Caught up in Crakow
Posted by Afrojew2 | | Posted On Sunday, May 2, 2010 at 12:04 PM
Before leaving Korea I got in touch with a friend of a friend who lives in Krakow. He met me at the train station and my five amazing days in Poland were off to a great start. We went for a get-to-know-you beer in one of the cities many, many bars, before going to the most incredible restaurant ever. It was a higher end "milk bar" or Polish style cafeteria. I asked my host to order for me and it was one of the best meals of my life. Polish white borscht with mashed potatoes and sausage (my new favorite dish) and beef goulash over fried mashed potatoes. Needless to say I went back there several times.
The next day was a little rainy, but I went out and explored the old town and Wawel Castle (remember that name). Did the usual cafe hopping and I walked around the park surrounding the city which replaced the city walls when they were torn down. The old city is pretty small, relative to what I've seen since, but it has the largest town square in Europe. And its beautiful.
On Saturday I went to services again. This one was in a tiny synagogue in Kazimirez, the Jewish Quarter, which, outside of the synagogues is completely and ridiculously touristy. Not that it gets a whole lot of visitors, but the restaurants and shops are all jewish-themed which is silly because only about 100 Jews still live in Krakow. I headed back to the old town after the service and met Chris from Iowa in a cafe. He had lived in Krakow for 3 years and we spent the rest of the day walking around the city, into churches and one of the oldest universities in Europe. Then, at night, we stumbled upon a concert in the center square. It was in preparation for the President's funeral the next day.
For those of you who don't know, the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, along with 90 others including almost every high ranking member of the armed forces and the chairman of the national bank, died in a plane crash over Russia in the 2nd week of April. Krakow, being the old capital, was where the funeral was to be held. This was a very controversial decision because of where the government decided to bury the president. Wawel Castle (remember?) is where the royal family plus many of Poland's great historical figures are interred. Lech Kaczynski would be the first president to be buried there, and many felt he was undeserving. There were protests, mild ones as its not easy to protest in the wake of someone's death (yeah, I'm awesome). But the town was a-buzz with discussion. It was definitely an exciting time to be in Krakow. Anyway, I had to go to the funeral. I camped out in a good spot at about 10am - I didn't really have anything else to do cause everything was closed - and waited until 5pm when the procession came by, from the town square up to Wawel castle. A smaller crowd than expected showed up, just like in Warsaw, but I couldn't tell from where I was sitting. It was quiet, somber, and full of tourists like me hoping to catch a glimpse of a moment rarely seen in any country.
There, sitting in my spot, oddly enough, I met a nice Polish girl named Anya. (By the way, I just love having to start every conversation with "Do you speak English." Ugh, I feel so stupid doing that.) Now, I don't normally pick up women at funerals, but we talked for a while, about the Prez and other things, and went out for drinks after the ceremony, when they started serving alcohol again - no partying on funeral day.
The next day Auschwitz happened. Read about it. Then, in an Auschwitz haze, I spent the rest of the day with Anya and her roommates, Marta (Marrrrrrrta, for all those Arrested Development people out there) and Litka. The river is beautiful at night.
My last day in Poland was pretty lazy, recovering from a few nights of very little sleep. I did check out the big synagogue in the Jewish quarter and I had a lovely dinner, again at the Milk Bar with my Krakovian friend of a friend, Karol, again having the white borscht and beef goulash. Just incredible. Then I boarded the overnight train for Vienna.
Summary time. Yeah, Krakow was amazing. Easily my favorite place out of everywhere I've visited, before or since. The people were wonderful, the town was beautiful and small, plenty of awesome and interesting bars and cafes (at least 400 in the old town, literally, and most of the bars were underground in these like four hundred year old buildings which was completely and ridiculously cool), I got to see an incredible cultural/political event, and experience awesome history. Oh yeah, and the girl was a huge bonus. Not really much more I could ask for. Krakow: I want to live to there.
Next week on Planes Trains and Wagons East: Vienna and the Hapsburgs - If you build it (bigger) they will come.
The next day was a little rainy, but I went out and explored the old town and Wawel Castle (remember that name). Did the usual cafe hopping and I walked around the park surrounding the city which replaced the city walls when they were torn down. The old city is pretty small, relative to what I've seen since, but it has the largest town square in Europe. And its beautiful.
On Saturday I went to services again. This one was in a tiny synagogue in Kazimirez, the Jewish Quarter, which, outside of the synagogues is completely and ridiculously touristy. Not that it gets a whole lot of visitors, but the restaurants and shops are all jewish-themed which is silly because only about 100 Jews still live in Krakow. I headed back to the old town after the service and met Chris from Iowa in a cafe. He had lived in Krakow for 3 years and we spent the rest of the day walking around the city, into churches and one of the oldest universities in Europe. Then, at night, we stumbled upon a concert in the center square. It was in preparation for the President's funeral the next day.
For those of you who don't know, the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski, along with 90 others including almost every high ranking member of the armed forces and the chairman of the national bank, died in a plane crash over Russia in the 2nd week of April. Krakow, being the old capital, was where the funeral was to be held. This was a very controversial decision because of where the government decided to bury the president. Wawel Castle (remember?) is where the royal family plus many of Poland's great historical figures are interred. Lech Kaczynski would be the first president to be buried there, and many felt he was undeserving. There were protests, mild ones as its not easy to protest in the wake of someone's death (yeah, I'm awesome). But the town was a-buzz with discussion. It was definitely an exciting time to be in Krakow. Anyway, I had to go to the funeral. I camped out in a good spot at about 10am - I didn't really have anything else to do cause everything was closed - and waited until 5pm when the procession came by, from the town square up to Wawel castle. A smaller crowd than expected showed up, just like in Warsaw, but I couldn't tell from where I was sitting. It was quiet, somber, and full of tourists like me hoping to catch a glimpse of a moment rarely seen in any country.
There, sitting in my spot, oddly enough, I met a nice Polish girl named Anya. (By the way, I just love having to start every conversation with "Do you speak English." Ugh, I feel so stupid doing that.) Now, I don't normally pick up women at funerals, but we talked for a while, about the Prez and other things, and went out for drinks after the ceremony, when they started serving alcohol again - no partying on funeral day.
The next day Auschwitz happened. Read about it. Then, in an Auschwitz haze, I spent the rest of the day with Anya and her roommates, Marta (Marrrrrrrta, for all those Arrested Development people out there) and Litka. The river is beautiful at night.
My last day in Poland was pretty lazy, recovering from a few nights of very little sleep. I did check out the big synagogue in the Jewish quarter and I had a lovely dinner, again at the Milk Bar with my Krakovian friend of a friend, Karol, again having the white borscht and beef goulash. Just incredible. Then I boarded the overnight train for Vienna.
Summary time. Yeah, Krakow was amazing. Easily my favorite place out of everywhere I've visited, before or since. The people were wonderful, the town was beautiful and small, plenty of awesome and interesting bars and cafes (at least 400 in the old town, literally, and most of the bars were underground in these like four hundred year old buildings which was completely and ridiculously cool), I got to see an incredible cultural/political event, and experience awesome history. Oh yeah, and the girl was a huge bonus. Not really much more I could ask for. Krakow: I want to live to there.
Next week on Planes Trains and Wagons East: Vienna and the Hapsburgs - If you build it (bigger) they will come.
your post was funny because you said "now, I don't normally pick up women at funerals"
also, who is this hermano guy?