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Reporting For Gnome Patrol

2 min read

Finding dwarves (or gnomes as we like to call them) is one of the top tourist activities in Wroclaw.  Turns out, it is also a great way to get the kids excited to explore the city and even practice some map reading skills.

Motorcyclist Dwarf

There are between 300-400 gnomes scattered around the city.  Nobody seems to know the exact count and the tourist map only listed about 200.  The kids set an early goal of finding all of them during our month long stay.  We made an honest effort, but came up short, only finding a measly 98.  I know this because we took pictures of every. single. one.

Dwarf riding a lion

Barton Ice Cream Dwarf

The history of the dwarves began in 2001, when the Orange Alternative (a Polish anti-communist movement) used a dwarf as it’s symbol.  The city honored the group and placed the first official dwarf on Świdnicka Street.  Since then over 350 have appeared around the city.  Some are related to the businesses they are near, some are just funny, some represent professions or local foods.

Firefighter Dwarves for Uncle Seth

Distiller and Drinker Dwarves

All in all, this was a super fun way to get out and about to see different parts of the city.  We clocked many miles in Wroclaw, and the kids’ stamina improved tremendously.  The excitement of finding them never wore off, they would scream “gnome!” and run every time.  After the first couple of sightings, we began to pose with the gnomes or mimic their actions.

Love and Mrs. Dwarf

I have a picture of the kids kissing too.  But we’ll save that one for blackmail later.

Dwarf at ATM

It was hard to choose our favorites, they are all pretty cute.

Gnomes and Love from Wroclaw!

The Axley Family

May 2017

Film Fan Dwarf

Dwarf Orchestra

1 of 3 Pole Dwarves

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Originally published on by Jason Axley