A Trip to Bolesławiec

We arrived at Wrocław's main train station before 8 a.m. for our 2-hour ride to Bolesłwiec….the center of the Polish pottery industry.

We were traveling for the first time on a 2nd class regional train without reserved seating.  We were just hoping to get a seat...

….and we did!  The ride was comfortable and not really crowded which we were most happy about!

 Checking e-mail  on the BlackBerry….or playing Brickbreaker?

We stopped at many small railroad stations along the route.  

This is the train that people can take from town to town….the "milk route".

 Once again many beautiful autumn trees and countrysides.

We arrived a little after 10am…and once we figured out how to leave the train station and walk to the factories and shops we were good for the day…or a few hours anyway.

There are many Polish pottery factories and shops in Bolesławiec, Poland. In fact this tiny town is known for its factories and for sending pottery all over the world!

I knew we were getting close as I spotted signs and large pottery pieces placed on the streets, corners and fences….drawing customers and tourists like us to their shops.

Once we found the main street with shops and factories I was delighted!

We had been told that some of the factories actually give tours…but when I called I was told they no longer do so. We still enjoyed looking at the different shops and seeing what different pieces of pottery were here, compared to what we have seen in Warsaw and other Polish cities.

I was wondering if, since this is the town that manufactures the pottery, the prices for the pottery would be much lower….I learned a "yes" and "no" to that question. There are many more designs, patterns and kinds of pieces here than I have seen elsewhere….but the highest quality "#1" pieces that I want are very similarly priced as in Warsaw and other Polish cities.

What a busy, great shop we found ourselves in.  There were many pieces of 2, 3, 4 and 5 Quality rating, at much reduced prices that many people were buying.  I wanted only the Quality 1 pieces though, and so did not buy from many of the shops.

A piece of pottery can receive a Quality rating lower than 1 for many reasons….and still be a high quality piece…but I did not want to take a chance so only opted for the Quality 1 pieces.

We enjoyed seeing the pottery displayed in such creative ways...

Mark was a good sport as I went from shop to shop…most of which had "husband couches" to rest on.

Bolesławiec is very close to the German border, in fact it used to be part of Germany, along with Wroclaw and other Polish towns and villages in  the area. There were many signs in Polish, English and German.  We saw the word "Ceramika" often…which literally translates to "ceramics"….but in Poland it means Polish Pottery.

This was our favorite shop…one of the first we saw and last we visited. It was filled with many tour groups…traveling from Germany, the Czech Republic and other areas around Poland. People come far to buy the Polish pottery…how lucky we are to live so close to where we can buy it and share it with others.  I only wish we had a car with us…I think I could have purchased much more this day!

We had also heard about a glass factory not too far from Bolesławiec.  So with an address, a taxi driver that did not speak English…and two Americans who spoke little Polish…we found Studio Borowski !

At the entrance of the gate, there was a sign that said "enter at your own risk"…interesting. We rang the bell and workers let us in…and then let us wander to the area where glass was being heated and blown. We only wish someone spoke English so we could understand what they were doing, and the process behind the creations .

Though we watched for only about 5 minutes, it was quite interesting to see.  I was amazed at the absence of safety equipment like goggles or other protective clothing or devices.

Here they create very modern and unique glass pieces….a co-worker of Mark's traveled all the way to Kraków in order to buy one of these pieces for a wedding gift.  Mark was thinking they made clear, crystal-like pieces….so he was disappointed.  But I had read the pieces were very modern. We did buy a small glass tree ornament there.

Most of the pieces were not our style of decor…but this chameleon would have been fun to have in our yard!

Since it was a relatively long trip to Bolesławiec, our taxi driver was happy to wait while we explored the glass factory.  Once back in town he dropped us off at this highly recommended restaurant….Opałkowa Chata.  It was quaint and busy….at first there was no room for us in this little cottage…

….but then they found the smallest table underneath the rafters in the attic area.  

Mark loved his Polish pancake stuffed with meat…and I had a very unique salad from the salad bar. The bread was so delicious and warm…it was great to relax for a little while.

There are many types of artistans and crafts found in and around Poland.  Besides Polish pottery, another craft is wooden carvings.  Outside the restaurant I am sitting between two life size wooden figures….

.…and more beautiful pieces in front of the restaurant.

We had been in Bolesławiec for 4 of our scheduled 6 hours…but since we had a 2-hour train ride back to Wrocław we opted to leave a little bit earlier. We had made some nice purchases, saw some beautiful work…and were both glad we had come since we were so close to this area.

The train stopped at 18 stations on the way back to Wrocław…not really too bad though, since we weren't in a hurry to get anywhere.  We both read and Mark was able to work. We were successful in riding the 2nd class trains in Poland!  I would not use the bathroom on board though…quite interesting, Mark said.

After the train ride we were ready to explore some more.  Very close to our hotel was a little side street that we had seen a number of people walk through. I wanted to see this area also. At one end there were a number of cast iron statues of  domestic animals….a "Memorial to Slaughtered Animals".

300 - 400 years ago this area was filled with animals to be butchered and their meat sold to customers…thus the statues in honor of the animals that were slaughtered here….at "Stare Jatki" - Old Massacre.

The butcher stalls have been converted to little art studios…built on medieval foundations!  

 Most of the studios were not open due to the holiday weekend…but I saw unique and beautiful pieces of art through the windows.

After nightfall we ended up back at the Market Square…and saw many Christmas trees and decorations.  We thought they were getting ready for Christmas, but we also saw lights and cameras….they were filming some type of commercial.

There was simulated snow on the sidewalks, and the area really did look like winter….the trees and lights were festive.  I didn't want to get in the way and was walking away on the sidewalk.  But when I heard "prosze Pani…" I knew I was being told, "Please ma'am…don't walk on our snow".  All I could say was "I'm sorry…I didn't know". 

The next day this area was completely empty of any trace of winter, holidays or Christmas. Most definitely the filming and decorations were for some type of commercial.  It did look pretty and would have been fun to see during the Christmas season.

Before returning to the hotel we stopped by Starbucks for cakes and hot chocolate.  On the way home we went right past this little gnome!  We had another great day in Wrocław and Bolesławiec… and enjoyed learning so much about this great area!