If You Go: Wroclaw, Poland

I was inspired to take this trip based on CNN's article about Lower Silesia.  This helped me find a flight for 22 GBP round trip (!!!) to Wroclaw for Veteran's Day.  P was traveling for work and it was my first Euro trip solo - and it was better than I could ever imagine!

Hotels

• Puro Hotel: This was a fun, hip hotel! Each room is entirely controlled by a tablet and there is free cappuccino available any time of the day...which was great for grabbing to walk around in the cold weather.  It was also in a very easy location... could walk to everything in the city!  Highly recommend ($60/night)

Restaurants 

• Stol na Szwedzkiej: This was the coolest restaurant - you just tell the chef what foods you don't like (and what you do) and he will cook you a crazy gourmet meal.  My four course meal included porkbelly with seaweed, tripe with root vegtables, a seabass ceviche, and a stunning, warm brownie.  It was such a fun, unique experience.  Highly recommend- though it's a bit outside of town, so take a taxi! 
• Bernard's: Right on the main square of Wroclaw, Bernard's is a Czech restaurant with beautiful, yummy food.  Also, mulled wine was delicious - with many flavors! Check it out
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Things to Do 

• Boleslawiec: This is the home of all of the beautiful Polish pottery.  It's about a 90 minute train ride from Wroclaw.  Hint - it takes a lot of effort to buy tickets online for Polish trains, so start your efforts early.  Also, I purposely wanted to buy a significant amount of pottery - so be sure to bring a solid bag to carry your treasures home in.  
• Wroclaw Sightseeing Tours - Kzaic Castle: This is what interested me in the region to begin with, I met friends and we took this tour to Kzaic Castle.  This is a stunningly beautiful castle from the outside...and was rumored to have Hitler's gold train beneath it.  While this has been proven false, the nazi-built tunnels can be seen from the basement of the castle and it's a sad testament to the many Polish labor camps in this area.  A lot of history and some truly stunning vistas.  The tour company took us to a few other neat spots - a beautiful wooden church and a WWII treaty location. 
• Wroclaw Gnomes: Originally developed a sign of communist resistence in the late 1980's, today the gnomes are cheeky statues all around the town...there are close to 200 scattered around the main part of the city and it's fun to go on a gnome hunt!