Day 2: Kraków, Poland

Off to Kraków!

We started our day with an early train ride to the city of Kraków. Having done the research before the trip and located a website that sells train tickets, we were able to sort out the train options and ticket situation before we left, so all we had to do was navigate to the train station in Warsaw and get on the right train. Fortunately having only 3 train platforms and 6 tracks to decipher, we were able to catch the 10:09am to Kraków. My research also recommended getting 1st class train tickets to avoid any overcrowding and ensure our seat reservation, and that is exactly what we did. The train we picked was modern (as opposed to the older, cheaper train options) and even had free wi-fi available which we did not expect. But the car layout reminded me of old movies with compartments on the train with a single-file walkway along one side of the car itself. Apparently, an early Tuesday train from Warsaw is not in high demand and we had our 6 seat person compartment all to ourselves for the three hour ride.



[Ilana in our train compartment]


[Polish countryside]

After an uneventful and pleasant train ride through the Polish countryside, we studied the map and took a 10-15 minute walk from the train station to the city center and our hotel. The first thing Ilana and I noticed when we got off the platform and into the corridors of the train station was the awesome smell of baked goods, which needless to say seemed a bit out of place. It turns out that the corridors of the train station were lined with small tin shack-like stalls of different stores and some of them were small "bakeries". I quote the word because they were not bakeries in the sense I know of back home in the US, but just small enough to fit one person, an oven, and a counter. I can't say the businesses looked very inviting but they sure smelled good. In the two minutes it took us to get outside, Ilana saw a cart selling more baked goods and spotted some poppyseed cake that reminded Ilana of when her mother used to buy poppyseed cake from a Polish bakery when she was a kid, so we had to stop and get some. And it was awesome! These carts are everywhere and I want to stop and get some everywhere we go.



[Kraków train station]


[Kraków train station. (That's me carrying all the luggage)]


[Ilana at the Kraków train station with poppyseed cake]

Since we got here sort of mid-afternoon we decided to try stroll the city and see what we could while we had daylight hours. We chose a hotel that sits right on the Rynek Główny (main square). The square is massive and very impressive compared to anything I have seen anywhere in Europe. There is a huge building in the middle called the Cloth Hall that has vendors selling all kinds of things for tourists. The Church of St. Mary sits on the square as well with its two towering spires. Every hour on the hour, the bells of the church chime the current hour and an actual bugler plays from the highest spire of the Church of St Mary. The tradition goes back to the 13-14th centuries when Kraków faced threats from the Tatar barbarians of the East. The bugler would stand watch and alert the townspeople of any threat of invasion. Apparently the last note the bugler plays is cut short, the legend says that in 1240 as the Tartars approached and the bugler began playing he was hit in the throat with an arrow. The shortened last note is deliberately made in the honor of his death. Nowadays it is customary for those in the square to wave to the bugler when he is done as a gesture of thanks for keeping watch. Plenty of people today still wave after the bugler is done.



[Left: Church of St. Mary; Right: Cloth Hall]


[Ilana in the Rynek Glowny]

After we toured the square and took note of the plethora of restauracjas lining the outside of the square we sat down for some fantastic stuffed cabbage and zurek (Polish sour soup) at a place called Dom Polonii. It reminded me of the stuffed cabbage that my mother used to make when I was young, but apparently as a child I was not as huge a fan as I am now. With the weather being a little overcast it began to rain fairly hard as we ate but were luckily parked under some umbrellas so our meal was undisturbed.

Afterwards we walked some of the sides streets of the old town before attending a small Chopin concert in a music room at our hotel. As Chopin is a national hero of Poland his music and legacy are still very much part of the Polish culture.


[Music room: Chopin concert]

With our energy winding down and jet lag taking its toll we took one last walk at night to get gofry and see the nearby Wawel Castle (more tomorrow) at night. Gofry is basically a waffle with cream, strawberries, and chocolate on top, but there are other topping choices available.


[Church of Saint Peter and Paul: statues of the 12 disciples out front]


[Wawel Castle at night]

Until tomorrow!

FJJ