Krakow

March 5, 2011 by Andrea 16 Comments

Krakow seems to be one of those destination’s which has became popular in recent times with the help of the low cost airlines operating there offering cheap flights from around Europe. That and a lot of positive reports in the media hyped up everything about the city. Just about everyone I know has been there and they all raved about how fantastic the city is. I guess I built it up a bit too much in my head because when I got there I initially wasn’t that impressed.

It didn’t really help that the first 2 days there we were completely fogged in so there wasn’t much sightseeing or exploring going on. It felt like we’d gone back in time to the prime of communism. Grey, bleak, and cold, just how I imagined life to be under communism. But eventually the fog lifted and I could see more than 10 metres in front of me and I started to warm to the city, in fact I started to fall in love with the city.

Not having made any plans as to what to do or see, we first headed the main square which you can’t miss because it’s massive. There was some kind of military parade going on and there were thousands of people everywhere. The last thing I wanted was to push through the crowds so we took the first form of transport out of there.

Yep, we went on a horse and buggy ride around the city. That is quite possibly the most touristy thing I have ever done in my life but hey, don’t knock it until you’ve tried it and it was actually quite fun and relaxing and not at all stinky.

The Poles are a religious bunch and Krakow is home to something like 120 churches. Our driver/guide kept pointing out all the religious places of interest but I firmly believe that if you’ve seen one church you’ve seen them all. Sure they’re pretty but I have no desire to go inside them and look around.

One day we met up with a friend of a friend of a friend who showed us around the town for a bit. She kept pointing out all the churches too. She wasn’t too impressed when I told her I wasn’t interested in churches and that I was in fact an atheist but she kept showing me more churches anyway. I had no choice but to snap a couple of photos.

Eventually I got her to talk about other stuff and one of the things I was curious about was the bar mleczny which are ‘milk bars’ set up by the government during communism. They were created and subsidised by the Polish government to provide the people with cheap meals and to create a market for local farmers. They originally sold dairy based vegetarian meals but some meat dishes were later added. After the fall of communism most of them shut down due to the loss of subsidies but a few remain which are quite popular because the food there is very, very cheap.

A bar mleczny is basically just a cafeteria type restaurant and I wanted to try it out of curiosity but the menu (which was written on the wall) was in Polish, obviously, and I had no way of figuring out what was what. I couldn’t get anyone to help translate and there wasn’t food on display to point to so I gave up. When I told the Polish lady that I wanted to try it she thought it was the most ridiculous thing and said only peasants and homeless people eat there. I’m sure that’s not the case and next time I’m going to eat there no matter what.

Most of the streets around the main market square are packed with bars, cafes and restaurants, most of which didn’t exist 10 years ago. You can find traditional Polish cuisine and pretty much any other cuisine too. Most places had Polish vodkas on offer which come in just about every flavour imaginable. You can have vodka shots, mixed vodka drinks or coffee/hot chocolate with a shot of vodka. I recommend the raspberry vodka if you get a chance to try it. Cafe Camelot is a cosy little cafe where you can try local vodkas as well as coffees and light meals.

Wawel Castle

By the time I made it up to the Wawel Castle, I’d had enough of playing tourist. Wawel is the most visited site in Poland and the Crown Treasury, State Rooms etc in the castle area are supposed to be some of the highlights of a trip to Krakow but I couldn’t bring myself to wait in the queues to get in. Instead we just wandered around for a bit and then went back to the main square and drank vodka.

Kazimierz, The Jewish Quarter

By far the best meal we had in Krakow was at the Arenda Cafe Restaurant in Kazimierz. We were wandering around for ages looking for a place to eat and were so lucky to have stumbled upon this place. We each had the set menu which had four courses: zucchini soup (with delicious home made bread), grilled vegetables, cheese and spinach pierogi, and raspberry cheese cake. The food was amazing, the 5 star service was unexpected, and it wasn’t expensive. I loved this place and am considering going back to Krakow this summer just to eat there again.

Around the corner from the Arenda Cafe you can try the famous Polish street food, Zapiekanka which is a toasted baguette with pizza like toppings. I had read about these before I arrived but only found them on our last day. This is one thing I regret not trying because they looked delicious but we’d already eaten that day so I missed out.

Shopping

I wouldn’t go to Krakow for shopping but if you’re interested in crafts or souvenirs, check out the medieval Cloth Hall (the building in the first photo above). I almost bought one of the hand crafted, wood carved chess sets but the practical side of me decided I’d have no where to put it in my tiny apartment. I was also tempted by some of the locally designed hand bags which were available in both the Cloth Hall and in a little store at the large and very modern shopping centre, Galeria Krakowska, just next to the main train station.

Day Trips from Krakow

The three main day trips/tours from Krakow are to former concentration camp Auschwitz Birkenau, the Wieliczka Salt Mine, and Nowa Huta.

Auschwitz / Birkenau – I found this to be the most interesting of the day trips and even with a short visit you can learn so much more than you ever would from a text book.

Wieliczka Salt Mine – So many people suggested I visit the salt mines for the fascinating salt sculptures and salt cathedral but it’s way overrated if you ask me. It would be ok if you could do a quick visit but you have to do a tour which drags on and on…

Nowa Huta – Unfortunately I didn’t have time to visit Nowa Huta, a communist built town for working class people and a centre for heavy industry in Poland. Tours to Nowa Huta show what it was like to live under communism but you don’t have to do a tour, you can easily get there via public transport and have a look around. This is something I’ll do on my next trip to Poland.

The more time I spent in Krakow the more I liked it (except for the crowds) and the more interested I became in Poland itself. I would put Krakow in the same category as Prague and Dubrovnik, great cities almost ruined by the hordes of tourists but not to the point where I don’t want to return.

Filed Under: Poland Tagged With: cities, eastern europe, krakow, poland

Auschwitz

November 23, 2010 by Andrea Leave a Comment

I’m definitely not the person to ask a history related question. I can barely remember my own birthday, let alone the date of some major event from the past. I was never that interested in history but since I started travelling, that has slowly changed.

Berlin is a great place to visit if you are interested in World War II history. There are great museums like the Topography of Terror, which chronicles the atrocities committed by the Nazis between 1933 and 1945, plus you can still see a number of buildings which were used by the SS during that time. But I don’t think you can really understand just how bad the atrocities were until you go to one of the concentration camps like Auschwitz Birkenau.

Auschwitz is an easy day trip from Krakow in Poland. You can do it on your own or take one of the many tours on offer. We did a tour just because it seemed simpler and I figured a tour would give me more information about what went on in the camps. I’m not a huge fan of doing tours but I think it was much more convenient in this case.

There were 3 main camps at Auschwitz, the smaller Auschwitz I which is the first stop when you visit and which holds the museum, Auschwitz II Birkenau which is the huge main camp where most people were put to their death in the gas chambers, and Auschwitz III Monowitz where much of the slave labour worked but is no longer in existence.

Most of the people killed in the death camps were Jews, gypsies, and Polish prisoners.

Many of the belongings of the prisoners were on display which was creepy, to say the least. They included things like shoes, luggage, and personal items like toothbrushes and shaving items.

At Auschwitz I you can walk inside the ‘showers’ ie. gas chambers. Again, creepy.

A few minutes drive from Auschwitz I is Auschwitz II Birkenau. Birkenau was the much larger camp and the remnants of the 100s of buildings can still be seen and a few have been rebuilt for display. Prisoners arrived by train and were either sent immediately to the gas chambers or sent to work in the labour camps.

Obviously the living conditions were appalling. There was little to no heating, people had to share tiny bunk beds, and the once a day communal toilet break was no doubt humiliating.

Although the tour was long-winded and a bit restrictive, I found it to be really interesting and recommend it for both history buffs and newbs like me.

Filed Under: Poland Tagged With: auschwitz, concentration camp, krakow, poland

Wieliczka Salt Mine

November 18, 2010 by Andrea 4 Comments

One of the most popular day trips from Krakow is a trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. The mine has been in operation for more than 800 years and today is one of Poland’s most popular tourist destinations. The main attractions are the salt sculptures and in particular the large cathedral where you can see religious sculptures such as the last supper, all made out of rock salt.

To go through the mine you need a guide which means you have to do the visit at their pace ie. extremely slowly. It was interesting to see all the work that has gone into these sculptures but not so interesting that I’d want to spend 3 hours doing so. I would have enjoyed it so much more if we could have quickly had a look around and then been on our way. Everyone I spoke to said how amazing the mine is and that it was a ‘must-see’ when in Krakow but I think my time would have been better spent exploring Krakow itself.

The salt mine is on UNESCO’s list of World Heritage Sites so it’s of cultural and historic significance but I wouldn’t recommend visiting unless you love sculptures, religious monuments, or want to be trapped 100 metres underground for 3 hours.