Friday, 8. July: University of Wroclaw

Kristen went to a sailing camp with Hanna. Wendy and I worked on packing then toured the original university, a Jesuit college founded by Hapsburg Emperor Leopold I in 1702 to aid in the counter-reformation. Exquisite details covered the walls, the floors, the ceilings

, even on the stairs and in the hallways. Even the doors had incredible detail.

A relatively small baroque concert room with perfect acoustics

, Maria Oranatum, was completely restored

and a larger lecture hall, the Aula Leopolda, not yet restored, with incredible detail was upstairs.

Hanging out below him are Jealousy on his right below and Stupidity with donkey ears on his left. On each side of the window were famous men such as Plato, Copernicus. I was surprised not to find Augustine or Aquinus. At the back, 2 Atlas's held up the balcony. Upstairs we saw the line in the floor marking the time line—the Polish version of Greenwich. We walked to the top and looked out at the city. Here Sky Tower is in the middle, St. Elisabeth on the right and the City Hall on the left. We could also see the Ossulineum House—a wealthy family from Lwow which transplanted their extensive art collection to Wroclaw when Lwow became part of Russia. Behind this house is the back of St John's Cathedral, the first and most important in Wroclaw.The lecture hall was built in the shape of a long trapezium, giving the impression of even more length. Leopold hangs out prominently at the front middle with Truth (old man maybe with a mirror?) on his right and industry (woman with a beehive) on his left.

After this we went to the University Church of the Blessed Name of Jesus, built in the late 1600s, probably the most beautiful baroque church I've ever seen.

Halla Targowa, a Market Hall somewhat like Eastern Market was built around 1900. At one point it had been an armory, so cannon balls were embedded in walls to show that.

For dinner we had piroshkis—mushroom and cabbage, mushroom, and blueberries. Yum!

After dinner we walked in a nearby park where we saw a Chopin Monument and beautiful gardens. Then we picked up the girls and stopped to see if Aldi's had banana boxes. They had 9. So we fit 9 boxes in a small car with 5 people.

Not quite the same as our Russian crunch, but quite credable.