Krakow!

 Krakow

Once we found out we hadn’t missed our plane, and after triple checking that we had all of our bags for the eleventh time, the rest of our travel day went pretty smoothly.  But we were all a bit shaken.  We had a short layover in Vienna, which was a city that I’ve always wanted to explore.  It was only an hour, which felt like it should be long enough.  But Vienna is one of the airports (of which there are apparently many) where most of the planes don’t de-plane at a jetway.  Instead you go down the stairs to the tarmac.  Then you have to catch a bus to a terminal, and then get to your departure gate.  Where often you go back down to the tarmac and then catch a bus to your plane.  We also had to find time to eat in the middle of all of that.  So it ended up feeling quite rushed.

The flight from Vienna to Krakow is only about an hour.  Which is good because the accomodations on Austrian Air are pretty Spartan.  They give you a small bottle of water and one Lindt truffle and that’s it.  Everything else you have to pay for.  The truffle is pretty bangin’ though so we didn’t really mind.  And one hour later we were in Krakow (which in polish is pronounced KRAK-ov).

I’ll have to be a bit cagey with why were in Poland.  We were staying with people that we had only recently met in the United States.  And they don’t know that I am writing this and I don’t want to invade their privacy.  There are also aspects of our accommodations that have sensitive aspects from a security standpoint.  (God I’m good at this suspense stuff).  But suffice it to say we were treated with the utmost in hospitality.  Our hosts arranged amazing accommodations and wonderful sightseeing opportunities.  I think they also would have paid for everything if we wouldn’t have fought them actively on it.  We were truly spoiled.

We stayed one night in Krakow right next to the old town.  

After wandering through old town for a while we took a golf-cart tour.  It was amazing.  

It included one of the only Barbicans still in existence in Europe.  It's a type of defensive medieval fort.

Churches and buildings that were among the oldest that we’ve seen – some stretched as far back as the 1100s.  

We walked through the market square that blended several eras of Krakow’s proud history – a modern sculpture of Eros that the kids liked to peek their eyes through; 

a market hall that had been rebuilt several times over the centuries; 

and famous St. Mary’s Basilica with its beautiful asymmetrical spires of different heights.  

The tour also took us through the Jewish quarter of Kazimierz that was once a thriving Jewish community.  Before the Nazis invaded and killed 99% of the Jewish population.  It was sobering.

After the tour we ate in the picturesque basement of a restaurant that served traditional Polish food.  Poland is ridiculously affordable.  I paid for dinner in an attempt to thank our hosts.  For 7 people (some of whom drank alcohol) eating gourmet Polish food in a pretty touristy area the total was $100.  I’d say on average the prices here were about ½ to 1/3 the cost of comparable things in the States.

We had a very comfortable night sleep in a building that was several hundred years old.  Then the next morning we set out on a walking tour of the city.  We feared that it might just repeat the information from the golf cart, but it was much more detailed.  It talked about Krakow’s proud history as a market town – Polish shoes were so renowned that Italian merchants would come to Krakow to buy the shoes. 

The tour walked past Krakow’s Jagiellonien University, one of the oldest and finest in the world.  The kids really liked this mechanical show that marked the start of something we didn’t quite understand. 

We walked past many churches and defensive fortifications.  There is a large Italian influence to the architecture here, owing to Bona Sforza, an Italian noblewoman who was queen of Poland. 

We also walked past various churches, monuments, and shrines dedicated to Polish Cardinal Karol Wojtyla who famously became Pope John Paul II.  

He had previously been Archbishop of Krakow and even studied here as a young man.  He had originally came to study to become an actor, but then entered the seminary after being so affected by the violence of World War II.  Even after becoming Pope he would return to Krakow.  Both to preach, but also to sit at open windows and talk to the people.  The violence and oppression of his formative years explain why he became such a symbol for peace and resilience for the Polish people exemplified in his famous speech encouraging the Poles to “be not afraid.”  They are very proud of him here.  As they should be.

The tour culminated two and half hours later after hundreds of steps (have I mentioned our kids are total troopers?) at the top of a hill and Wawel (VA-vel)castle.  

This was the historic home of the Polish monarchy, and the capitol of Poland before King Sigismund III Vasa (who was really just hanging out hoping to become King of Sweden) set the castle on fire in a failed alchemy experiment (men, amiright?) and then ran away to Warsaw (which coincidentally is closer to Sweden) and moved the capitol with him.  The castle is a beautiful amalgam of northern European and Italian architectural influences, with some fascist remnants left over from the Nazi invasion and occupation.  

Wawel cathedral is famous for having unique additions from the many difference Polish monarchs, the end result being charitably described as “eclectic” and more accurately described as one of the ugliest things I have ever seen.  That’s mean.  I shouldn’t yuck anyone’s yum.  I’ll rephrase.  It’s not for me…or for anyone else with even a modicum of aesthetic sensibility.

Afterwards the kids wanted to see the statute of the Wawel Dragon (Smok) who features in a famous Polish folktale that depending on the version you read features a protagonist who is either a shoemaker or a treacherous adulterous paramour.  

When we were down there the actual Smok wandered by, and Milo was thrilled to get a picture with him.  Oscar understandably has some stranger danger when it comes to Polish Dragons.

Throughout the tour I was struck by Poland’s resilience in the face of recurrent and overwhelming hardship.  So many of the churches and buildings had been reconstructed time and again after invasion and destruction.  Over and again the citizens had been killed and treasures plundered.  Waves of oppression and occupation by Mongols, Prussians, Austrians, Imperial Russians, Nazis, and Soviets.  But from each layer of oppression the Polish spirit and culture re-grew anew like budding foliage after a forest fire.  

Truly amazing.  I think of all the cities I’ve ever visited, Krakow is probably my favorite.

After the tour we ate a quick snack, then it was time to leave.  We had a peaceful two hour car ride with our hosts before arriving at our home for the next two nights in southern Poland.

Do Widzenia