Witamy w Polsce! 

After spending 11 days in Croatia, we said good bye to this sunny country and headed to my birth country of Poland on Saturday 7/19/14. Our first stop was in Krakow, where we met with my parents who had already been in Poland for a few weeks. We rented a very spacious and nice apartment via our favorite site, airbnb.com, in the Old Town historical district of Kazimierz. Aside from being my dad's first name, Kazimierz is also an area which used to be home to a large Jewish population and was named after king Kazimierz III (Casimir III). It started as a separate city in the early 14th century, then became part of Krakow in 1791. Today, Kazimierz is a fun and happening neighborhood with lots of restaurants, bars, and cafes. But it also hides a painful past of suffering, as most Krakowian Jews were forced out of the area during WWII, only to perish at the hands of the evil Nazis. While the current glamour may distract from this painful history, Kazimierz still retains a lot of its Jewish character therefore reminding its inhabitants and visitors of the city it once was. 

A few hours after we settled in, we met up with our childhood friends who used to visit us pretty much every summer. They drove for about 3 hours from Lodz to have dinner with us at the lovely Miod and Malina restaurant. It was so great to see them again and catch up. As you can see in my photos, our friends are some beautiful ladies (and handsome gents). After dinner we did some sight seeing of the Main Market Square (Rynek Glowny), St. Mary's Basilica (Kosciol Mariacki), and Wawel Castle (Zamek Wawelski). It was great to see the beautiful sights of Krakow while catching up with friends. 

The next day started with a family outing to the Ethnographic Museum, which we all loved. This indoor museum showed reconstructed chambers of old houses from various regions of Poland. It also had a nice exhibit on traditional regional clothing as well as easter eggs and Christmas ornaments (my favorite of course!). Looking through various exhibits, my parents recalled seeing and using certain things from their childhood, such as butter makers and milling machines. I would highly recommend this museum to anyone visiting Krakow, especially since it's free on Sundays. 

Next we got familiarized with the Kazimierz district and after visiting one of the synagogues, we had a quick beer at a small cafe. The area had some Jewish restaurants and souvenir shops visited by many tourists. After lunch of zapiekankas and a quick nap at our apartment, we headed back to the Main Market Square. This time we were able to go inside of St. Mary's Basilica, as it was open for sight seeing. For about 10 zloty ($3.30) and a photo fee of 5 zl (almost $2), we were able to come really close to the altarpiece created by German sculptor Veit Stoss (Oltaz Wita Stwosza) at the end of the 15th century. Right before WWII, anticipating great destructions from Germans, Polish people took the altar apart and stored it in crates around the country. The enemy located them and later moved them to Germany. Miraculously the altar was found in the basement of a Nuremberg Castle and returned to Poland in 1946. It then underwent a heavy restoration and was assembled back in 1957. It really is spectacular.

Working up our appetite, we walked a bit more around Krakow and eventually ended up at a very home-style restaurant called Kuchnia Domowa (Home Cooking) and had a delicious dinner of various Polish foods. Not only the food, but also the service and the decor were amazing. It was a great family dinner. 

And this concluded our stay in Krakow. The next morning we headed for an excited tour of the Wieliczka Salt Mine. Check out our next post (coming soon) to see us go deep underground and lick salt off the mine walls.

And now here are main details on Poland and Krakow. Enjoy! 

Geography: Poland is situated in Central Europe to the East of Germany and in the South of Poland on the Vistula (Wisla) river. 

Population:  about 38 million in Poland; 755 thousand in Krakow, making it the second most populated city after Warsaw.  

Demographics:  in Poland 94% Polish, small populations of Silesians, Ukrainian, German, Belarusian and other. 

Currency: Polish Zloty PLN,  3 PLN = 1 USD 

Religion: vast majority is Roman Catholic 

Best Known for: Poland is best known for a painful history and destruction of the country especially during World War II, Pope John Paul II,  classical music composer Frederik Chopin, Mikolaj Kopernik (Copernicus), president Lech Walesa, award winning potato vodkas (Belvedere, Chopin), old towns, pierogi, kielbasa, polish pottery, wood work, folk art cutouts. 

What We Noticed: It's hard for me to be objective and notice things as I am from Poland and most things here seem normal to me. However, here's what stood out to Vlad: mixture of old and new architecture, constant reminders of WWII tragedy, landscapes that are frequently punctuated with churches as the highest buildings, very old and opulent churches, charming restaurants, hipster and artsy bars/cafes, fanny packs (some very stylish and expensive), man-pris, tons of ice cream and zapiekanki stands, tattoos, coffee to go is not the norm (although that was the case in Croatia as well). 

For more photos of Krakow, please visit the Gallery page.  

Quick geography lesson to show locations of both Dubrovnik and Krakow. 

Our apartment in Krakow - Livingroom Gabi catching up with our parents at our Krakow apartment. 

Our apartment in Krakow - Bedroom #2 This was our bedroom. It was very spacious and comfortable. 

Dinner with childhood friends Dinner with our childhood friends at Miod and Malina restaurant. 

Parents Parents catching up over Ksiazece Beer which quickly became our favorite. 

Dinner with childhood friends Best buds growing up;  soon they will be reunited again when Kasia visits NYC in August. 

Restaurant decorations I really loved the decor of this restaurant. 

St. Mary's Basilica After dinner walk - Main Market Square and St. Mary's Basilica. 

Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) Sukiennice (Cloth Hall) on the right is a center feature of the Main Market Square and home to many souvenir vendors.  Flowers in Main Market Square Krakow Main Market Square is known for it's Kwiaciarki which are older ladies selling beautiful fresh flowers. 

Funny sculpture This was a funky sculpture which reminded me of Mummintroll characters (Muminki) and somehow also of our friend Ilya. I think this is his type of art :-) 

Bishop's Palace Window in Bishop's Palace from which Pope John Paul II talked to the youth when he would visit Krakow. 

Wawel Castle Strolling around Wawel Castle. Built in 14th century, it served as residence to Polish kings for hundreds of years. 

Ladies Ladies who wear sun glasses. And one who doesn't. 

Wawel Castle Beautiful rooftops inside of Wawel Castle. 

Wawel Castle Sightseeing with this group was a lot of fun. 

Ethnographic museum Sunday morning trip to the Ethnographic Museum proved to be a lot of fun. Here's my dad showing Vlad how to use some old device. Notice the beautifully decorated brick oven on the left. 

Ethnographic museum Old fashioned bed and baby rocking crib. 

Hand crafted pillow cases Beautifully hand made pillow cases.  Old cottage Imagine cooking your dinner on this stove 

Christmas Tree Handmade Christmas ornaments reminded me of my childhood. I promised myself to make similar ones this Christmas season (if I am home by then). 

Christmas decorations Christmas chandelier made with paper pompoms and dried wheat straws. 

Christmas Szopki Krakowskie Szopki (Krakowian Christmas display) are often multi level hand made palaces with a nativity scene in the middle. Most are inspired by Krakow architecture. After WWII, makers of the most beautiful and elaborate szopki enter their work into an annual holiday contests in Krakow.  

Christmas Szopki These were some of my favorite Krakowskie Szopki. Made of paper and colored tin foil, and are hand painted.  They looked very opulent. 

Christmas Szopki Here's a close up. 

Pisanki - Easter Eggs The museum also had a large collection of pisanki (easter eggs). Styles differ depending on the region of Poland. 

Pisanki - Easter Eggs The oldest one I spotted was from 1889! 

Taking a break Here we are taking a quick break. On the right you can see the easter egg exhibit. 

Traditional clothing from various regions of Poland The museum had a very large collection of ethnic clothing which varies by region. They were all so beautifully crafted and colorful. 

Traditional clothing from various regions of Poland Here is one of my favorites. 

Kazimierz - Old Jewish Quarters Roaming around Kazimierz (old Jewish Quarters) we came across this funky painting. 

Kazimierz restaurants There were also many Jewish restaurants in the area. Prior to World War II 25% of Krakow's population (about 60,000 people) were Jewish. 

Jewish souvenirs Jewish themed souvenirs. 

Old building Old building in Krakow; ugly to some, beautiful to others. Perhaps this one is a war survivor?

Beer break Taking a quick beer break. 

Zapiekanka For lunch we opted for traditional polish street food - zapiekanki. It's basically a baguette with mushrooms, cheese, ketchup and chives. There are many variations of zapiekanka and I actually got a spinach and feta one. Both were delicious and priced very well at about $2.5.

St. Mary's Basilica Since we could not go inside of St. Mary's basilica on our first evening in Krakow, we decided to go back to this brick gothic church on Sunday. 

St. Mary's basilica Some churches in Poland are a bit conservative and don't allow bare arms or short skirts/shorts. For this reason they often give out shawls. 

St. Mary's basilica We got really close to the Wit Stwosz's (Veit Stoss) 282 feet tall wooden altarpiece.  

St. Mary's basilica However, our favorite part was the starry ceiling. How gorgeous!

Photoshoot in progress   We came across a photo shoot. 

Old buildings Here's a shot of a few buildings on the way home. 

Krakow tram Tram is a popular means of transportation in Krakow.  Dinner We finished our evening with delicious dinner. Here's Vlad enjoying raspberry kompot (drink made by simmering fruit with sugar and water, popular in Eastern Europe).  Dinner

When in doubt, order pierogi. There is no getting bored of them. 

And that's all for our adventure in Krakow. To see more photos, visit the gallery page.