirts of Warsaw, via A2, A1, S8 and A8 you may cover the distance of around 350 kilometres between the capital of the country and the capital of Lower Silesia without even having to downshift from the highest gear. If you stick to speed limits, the door-to-journey should last no more than three and a half hours (compared to at least five hours five years ago), beating Pendolino trains, which, if booked early cost less (unless your car carrier at least three people) and cover the route within three hours and forty three minutes (please add to this journeys to train stations in both cities).

When choosing how to get to bigger cities in Poland, Kraków is the only one where it is definitely more comfortable to go by train. For Katowice, Poznan and Gdansk I would be indifferent between car and train – both rail and road connections are decent and while station-to-station train travel durations are unbeatable, in terms of door-to-door journey times, vehicles make up… Łódź and Wrocław are the destination preferably reached by car…

I was lucky to stay there overnight and despite tight agenda (end of workshops on the first day at 5:45 p.m. and kick-off at 8:15 a.m. on the next day) my companions and I managed to reach the market square, take a short walk around this part of city in the rain, then checked in to one of numerous eateries to lounge about there until late evening. Only the weather was playing tricks with us. Sunny all day, with one intense shower, then two intense rainfalls caught us at the beginning of our trip to town and as we were waiting for taxis to return to hotels…

Wrocław beckons and a friend has advised me how to get there cheaply and quickly. As it turns out, Ryanair offers cheap return flights from W-wa Modlin to Wrocław for mere PLN 18.00. For accommodation, I strongly recommend two Ibis Budget hotels – Wrocław Stadion and Wrocław Południe (the latter can boast about better transport link to the city centre) where an overnight stay without breakfast booked in advanced can set you back a dirt-cheap PLN 39.00 (also for a double room).

Over the week ahead for the first time since late May I am not going to spend any night away from home, nor even venture away from Warsaw for the whole day. A strange feeling. The weather in the coming two weeks is rather going to resemble what we saw in July 2011. If showers and spells of sunshine are about to alter, relief from the heat will be conducive to drawing pleasure outdoor activities) and shortages of underground waters stand a chance to be replenished. Yesterday I cycled for the first time since nearly a month, today I’m bound to take another ride.