Rolling Traveler

Yesterday evening, driving home from a friend’s home, I had the chance to see how Wroclaw was and how it will be when all the rennovations are complete. One road, five blocks in length, had a pitted tarmac surface, with tram rails rising above the road surface by as much as two inches in places, and was lined with 4- and 5-story buildings with pitted and peeling plaster and paintwork. The neighborhood looked run down, although some of the windows in the buildings were new though - aluminum or good quality wood frames - and the sidewalk on one side was new and as even as any I’ve seen. We bounced and jolted our way down it until it gave way to another road, a good eight-block stretch including a bridge across the Odra, with a pristine surface, recessed tram rails and even sidewalks with curb cuts, lined with rennovated, repainted buildings both old and modern.

Wroclaw is a city in a state of change, as money is finally being invested in making it the best and most beautiful it can be. It’s a slow process, and it is starting with the areas with buildings of interest: there’s nothing of importance on that five-block stretch, but the following rennovated road passes the National Gallery and the State Government Buildings on one side of the bridge, and Ostrów Tumski (site of the largest cathedral and the oldest church) and the Botanic Gardens on the other. The area of the Rynek (the Town Square) is mostly finished, as are most of the roads around the old moat, but there is still a lot of work to be done elsewhere.

From my point of view as a wheelchair user, almost all of these improvements will make Wroclaw an easier city to get around, although as in all northern European cities, there is a frustrating obsession with the bane of my lower back and wrists, decorative cobblestones, so it will never be an entirely smooth ride. More importantly, all the work that is being done is bringing out the beauty of this city, making it shine again after years of neglect. It’s a fascinating process to watch happening.