Krakow Adventure

Dr Fred and I have just had 5 lovely days exploring  Krakow.  Its a very beautiful and extremely interesting city.  As usual we packed the days in and walked miles and miles even though its very compact city centre we certainly managed to clock up some miles.

We stayed in the old town a stones throw from the market square - a very good location for sight seeing, both classic destinations and also some slightly less touristy ones off the beaten track.

We also managed to catch up with a friend who lives in Krakow and have a typical polish meal and later in the week a walk around the botanical gardens - which were better then expected, a lovely mix of wildness and cultivation!

We started our trip with a wander around the Museum of Contemporary Art - it was an excellent collection of thought provoking and  interesting art works.   I can easily be discouraged by 'modern' art but this was quite inspiring - we didn't like it all but some of it was clever and fun, some was sinister and some quite unpleasant. 

What I really appreciated was the excellent labeling of all the works, clear descriptions of materials and often a back story about the creative process linked to the work.... often reading these snippets of information made us look at the work again and with different eyes.

Dorota Podlaska Chocolates Tasty and Healthy.  in the west we enjoy sweet treats... in some countries insects are considered delicacies - here they are combined!

The next day we explored the Jewish quarter - full of amazing architecture, old and new, coffee shops and people - it was only day 2,5 and we had already got a bit citied out so we took off over the bridge up the Krakus Mound where we got fabulous 360 views for miles across the city.  At the back of the mound is an old deserted quarry used for filming Schindlers list Dr Fred was tempted to go climb but it was very overgrown...

We just missed the only rain of the week, getting back to our apartment just in time to watch a massive thunderstorm from our balcony.  We  braved the rain to find somewhere to eat and we walked through the square which looked quite magical with all the reflections in the rain splattered stone work.

The next day we went to look at various churches... the city is full to the brim of fantastical towering multi spired beautifully architectured churches.  we particularly liked the Franciscan church famous for its art deco styled decorations by Stanislaw Wyspianski.


As you wander around the streets there is evidence of beautiful decoration on many of the buildings and even the decaying parts of the city have a charm of their own. We discovered a little local cafe tucked away, minutes from the main square but down a less busy back street. It was part modern cafeteria style and part industrially styled very nicely done with lots of greenery and some great wall art just drawn onto the wall using the natural wonkiness to enhance the picture.

Sandomierski Tower

We went to the Wawel Castle, which was as you would imagine very ornate and very grand the most interesting bit was climbing the Sandomienska Tower - again fab views back across the the Krakus mound we had climbed the day before.  We looked around the royal stuff and we walked down to the river to see the dragon statue - we didn't go listen to it roar - seemed a bit like a money spinning venture to us.  Given we were out of season the place was heaving and it is very evident Krakow is seriously enjoying the oncome of tourism.

dragon 

Persons who live there are caught between cashing in on a a booming economy and losing the historic charm of the city as invasions of tourists unintentionally spoil the area.  So far there is a balance but my friend who lives in the Jewish quarter says the last 20 years has brought massive changes - more bars and more tat - I hope it doesn,t go too far - that was my personal experience of visiting Prague too many stag dos and nasty tat shops!!!


On our last day we visited the Cloth House - the most ancient building in Krakow,  its been tarted up quite a bit and the downstairs house a 'market'with all the usual souvenir tat found all over the city - upstairs is the art gallery housing some pretty incredibly huge bits of art.  Sadly our experience here was not so good as our previous art exhibition.  the works were minimally labeled and the English translations scare and printed so faintly I was asked to stand back as I tried to read them - yes partly I'm an old woman but also the lighting was poor and the writing small!!! however there were impressive i love good large battle scene and I did quite like the Nero's Burning with the Christians credited with burning Rome trussed up like lollipops ready to suffer the same pyrotechnic fate themselves!!  after a lovely wander around the botanical gardens, lacking a cafe!!! we made a final tourist effort and climbed the almost 300 steps of the St Mary's Basilica for more superb views!!!

the square from St Mary's tower

We found we did a lot of just wandering across town and back - taking in the streets and the shops - we had pierogi (polish dumplings) in a little corner 'milk bar' these are places aimed at catering for the workers serving cheap and filling food with no frills.. they were excellent and definitely filling if a little on the stodgy side!  We found some nice local bars off the beaten track, serving draught polish beer at ridiculously cheap prices, less busy then the market square and with a less touristy feel.  Dr Fred sampled Polish vodka and I drank more beer than I have for quite a while...

we never got to the Cosmic Mini Golf Pub!!! we spotted it but never found it open -but that was out only disappointment of the trip - that and the Air B&B but you cant win them all!!!