Little
kids and big kids like myself would probably enjoying hunting for these small
dwarf sculptures that call Wrocław home.
During
our weekend in Wrocław, a beautiful city located in southwestern Poland, I
think we discovered 50 of these dwarves, at least that’s my count as I looked through
our photos again. We found them hanging from light poles and signs, sitting in
front of pierogi restaurants and
banks and simply chilling in the middle of cobblestone sidewalks. If you weren’t
careful, you could practically trip over one.
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| Not all the names seemed to translate well. For example, these guys were called Lifting and Pushing the Ball Dwarves. |
Hunting
for dwarves is the second biggest attraction in ‘Vrots-waff,’ as the city is correctly
pronounced in Polish. You’ll find more than 200 of these fairy-tale creatures
that actually symbolize the Orange Alternative Movement, which aimed to
ridicule the city’s Communist regime in the late 1980s. During that time, the Movement supporters often
wore bright orange hats or drew pictures of gnomes on buildings wherever
antigovernment slogans had been erased. In 2005, Polish artist Tomasz
Moczek initiated and created some of the dwarf sculptures and the movement has
grown since then.
 |
| The Disabled, Blind and Deaf Dwarves. |
We
bought a map from one of the local tourist stands so we could be more precise
in our dwarf hunting. We also rented our favorite NextBikes
so we could quicken our search around the city.
However,
even with the map and bikes, the hunt was more difficult than we planned. Some
dwarves were missing or (sadly) stolen as we were told when we asked where the
dwarf was that was supposed to be somewhere. Finally, we got the hang of the
search and realized we had to look up, down and sideways in order to find the
dwarves.
 |
| Very popular lamp post dwarves. |
The
search was like hunting for Snow White’s Seven Dwarves and their 200 cousins. There
was Arcik the Traveler, Kinomatic and the Ecological dwarves.
As
well as the naughty Prisoner Dwarf, who actually resides in the city’s former
prison.
And
the cute ATM dwarves, which really counts as three separate ones.
The
Pieorogi and Gourmand dwarves, who must have eaten too many Polish pierogies.
The
dwarves are everywhere!
Hunting
for these miniature dwarves was a fun way to explore Wrocław while we took in
some of the popular historical sites as well. It’s another Polish road trip
that I definitely recommend.
 |
| The Drinker and the Distiller hanging out in Stary Miasto. |
 |
| Yes, we had fun hunting for the wee dwarves! |
7 comments:
oh what fun! and what a cool thing for a town to do! thanks for giving the pronunciation. i never can guess how polish sounds. i sure wish my father had spoken polish at home.
Hi Joy,
I enjoyed reading about your slightly offbeat adventure in Wroclaw, thank you. Interesting that this movement caught on the way it did.
Can't wait to get to Poland, one day soon...
Andy
That's something you never did in Istanbul.
@Annie, doğru, doğru, but it would be a cool thing to do in Istanbul too! :-)
@Joyce, It was fun, and Polish is the most difficult language I've ever had to learn! Plus, the grammar does NOT make sense most of the time!
@Andy, thank you! Poland is a very interesting country to visit. I definitely recommend a trip here! 😊
Just back from Wroclaw. Wish Ihas read your lovely blog before I had gone. Now I know what all the wee guys were about. Lovely city for a week end visit.
Ian
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