The Annual Solihull Round Table International Tour took place to another wonderful Eastern European country in February 2010. This time our band of intrepid explorers visited the town of Wroclaw in Poland seeking adventure and a pub to watch the rugby!
Solihull Round Table on Tour 2010
Having met at silly o’clock on a cold Friday morning at East Midlands Airport the weekend was officially declared “open” by Tour Dad Kevin with a toast of an obligatory pint of Guinness. Following a full fried breakfast to settle the stomach we boarded the plane and headed east – so far so good!
Two hours later we were met at the airport by the taxi and delivered to our hotel, all of us acting like tourists pointing out all the interesting sites that we never see in the UK – snow, McDonalds, snow, Travelodge, snow, PizzaHut and snow! 40 minutes later our witty observations turned to awe as we started to see some of the real city of Wroclaw.
Having settled into the hotel, and eaten some lunch, we were off on a 3 hour tour of the Old City. A fascinating way to get to know any city learning about its history, its culture and it’s people. For instance, did you know that Wroclaw changed country(!) every 200 hundred years! The city has also retained the charm of naked gas lamps to light the streets, lit each evening by a council employee who walks around with a naked flame and a gas canister over his shoulder. Good old-fashioned Health and Safety.
Wroclaw
Wroclaw
Wroclaw
We rounded off the evening with a meal in one of the many micro breweries that the town is famous for. Now I know what you may be thinking “That’s a strange place for Round Tablerers to gather” but you know the saying “When in Rome…!”
Micro-Brewery
Saturday morning came very early, especially as we found ourselves obliged to sample many of the brews that were available, along with the occasional vodka (another local speciality) .
As is tradition with Solihull Round Table we thought the best way to scare away the hangover fairies would be to go and shoot some guns!
We were introduced to Colly. a funny, warm pleasant sort of chap… well I am sure his mother thinks so. He introduced himself ”My name is Colly.” There was a long pause as he thought for a while and then said “That is all you need to know about me”. The consensus was it would be best not to ask.
After a short safety briefing, and no-one was going to break the rules or upset our friendly host, we were ready to take on the world (actually all we were allowed to take on was some mean looking paper targets!). We were allowed to fire a pistol, AK47 and a pump-action shotgun. Most of us hit a target, some of us hit the target we were aiming for!
Guns
Saturday afternoon was some relax and wind-down time. Some of the party still had a few beer monkeys to get rid off and were in need of sleep (known as the lightweights) while others felt the need to welcome a few more into the ranch. Those that decided to stay out had the mission to find the only pub in the whole of the town that was showing the opening games of the 6 Nations Rugby.
Wins for the Irish and the English and meeting fellow “Peggers” set the evening off to a fine start. Hungry now, we were ready to hit the restaurant for a wonderful banquet of Polish cuisine, washed down with local beer and a few vodkas and a game or two of Fuzzy Duck, Bunnies and the obligatory Marbles. We were happy in the knowledge that the following morning was at least 8 hours away.
That 8 hours soon ran out! Morning came with a bigger bang that it did the day before with watch alarms and mobile phones waking Solihull Round Table out of their slumber and back into the real world. Breakfast was quiet as those beer monkeys were putting in another appearance. We would be back in Blighty, in the arms of our loved ones, at lunchtime on Sunday.
Another successful international exploration and we can now successfully say that we have been to Wroclaw and are cultured!
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Jason Wilkes, Chairman of 
