These photos of Krakow still astound me. This city is one I knew nothing of, save the proximity to Auschwitz, which I'm saving to write on separately.
I arrived at KRK with instructions to take the train to the city. Upon arriving at what didn't even seem like a train station (a 10 minute walk from the airport,) I found a single taxi cab, probably waiting for the idiot tourist, ie. moi. He offered to take me to the downtown train station for 70 zlotys, and I managed to bargain him down to 50, which I later found out was a good deal! At my "apartamenty" I found the doors all locked but managed to call the manager and was promptly shown in the big obtrusive doors, given the key and asked for payment, pronto, by the kitchen hand. Having handed over 100 zlotys, I wondered if I should have asked for a receipt as I once again lugged 30kg of luggage up 3 flights of stairs so worn down there were deep, smooth dips in the center. I believe I was the only tenant in this very old building. If my mom happens to read this, it's a good thing this has all happened already and I turned out just fine, right, Mom?!
Unfortunately, the only thing still opened I came upon at 9:45pm was a McDonald's. But it was one of the biggest chicken wrap I've ever had. Later, I came across the livelier Rynek Glowny (central market; a huge medieval marketplace purportedly 2nd largest in Europe) where I found the Teatr all lit up as pictured below. It was only the next day when I returned that I realized the size of Rynek Glowny. It was a good thing I suppose, that my bags were pretty full and I couldn't actually buy a whole lot. There was MUCH to peruse and ogle at.
I changed apartment on the 2nd day to Marisha's lovely home in Kazimierz, the Jewish district where I got to learn a whole lot about the history of this land. Marisha, a lovely and intriguing Polish-Scottish lady, pointed me to a local restaurant, UtDorotea's, around the corner from her house where I ended up eating twice as the food was good and cheap! Can't beat that!
On another afternoon, I walked to the castle, around the corner from Marisha's. The trip to Wawel Castle was made so much more entertaining with an audio tour app I had downloaded on my now much cherished Ipad. {Without this iPad, I probably would've ended up in Uzbekistan or who knows where! GPS map is a wonderful thing!}
I also got to meet Iker, a friend of Ester's from Edinburgh. It was great fun getting to know him, who also hails from the Basque region in Spain. He is teaching Spanish in Krakow and absolutely loves being there, so it was awesome to hear another aspect of life in this city. Krakow has so much to offer, despite the dark ugly history. And even though I felt some disdain from some folks, maybe because I couldn't even muster any Polish words (try pronouncing Brzozowa!) I thoroughly enjoyed my visit and would return.
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