Krakow - Day One

Here we are, showing off our tans in the golden, Polish summer sunshine. 

Krakow is a gorgeous city. Basia had said as much many times to me since we first got together, and I was especially excited about it in the months, and then weeks, leading up to the trip. You see, I have a penchant for Old World art and architecture. My ideal city would have to include cobblestones and sidewalk cafes. It needs to have a rich and diverse history, and good public transportation. It needs to be aesthetically appealing, with some surprises here and there. A walled city would not hurt (Krakow's walls no longer exist, although some of the gates still do). Some narrow, cobbled lanes are nice, as are some old temples and/or churches. A castle or two would probably complete the effect.

As you guessed, Krakow has pretty much all of that. It did not disappoint. It truly is an incredible city.

The center of it is the Market Square, and in the center of this large square is the Cloth Hall. Go in there, and there is a makeshift flea market of touristy shops. I could not resist getting myself a beautiful, handmade wooden chess set, which was still far cheaper than what I likely would have gotten for something similar in the States. Here, you can buy clothing, handmade wooden items (I bought a couple of wooden toys for my son), some other artistic things, and all sorts of other stuff, if you are so inclined. 

We arrived in Krakow on a rainy evening, following the wonderful visit to Berlin earlier in the day. In Berlin, it had been sunny and warm, even bordering on hot. But when we boarded the flight to Krakow, the pilot mentioned that the weather in Krakow was not very accommodating. Sure enough, we saw the clouds, more or less where I estimated the Polish border to be. From that point onwards, we could not even catch a glimpse of land until we began the descent towards Krakow, and even then, the altitude had to be pretty low, because it was minutes before we landed. It was very gray and rainy indeed. 

Basia was not surprised at all. Disappointed, but not surprised. I told her there was nothing that we could do about it anyway, and reminded her that we were going to have a great trip, so why worry? 

My efforts were apparently not entirely convincing. Perhaps it was the fatigue from the combined lack of sleep and jet lag. 

We got to our hotel in the evening, and it was nice. A part of me really wanted to go out and perhaps grab a bite to eat, but we really were very tired, and it was not long before we were both asleep. The real visit to Krakow would have to wait until morning - no evening outings tonight.

 

Day One

My luggage was missing, and this would wind up being a problem later on. But first, we could not obviously let that slow us down from visiting the city, since we were only here for a few days.

We had breakfast, offered as a courtesy by the hotel. I was expecting a continental breakfast, but it was actually very good! Some real food, and good, European coffee. It was a nice way to get the day started! It looked like breakfast was going to be a nice perk for the days we were staying in Krakow!

Once we stepped out of the hotel, we immediately saw a beautiful building that we were fortunate enough to be right next to a notable and beautiful Kraków - the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre. As I understand it, this building was modeled after Paris's beautiful Opera. It is smaller, and not as in a central location. But it is a wonderful addition to the downtown area, and was a very pleasant surprise to be right next to like that. 

There was also an attractive church right next to it - Kościół Świętego Krzyża w Krakowie (translated, to the best of my knowledge, to Parish of the Holy Cross Church in Krakow).

It was a nice way to begin! 

Just as a side note, before I even really begin, I think the hotel that we stayed at was a relative bargain. It was maybe, at most, $50 a night, and the rooms were pretty decent and clean. Also, centrally located. If you are planning a trip to Krakow, and are absolutely determined to stay in the downtown area (the touristy section, if you will), then you might want to consider the Hotel Pollera, on ul. Szpitlana (hope I'm saying that right). It was nice. A bit of a splurge for us, if you will, because we could have gotten even cheaper. But this was right in the area that we wanted to be in, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. There is a very decent continental breakfast (not like the cheap and crappy ones that I'm used to here in the States) that offered a real breakfast, and real European coffee. The strong stuff, not the watered down coffee that so many enjoy on this side of the Atlantic. After weeks of European coffee, American coffee tastes like weakly flavored water, frankly. When we enjoyed breakfast in the morning, if we got a good table with a view, we could see the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre and the Kościół Świętego Krzyża w Krakowie, a church with a rather dramatic steeple that almost typified to me that part of Eastern Europe. We had a pleasant stay at the hotel, although one thing that seemed weird was that we had to give the front desk the key every time we went out. But once you get past the initial surprise, it really is no big deal. Just don't say I didn't warn you!

Kościół Świętego Krzyża w Krakowie

The Juliusz Słowacki Theatre

By night

We walked over to the Florian Gates, near the Barbican, which was all of about a block or so away. We were well situated in the city, apparently! I was amazed at how close we were to everything! The Florian Gates and the remnants of the old walls really felt like old Europe. There were sidewalk artists trying to sell quaint paintings of romanticized scenes of Krakow, and other such themes. 

The Barbican itself is a beautiful structure, almost castle like in appearance. You could easily picture it in olden days, as the entrance to the old city. 

Afterwards, we headed down Florianska, one of the major arteries of downtown Krakow, until we reached St. Mary's Cathedral, and the Market Square, which is, essentially, the center of Krakow. It is a beautiful public square with the Cloth Market in the center, and shops and restaurants and sidewalk cafes lining on all sides. Beautiful!

The Barbican and St. Florian's Gate

We reached St. Mary's Cathedral, one of the tallest structures in downtown Krakow. This would be the first building that we visited. The tickets were available in a small place across the little alley from the main entrance. If memory serves correctly, the entrance fee was around 9 zloty (roughly $3 American dollars, or a little over 2 Euros). 

This is not to be missed! It is famous for it's life-sized figures, but the interior is just stunningly beautiful. Breathtaking! The ceiling is bright blue with gold fleur-de-lys (I believe that was what it was, although my eyes are not all that great, I guess). It was reminiscent of the Sainte- Chapelle in Paris. The Notre Dame Basilica in Montreal also has such a ceiling, although this church was far grander. A beautiful interior indeed! 

Take a look at some of the pictures that I posted on this entry, and you might get an idea, although it does not do it justice to actually seeing it in person. 

The thought arrived somewhere after we left the church, and were at the Market Square just outside. We were in Europe, and it felt so nice to be back! It had been too long - thirteen years!

So, we were at Market Square - the center of Krakow. In the center is the Sukiennice (the cloth hall), which is a beautiful building that would likely not look out of place in Venice, or some other beautiful Italian city. It is a gorgeous structure, and inside, there are vendors selling all sorts of things. Clothes, touristy things, jewelry, chess sets, wooded art works, etc. All around the square, there are restaurants and trendy shops and such. For whatever reason, I had expected Krakow to be less commercial, and perhaps more....well, reserved, if you will. After all, hadn't communism dominated here until just recently? I mean, 1989 is not ancient history.

But it was every bit as commercialized as other parts of western Europe that I have seen. Even more so ion some respects, which I will get to later. One thing, though. Poland in general tends to be cheaper than many other western European nations, and the further East you go, to my understanding, and the cheaper still. Many Poles, for example, go to vacation in Croatia, because the prices in Poland, they say, are just getting too high. 

In any case, we found a really cool old restaurant, not far from the town center. I can't remember the name right at the moment, but will try to get it for anyone interested in good food for affordable prices during a visit to Krakow. It had these incredible, steep steps leading down, and where we ate looked like an old, stone wine cellar. I doubt that this is what it was, but it had a certain ambiance, an Old World charm to it. 

St. Mary's Basilica  (Polish: Kościół Mariacki)

Market Square

A small reminder of the fairly recent past, with this little newspaper clipping that we found at a bookstore on Market Square. Look closely, and it advertises the square as Adolf Hitler Platz.

This guy first took a picture with Basia. Then, me. When I got next to him, he grabbed the top of my head. Surprisingly, he did not grab the lush growth of hair here, which was a good thing. I hate when a single strand of hair on my head is out of place. In any case, he grabbed me, and then actually started really slicing my neck, surprisingly hard. There was a moment of shock, before I realized that the sword (which looked real) was dull, and could not hurt anyone. Still, tears streamed down my face, and I still have nightmares. (JK)

After a nice rest and meal at the restaurant, we headed towards the Church of St. Francis of Assisi (Kościół św. Franciszka z Asyżu). This church was hardly lit, save for the stained glass windows. It gave me a feel of what it must have been like in such churches before electricity. One interesting thing that they have in there is an exact replica of the Shroud of Turin. Pretty cool!

Across the street from the rear of the church is a famous window, with a portrait of Pope John Paul II, the first Polish Pope. to my understanding, he used to give addresses from that window.

After this visit, we headed through a nearby park, until we got to the Jagiellonian University. Specifically, we wanted to visit the Collegium Maius. It is the oldest university in Poland, the second oldest university in Europe, and one of the oldest universities in the world! The Collegium Maius was the oldest part of the university, and it was well worth the visit!

Collegium Maius of Jagiellonian University. This is the oldest building in Kraków

There was a large crowd gathered for this cuckoo clock of sorts. But instead of a cuckoo bird, there were tiny statues of human figures that came out in a makeshift processional. I remember the knight, who was shiny and silver, and so easy to spot. I think another figure is religious, another is a scholar, and perhaps the final one is the king? Don't quote me on that, I can't say for sure. That's just what it looks like (to me). 

More pictures from: Muzeum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego Collegium Maius.

Now, I thought this was really, really fascinating. That circular, wooden thing pictured above? That's a bookshelf! How would you like to have that as a conversation piece in your living room? Incredible!

What an incredible library. I could not get past the idea that Copernicus himself had studied here!

The Copernicus Room

We headed back to the hotel for a quick break, before getting ready to go out again in the evening. I knew that one thing that I wanted, if not needed, to do when we went out is look for some fresh, new clothes - particularly underwear, as my luggage had still not arrived yet. There seemed to be some confusion about that. 

But when we actually headed out, you wouldn't believe the prices these places were asking. I have seen some underwear that I thought were expensive, but it seems only the very rich can shop for such simple things in downtown Krakow. One place was asking around $35 per pair of underwear, and the other place - no exaggeration and no lie - was asking nearly $60! Are you kidding me?

I wanted to wear fresh clothes, but by that point, I began to ponder the possibility of simply washing my underwear and t-shirt. In the end, that was precisely what I did. 

An eventful first day in Krakow, and there was still plenty more of the trip to come!