Wroclaw...aka My American Weekend with a Splash of Soccer Hooligans

Friday after my students didn't show up to class, I took a train down to Wroclaw, located in Lower Silesia.  Originally a German town, Breslau,  Wroclaw became part of Poland after WWII.

Last time I visited Poland, I went to Wroclaw with some of my Polish friends.  So many of the touristy things were knocked out and I spent a lot of time just relaxing.

A guy I know from politics back home and another Fulbrighter both live in Wroclaw.  So my weekend was full of hanging out with Americans!

Friday night, Elise and I went out for a few drinks with her friends in the city, but after the seven hour train ride I was a little bit tired so we called it an early-ish night.

On Saturday, we took a walk to the Old Town and Elise showed me some of her favorite coffee shops.  We ended up grabbing lunch at a traditional Polish restaurant where some Polish guys started talking to us.  They were also visiting Wroclaw with a big group of friends.  Krzystof bought Elise and I a few drinks and offered MANY laughs.  He was a very unique and slightly ridiculous individual.

We visited the National Art Museum for about half an hour before deciding that the day was altogether WAY too beautiful for staring at art inside a giant museum.

This led way to a walk through some of the beautiful streets of Wroclaw.  We ended up back at Elise's apartment where I took a nap.

Saturday night, I met up with Jonathan, a fellow Macomb County resident and Michigan fan.  So...the true reason for visiting Wroclaw comes out.  I wanted to watch Michigan FINALLY beat Michigan State with another fan.


Before the game started (9:30 pm in Poland), we visited Spiz.  There was ONE thing I had to do in Wroclaw besides watch a football game and that was visit this bar.  It's a microbrewery and has, I kid you not, the BEST beer.  For living in Poland, it's saying a lot.  My favorite is a caramel beer, but they also have dark beer, chocolate, honey...the list is short but the beer is sooooooooo good.




So Michigan won and I had delicious beer...Saturday was a resounding success that lasted until 4:30 a.m. and involved a lot of talking about American politics, sports and pop culture.  It was lovely.

On Sunday, Elise and I woke up and headed to the rynek again for Mass.  It was her first time at a Catholic service because she grew up in a Jewish family.  After Mass, she showed me around her university...which is eighty bajillion times prettier than mine.

Instead of a communism era building, it's actually pretty. Fun fact: During the war, the right half of this building was destroyed but the left half survived. 

The weekend ended with me missing my train by 30 seconds and having to hang out in Elise's apartment for another six hours.  I ended up taking the night train which was interesting in itself.

That night, Gdansk played Slask in a football match.  Luckily, I was traveling from the Slask area TO Gdansk.  The train in the opposite direction was filled with hooligans.  Drunk, green-wearing, glass bottle throwing hooligans.
<--Those guys, on a train with a LOT of booze. 

When my train stopped in Poznan around 3:30 am, these guys were hanging out on their train in the opposite direction.  At first, I ignored the loud singing and stuff...but the then I saw smoke and the girls in my compartment got up to look...so I followed.

There were actually riot police in the station!

As their train got ready to leave, the riot police boarded the train and it pulled out.

So strange to this American to see riot police have to guard a train platform from sports fans.  As I looked today for pictures of the train, I found out that a few stations later, the hooligans actually rioted and destroyed the station. 

The train is ruined...windows broken, spray paint everywhere.

Apparently, the train company, PKP, is going to sue the Slask football team for damages.  Again...incredibly interesting that hundreds of miles from the stadium, the football team can be held liable for its supporters' actions.

Safe to say, it was an interesting weekend and I won't be going to any football games alone!