Wisconsin and Minnesota

A litttle while ago I visited Minnesota and Wisconsin to visit a long time friend and attend a wedding. While I was in town I managed a bit of sightseeing.

I started with a quick visit to Hudson, a cute town on the border of Wisconsin. There are many charming old houses in town. There are also two cute pink Airbnb’s marketed toward girl’s trips.

The downtown area is cute as well. I take a walk by the water and stop for lunch at a post office converted to a restaurant. I have to order cheese curds.

The wedding today is at a charming winery about 30 minutes away.

The next morning I visit Paisley Park, recording studios and sometimes residence of the artist Prince located outside of Minneapolis.

I also make a stop at the famed Lake Minnetonka talked about in the movie Purple Rain. I did not purify myself in the waters.

In the afternoon I stop by Minnehaha Falls for lunch and to admire the waterfall. The park has nice trails along the water. Coincidently today it is hotter here than my home state of Florida. Luckily I am used to a good sweat when I am enjoying nature.

Later that day my friend and I take a walk to see Willow Falls near Hudson.

We also tour downtown Minneapolis which I learned has quite a milling history. You can see all the prominent brand signs on the buildings.

We go to the observation level at the Guthrie Theater for better views.

Lastly we drive by First Avenue, the historic club known to host big acts, especially the local artist Prince when he was still alive.

I was supposed to leave a day earlier but I realize a band I like is playing in St Paul the following night. I change my flight and book a historical hotel slash old custom house in the heart of downtown St Paul. While it is a generally safe city, it looks like it is in a state of transition. I look forward to returning to see the changes in the future.

It is such a brief trip that I plan to return and try some restaurants and all the other things the city has to enjoy. Plus it is really good catching up with an old friend.

Wrocław fun

Since tomorrow is a holiday and many things will be closed there is a rush to do things today. I have an early morning at at University of Wrocław where they have a couple impressive things to see.

First is the beautiful doors of the college.

And the fun dwarves hanging out at the college.

At the University of Wrocław there are up to four museums to see and I buy a combo ticket that includes all four.

Aula Leopoldina

Aula Leopoldina is a late baroque hall that is adorned with many scholars by the windows. It is a very beautiful auditorium.

Next is the mathematical tower that houses many historic sundials and compasses and there is a tower that offers a view of the city.

Next is the Oratorio Marianum another beautiful hall.

And finally a college museum that houses discoveries and studies.

For lunch I planned to go Hala Targowa, a market, since it is the only day it is open while I am here (because my visit contains two holidays). I walk around the market and pick up some fruit for snacking but I actually end up eating at the restaurant outside the market. The meal I order there is just ok. I wanted some fish and vegetables. The vegetables hit the spot but the fish was not too exciting.

Communism and Dwarves Tour

Back in the time of communism times dwarves began to appear on walls as a form of protest. Krasnale or dwarves in Polish sounds and looks like the color red in Russian – krasnyi. Red also represents the red army of the Soviet Union, the occupiers of Poland at the time. Eventually communism failed in Poland and it became an independent nation again but they lived under Soviet communist life almost 40 years after the end of world war 2.

Papa Smurf, represents a middle finger to communism

Dwarves became the official symbol of Wroclaw in 2005 (like dragon is symbol of Krakow). Now there are like over a thousand dwarves in town. Some are public purchase by the city and some are private by businesses. Some even have gps installed in case they are stolen. I feel like many of them are just advertisements for nearby businesses. They are charming though. A great activity to do with kids (or kids at heart) is to get a dwarf map and find them all. There is a place in the main square to get a map and play the game.

During our tour we hear lots of stories about the Orange Alternative, a student group protesting communism in a non-violent way. They come up with very clever ways to protest while simultaneously pretending they weren’t protesting. The more I learn about Poland the more I learn how effective they were in protesting communism and union forming (later in Gdansk).

I meet a nice USA expat during my tour who is living in Germany but drove to Poland for the long weekend. I wish I wasn’t in such a hurry to get to my evening plans since I rarely meet solo travelers in my age range. They are usually way younger than I or way older than I.

After my tour I take a few minutes to rest in my room before heading to Centennial Hall a couple miles away. Google is not giving me public transportation options but I remember there is a tram from down the street that is supposed to head there so I go hoping for the best. I see a tram 4 going to the zoo and I know the zoo is next door so I hop on. Luckily I am correct. I take this same tram back later in the evening.

Centennial Hall is on my itinerary to see because it is on the UNESCO list but it is closed for viewing the whole time I am in town. But now I am actually here for a musical festival where I can see shows in the hall. The festival 3-Majówce is a three day music festival that happens every year around Constitution Day which is May 3. I learned about this festival when I was researching parades or street events that may be happening this weekend. I look at the list of performances and most of them are unfamiliar to me but one jumps out on the second day DUBIOZA KOLEKTIV. Dubioza Kolektiv is a Balkan ska band that I first learned about a couple years ago when I visited Bosnia and Herzegovina. I subsequently heard them mentioned in other Balkan countries when I was touring the region. Even though many of their songs have a political message they are fun to listen to and they make you want to dance. When I saw them on the schedule I knew I had to go – who knows if I’d ever have a chance again. I think they’ve only rarely played shows in the USA. I am very glad I made myself go. The band is incredibly fun and has so much energy. I am tired but I am determined to stay to the end of their show.

I am in the festival without a wrist band like everyone else has. I had in advance purchased a ticket but I can’t read polish so I missed a sign at the entrance I think. No one stopped me from entering, in fact I even had a bag check. Also no one kicks me out so I am not going to stress about it unless anyone approaches me.

Oh look that where I get my wrist band as I leave for the night.

I see the inside of Centennial Hall but it is all closed up on the top for the music festival.

I check out a couple of other bands while I am there but I missed most of the other headliners because I don’t have it in me to stay for a late night. I do get to see the inside of the centennial hall but it is dark inside and all the windows at the top were covered so it isn’t exactly the same as if I came as just a tourist. It’s still an interesting concert hall though.

The highlight for me is definitely Dubioza Kolektiv.

It’s a good night. I even try a raspberry syrup beer because it impossible to get anything else alcohol related unless you are in this one fenced in area. I am digging the syrup beer but I don’t finish it because I am afraid it will make me sick. I am pressing my luck too much lately with these beers. My tram 4 takes me back to my hotel tonight and I sleep well after the fun day.

Salzburg

In the morning I do a walking tour of the city. First I splurge for brunch on the roof of my hotel.

Walking tour

I run off after the tour to see a concert in the nearby church. At some point tears come to my eyes. It is magical listening to a performance in this cathedral.

After the concert I try to eat a street dog but I don’t love it and throw half of it out.

That’s ok because I want to try a very large egg white dessert called Salzburger Nockerl: a dessert with egg whites, flour and sugar. It is interesting to try but not sure I would order it again.

I shop and buy the Mozart chocolates I’ve been wanting to try as well as some cheese.

Finally the last day in Salzburg I head up to the fortress. I walk by that quiet beautiful cemetery on the way to the funicular. I am glad I take the funicular because the walk is long and hot, all uphill.

I tour the fortress and surrounding grounds. As far as fortresses go it is average but what is impressive is the views it has over the city.

Marionette museum

I almost missed the state rooms and the magical theater. They are both very impressive.

Even though my admission ticket includes a return ticket on the funicular I am going to walk to the bottom because the goal is to walk down to the Augustiner brewery and have lunch. However for some reason I cannot find the path that leads straight to the brewery as suggested by others the other day. Instead I walk down through the old city, following along the cliff side. I see people making the difficult trek up by foot. The pathway is long and steep and it is very hot. When I reach the bottom I see the funicular line is quite long. I see now how walking uphill could be seen as a good alternative to the funicular line but definitely not on a hot day like today. I hope no one dehydrates on the way up. I pat myself on the back for my early morning start.

I walk towards the brewery and though I finally see another side of town I realize the brewery does not open for at least another 2.5 hours. I am hot and the hanger is about to set in. I settle for a beer and pizza across the street. Once again the food is impossibly salty. I’ve been eating out quite a bit so I should be used to the highly salted food but I guess I am not. Do other people not notice it? I could come back later to the brewery but I know me, once I head back to the other side of town I am not coming back, especially on this hot day. I walk back along the water and take it easy the rest of the day. Tomorrow I move on to Graz.