Once the bags have been dropped off at the hotel, we jump on a rickety tram to the Halle du Centenaire, classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. This immense building, in the shape of a large cake, is a technical feat of 1913 made of reinforced concrete. Impressive ! Return to the city center where floats a delicious atmosphere of Spanish inn. The party is (almost) on every street corner thanks to the many students, many of them Erasmus. We come across several of them at the art Café Kalambur (Kuznicza 29a). Between two cigarettes (yes, yes, here we smoke inside!), they nibble on a quiche for a few zlotys. We then follow them to the Nowe Horyzonty cinema with sharp films (and subtitled in English).
We start with an exhibition at the Architecture Museum, located in a former convent, before continuing to the main square of Rynek (Market Square) lined with rainbow-colored houses. At the Polish Poster Gallery, the Polish poster reveals all its secrets. Under the Soviet yoke, artists were relatively free in this art in its own right, especially in the production of film posters. Result, there are real vintage nuggets. This tradition has continued – even if film distributors now impose their own images. Congratulations to the revisited posters of "Lolita" or "Kill Bill", an original gift to slip into your suitcase. A lunch break? Café Barbara (Swidnicka 8c) is a good pick since it also houses the information center for cultural festivities. For dessert, go to the other side of the Oder, at Polish Lody Naturalne (Place Bema, 3/1), a very popular ice cream parlor judging by the single file. Nearby, the Nadodrze neighborhood kindly called local Williamsburg, set the scene for the movie “The Bridge of Spies” amid abandoned buildings, cafes and artist studios. At nightfall, a stroll on Tumski Island, the "Little Vatican" is a must for romantics under the lighting of gas lamps. It remains to try the Konspira restaurant, with a very Cold War atmosphere thanks to its humorous decoration. Don't miss the piece hidden behind a closet... Further on, we'll take a peek at the Neon Side Gallery (Ul. Ruska 46) where, in a backyard of buildings, neon lights are given a second life.
