I don’t have much to write about this church, other than I thought it was an unusual architectural style and made quite a statement for those passing by. I had thought that the church was older than it actually was, as it was only built between 1936 and 1937.
Most of Opole’s city walls were destroyed in the early nineteenth century, primarily because they no longer performed any real useful defensive function. There is though a stretch that has been reconstructed and re-opened near to the city’s cathedral. The project was completed in 2009 at a cost of 1.2 million zloty, with walkways constructed so that visitors can walk alongside the top of the walls.
There’s just one little problem, which is that the steps have been closed off as the wooden structure has started to fall away. The steps are now barricaded off at the base, but the city is promising to have it all re-opened in 2020.
This cafe looks out onto a square which is a little dominated by the Solaris Center, which has its own Costa Coffee which seems to be generally busy. I can’t help feel that’s a slight shame, these independent cafes must find trading a challenge against international competition. I’m sure many people like the taste of Costa coffee, although I’m not one. I’ve always thought that the Costa coffees I’ve had in the UK taste insipid and seem just a little pointless. But, each to their own.
This photo didn’t come out particularly well, it was quite dull and cloudy outside which didn’t help. The seating was all comfortable and the cafe felt clean. Unfortunately, there were no other customers in the cafe when I entered, so the atmosphere was a little muted.
The service was polite and I liked the clarity of the menu board, which was kept nice and simple with clear pricing. I don’t like menu boards which are so small it requires a camera to zoom in on.
One of the walls has an historic image of Opole on it, which I think is from the seventeenth century.
The coffee was excellent, at the right temperature and with a slightly bitter taste which gave it a depth of flavour and a decent aftertaste. Although I think I’ve started to overthink coffee now, my faffing about with craft beer tastes is bad enough without my now starting on coffee.
It poured with rain whilst I was in the cafe, so I just stayed for a little longer than I probably needed to. A few more people came in, everyone seemed content and there was a pleasant farewell from the staff member as I left. All a little understated, which is just as I like it.
I had a great plan for today, I was going to walk to Muzeum Wsi Opolskiej, which is an open air museum. These are some of my favourite museums, I loved Den Gamle By in Aarhus and also Weald & Downland in West Sussex. The photo above shows where I wanted to go, it’s about a four mile walk from the hotel (the museum is the red circle, the hotel is the blue circle).
So, off I go. Most people would have got the bus or a taxi, but I’m far too tight for that. And I like walking, with four miles not being far really.
Then I find a problem. I get really near to the museum and the roundabout was shut to pedestrians. I think the construction engineer was telling me in Polish that it re-opened later, but other people were turning around, so I didn’t progress that plan. I have on good authority that anyone senior in civil engineering sits inside drinking tea and I didn’t want to disturb them.
I didn’t worry too much about this obstacle as I had already come up with another plan. It was to walk up to the nearly parallel road, going by the left of Sephora Karolinka and then onto the road to the north of the museum, before walking back around.
I was very pleased with myself about this little plan, even though that was an extra twenty miles of walking each way. Google seemed confident of this route, although it hadn’t been entirely accurate throughout the morning if I’m being honest, so off I merrily plodded. The road I wanted was a little country lane, I checked it on Google Streetview. It looked quite quaint, so I thought that some countryside walking would be nice.
And then I get to this little quaint country road. It has been replaced by a wider tarmac road, which goes underneath some major new road, which Google didn’t tell me about. And this tarmac road was shut to cars, pedestrians and bikes.
So, I wasn’t best pleased about this arrangement. I was half tempted to get a taxi for what would have been a two-minute ride, but I don’t like getting taxis as they’re a faff. What I did have was an eight mile round-trip around the Polish countryside, nearly all of which was very lovely.
However, perhaps it was just meant to be. Just I got back into the centre of Opole, it poured with rain, so I would have got soaked walking around the open air museum and then walking back. Fate is sometimes a marvellous thing. I must say though, the museum reviews are excellent, but it seems they’re struggling with visitor numbers. I can’t imagine many people walk to the museum, but things like this can’t help their numbers…..
Back to my usual tradition of visiting the highest rated burger restaurant in any city that I go to, this is the interestingly named Hamburg in Opole. It’s a relatively small restaurant, with around ten seats, but it seems popular and there were plenty of takeaway orders completed for customers when I was there.
The interior had modern decoration and was clean and organised. The service was efficient, although my Polish seemed unintelligible to the staff member (he’s not alone if I’m being honest, indeed he’s in very good company) so we dispensed with that since he spoke English. A very informal atmosphere, it felt welcoming and all rather on-trend.
The chicken burger, which was larger than the photo suggests, French fries and a drink, which came to just under £5. There’s a choice of buns and I think the default one is sweet, which I went for.
I liked the burger, which was three pieces of coated chicken, as the meat was tender and had a flavour to it. I wasn’t entirely sure that the coating had that much flavour to it though, it could have perhaps done with something else to give it an extra taste. I was going to use the word “zing”, but I think I’ve ort KFC on the brain there….
But it was all entirely acceptable, the onion added texture, the tomatoes were flavoursome and the BBQ oozed out nicely. The chips were quite salty, but I liked that, so this was no negative for me, with the chips having a nice firm exterior and a fluffy interior.
All told, this was entirely fine and I can see why the restaurant is popular, it’s friendly, comfortable and the food is decent. Although, if I come here again, I think I’d try the beefburger instead.
I’d read that Sopelek is something of a local institution and it’s a chain of dessert restaurants which started in Opole and has now spread to some other Polish locations. They have several outlets in Opole itself, with this particular restaurant being in the Solaris Center.
The ordering process was very clear, namely, just sit at a table and wait for service. A friendly staff member came over soon after I arrived and I merrily ordered my coffee and dessert option. There’s a large menu of different items, so there’s certainly no shortage of options for visitors. Some of the sundaes looked really tempting as well, as did the spaghetti ice cream (it had the look of spaghetti, not the flavour).
The coffee incidentally was excellent, at the perfect drinkable temperature and with just the right amount of bitterness.
This is the Bueno chocolate dessert option, with scoops of chocolate ice cream, whipped cream, nuts and also a Bueno bar subtly sticking out of the side. I’m not really much of a dessert person, I’d rather have a heap of chicken bakes on a plate, but this was neatly presented and tasted quite lovely. The ice cream had a richness of taste and smooth texture, whilst the nuts added texture and the whipped cream was just a little decadent (I’m easily pleased).
All told, this was around £5 for the ice cream and the drink, which seems reasonable value as it’s quite a premium location at the Solaris Center. It was certainly popular with families, or at least, popular with the kids at least. I can think of two children who would have enjoyed it here….
I noticed this large marquee in the city’s main square soon after I arrived in Opole, but I hadn’t initially realised the purpose of it. I was pleased to discover it was there as Opole’s annual three-day beer festival was taking place.
The inside of the marquee and it got a lot busier than this later on. There were around twenty stands offering food and drink, with the event being free of charge to enter. I didn’t stay into the evening when things might have changed, but the music from the stage was tolerable throughout the afternoon and not too loud.
Some of the various stands at the festival.
The diesel dry stout, although I’m not sure exactly what brewery it came from, it had a rich taste. There weren’t a vast number of dark beers available across the stands, which was slightly surprising, but there was still an interesting selection of different options to choose from.
All in all, it might not exactly be like the Norwich Beer Festival, but it’s a welcome addition to the calendar of any city. Very lovely.
The statue of Karol Musioł, a local resident who was the founder of the National Festival of Polish Song. The statue was designed by local artist Witold Pichurski and it’s rather chirpy and informal, having been installed here in 2008.
This beautiful church dates back to the fifteenth century, although there was a previous thirteenth century church on the same site which was destroyed by fire. It’s the tallest building in Opole and is easily recognisable from its two towers, although these were only added towards the end of the nineteenth century.
The side of the three-naved church.
The main nave, with the size of the current restoration project visible from the work on the left hand side of the church. The restoration has the exciting aim of removing heavy layers of plaster which for centuries have covered the brick walls. This “regothicisation” has the aim of returning the building back to its medieval origins, showing the original fittings which were in the brick walls.
The font is from the fifteenth century.
The pulpit is from 1805.
This is the grave of Stefan Baldy, a priest from this church who served from 1977 until his death in 2003. He made a substantial contribution in terms of offering private assistance to those involved in the solidarity movement in the early 1980s and he also made public announcements against martial law in the country.
In 1999, the city gave him the ‘Merit to the City of Opole’ award and Pope John Paul II awarded him the title of ‘Honorary Chaplain of His Holiness’.
