Travel to Krakow

Polish cuisine is connected with Lithuanian and Russian. In “bar mleczny” you can find cheap and local food. You can order some soups, the most interesting is soup chlodnik that derives from Lithuania but you can also get it here. It is a soup from beetroot, with an egg and vegetables. Their delicious pierogi are similar to ravioli and they can be sweet or sour (with mushrooms, cabbage, potato, onions, ground meet, strawberries...). And a baguette with different toppings in the middle is a street snack that is so delicious. You can find the best in the Jewish part of Krakow.

Admirers of the past, castles and town walls should go on the Free Walking Tour. They offer thematic tours and you can make a voluntary contribution in exchange of free map of the city with all the attractions. Kind receptionists in Hostel Atlantis also offer free maps and information about where to eat, and a night in the hostel will cost you only 9 Euros. We were recommended cheap and local food next to University Jagiellonski in restaurant Koko. Public transportation consists of bus and streetcars, you can buy the ticket while driving. The centre of the city is surrounded by a park so you really can’t get lost and if you do, you only go from the concrete to the nature. Here you will find castle Wawel in excellent condition, home of kings and Nazis during World War II. It has a mighty castle wall with people who invested their money for refurnishment. It is known that Warsaw and Krakow don’t understand each other as Warsaw took the title from Krakow. Warsaw was completely demolished in World War II as you can see in the movie Pianist while Krakow didn’t take it so bad. One of the theories says that Germans liked it.

The St. Mary Church on the main square has two towers, one is higher than the other. The legend says that the tower was built by two brothers, to each its own. Because one brother was more successful at building the tower, the other got jealous and stabbed him. The murderer was so sad that he threw himself from the tower and died. But the more believable legend says that the higher tower is the guard’s tower so they could see an enemy approaching from the distance. Every hour someone plays the trumpet from the highest tower and it sound can be heard from the far. Karol Wojtyla or Pope John Paul II who’s known for being the pope for longest (26 years) came from a city near Krakow. When he was elected as a Pope, he came to Krakow for vacation. When people found out where he’s staying, they came to sing to him and talk to him. They shouted “Long live the Pope”. And he answered: “For that to come true, the Pope must also rest.” That is how he got some time for himself. If you stop at any of the sweet shops, you can try kremowka, Pope’s favourite desert.

In a city of river Wisla one can find a special area with synagogues, scenes from Schindler’s List, a factory of Oskar Schindler and Jewish cemetery. A lot of famous Jews who emigrated because of the World War II come from here. The founder of Max Factor, director Roman Polanski and Helena Rubinstein, who created a world known cosmetic mark. I was surprised that the synagogues are very minimalistic and simple on the inside. In the middle stands a simple table with chairs, Hebrew writing on the wall and at the entrance a small shop where you can buy souvenirs, food and drinks. Jews are real merchants.

About 45 minutes from Krakow there’s a concentration camp of death where Nazis killed many Jews during II. World War. The camp is located in industrial zone. I thought that it’s going to be in the middle of nowhere. I recommend you to buy tickets on the internet (they cost about 8 Euros per person) if you want a guided tour. If you come between 8 and 10 p.m. or after 4:30 p.m., you can get tickets for free without a guide. In other case, you will wait in queue for at least an hour and you still don’t know whether you’ll be able to buy a ticket. It is good to look at the screen at the entrance and see how many places are left for each language.

 

The days went by quickly. Former communist city will impress fans of history, art, fun, good food and drinks. By that I mean Polish vodka. And yes, you can find some food chains like Pizza Hut, KFC... We’re also lucky that they have drinking water from pipes. Polish is a language where you can only guess what each word means. I’m definitely going back to see other Polish cities and to visit their Tatra Mountains.