Wrocław is an interesting city.
The only thing that’s annoying are the gnomes. You’re sitting comfortably in the park or enjoying the view of the Oder river, and suddenly one of these little rascals emerges from the undergrowth and starts making a scene.
These creatures are everywhere. Even in the churches.
But some people like the dwarfs. Many tourists even come to Wrocław specifically, consciously and predominantly because of the hobgoblins and try to track down as many as possible of the more than 800 gnomes.
As you may know, I myself prefer concrete over metal. But for this taste, too, there is some beautiful art to be found in Wrocław.
The Happy Hermit 
Where did you spend Christmas?
Sorry about that bit of anonymity, Andreas. When I commented above from my phone to ask where you had spent Christmas, my phone or your blog listed me as “Anonymous,” which is strange considering how much face time my phone gets with me. Ah well, waddaya gonna do, huh? Friggin’ inanimate objects! They think they run the place and can do whatever they feel like doing. It’ll be interesting to see who comes out on top in this contest. But I digress . . . So, where did you spend your “Frohe Weinachten!” anyway?
At home in Chemnitz.
I am one of those people who are super comfortable not doing anything special for Christmas or New Year.
Birthdays are a bit different, I always like to spend them in nature, usually exploring some new part of the world.
This year, I will turn 50, so I almost feel obliged to go somewhere extraordinary, like Afghanistan or Greenland. But then, I might also ignore all expectations and just go for a hike in Saxony.
Thanks for the quick response, Andreas.
Where’s the “Donate” button? I don’t see it, and I figure that you’re about due for another 10 Euros from me for all the vicarious travel I get to do on your blog. Did you get rid of it? Did you get tired of sending postcards to your patrons?
And how do you feel about inanimate objects like I groused about above? Can we really trust them . . . especially now that some of them are acquiring artificial intelligence?
Yeah, where did I put that?
I am wondering myself now…
And no, I don’t get tired at all.
But I do sometimes feel bad, because I am so behind with writing, both articles and postcards.
As to AI, I think it’s mostly a hype.
But sadly it’s a hype that too many people take seriously.
A frighteningly large proportion of the population now believes technology more than fellow humans.
One frustrating example is when I am traveling with people who trust Google Maps more than what they see in front of them.
And I think in our field, a lot of people are going to navigate themselves into serious legal trouble by trusting computer-generated prenups or wills, or by letting a computer do their correspondence.
Well, let me know if you find you “Donate” button, and I’ll chip in.
But “Happy New Year!” Friend. This one is already off to a rough start.
I found it!
Apparently, I moved it to the end of this page:
Does the city shine their hats, or do people rub them for luck?
I think they’re adorable! Thanks Andreas
I think the shining and rubbing is a concerted effort by visitors from all around the world.
OK. I found the “Donate” button at the bottom of your “Do you want a postcard?” post just like you said, and I chipped in my customary 10 Euros for the month of January, and, again, I am sorry for my recommending that you “Get your shit together” when, in actuality, it was I who didn’t have my own shit together, apparently, judging from my inability to follow your directions, but I also do wish that you’d put that “Donate” button back up at the top righthand corner of you post so that it’s easy to find for your readers.
Thank you again for your blog and for the vicarious travel it affords me. And sorry again for saying “shit,” although I think that it was a favorite crudity of Martin Luther, if I’m remembering correctly something that I once read about the mad monk who managed to stir up enough of it in his own way.
Don’t worry about it!
I use bad words myself, too.
And thank you very much for the donation!
This month, I am swamped with work, so I won’t be going anywhere. But I am sure to find a postcard from one of my previous travels for you.
And now I’m curious if you know origin story of these gnomes in Wrocław: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wroc%C5%82aw_Dwarfs?wprov=sfla1
800? Wow. These gnomes are terrific. I am partial to bronze statues in public spaces. In fact, we never visit München without petting the boar outside the Jagd Museum.
Thanks for sharing these.
I was always wondering what happened to all the copper and brass that was stolen in Germany in the early 2000s, after the boarder to Poland was opened for free traffic and transport. Now I see, they needed it to cast these little bronze gnomes in Wroclaw.
Historically, Germans have stolen much more from Poland than vice versa.