Do You Have Family There?

Maintaining my image as an international jet setter takes work. It involves a lot of time spent packing and unpacking, combing the Internet for flight and hostel reservations, making plans with friends/fellow travelers and getting to and from the airport. Is it difficult? Yes. Does it leave time for such things as "homework"? No. But these are insignificant details. Europe is begging to explored, and someone has to do it.

Last weekend was the third straight weekend in which said exploring took me somewhere other than Paris. In this case, that "somewhere" was Krakow, Poland. I got various responses when I told people I was going to Poland. The most common were: "That's so cool!...Why?" "What is there to do in Krakow?" and "Do you have family there or something?"

So why did I go to Poland? It's true that I didn't have any of the usual reasons to go to Krakow. I'm not Polish; I knew almost nothing about any museums or monuments the city had to offer. Plus, my Polish vocabulary is limited to the following phrases: "Hello," "Thank you," "Please," "I need help," "ugly," "fat," "monkey," "pig," "butt," "wasp," "kitten," "doll," "owl," and "turkey." I will let you decide which four of the above are helpful.

My biggest reason for going to Krakow was that one of my oldest friends is Polish, so I've been exposed to the culture since I was about five years old. It was Natalia and her family who taught me the above phrases, sent me postcards from trips to Poland and gave me an unhealthy addiction to golumpki and nalesniki. They also mentioned something about a Cracovian dragon, so that was all the incentive I needed.

Friday

My weekend started at 3:45 Friday morning, as I had to catch a cab to Charles de Gaulle at 4:20 (oh the joys of budget airlines...). Mary and I were conveniently on the same flight, but there wasn't much conversation, since we both passed out before take-off. Two hours later, we were descending on the Polish countryside. My first impressions were that the Polish countryside is beautiful, especially with the fall colors lighting up the trees. You don't have to get too far away from the city to encounter rolling hills, forests and farmland. Of course, our immediate goal was to get into the city and start exploring.

We found our way to our hostel, which was located steps away from the Main Market Square, Krakow's centerpiece and Europe's largest medieval square. It's full of cafes, restaurants and vendors, and also boasts a beautiful church and town hall.

Just south of the square is another of Krakow's main attractions, Wawel Castle. A royal castle perched atop the hill where Krakow started, Wawel is pretty overwhelming. There are multiple tours you can take, each one focused on a different part of the castle. Mary and I weren't up to exploring the whole thing, so we took some insider advice (thanks Mrs. Ambrozek!) and visited the Armory and Crown Treasury. That was really impressive, just room after room of armor, swords, pistols, silverware, clothing and jewels. When leaving that building, however, Mary and I caught sight of the following sign:

Had we found it? The mythical dragon that I had always associated with Krakow? In any case, there was no way we weren't exploring the cave next to the sign. Lo and behold, we found this at the end:

Why yes, that is fire coming out of its mouth. Real fire that apparently spews forth at random intervals, or if you send the dragon a text. I'm not making this up. You can text the fire-breathing dragon. I liked Poland already.

The rest of the day was just spent wandering (and sometimes getting lost) in Old Town and its surroundings. It was a cold, gray day but we still managed to get a (positive) feel for Krakow. It's a very pretty city, lots of medieval buildings and cobblestone streets. I especially liked the Planty, a 2 1/2 mile long band of trees and gardens that surrounds the Old Town (as pictured in the first photo).

But the real high point for me was stopping in a little restaurant for lunch where I got a huge plate of pierogis, warm and stuffed with potatoes and cottage cheese, for 6.90 zloty, or approximately 1.73 euros. 1.73 EUROS!!! In Paris, you'd be lucky to get a cottage cheese curd for that. Seriously, if I could teleport a couple patisseries to Krakow, I would move there tomorrow.

After that rousing success, I found myself in a pretty solid food coma. We headed back to the hostel and had an early night in anticipation of a full Saturday.

Saturday

For me, part of Krakow's appeal lay in several important sites outside of the city limits. Saturday, Mary and I saw two of these: Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Wieliczka Salt Mine.

I'll write about Auschwitz in a separate entry. It was jarring in real-life to make the transition from a concentration camp to a salt mine, and I think it would be just as jarring in print. So I'll focus on the mine for the time being.

I know what you're thinking. A salt mine? Why is that interesting? Answer: Because it's an 800-year old mine with almost 200 miles of tunnels, hundreds of chambers and an equal number of sculptures. The catch? It's all done in salt. The walls, the sculptures, the chandeliers are all carved in salt.. It's impressive enough to have drawn visitors such as Nicholas Copernicus, Bill Clinton and Pope John Paul II. And anything that's good enough for J.P. 2 is good enough for me.

It's a unique sight, to say the least. No professional sculptors work in the mine; all the carvings were done by miners in their spare time. At some point, the idea really took off and now there's a 3.5 kilometer trail including a ballroom, restaurant, multiple churches, underground lakes and dozens of salt carvings.

The centerpiece of the mine is the St. Kingas Chapel, the world's largest underground chapel. Take a look:

All of those chandeliers and all the carvings (including a replica of da Vinci's Last Supper) are made completely of salt. The same thing is repeated (albeit on a smaller scale) throughout the tour. The idea of these men--all amateur artists--creating an entire world for themselves deep inside the Earth was really fascinating. I'm glad I got the chance to visit the mine, as I've never seen anything like it, and I don't expect I will again.

Sunday

Sunday was November 1st, All Saint's Day, which is a huge deal in Poland. Most of the stores, restaurants and attractions were closed, so we were pretty much forced into relaxation. But after two early mornings and two long days, we weren't complaining. I think our roommates were a little happier with us too.

When we finally did get out, we decided to explore Kazimierz, Krakow's Jewish district, which was a really interesting experience. It's an old neighborhood, and walking its streets you can see how the physical effects of history on the buildings. Most of the Jews living in the neighborhood were forcibly relocated into nearby ghettos during WWII, and it seems as though the area hasn't recovered. The main attractions are synagogues and cemeteries, and they are everywhere, in various states of repair. We visited the Remuh synagogue and its attached cemetery. During the war, the Nazis tore down many of the graves to sell as paving stones, and although some of the tombstones have been replaced, there's still a run-down look to the cemetery. The rest of the quarter was similar, beautiful old synagogues next to abandoned buildings with broken windows and trash-filled rooms.

Next we took an unplanned detour through a more industrial section of the city in search of an abandoned factory. We walked under some underpasses and through a quiet construction site, passing through an area so empty I thought we were lost until we finally saw one pair of tourists headed in the same direction. Headed towards this:



A nondescript, locked building that is in fact Oskar Schindler's factory (yes, that Schindler). Surprisingly, it hasn't yet been converted into a museum, and as far as I can tell the building itself is closed to guests. But I'm still glad we caught a glimpse of it.

We were down to one last night in Krakow, and there wasn't a whole lot going on. As I mentioned above, it was All Saint's Day. For the heathens among you, that's the day after Thanksgiving and it commemorates the souls who have gone on to heaven. Considering that Poland is a heavily Catholic country, many of the restaurants and stores close down, leaving the city pretty empty. So if you want to find where the action is in Krakow on November 1st, head for a cemetery. We chose the Rakowicki Cemetery, one of Poland's most famous. Although we nearly paid for that choice with our fingers (it was freezing cold, even while wearing three sweaters and a jacket), it was my favorite night in Krakow.

It was easy to tell where the cemetery was from the crowds of people all headed in the same direction. And as soon as we got inside the gates, we saw what they had all come for. There were graves stretching out in every direction, and every headstone had at least one colored glass candle on top. Families were everywhere, laying flowers on graves, and some tell-tale clinking suggested they were toasting relatives as well. It was cold, but otherwise a perfect autumn night, with the yellowing trees leaning over the graves and the smell of their damp leaves on the ground. All we could see in the darkness were thousands of glowing lights, and all we could hear was the chanting of mass-goers at the cemetery chapel. It was eerie, but unexpectedly beautiful.

Whenever you visit a foreign country, there are certain "must-see" sights, museums, castles or cathedrals. But this was an experience, not a destination. It's something that few tourists are lucky enough to see. I left the cemetery with a better sense of Poland's culture, the customs and values that are important to its people. What more can you ask from travel?

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When discussing our trip, Mary and I both felt it was an atypical weekend. We visited some normal touristy spots (Wawel Castle, the salt mine, the main square), but we also saw a Nazi concentration camp, dilapidated neighborhoods and numerous cemeteries. To me, that's very indicative of Poland's history. It's been conquered so many times, suffered through the Holocaust and been affected by Communism. It's a striking contrast to my normal surroundings.

Paris has an ugly side, but overall I've never seen a more beautiful city, or a people more fanatical about preserving that beauty. Krakow is less polished, but somehow more real. It's been touched by tragedy in a much more noticeable, and recent, way. The Parisians have had time to put up an obelisk where the guillotine used to stand. They suffered real tragedy during two world wars, but there were no extermination camps on French soil. Paris goes down easy. Krakow makes you work a little harder.

Note: this is not my way of saying that Poland is an ugly, depressed Eastern European stereotype. Krakow really is a beautiful city with stunning architecture, a strong cultural heritage and friendly people. But, more importantly, it's one of the most unique cities I've ever visited. I had moments that were pure fun, but I also felt more challenged by what I saw over the weekend. And that's why I would encourage anyone to visit Krakow.

Even if you don't have family there.