So on Palm Sunday weekend I went to Krakow. Enjoy!
First impressions of Krakow:
1. It reminds me a LOT of Prague: old buildings, central market square, old town that butts up to the river, castle and cathedral on a hill over-looking it all. I suppose that's mostly because they were developed within the same century and both actually managed to survive World War II unscathed. And that's just how people built cities back then.
2. Polish is a fun language to try to learn. I mean, it's crazy complicated and supposedly one of the most difficult languages in the world, but I had fun learning simple greetings and phrases. And, probably mostly because most tourists don't even bother, every time I said something in Polish people would automatically respond in Polish. Once they saw my blank stare, however, they quickly switched to English, if they could.
3. I was slightly underwhelmed, I think just because I've seen so many incredible cities by now. Also, because it reminded me so much of Prague, and I often caught myself wishing that my travel buddy, Miss Sarah Teg, could've been there with me.
4. The Old Town felt very touristy. Because, well, it is. I wish I could've had more time to explore real Poland, because I know the countryside is beautiful and the people are more than welcoming.
5. Poland is CATHOLIC. Some estimates put it at 95% Catholic. Krakow has more churches per square mile than any city except Rome (32 in the Old Town alone), and Palm Sunday was a great weekend to be there. I saw an Easter Market, a parade, elementary-aged kids singing in traditional costumes, and churches that were standing-room-only for each of half a dozen services they had that day. Also, Pope John Paul II was Archbishop in Krakow. More on that later.
I arrived in the evening on Friday and got fully distracted on my way to the hostel by the EASTER MARKET that was taking place in the main square. Christmas Markets are on of my absolute favorite things about Germany, and I'm already sad that I won't get to experience them this year. You can imagine my excitement when I realized I would be able to experience the magic again before leaving.
I ate a waffle for dinner.
Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) in the rain
Sukiennice is now a market for selling very touristy souvenirs.
St. Mary's Church. Unfortunately, pictures aren't allowed inside, and I didn't think about how it would be packed Sunday. I should've gone Saturday, because I didn't really get much more than a quick peek. You and I can both marvel at its beauty by clicking this link.
Traditional polish cuisine involves a lot of meat. Exhibit A:
Day 2 involved a food tour that I stumbled upon, and which deserves its own separate blog post. So here are other random pictures from Saturday that I took along the way. They're all different shapes because I had planned to use some of them on Instagram, and my phone can automatically crop to the different picture sizes.
Juliusz Słowacki Theatre
One of 32 churches in the Old Town.
That statue is of Adam Mickiewicz, the "great Polish Romantic Poet of the 19th Century" (according to Wikipedia)
The Easter Market!!
These are Polish "palms". For those of you who aren't Catholic, Palm Sunday commemorates the day Jesus entered Jerusalem; palms were laid before his feet on the road to make the path smoother and less dusty. Every year on Palm Sunday, Catholics bring palm fronds to church to have them blessed. Of course, there aren't palm trees in Poland, so this tradition of creating beautiful elaborate bouquets of wheat and flowers developed.
There are countless theories for why we dye/paint eggs at Easter, ranging from crossovers from Pagan traditions to Mary Magdalene's eggs mysteriously turning red. At any rate, this is now a tradition in most Christian countries in the world. Americans like to dye hard-boiled eggs, the Russian czars used to give their wives elaborate eggs crafted by Faberge, and in Poland they paint real eggshells (after removing the insides through a tiny hole drilled in the bottom).
These are actually wooden, and, despite their elaborate paint design, only cost about 1.50 Euros.
Another way in which Krakow reminded me a lot of Prague were all of the underground cellars. Almost every bar and night club is underground, and these aren't just small rooms: they're expansive networks of rooms with 8-foot ceilings that go on and on and on. In Prague, the theory is that these were all originally the ground floor of the homes, but regular flooding from the river prompted the city to artificially build up the street level by several meters, such that the second floor became the ground floor. I wasn't able to find an explanation for Krakow and I forgot to ask my tour guide, but I wonder if the reason is similar.
One of the underground cellars. Despite it being chilly outside, it's surprisingly warm here underground. The medieval Poles knew what they were doing.
At one point in the day I ended up at Podgorze, a part of Krakow just south of the River Vistula that was for many centuries its own municipality. Apparently today there is still a strong sense of individuality among its residents It's also where the Jewish Ghetto was located during World War II. I started a walking tour of the area, but there were literally more than two hundred people trailing along behind the tour guide, and I decided to duck out early.
St. Joseph's Church in Podgorze. This one was honestly stunningly beautiful.
I'll admit that I didn't give Podgorze the time it probably deserved. That's where Schindler's Factory is located, as well as a memorial to the ghetto and a part of the old wall that surrounded it. I only had two days in Krakow, however, and I wasn't in the mood to go running from place to place. I took my time instead and enjoyed some time with the people I met on the food tour, and as a result I missed some major tourist sites. If I had had three or four days there, there story might've been different.
I think that's an important lesson for traveling, though: if you jam-pack your days, you won't actually remember any of it and you'll need pictures to even remember what you saw. Sometimes it's important to go at a more regular pace and really take it all in, even if that means sacrificing a couple of stops.
A shrine and fountain dedicated to St. Stanislav
It said the water was safe to drink, so I sampled it.
It smelled like rotten eggs and tasted like minerals.
Wawel Castle on Wawel Hill
I'm sorry that all of my selfies look the same. It's almost like I took one picture in front of a green screen and changed the background.
River Vistula panorama
The castle on Wawel Hill, with the Cathedral spire to the left
According to my favorite tour guide, Rick Steves, these are the foundations of two cathedrals that were destroyed when the Austrians took over Prague in the 1800s and needed a parade ground for their troops.
The eclectic John Paul II Wawel Cathedral. Basically, the cathedral was first constructed in the Romanesque style in the 12th Century, but chapels were added throughout the years in the Baroque (17th Cent), Renaissance (16th Cent), and Neoclassical (18th and 19th Cent) styles.
Pictures aren't allowed inside the cathedral, but some fun facts:
1. This is essentially THE resting place for famous Poles, containing famous saints, kings, queens, and poets.
2. The most famous of recent Poles, Pope John Paul II, is not buried here, because he's buried in the Vatican. However, there is a chapel dedicated entirely to him and ready for his occupation should the Vatican ever decide to give him up.
I promise that I was actually there and that this wasn't a green screen.
Inner courtyard of the castle. Fun fact, that wall on the right side (through which you can see some light shining through) is only a facade. When there were visitors, the royals would draw curtains over the windows so that the illusion of four complete walls was stronger.
Wawel Cathedral from below, with my back to Stare Miastro (Old Town). This is the route that the kings would take returning from a journey.
No, really, I was actually there.
Really pretty street with homes and hotels designed to house the many many clergy.
Church of Sts Peter and Paul. I particularly like the twelve statues in front, as they depict the 12 Disciples. But Judas didn't make the cut, obvi, so he got replaced by Mary Magdaelene. One woman among many men, I feel ya girl.
I came back to this church at night, because they had a classical string concert by musicians from the nearby music school for only 15 Euros!
They played Vivaldi's Four Seasons, Pachelbel"s Canon in D, Bach's Cello Suite 1, and many other popular classics. And they played them WELL: I teared up a couple of times. And I was once again so grateful to my mom for raising us with an appreciation for music. It fills my whole body and feeds my soul.
Oh and their encore was Tchaikovsky. Perfect.
I drank a coffee on a patio right on the old town square with some nice Canadians I met at my hostel. Did I mention that Poland is CHEAP? This was a coffee at the most touristy spot in town, and it only cost 1.25 Euro
Fun facts about St Mary's Church: the taller tower is technically a municipal watch tower and does not belong to the church! Also, every hour on the hour, a bugler plays a song from the watch tower. Per tradition, he cuts off mid-song to commemorate the legend where the bugler saw the approaching Tartars, sounded the alarm, and was cut off mid-song by an arrow to the throat. Beautifully morbid and traditional.
The original medieval walls (this is Florian Gate), which were built after the first of three Tartar invasions. This is also the entrance through which the king would come upon returning from travel, to make his way down the Royal Way. Gotta show off for your subjects, right? Only plebians go straight to their hilltop castles.
Against the wall is a beautiful art display from local art students.
Outer walls. The moat between the two has been filled in and turned into a park that circles around the Old Town.
Beautiful sunshiney day.
Looking down Ulica Florianska (Florianska St.)
Lots more selfies.
I bought my own Polish palms for about 2 Euros and managed to bring them all the way back to Hamburg! Through the plane and all.
I also managed to bring back FOUR eggshells in one piece. I only cracked one when I actually tried to paint it. =/
Adorable children singing Easter songs in traditional dress.
Per personal tradition, I had to climb a tower somehow to get a bird's eye view. Unfortunately, most climbable towers are only open seasonally, beginning April 1st. I was there until March 29th. *sigh* But I did manage to climb the steepest 110 stairs OF MY LIFE in the Town Hall Tower to get the following views:
Overlooking Old Town Square
Wawel Castle in the distance
Said steep stairs. This really doesn't emphasize the fact that I was holding on for dear life on the way back down. For comparison, it takes 306 stairs to reach a height of 91 m at the Peterskirche in Munich (3.36 stairs per meter). This tower was 70 meters tall and only had 110 stairs (1.57 stairs per meter).
Good thing the views were worth it!
I almost forgot about this church and was relaxing in Old Town Square, consulting my travel book, when I came across its description again and power-walked over. It's St. Francis Basilica, the church where Pope John Paul II said mass when he was Archbishop of Krakow.
Its incredible interior is apparently the result of two artists trying to out-compete each other. It's so colorful!!
I also found the plaque commemorating where good ole JPII used to come pray.
Archbishop's residence.
My favorite 12 "Disciples" again
I had some time before mass and decided to head back over to Kazimierz, the Jewish Quarter. Unfortunately, that name is now inaccurate, as there are almost no Jews left in Krakow. I overheard a tour guide explaining that, before World War II, there were an estimated 68,000 Jews in Krakow. After the war, only 3,000 returned. And the orthodox community now consists of only about 160 people. Heartbreaking.
Today Kazimierz is actually under-going gentrification of sorts and has become a neighborhood with a thriving nightlife.
Wall outside the Old Jewish Cemetery
The Old Jewish Cemetery was actually laid to waste by the Nazis, and later re-instated. But it was re-instated by Christians, who did it in the Christian style: orderly rows. That's why this cemetery has such a different look from the one in Prague, which was never disturbed.
And one last shot in the Planty, the filled-in-moat-park that encircles the Old Town. I wish I could've seen it when the trees aren't bare, because I'm sure it's beautiful.
So Krakow was definitely beautiful, and I'm glad I got to experience some of Polish culture through the food tour and Palm Sunday traditions. That will keep the city from becoming a blur among the many I've visited.
I always try to look for that unique thing in each city that will help me really feel the memory, rather than picture it (or worse, only see through pictures). In Edinburgh it was Harry Potter, in Paris it was the architecture, in Amsterdam it was the people boating along the canals, in Milan it was eating dinner on the patio, in London it was experiencing the real city life with my cousin Megan, in Berlin it's the art scene. In Krakow, it's the food and the religion.
I would definitely recommend Krakow, and even more so if you have about 4 days to spend there. That would really make it worth it and allow you to experience all that the city has to offer.
