To be honest, a year ago I had never heard about Wroclaw. I had to look on the map where the city is located. Wroclaw is the 5 th largest city of Poland. It’s 595 km to Lviv in Ukraine, just for your information.

Agnieszka Szymerowska, the director of the Convention Bureau Wroclaw, shared her passion and knowledge about her city prior to my visit. We were in touch for more than a year. Finally, last Wednesday I had the opportunity to meet her in person together with her enthusiastic team.

I discovered with my own eyes that everything Agnieszka shared was correct. Wroclaw is a very international city including the presence of headquarters like UBS, LG, Credit Suisse and many others. This gives the city an international dimension together with the presence of many Polish and international students. It is a charming and cozy city. If I could summarize it I would say it is a hidden gem of the south-west part of Poland.

Meeting at Wyndham Wroclaw Old Town hotel

On Wednesday I gave a presentation for the partners of the Wroclaw Convention Bureau. These are hotels, event agencies, conference venues, incentive companies and others. The meeting took place in the Wyndham Wroclaw Old Town hotel which opened just a month ago. I met the general manager of the hotel and he told me I was the first international speaker at his hotel! What a privilege. It’s the first Wyndham brand hotel opened in Poland and they expect that more hotels of the brand will open soon.

I started my presentation by sharing the reactions I received about going to Poland as a woman alone in my camper. A lot of people in my surroundings were surprised that I have chosen Poland as my destination at this particular moment. Some of them were even asking my father what he thinks of his daughter's plans. Apparently, the audience in the room was not aware that Poland has currently the image of not being safe. This was for me a surprise and for them a surprise as well. I think this is due to a number of reasons.

First of all, the media says that Poland is full of refugees everywhere. Secondly, we (Dutch) have many misperceptions about Poland and Polish people. The last one is that the pandemic in general made people more scared, and more cautious to travel to unknown places. All the reasons mentioned above put Poland in general in a difficult position as a tourist destination but moreover as a destination to host a conference, meeting, or event.

Did you know that is Poland safe was one of the most Google topics?

Despite the challenging situation, I was happy to be on stage again and it gave me the energy to inspire and inform my audience. For many of them, it was an eye-opener. At those moments I am really appreciating my job and mission that I am able to support destinations in this particular time for Europe, Poland, and Ukraine.

From Wednesday afternoon until Friday evening the team of the Convention Bureau took care of me. During these days I discovered the beauty of Wroclaw city, its huge potential for the leisure and business side, tasted the local food, and met amazing event professionals.

Majestic Centennial Hall

The pride of the city is the Centennial Hall. Designed by Max Berg concrete structure is listed on UNESCO Wold Heritage List. The Centennial Hall complex is one of the most important venues of Wrocław and a place where the largest exhibitions, conferences, concerts, cultural and sports events are hosted.

Dinner under the water

Just across the street, you discover another unique venue. Wroclaw Zoo and its newest facility - Afrykarium and Oceanarium. It is an unusual location on the map of Wrocław where you can host your meeting or event. And after closing hours, the Zoo creates special dinners in their underwater tunnel in the evenings. This option is very often used for various unique events for special guests.

Sustainability

The Odra River is like the blood of Wrocław. Thanks to this river, the city is alive and flourishing. Various initiatives are gathered around the Odra River. The river is conducive to meetings. It is a specific artery that feeds the city and nature.

From the global international large congresses to micro and sustainable initiatives. This is Wroclaw. Discover the Odra Centrum - a meeting place on the water accessible for everyone, children, families, businesses and tourists. I was stunned by the story of how Odra Centrum has been created.

This is the first educational and cultural center built on water, where educational projects are carried out to spread knowledge about the Odra River, his history but more over to learn about environmental protection of rivers and reservoirs. Next, there’s a charming Odra Cafe on board, with delicious pies. The Odra Centrum also undertakes cultural and social projects aimed at building the identity of the local community.

Browar Stu Mostow

The big advantage of the city are its people. Later that day during my dinner at Browar Stu Mostów Pub na Swidnickiej I spontaneously received an invitation from Arletta Ziemian to join an international beer festival. The festival is called Beer Geek Madness and one of its organiser is Browar Stu Mostów - a local and one of the most known craft brewers in Poland.

Arletta is entrepreneur, craft brewery co-founder and passionate events organiser. Yes, public events do happen in Poland! And it was fabulous to close the intense week with a local beer.

Hotels in Wroclaw

During my stay, I even had the privilege to see the newest hotel investment in Wroclaw. Located just outside of the city centre, close to the motorway and the airport, Q Hotel Plus Wrocław Bielany will be open soon. Their second property is based in the city center, nearby Wroclaw Glowny railway station.

Right next to Q Hotel Plus Wrocław is one of the largest hotels of the city Novotel Wroclaw Centrum and Ibis Wroclaw Centrum just next to each other in the same building. When I entered the hotel it was packed, especially the breakfast area. Business people, parents with children, a corporate event and an ongoing event and different meetings. Just business as usual. Thank you Artur for sharing your insights about Wroclaw from a hotelier perspective.

They are everywhere!

If you walk around the city you discover dwarfs everywhere. My guide Wiktoria told me the story of how it all started with Papa Dwarf located on Swidnicka Street. You need to keep your eyes wide open to find these cute little dwarfs all over the city.

I haven’t seen them all, there are more than 900 spread all over the town! During my stay, I spotted around 20-30 dwarfs in Wroclaw. They even have an official list on Visit Wroclaw website.

After these two intense days, I see the passionate, knowledgeable ladies of the Wroclaw Convention Bureau doing all the effort to put Wroclaw on the map of international events.

I met an old Dutch friend in Wroclaw

After an intense week I visited the multi sensory exhibition of Vincent van Gogh in Wroclaw. It was strange and special at the same time to attend a Van Gogh exhibition in Poland as a Dutch.

What I found especially interesting; it got my full attention due to the use of the multi senses. The sublime combination of the music and the huge presentations of the paintings, I felt I was literally in one of the paintings of the famous Dutch painter. Perfect way to close a vibrant and dynamic week in Wroclaw.

The show must go on …

Almost 6 days in Wrocław is definitely not enough to discover all the attractions and unique places of this amazing city. However, I am glad that I could feel what this city tastes like and looks like. I'm sure I'll come back here someday.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, I set off in my home car to another city - Warsaw. Actually, I do not call my camper home car because I am not on holiday. This is my office - Word of MICE HQ on four wheels!

See you in the capital of Poland. Look at my presentation for Polish Tourism Organization in Warsaw. Follow #MariskaJourney

Photo credits: Jaroslaw Marciuk

#MariskaJourney Partners