As I munch on a big piece of monk-crafted kielbasa and contemplate my next piwo z sok malinowy, I thought I would reflect on my favorite city in Poland (and incidentally my current location): Krakow.
I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last two days in Krakow, a city that I have visited numerous times during my trips to Poland (often more than once during the same trip…I tend to use it as a starting/ending point). I love the city and would move here in a heartbeat. It has charm, character, great people, great food, and great public transportation. Since I’ve done almost all the touristy stuff on previous visits, I spent this trip just wandering around the streets, people watching, and reacquainting myself with Polish cuisine and beverages. Oh, and finally going inside Wawel Castle. You’d think after all the times I’ve been here, that would have happened long ago.
I’ve decided to create top ten lists of what I like and don’t like about Krakow. Enjoy!
What I like about Krakow…
1. A great Old Town square where you can sit all day and people watch. Just pick the spot with the comfiest chairs! As you sit, you can see the cloth hall, churches, and old buildings. No need to get up and tour things, just sit back with a beer and say you’ve seen the sights!
2. Cheap piwo…with sok malinowy! That’s raspberry syrup with beer, for those of you who don’t know. Zywiec is the beer of choice for me, though I will settle for Okocim or Tyskie if those are the only choices. Polish beer is light, which is why I will only drink it with the syrup. Best of all, it comes with a straw, and as you know, everything tastes better with a straw.
3. Tasty red wine that is not made in Egypt! I’ve been drinking a glass with dinner every night. Let’s hear it for importing wine! On my tour today, the guide said that Poland always had great relations with the Hungarians, because that’s where they got their wine. I prefer the South African and Australian myself.
4. Cars that stop for pedestrians in the crosswalk. Even without pedestrian crossing lights. Just step into a crosswalk, and the cars stop. Amazing!
5. The dragon’s den in Wawel Castle. I looked for the dragon, but he must have been hiding today! It was damp, cool, and dripping water. After you descend the spiral staircase, you emerge in a cave. Very cool!
6. Kasmierz, with it’s great galleries, restaurants, and bars. It’s really become trendy since I was here five years ago, but in a good way! I stayed here again this time, and I really enjoyed going out at night and people watching.
7. All the old buildings that have been renovated over the years. I wish someone would give me one to live in. Or at least a little flat in one. They’re colorful, have great molding, and usually include statues on them somewhere.
8. Hearing the bugler in St. Michael’s church play his reveille every hour. It’s fun trying to see him up in the window. The second he finishes, SLAM! goes the window.
9. Seeing nuns walking down the street in full-on, old-fashioned habits. Long dresses, long veils, and only their faces showing. Lots of different styles as well. Amazing that they aren’t an endangered species here. You even see young ones. I’m not religious at all, but it’s nice that the Poles still have faith.
10. Pierogies, pierogies, pierogies! I ate them just about every meal this trip. Go to Vincent’s pierogies (used to be a little hole in the wall in Kasmierz, but now they have a few other quaint little locations). Ruskie (potato and cheese) are the classic, but I liked the truskakowy (strawberry) this trip.
Things I don’t like about Krakow…
1. Pigeons all over the beautiful Old Town square, pooping, flocking, and getting in the way.
2. People who feed the pigeons, which encourages the pigeons to remain in the square and poop all over the place.
3. People who scare the pigeons, causing a mass exodus of pigeons flying right at you, pooping in fear.
4. Seeing pigeon poop all over the sidewalk near buildings, and worrying that the pigeons are going to hit you next.
5. The giant new shopping mall in front of the train station. As much as I love shopping, it just seems out of place there and totally detracts from the cool old station building. Of course, I did visit the H&M in the mall the first day…
6. That Krakow is now billed as the city with the most bars in Europe. Incidentally, this means drunken stag party guys all over the place, wearing matching shirts with numbers and nicknames on the back, make lots of noise, and are drinking too much beer. And lots of backpackers who are just coming now for the piwo and nightlife, missing all the great cultural offerings.
7. That you can’t bargain in the cloth hall any more. I remember back in ’93 when Gabe and I were getting 30% of the asking price on our purchases!
8. When the outdoor seating is full and I can’t get a table with a great view. Or, when the table’s umbrella doesn’t effectively block out the sun and it warms up your glass of something lovely.
9. That Polish food is basically carbs, carbs, carbs, and I gain weight just looking at it! I mean, dough stuffed with potatoes and then covered in melted butter, with bits of bacon on top?
10. Did I mention the damn pigeons?
I will say that Krakow is more fun when you come with friends. The last time I visited was with Joe, Eliza, and Stan. I don’t think I ever had as much fun people watching, drinking beer, and just hanging out as I did then.
Krakow was a great diversion, but now it’s time to return to Minsk Maz and be a do-gooder for two weeks, teaching young impressionable Polish kids English and all about American culture. Ironic, since I don’t live in America anymore and will be teaching them Japanese crafts like origami and shodo.
Postscript: I’m back in Warsaw waiting to meet one of the other volunteers to escort him safely to Minsk Maz. The rain hit last night, while I was out visiting some of the fine drinking establishments. Needless to say, I got soaked again. The rain seems to be here in Warsaw now as well. Fabulous, since I need to meet him outside and have my bags with me. I suppose I should just get used to being wet all the time this summer.
Cam, I should have listened to you when you told me to pack an umbrella. I blame the rain on you! Your mental powers are astounding!
And for those of you that actually read this to the end, feel free to make crude jokes about me munching on monks’ kielbasas. I did that opening line deliberately. What can I say, my mind is in a gutter.
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