There’s something wonderfully noir about this mural in Wrocław, which celebrates the crime novelist Marek Krajewski (1966-). It’s painted on the side of an otherwise unassuming yellow building, yet it completely transforms the place into something atmospheric, cinematic and indeed distinctly Wrocławian.
Krajewski’s novels are largely set in Breslau, the old German incarnation of Wrocław. His detective, Eberhard Mock, apparently prowls through a 1930s world of corruption, decadence and decaying grandeur, although it’s not a series of books that I’ve yet read. The city is though evidently very proud of their crime novelist who was born in the city as he was given the title of an honorary citizen of Wrocław in 2023. I will try and get hold of one of his books now…..
This is the building that Ibis and Novotel share in Wrocław and I’ve stayed at the former before (it seems that’s something else that I have to write up). The standards here are high, there’s an efficiency with Accor Hotels in Poland that simply isn’t matched by great swathes of the rest of the chain.
The view from the hotel room overlooking central Wrocław and some construction work, although that didn’t cause any noise issues. The reception desk here is always full of enthusiasm, it’s a lovely first impression. I was upgraded as well which I decided not to turn down.
I had stayed at the Ibis a few weeks ago and there’s a shared bar, so I was aware of the rather excellent choice of welcome drinks from a local brewery. The team member was also knowledgeable about them all, this was a very good tropical tasting slightly sour wheat beer from Browar Prost.
The welcome gift which came with another free beer. Those are chocolates and they’re very moreish.
And the mini-bar was free, fortunately there was a sign on it stating that. This was very generous, part of the free room upgrade that they offered.
The hot drinks arrangement.
The room was light, spacious and comfortable. And spotlessly clean.
I didn’t get breakfast as I was going to the airport relatively early, but this was a quite lovely stay. The room has blackout curtains which are very effective, there were no noise issues internally or externally and everything just worked.
I keep writing this, but it’s true and so I will keep on doing it, but Accor hotels in Poland are run as well as any other chain that I can think of. They continue to surprise and delight. The hotel is a ten to fifteen minute walk from the city centre, but there is a tram stop outside which whisks passengers to the heart of Wrocław in just a few minutes.
This Indian restaurant on Wyspa Piasek in central Wrocław was very well reviewed online and it seemed a suitable lunch stop whilst it poured down with rain.
It would be wrong of me to suggest that the restaurant was packed, but there were a couple more customers who came in and a couple of delivery orders went out as well. It’s a functional and clean interior, I thought it was rather understated and pleasant. I do know from the reviews that advance reservations are recommended here in the evening and it’s quite a small set-up, so I imagine it can fill quickly.
The chicken dishes and these all came with free rice.
It’s not a very good photo, but there were seven different beers available including some craft beer selections. Indian restaurants in Poland offer this with much more regularity than Indian restaurants in the UK, as well as actually opening at lunchtime which isn’t very common here.
Firstly, the beer is the Okocim Porter from Browar Okocim, this was a really quite decent beer which was smooth with a bit of liquorice, bit of tree (or whatever that flavour was) and some maltiness. At 8.3% it was a robust beer to go with the curry.
I went for the Nepali chicken curry and this transpired to be a delight, with tender pieces of chicken in a creamy sauce which had some spice to it. The days when Indian restaurants in Poland catered for a less spice craving palate seem to have gone, with the result here having a depth of taste and flavour. There was some what I think was lemongrass added which possibly overpowered things slightly, but I like strong flavours.
The naan was sizeable, as is evident from the photo, with a crispiness and decadence that went really well with the curry. The rice was also cooked well, with the whole arrangement being a sufficiently large portion and everything was at the appropriate hot temperature.
The service was timely and friendly, I never felt rushed and the environment was relaxed. Customers seemed to just go to the counter when they wanted to pay, so I did that and found the whole set-up really quite agreeable. This was a really positive experience, with the bill coming to around £15 which for a top-rated restaurant in the city centre with such a decent beer seemed very reasonable to me.
There’s a certain charm to Wrocław Świebodzki, a railway station built between 1842 and 1843 when the line from Wrocław to Świebodzice was opened when both cities were part of Prussia. That changed after World War Two, when both locations became part of Poland. Long since the second railway station of Wrocław, it closed in 1991 although there are active plans to bring the line back into use. It’s not clear to me whether they’re taking the station buildings back as well, slightly awkward as they’ve been repurposed.
Here’s the rear of the railway station which is now being used as a food court, but more on that in a moment.
Quite a lot of clutter has been added to the rear of the building, but the railway station arches are still visible.
The station canopies are still in situ.
Under the canopies, looking away from the railway station.
And looking towards the railway station.
Known as Hala Świebodzki, there are now two food halls and this is the main one which was once the main railway ticket hall. Some of the original fittings are still here, rather hidden away behind the modern structures, but they could be restored if the station does come back into use.
The second food hall which is located in the wing of the former station which is next to the tracks.
I visited at lunchtime and only a few of the outlets were open, although there were a few diners dotted around the place. It apparently gets rather busier in the evening and seemingly plays some loud music judging from the reviews. There are QR codes on the tables where customers can order, although I decided against purchasing anything until there were a few more food outlets open. They’re trying to push some lunchtime offers, but it will perhaps be hard to get more customers into the building if most of the venues aren’t routinely opening.
Anyway, architecturally it’s a fascinating site and I very much like food courts like this, so I will be back…..
I’ve already written about the excitement of Bournemouth Airport, but it was clean and organised so that was all to the good. It’s rare that I get to fly with Ryanair now given my new loyalty to Wizz Air, but this was a convenient departure location. The boarding process was efficiency, clear and the staff members were friendly.
Boarding on time. The aircraft was SP-RSU, a Boeing 737 which has been in use since 2017. It’s technically operated by Buzz, a fully owned subsidiary of Ryanair.
It’s not a very clear photo, but I liked this boarding arrangement which makes it easier for those with accessibility needs.
This Ryanair flight boarded immediately before our flight and was also off to Poland, to the rather lovely city of Krakow.
I hadn’t paid for seat selection and the seating Gods gave me a middle seat, which didn’t feel entirely optimal. However, fortunately, the person in the aisle seat of what was a fairly full flight, didn’t turn up and so I got the aisle seat.
The flight was uneventful and Ryanair didn’t appear on this occasion to try and annoy passengers as much as they used to by selling them all manner of things. It was a comfortable flight and I was rather impressed.
The only area where Ryanair couldn’t match Wizz Air was the cleanliness of their aircraft. The seat trays on the aircraft were sticky (well, mine wasn’t, but I could see three others were), there was litter on the floor and it was evident the crew just hadn’t had time to do what was needed.
Safely in Wrocław.
They put us in a bus to go all of 100 metres to the airport terminal. They’ve had us walk further distances before at this airport and it probably took longer to get there by the bus.
I have a shiny new passport now and didn’t experience the delays that I’ve had before whilst the border control staff have to sit and count the stamps. The airport hasn’t yet introduced the full new EES system for arriving passengers, but I doubt it’s far away.
I nearly never get taxis as they’re too decadent, but on this occasion I decided to get a cheaper Accor hotel (one of my favourite Ibis Budgets) and rather than take two hours to get there by public transport, I was there within thirty minutes. And, fortunately, taxis in Poland are very cheap, although I don’t really like using them as I like the excitement of public transport.
The flight was £15 and I was surprised and delighted by Ryanair, although they perhaps need to clean their aircraft a little more…
This was a cheap hotel to stay at on a Sunday night but was convenient for my planned flight from Bournemouth Airport. I genuinely have no idea why they’re trying to be part of Accor though, they need to leave or they’re perhaps likely to be thrown out soon enough.
There was a lot of noise from neighbouring rooms even at check-in, which reception could hear. I should have really upgraded as Platinum Accor and I say that not out of privilege, but because they didn’t really seem to care about anything. I’m also not sure why they’re trying to be part of Ibis Styles, there’s not really much here that fits into that brand.
There was a welcome drink which they didn’t pro-actively mention but I claimed anyway. There was no welcome gift, but I could be asked about does it matter? Well, it sort of does, because most hotels in the Accor chain are complying with the standards they request and the Polish hotels operated by Orbis are offering ridiculously high standards. They’re upgrading, giving welcome gifts and almost going too far in meeting their obligations. It must be galling to the decent hotels to know that some other locations are not interested in committing in the way that they should.
There was no-one else in the bar area, which is actually reasonably pleasant. They don’t offer food, but the bar is open throughout the evening. This feels sub-optimal really, some considerable money has evidently been spent here in providing a decent and nice environment, although the marketing is all over the place.
I like this, it feels like a better way to contact the hotel.
In what might sound illogical, I’ll rate the breakfast as a disgrace to Accor even though I liked it. There was no hot food other than bacon, sausage and mozzarella rolls. I had the very last sausage roll and it was terrible, just junk food. Other guests didn’t get anything hot.
The reason I mention that I might not be being fair is that I liked the breakfast as I didn’t want any hot options. I had a lot of chorizo, indeed, I had all of it. The muffins were OK, but the fruit was absolutely fine. The yoghurts were adequate and the juices, when they refilled them, were generic but OK.
My complaint is that integrity is important. Don’t advertise a hot breakfast when there isn’t a hot breakfast. The reality that the hotel happened to stray into what I wanted isn’t perhaps the point. The online reviews are also very poor, there are clearly substantial issues here where guests continue to be disappointed.
The breakfast room was large and clean, this is clearly what the hotel used to have as a restaurant area. Again, someone has pumped money in here and so an effort has been made at some staff.
The rooms next to me came back at around 03:00 banging about. I’m oblivious to noise generally, but there should have been someone at reception dealing with this.
If this wasn’t an Accor hotel and I stayed here, I would have been content for the money. But, they’ve signed up to certain standards by being part of Accor and they’re playing fast and loose with it as far as I’m concerned. I think it’s important that managed hotels understand that they represent their brand they’ve signed up to and not just their own venue.
I’ve already complained about how unnecessarily difficult it is to get to Bournemouth Airport unless you’re wealthy or like walking (I went with the latter). The airport is owned by the same people as who operate Norwich Airport, but at least that one is accessible. Although Bournemouth Airport doesn’t charge the ridiculous £10 per passenger surcharge in the way that Norwich Airport does (unless you’re flying Ryanair from Norwich which feels an unfair exemption).
No expense has been spared here with the security area.
There were three flights, mine was the 20:55 one to Wrocław.
Can travel get any more decadent? I didn’t take any photos in the security area as I imagine they wouldn’t like that, but the security area itself was actually inside and the staff were friendly and helpful.
Inside the terminal which had a bar, a coffee shop, a duty free and an expensive WH Smiths. There were plenty of seating, although an absence of power points other than in the bar for their customers.
It was spacious and warm, so I didn’t have any complaints. I was only flying from Bournemouth Airport as I was already in Bournemouth and there was a cheap flight to Poland. It was also all mostly clean and tidy, with all of the gates visible from where I was sitting.
Bournemouth Airport began life in 1941 as RAF Hurn, one of many wartime airfields that sprang up across the country during the Second World War. It was used by both the Royal Air Force and the United States Army Air Forces, mainly as a transport and fighter base, and it played its part in operations leading up to D-Day.
As the war started to come to an end, Hurn was quickly repurposed for civil aviation. In 1944 it became the temporary base for British Overseas Airways Corporation, which used it as London’s main airport until Heathrow was ready, which I think is quite a claim to fame. For a brief period between 1945 and 1946, Bournemouth and not London was the country’s principal gateway for transatlantic flights.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the airfield evolved into a proper commercial airport, with charter routes opening to holiday destinations such as Majorca. It changed hands several times, from local authority control under Bournemouth Corporation and Dorset County Council, to National Express in the mid-1990s, and then to Manchester Airports Group in 2001. The 1990s also saw the runway extended to 2,271 metres, capable of taking larger aircraft, and Concorde even made a glamorous visit to mark the occasion. Ryanair arrived shortly afterwards which must have been the icing on the cake for the locals after Concorde.
Ownership passed again in 2017 to the Rigby Group, whose Regional & City Airports division continues to run the site. The new terminal was completed around 15 years ago and if the expansion that is planned takes place then they might well need a terminal extension. However, perhaps their priority really should be actually getting public transport to the airport and sorting out the pedestrian access.
This is Norman House, a rather nicely located residence situated by the river in Christchurch. It still looks rather decadent even though half of it has fallen down.
Looking from the other side of the building, which is located near Christchurch Castle. The history of the two is interlinked, the castle was defensive and a place of safety, but the property was where the Lord lived when people weren’t attacking him. Built in around 1160, it was a luxurious property for the Lord and it was later used by the Constable of the Castle.
Inside the building which fell into disrepair after the medieval period. I’m surprised that it survived after this, as it would have been easy to cart the stone away to use elsewhere which is what happened to most of the castle.
The sockets where the first floor slotted in are clearly visible around the structure.
And the remains of the steps with a sign warning of deep water, although it didn’t look very deep to me.
The remains of a former fireplace, with the rare Norman chimney, and the whole arrangement is notable as it’s one of the few surviving Norman residential properties in the UK, although there’s one in Norwich hidden under the magistrates’ courts.
English Heritage has this plan of the property and I’m slightly amused by the little bit of modern there and I’ve stared at photos and I have no idea what they’re referring to, unless it’s the closing up of a door. Some sources say that demolition started in the eighteenth century, but the local vicar was able to intervene to stop the total destruction of the property. This would explain why it has sort of survived, it became recognised quite early on as a building that needed to be retained for future generations.
Anyway, the monument is accessible for free at any time for anyone who wants to see the modern section of the building, or indeed, the Norman bit.
We did think of popping in here, but we were a little bit limited by the fact that it was shut.
It’s this that I liked, the phrasing that they were closed “due to an unexpected incident involving a fire” sounds like something I’d write. I hope everyone is well and if I’m back in Christchurch I’ll pop in here as I like their style.
One of the more curious, and frankly slightly odd, tales connected with Christchurch Priory is that of the so-called miraculous beam. When the Priory was being built in the early twelfth century, the craftsmen encountered a bit of a structural hiccup that was considered to be rather sub-optimal. A large timber beam, essential for the roof not to fall down, turned out to be too short for its intended place. This is a civil engineering blunder and I’m sure my friend Liam would have been appalled at such incompetence.
But then, so the story goes, a mysterious carpenter appeared and he was a man that no-one had seen before, who quietly went about his work without complaint. Overnight, the too-short beam was miraculously found to be the perfect length, fitting flawlessly where before it had failed. The stranger, naturally, had vanished. So the rest of the builders decided that it must have been Jesus himself who fixed the beam. Hence the name Christ’s Church, the Priory’s supposed moment of celestial rebranding. I imagine that this whole thing was the talk of the pubs for that evening and indeed several nights to come.
The beam itself is still there today, high up in the Priory’s roof and my photo isn’t really very clear. It’s a reminder though of the construction process, although I rather suspect that they just did some medieval joining of a beam rather than Jesus himself popping across, but who knows? I mean, it’s good for publicity if nothing else?
