Hopefully you've already read installed #1 of this trip recap. If you haven't, you shoud do that now. Our time in Warsaw can be found here.
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Monday, May 23
We were up early on Monday morning to catch a train from Warsaw down to Krakow. It was scheduled to leave at 7:50am out of Warsaw Central. Mark and Jeanne drove us over and saw us off. You should have seen the train...wow. I wasn't sure if this bucket of bolts could actually make the 3.5hr trip!
We did stop a few times on the way down...for no apparent reason that I could figure out, but we still arrived pretty much on time at 11:30am. It was a nice way to see some of the Polish countryside...
As we got off the train we needed a snack so we got a pretzel/bagel type thing that they sell on the street and everyone loves. Hit the spot!
Once in town we took a cab over to the hotel but it was a bit too early to check-in, so we dropped our bags and figured we'd start exploring and rustle up some lunch. We walked up through the main town square, the rynek, and went to a "milk-bar" just north of it that Mark and Jeanne recommended called Polskie Smaki.
With everything being dirt cheap we ordered way more food than we needed...but we just wanted to try everything. You're looking at some zurek soup, spinach, gawumpkies, and some bigos [hunters stew]. The bigos was okay, not my favorite, but we had to try it, and the gawumps were a bit heavy on the rice. We make them with more meat than rice...but I guess in Poland the rice is more prevalent because its much cheaper than meat. So that makes sense.
We literally had to roll out of this place we were so stuffed. We made our way back to the rynek and walked through the Cloth Hall. This place is now a tourist trap with all sorts of trinkets and souvenirs, but it got its start as a covered market back in the 1500s. We walked through and walked right back out...beautiful building though.
We still had a little time before we could get into our room so we decided to sit at one of the 300+ bars, restaurants and cafes that line the perimeter of the rynek and have a beer. The rynek really is the center of life here in Krakow. It's just where you go for restaurants and shops, plus all of the main sights are nearby too.
By now our room was ready so we walked back to the hotel, Hotel Ester, to check-in, unpack, take a quick shower and tie on a little nap before heading back out to explore some more. The hotel was on Szeroka Street in the heart of the Kazimierz Quarter. [the old Jewish district]. A bit off the beaten path, this was a great location to really feel like we were in the heart of the city, with the locals. Szeroka means "wide street" and it's true, the street is lined with restaurants and cafes...all with a Jewish feel to them.
Waking up refeshed we set back out. We hopped on the tram and rode just north of the Planty. The planty is a huge park that rings the center of the city. It's where the old medieval wall once stood....now is a great park to stroll through. Here are a few photos of what it's like...
Back to the tram...
We got off the tram and walked down to the last remnants of that old city wall, St. Florian Gate.
From here we walked around a bit and stumbled up on a great little church called the Church of Reformed Franciscans dating back to 1672.
Supposedly the crypt in the basement has ideal conditions for mummification of all the old priest!
From here we walked back into the rynek and checked out more of the sights. The Town Hall Tower, Cloth Hall, St. Adalbert's Church, the Adam Mickeiewicz statue, and St. Mary's Church. We'll tour St. Mary's later in our visit, but an interesting story about the bugle player who plays every hour, on the hour, from the spire of St. Mary's. He opens a window on the hour and pokes his bugle out to play, but about halfway through the song he abruptly stops. This is to commemorate one of the buglers who was shot through his throat in 1241 by a Mongolian archer as they attacked the city.
Once again it was time to stop for a beer....this time an Okocim. Let me pause here to explain how beer works in this part of the world. When you approach a bar/restaurant/cafe, have a quick look at the awning or umbrellas outside. Whatever beer brand you see advertised on them is the only beer that they're going to serve at that particular bar/restaurant/cafe. Simple as that. We were in the mood for an Okocim, so we had to find an Okocim cafe.
Let me also mention that just by coincidence there happened to be a huge outdoor fair taking place all week long in the rynek. People set up boths to peddle their wares as well as cook up some amazing traditinal Polish food. This is where we'd be having dinner tonight!
Before we grabbed an Okocim we stopped and tried a piece of grilled sheeps cheese with rasberry topping. Oh man!
We also had a few more Okocim's with dinner and we even tried one round with a strawberry shot that they put in the bottom. It's kind of the "girly" way to to drink them, but we figured we should at least give it a try. In terms of food...you're looking at some kielbasa, boiled potatoes, perogies [spinach, cheese, and meat (veal)], and a pork knuckle. Phenomenal meal...just phenomenal!
After this meal we had to sit and digest for a bit before we could even think about moving but once we did get moving we made our way across the rynek for some dessert at the famous E. Wedel Chocolate lounge. We had heard very good things about their szarlotka. So I tried the szarlotka and Kel went with the chocolate cake. Both were fantastic!
Szarlotka is the Polish version of apple pie.
You can be sure we walked the 2k back to the hotel this night! Had to burn some of this off. We walked past St. Mary's there in the rynek and then St. Peter and Pauls Church as well as the Wawel Castle. Very cool to see them all at night...
Tuesday, May 24th
Tuesday was a big day. We'd be heading about an hour out of the city to the town of Oswiecim...better known by its name the Nazi's gave it, Auschwitz.
A bus picked us up at the hotel around 9am and we made the trip to the east with a bus-load of others. Again it was nice to get out of the city and see some of the countryside...
When we arrived at Auschwitz we met up with our local guide who spoke english and would be showing us around. For those who don't know, there are two concentration camps here in Oswiecim. Auschwitz I and Aushcwitz II-Birkenau. Our first stop was at Auschwitz I, which was actually built by the Polish as an army barraks and then useds by the Nazi's as a concentration camp. When it was realized that Auschwitz I wasn't big enough and they couldn't kill enough people there, they decided to build Auschwitz II-Birkenau. We'll get to that in a bit though...
That's the main gate into camp...the sign above means "work will set you free". Of course that was never the case here. Sure you'd do work, but no one ever left these camps.
Many of the buildings here at Auschwitz I are turned into museum spaces showing everything from the chemicals used to gas the Jews to glasses, luggage, shoes, and jewelry which was taken from them. There was even an entire room of women's hair that was taken from them after death and sold for a profit.
Between two of the barracks was an area the Germans used for executions. It was called the wall of death and over 2,000 people were shot here.
Our last stop on the tour of Auschwitz I was the one gas chamber that remains. This doesn't have fake shower-heads like you've heard about. It was a simple room where a hatch in the ceiling was opened and the gassing chemicals were drop inside. 20 minutes later workers would carry the bodies into the adjacent room to be cremated.
After a few hours here at Auschwitz I we got back on the bus and made the 2 mile drive over to Auschwitz II-Birkenau. The first thing you realize about this place is the scale. It's easily 20 times larger than Auschwitz I. It was clearly set up as a concentration camp and killing facility.
The design is actually quite simple. Above is the large entry building and main gate with a rail line that comes right into the center of the place. This train runs about a mile into the camp and at the end are 2 large gas chambers. Between the entry building and the gas chambers are hundereds of smaller buildings used to house the prisoners that were deemed fit to work. You see, when people arrived here on the trains there was a Nazi "doctor" waiting for them as they got off. He'd simply look at them and point left of right. One direction meant you'd be forced to work and the other direction was direct to the gas chambers. A worker only survived about 3 months of 12 hour working days until he was to weak and was then killed.
These are typical living conditions for the prisoners. 8 men to a bunk and they were only allowed 30 seconds, twice per day, in the bathrooms. To say the conditions where harsh is a severe understatement.
At the end we made the 1 mile walk to the end of the tracks to see what remains of the gas chambers and to view the memorial that has been built here. Just before the Russians liberated the camp the Germans tried to destroy as much evidence as possible...so the two gas chambers now lie in ruins as they were blown up by the Germans on the way out.
It is estimaged that over 1,100,000 Jews were killed at these two camps alone. It certianly wasn't an easy place to visit, but I am glad that we did get to see it. It was a very quiet mood on the bus ride back into town that afternoon...
When we did get back in town we had the bus drop us off near the Wawel Castle so we could hike up and explore a bit. We had heard that the inside tour of the castle wasn't that great, so we decided to skip that and just walk about the grounds and have a look from the outside. The Krakow Cathedral is up here inside of the castle walls.
It was a pretty toasty day out so at this point we made our way back to the hotel for a quick shower and rest. It always seems that the hottest part of the day in Europe is around 3-5pm. Always nice to get out of the heat for a bit.
After our refreshing rest it was time to get some dinner. Kel's co-worker who spent 2 years on an assignment in Krakow gave us a great recommendation at a place called Miod Malina, just a few blocks south of the rynek. One of the best meals all trip!
If you start off dinner with a few "Tatankas" its bound to be good! For an appetizer we chose the Cheupiace placki ziemniaczane z kwasna smietana, or the fried potato pancakes with sour cream!
For the main course we got a few items and shared, as usual.
- Russian style potato with cottage cheese and fried onion, oven cooked dumplings.
- Dumplings with meat with friend golden onions
- Steamed veggies
- Pan fried potato wedges
Does that look good or what?
Once again we had to do a few laps around the rynek to make some room for dessert. We ended up back at E. Wedel again since Kel wanted to try her own szarlotka tonight. She had the chocolate cake the night before and felt like she missed out! I was happy to go along too...
Afterwards we again walked back to our hotel but made our way through the Jewish quarter and stopped at an awesome little bar that had been recommended to us called, Singer. You guessed it, they have old Singer sowing machines on all of the tables. Inside is only light by candles...very cool vibe. We managed to get a small table outside and hung out for a bit just watching everyone go by. You can tell that the Jewish Quarter is the trendy spot to be at night. Tons of bars and cafes as well as theaters and that sort of thing.
Today was a long day so after a few beers we turned it in for the night...
Wednesday, May 25
For breakfast this morning we went to a little bagel shop that we found right down the street from our hotel called Bagelmama. I spotted it from our hotel room window actually. You could tell this place was set up and run by an American ex-pat or two. It was nice to have a regular breakfast for a change...nice and easy. Very cool spot too...
Our first stop today was the Schindler Factory. Yes, that Schindler of Schindler's List. His factory is here in Krakow and its now a museum that features the history of Krakow and Schindler's actions that helped to save many Jews. A short tram ride across the river to the other side of town and we were there. This museum is only about a year old and it was really well done. We were here for a few hours going through the spaces...
Schindler made enamel pots and things like this.
This was his office and they've created a memorial with the names of the people he helped.
After the museum we took the tram back over to the old city center and went and check out the Church of St. Peter and Paul. In the crypt is the tomb of Father Piotr Skarga. The church was built in 1596 and Father SKarga was entombed in 1612.
The gate outside is very cool with the statues of the 12 Apostles atop it.
Lu
It was now lunch time and we knew exactly where we'd be heading...the outdoor market/fair in the rynec. One more delicious meal of "street meat". We again started out with some grilled sheeps cheese before our main course of kielbasa, pork kebabs, potatoes and 3 or 4 Okocim's!
I could eat this every single day. It was that good. I'd probably die...but that's beside the point.
Once we had our fill we moved along to finally touring St. Mary's Church here in the rynek. There was an admission fee and you also had to pay a few zlotys just to take photos.
This place was built back in the 1200's and the spires were continually added to throughout the years.
The open window is where the bugle player comes out of every hour. He plays the same tune [well half of the tune] on all 4 sides of the spire so that everyone in town can hear it.
If the outside of the church is rather plain, which I think it is, the inside is the exact opposite. Simply beautiful.
Across the rynek is the Archbishop of Krakow's residence, which, if you know your history, was once the home of Bishop Karol Wojtyla who went on to become Pope John Paul II. The proud son of Poland! They set up a very nice monument to him there complete with an informative exhibit. They've also placed his photo in what's called "The Popes Window" where he would come when he was Pope to address the people of Krakow.
We had one more church left on our tour for the day...the Corpus Christi Church over in the Jewish Quarter. We took a nice stroll through the planty to get there too...
The confessionals in Poland were a bit different than we've got here in the US. Noticed this at a lot of the churches we visited. No anonymity whatsoever...
It was time for a little rest so we found a great little spot called Cheder Cafe to get a coffee/tea.
After a second wind we walked by Issak's Synagogue and then toured the Old Synagogue, which was right across the street from our hotel.
Lots of religious sites today for sure...so it was now time to go buy some booze! We had to be careful on weight but we were able to manage 3 bottles of that Zubrowka brand bison grass vodka in our suitcases.
That evening we decided to check out a brew-pub type place for dinner called C.K. Browar. Once we got there we realized it was more of a bar-food type place so we ruled out dinner here, but we did stay for a few beers and some delicious toasted cheese bread! The wheat beer that they brew on-site was some some of the best beer we had all trip long.
We of course had to walk through the rynek to get to where we decided to have dinner...so we asked someone to snap a shot of us.
And we tried a few self portraits on our own...
For dinner we ended up at a restaurant that lines the perimeter of the rynek called Cafe Europejska.
Sitting outside was a must, but it was starting to get a bit cool. Most of the restaurants have blankets that they leave on the chairs for the ladies to use if they get a chill. Great idea. For dinner we went with the pork loin and an order of perogies. The final photo below is of the view we had from out table. Not to bad for a final dinner in Krakow.
After dinner we made the walk back to Hotel Ester to pack up and hit the rack. We had a taxi coming for us at 4:30a the next morning ...
Kel and I each filmed a quick little video in the rynek...
So long Poland...we'd be wheels up for Prague, Czech Republic first thing in the morning...
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