I went to Wroclaw, Poland for three reasons.
One was an actuarial pilgrimage. Back in the 17th century, the city of Wroclaw kept precise records of births and deaths and this data was used by Edmond Halley to analyse mortality. In 1693, Halley published the world's first actuarial table.
For me, it does not get anymore exciting than this - being an actuary and visiting Wroclaw.
The second reason for my visit was to inspect the new stadium, ready to host 3 matches at the EURO.
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I went to see a Polish first division match between Slask Wroclaw and Cracovia Krakow. Cracovia is last in the league but Slask had not won a match in 2012.
The best moment took place before the game. During the warm-up, a Cardinal came out. He waved to the crowd, threw some holy water on the grass, and kicked a ball.
Slask scored on a penalty after 3 minutes. They got two more in the first half and then cruised for the rest of the game. A comfortable 3-0 home win. First win of 2012 for Slask. Talk about divine intervention.
The new stadium was easy to reach from downtown. All the seats have good view of the pitch. and Wroclaw is a lovely city to visit.
The third and last reason for my visit here was to see the Panorama of the Battle of Raclawice.
This is a panoramic painting describing the battle in which Polish soldiers and peasants defeated the superior Russian army in April 1794. In Polish history books, this battle is considered to be a major event despite the fact that Poland went on to lose the war and the country was divided up among the 3 neighboring powers, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Poland did not become independent again until after World War I.
This painting was created in 1894 in Lwow, a city that was a part of Poland until Russia took it after World War II. Today Lwow is known as Lviv and is part of Ukraine.
For a long time, Wroclaw was part of Prussia/Germany and was known as Breslau. At the end of World War II, there were almost 200,000 Germans and less than 20,000 Polish living in Breslau. Stalin sent most of these Germans to West Germany and forced most of Polish from Lwow to move to Breslau. He also gave Breslau to Poland instead of East Germany. and so Breslau became Wroclaw.
Both Lviv and Wroclaw are host cities of the EURO 2012.
When the draw was made for the EURO, many people said Group A is the easiest group. I am not sure.
Whenever you put Poland, Russia, and Czech Republic in the same group, it will not just be another soccer game between these countries.
Wroclaw is not far from the Czech border and Czech Republic gets to play all their Group A games here. It will be like home games for the Czechs but the business people of Wroclaw are worried. They expect the Czech fans to just come for the games and go home right after.
On Friday June 8, the EURO Championship will open. Russia will face Czech Republic in Wroclaw. Do you think it will just be another football game?
I wonder if the Russian fans will visit the Panorama?
if not, they can see for free the Panorama in my first published video
One was an actuarial pilgrimage. Back in the 17th century, the city of Wroclaw kept precise records of births and deaths and this data was used by Edmond Halley to analyse mortality. In 1693, Halley published the world's first actuarial table.
For me, it does not get anymore exciting than this - being an actuary and visiting Wroclaw.
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| Old Town Wroclaw |
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, I went to see a Polish first division match between Slask Wroclaw and Cracovia Krakow. Cracovia is last in the league but Slask had not won a match in 2012.
The best moment took place before the game. During the warm-up, a Cardinal came out. He waved to the crowd, threw some holy water on the grass, and kicked a ball.
Slask scored on a penalty after 3 minutes. They got two more in the first half and then cruised for the rest of the game. A comfortable 3-0 home win. First win of 2012 for Slask. Talk about divine intervention.
The new stadium was easy to reach from downtown. All the seats have good view of the pitch. and Wroclaw is a lovely city to visit.
The third and last reason for my visit here was to see the Panorama of the Battle of Raclawice.
This is a panoramic painting describing the battle in which Polish soldiers and peasants defeated the superior Russian army in April 1794. In Polish history books, this battle is considered to be a major event despite the fact that Poland went on to lose the war and the country was divided up among the 3 neighboring powers, Russia, Prussia, and Austria. Poland did not become independent again until after World War I.
This painting was created in 1894 in Lwow, a city that was a part of Poland until Russia took it after World War II. Today Lwow is known as Lviv and is part of Ukraine.
For a long time, Wroclaw was part of Prussia/Germany and was known as Breslau. At the end of World War II, there were almost 200,000 Germans and less than 20,000 Polish living in Breslau. Stalin sent most of these Germans to West Germany and forced most of Polish from Lwow to move to Breslau. He also gave Breslau to Poland instead of East Germany. and so Breslau became Wroclaw.
Both Lviv and Wroclaw are host cities of the EURO 2012.
When the draw was made for the EURO, many people said Group A is the easiest group. I am not sure.
Whenever you put Poland, Russia, and Czech Republic in the same group, it will not just be another soccer game between these countries.
Wroclaw is not far from the Czech border and Czech Republic gets to play all their Group A games here. It will be like home games for the Czechs but the business people of Wroclaw are worried. They expect the Czech fans to just come for the games and go home right after.
On Friday June 8, the EURO Championship will open. Russia will face Czech Republic in Wroclaw. Do you think it will just be another football game?
I wonder if the Russian fans will visit the Panorama?
if not, they can see for free the Panorama in my first published video
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