Kraków, Poland

Kraków, Poland you met my exceptions! What a great energy there is coursing throughout this city! Let's start when we got there...and then discuss all the great things to see once we were settled in.  We spent three nights at the Loretanska Apartments, which from the outside wasn't as promising...but it was a hidden GEM I tell ya, and right in the heart of Kraków, no need for trams, buses or bikes!

We spent two days in Kraków and we saw the city.  I'll break this down by day, in case you are planning an itinerary similar to ours...

-DAY 1-

 Jordan and I like to try local bakeries, and luckily there was one around the corner from where we were staying.  We started off the day one with some energy, and with it being rhubarb season, gotta enjoy some rhubarb pastries.

We ventured into Krakóws main town square, in the morning it wasn't too busy, but by the afternoon it is bustling!

The town square has a pretty cool gigantic head sculpted by Krakovian artist Igor Mitoraj-it's a sharp contrast from the square's genteel Old World ambiance, but still very cool and artsy.

The square was built in the 13th century, in the huge yellow building right in the middle is "Cloth Hall".

During the Middle Ages Cloth Hall was where cloth-sellers had their market stalls.  It was turned into a permanent structure in the 14th century and it is still a functioning market selling souvenirs of all sorts.  We had to stop in for our wall magnet, and a postcard or two...

 Stuff, stuff and more stuff!

After walking through the square and stocking up on trinkets we got in our car and spent the rest of the day in and around Kraków.  First stop: Schindler's Factory.

You may have heard of Oskar Schindler from the movie: Schindler's List.  Yep, it's the same Schindler, and this is the view from his factory.

Schindler came to Kraków during the German invasion in 1939 and as a member of the Nazi party he was able to use his factory to help the Jews who were threatened in the area.  The factory has been turned into a museum which details the building of the Kraków ghetto and commemorates its destruction.

After a long day of exploring we were ready for some good Polish food.  If you want to eat in Poland, stop counting your calories because the cuisine is hearty and meaty.  We went to U Babci Maliny which is a popular restaurant filled with locals.  I loved the ambiance, it has a folksy charm that reminded me of an old grannies house.  

They had great borscht and a good variety of pierogis to choose from.  The "roasted" ones are actually deep fried, but none the less delicious! We had ordered a few different types, and anything with meat is a good choice here!

After dinner, walking around in the main town square was a great way to nurse a food coma!

...there is lots of people watching to be done

We got some rest because day 2 was a busy one!

-DAY 2-

On our second day in Kraków we took a free (donation based) walking tour.  But I need to diverge for a moment because the walk to the meeting place was just so nice and pretty. Take a look at some of these sites:

Okay back to the walking tour.  I highly recommend taking a free walking tour in Kraków, the tour company we used has plenty of different types of free walking tours throughout the city.  We took the Jewish Kraków tour and we really enjoyed it!  We met up with the guide in the heart of the Jewish area-the suburb of Kazimierz.

We learned so much on our tour.  When we visited Krakóws Kazimierz and getto, we heard hair-raising stories, and also stories that were uplifting and comforting.  It was a great tour, and let's get into some more detail. When we were ready to start the tour, we found this man.  He looks ready to rumble.

Poland is a place where Polish Jews and Polish Catholics lived together, side by side, for generations. Jews had been in Poland and Kraków since the very beginning, and their population grew quickly over time, thanks to the religious tolerance and social autonomy they were granted here.  Jews who had been expelled from their countries all around Europe found their home in Poland. 

One of the first synagogues

Wall space where a mezuzah (Jewish prayer scroll) once was on the outside of a house, but was removed during World War II. 

My favorite poster, for one of my favorite Jewish foods!

New modern shofar at the Jewish Community Center in Kazimierz.  Up until the mid-18th century there was no other place in the Jewish world more significant than this area, and even today Jews from all over the world travel here to find out about their roots and spirituality. 

The early Izaak Synagogue built in 1638 has fragments of 17th and 19th century paintings.

Our tour continued on into more recent times, during WWII in the Jewish Ghetto.

Some cool street art.  Did you know there's also a free walking tour that just covers Kraków's street art? Check it out if you're going for a visit!

By the end of the 1930's the Jewish community of Kraków constituted about 25% of the city's population.  The vibrant and diverse community was almost totally destroyed during the second World War.  

If you have seen Schindler's List, we visited the famous staircase that hid Mrs. Dresner (the black and white photos are from the movie).

We went to the Kraków Ghetto Memorial, that commemorated the 56,000 Jews that lived in the ghetto during the start of the war.  

The last part of the tour we stopped along one of the last remaining walls dividing the ghetto.   It is not a beautiful wall, at 3 meters high it is crowned with arches conscientiously designed to resemble Jewish tombstones.

After our tour we went up to the Wawel Cathedral.

... up the ramp we go!

The Wawel Cathedral is Poland's Westminster Abbey.  

It has the tombs of almost all of the important Polish rulers and great historical figures-including a tribute to Pope John Paul II.  Sorry no photos were allowed, but the outside looks pretty unique.
I mean, check out the haphazard roof design, they are Gothic, Romanesque, Baroque, Renaissance and Neoclassical-quite a hodge podge if you ask me!

Such great photos I have to share:

Jordan's favorite part about the palace was the inner courtyard.  The ground floor was the private apartments of governors and castle administrators, the middle level was the private apartments for the King, and the top floor was used as the Kings public estate rooms.

At the far end of the courtyard is a false wall, designed to make the castle look bigger than it truly is-there's nothing on the other side, but it looks like there are rooms.

If you are a Hindu, and believe chakra (areas of concentrated energy) there are sevens locations across the globe where this "energy" is thought to be concentrated. One of the corners in the courtyard is one of the seven!  The smudge marks on the wall are from people pressing against the corner, trying to absorb some good vibes from the chakra point.  We did see people standing in the corner trying to absorb the energy, and we tried it ourselves.

One of my favorite churches I have seen in all of Europe is in Krakow; St. Mary's Church is SO beautiful!

Every hour, on the hour, a bugler places his trumpet out the highest tower window and plays the hejinal song.  If you don't hear it the first time, don't worry, he plays it four times in succession in each direction of the four cardinal directions.  Can you see the trumpet outside of the left window?

He looks like a bugler to me

The inside of the church is spectacular.  It is some of the best medieval woodcarvings in existence!  When the altar doors are closed there are scenes from the lives of Mary and Jesus, and when they are open you see the Dormition of the Virgin. 

Some of my favorite ceilings ever

It almost looks like you're looking into a kaleidoscope, yeah!?

Our last stop in Kraków was for some more delicious food. You know it, more pierogis from Pryzpiecek, and the good news, they are open 24h so you can feed your craving anytime.  Of course we started with my bourscht soup:)

...and then we pretty much ordered one of almost every type of Pierogi on the menu (the exchange rate makes Polish food super cheap!).

...and I am sure ya'll are thinking that the sweet pierogi's (bottom left photo) were dessert but no.  We got in a good walk to get some amazing chocolate ice cream from Good Lood. 

Welp, that sums up our great trip to Kraków.  Next we will be visiting the Auschwitz-Birkeneau concentration camp memorials and back home for a rest.

Until next time!