Richard Bannister

Almost five years ago I called into Zjeżdżalnia Grawitacyjna on the way to Wrocław Airport at the end of a short trip to Poland. The ride was closed that day due to rain, but I wasn't too worried as I figured I'd be passing through the area again at some point. The weather was glorious this morning when I arrived about half an hour after the advertised 11:00am opening, only to find the same hand-written Zamknięte sign in the ticket window.

Unlike on my previous visit however there was a human in the office. With the aid of Google Translate I explained to this gentleman that I was flying home in a few hours and that I'd missed out on the ride back in 2017 due to bad weather. His face initially suggested that there were many problems in the world and that this wasn't one of his, but after perhaps ten seconds he relented – starting the motor, loading a single sled onto the track, and completing a lap on it himself presumably to make sure that I wasn't about to slam into the side of a stray hippopotamus.

Regular readers will be aware that there's an element of sameness among alpine coasters, and indeed Zjeżdżalnia Grawitacyjna wasn't overly memorable other than for the fact that the lift came at the end of the ride rather than the start. For all that, however, I'm glad to have finally managed to ride it.