One of the best decisions I have ever made was stopping in Wrocław, Poland in the midst of making my move from Sweden to Ukraine in the summer of 2011. Not only did I make some really awesome friends there through Couchsurfing, but I also got a chance to go krasnoludki hunting.
What is krasnoludki hunting?
Quite simply, it is hunting/searching for the 150+ krasnoludki/”little people”/gnomes that are scattered throughout Wrocław. If you want an elaborate story on how these little guys came into existence, you can read about it on their official site and even view them all on a map. It’s actually quite political and began in the heat of the 80s – Wrocław’s version of the Solidarity movement, in a nutshell. That is a huge generalization but so is a nutshell if you’ve ever thought about it (is it a peanut, walnut, chestnut, or pistachio shell?!)
Why don’t I just shut up about politics and nuts for now and show you what I caught {on camera} during my hunt instead.
Which one is your favorite? Mine is this last guy because he is eating a pierogie and I LOVE pierogies. I also like the third to last one because it looks like be his telling a story about…something huge.
16 Comments
Rob
March 15, 2013 at 7:08 pmAwesome shots and filters.
I love Poland and realize I must venture deeper than Krakow!
Larissa
March 15, 2013 at 7:18 pmThank you, they have been sitting on my iPhone since 2011 – whoops! You do need to venture deeper or at least wider and rest assured that when you finally do, I have plenty of peeps (all of them ridiculously good-looking) to set you up with.
Shaun
March 18, 2013 at 2:14 pmYou just blew my mind with that whole nutshell analogy! :)
My fav is the one riding the motorcycle… gnomes are cool enough but that guy is in a league of his own.
Larissa
March 26, 2013 at 1:20 amThat’s what I strive to do, Shaun. Blow your mind. Motorcycle guy is pretty awesome too.
kim
March 20, 2013 at 2:41 pmI like the one that looks like a rainbow.. :P
Larissa
March 26, 2013 at 1:19 amLOL -which one? They all kind of look like a rainbow, no? :)
Wiola Starczewska
March 29, 2013 at 4:40 pmmmmm, pierogi….
Actually I’m Polish and a couple of months ago I was considering to move to Wrocław and live among krasnoldki. But it happened that I found myself in Copenhagen. Your post made that I kind of regret that now.
Larissa
March 29, 2013 at 9:05 pmHaha, wellll I’d say Copenhagen is a pretty cool place to have found yourself in, too :) You’ll have to let me know if you find any good pierogi there as it’s right across the bridge from Malmo and I’ve yet to find any in that town!
Turner
April 1, 2013 at 5:37 pmSweet baby jesus you found a lot of those guys.
I think I found like 5 when I was there then gave up and drank beer.
I love Wroclaw…might be my favorite city in Poland as Krakow has got more and more tourists laying about.
Larissa
April 1, 2013 at 9:12 pmKrakow is out, Wroclaw is in – you got that right. I found so many because I made it a mission to. I’m impressed by the amount of places you’ve been; I am not impressed by the amount of places you’ve been and written about. You need to get on that and by “you” I mean “us” because I am guilty as well. Or maybe some things are better left for ourselves and off the blog..
Neil (@packsandbunks)
May 16, 2013 at 1:09 pmCant help but feel sorry for the ball and chain dude. What could he have possibly done to deserve such a cruel fate?
Finding these guys was so much fun (especially after a few beers), glad to see your got the same enjoyment out of it. Sweet post!
Larissa
May 29, 2013 at 8:49 amHow did this comment slip through the cracks?? Yes! It was especially fun after some vodkas though I was even counting short people at that point. Aww, really makes me want to go back to Wroclaw now!
Helen
May 28, 2013 at 6:01 pmHi Larissa,
These photos are awesome! I really want to go to Poland now!
Helen x
Helen
May 28, 2013 at 6:22 pmps. How did you get the photos to look like that? I love rainbows!
x
Larissa
May 28, 2013 at 9:27 pmYou should, it’s great! I believe it was FX Photo Studio that I used for those. It’s just a filter from an iPhone app :)
Helen
May 28, 2013 at 10:57 pmThanks Larissa, they’re so pretty! Might be wasted on my old iPhone 3, but definitely something I’ll try! Thanks for the advice!
Happy travelling! x