Krakow: Wieliczka Salt Mine

Today I booked a day tour to take me out to Wieliczka Salt Mine. I am sure I could have gotten out there myself but it’s one less thing I have to figure out.

My tour doesn’t start until ten o’clock so first it’s breakfast. I chose an interesting place a couple blocks away open early enough. I did not realize that I would end up getting the best breakfast I’d have in a long time (Gossip Cafe). I love the selection on my plate. To top it off they have coffee with plant based milk so my tummy will be less mad at me.

I meet up with my tour for a short 30 minute ride. The tour guide tells us that our tour of the mine won’t start for another 1.5 hours. It sounds like they were unable to get a start time right away. They made up for it by paying for entry to the nearby salt “spa” where we get to walk around and breathe therapeutic salt air.

When it is time for our tour of the mine we walk down 380 steps to get to the first level of which I believe there are 9 but we only tour 3 of them. We are 64 meters deep. We learn about the mine, gray salt, and how the salt is mined. We learn the requirements to be a miner.

They have many impressive salt sculptures as well as a pretty nice salt church. This isn’t my first salt church (first in the Colombia) but this probably has the most detailed sculptures in it.

Story about a ruler being returned her wedding ride by miner

Finally we make it to the salt church with its impressive carvings.

Pine used for support and salt makes it strong

Finally we go into a cavern where Chopin is played using lights to light up a statue.

We go further down to finally about 135 meters at the end.

It is a very long walk back to the elevators which we do get to take on the way up. However they shove us in there like sardines though.

After my tour I finally give myself some downtime and a happy hour on the patio of my hotel.

Dinner plans were to watch Klezmer music. (Authentic Jewish folk music). Despite an online recommendation I did end up at a bit of a tourist trap. The food and music were just ok but the music sounded so much better at the place next door. I did really enjoy my Zurek soup though.

Back to the hotel to rest since I have a long day at Auschwitz tomorrow.

Krakow: Food Tour and Nowa Huta

I wake up early today grab a coffee and head down to Plac Nowy in Kazimierz to start my food tour. There’s a market here today but vendors are just setting up for the day.

Our guide is a polish native, spent some years in Chicago but decided she missed living in Poland. There is only me and another woman on this tour today. My companion is very nice and in town for a couple weeks volunteering her time in Auschwitz.

We start in Plac Nowy in order to try Zapiekanka which I had tried yesterday. Today I try it with different toppings, more vegetables. So far I have not found a bad combination. I’ll have to just keep trying to see if there is one I don’t like 😀.

From here we go to the first stop at pub called Singer. Singer, a lively pub in the evenings, is only closed for about 3 hours in the morning. This historic bar of over 30 years is distinct because it is decorated with the theme of Singer sewing machines. The bar is filled with cute bistro tables with sewing machines on them. It is here that I try two vodkas: honey vodka and wormwood vodka. I admit that wormwood vodka is probably not most people’s favorite since it is kind of medicinal tasting but I quite like it.

The next stop is the “secret” stop of our secret food tour. We try a local take on shaksuka. The flavors of the sauce are perfect. Instead of a full egg it is the yolk only. It is all topped with sour cream (sour cream is what makes it polish). I also try a mulled beer. People know me well know that I never drink beer anymore because it tends to make me feel sick . I take a chance with this mulled beer, so far so good. With ginger and other spices it is very flavorful – something perfect for the cold holidays.

We walk toward old town to digest some food and our guide points out some things along the way.

The next stop is an official milk bar (Bar Mleczny) where I try some official pork pierogis and kompot fruit drink that sounds very easy to make at home.

Next we go to another shop where I get to try again the highland smoky sheep cheese but in the proper form warm grilled served with fruit sauce. It is salty but I enjoy it. I must go back to try some of the other cheeses. Apparently they travel well but I am too early in my travels to carry a bunch of cheese around with me.

Next we stop at another older pub called BaniaLuka, which was also recommended by another tour guide yesterday. Here I get to try bigos which is a sort of cabbage stew with meats like chicken and sausages. It is said to be an excellent hangover cure. Luckily so far I haven’t had enough alcohol to cause a hangover but now I know where to go if I do. I also try drinking a traditional lager to test my luck. I had ginger syrup added to it, apparently a thing people do, and I only drank about half because I didn’t want to press my luck with the beer issue.

Next we stop for a pączki, a polish doughnut. Trying the popular flavor of the yeast doughnuts, filled with wild rose jam topped with candied orange bits, is on my list so I am lucky to try one right out of the oven. The thing is you have to eat these things fresh. I’m notorious for taking a couple bites and squirreling away the rest for later and with pączki it’s just not the same.

Finally we stop at one more bar where I try another drink, this time a shot. The shot is a mix of polish limoncello and ginger syrup with pepper on top. When you drink it quickly it is said to taste like coca-cola and it does.

I say goodbye to tour guide and the other attendee because I am heading across town to check the planned community of Nowa Huta.

Nowa Huta was started in the 1950s when Poland was under the Soviet Union communist rule. It was set up as an ideal town with a steel mill with a neatly formed city to house the workers and families. The architecture is a mix of what you might see in Paris or London but some of it just looks brutalist to me. There is a lack of color and life you might see as you do in other parts of town but apparently these days it is a very popular place to live, especially since communism is long gone in Poland.

I especially enjoyed touring some of the underground in the Nowa Huta museum. Many emergency bunkers were built under the city in case of bombing because you have to remember this was all constructed during the Cold War. The museum also has exhibits on World War II and the Korean War and even the USA’s role in those wars. They definitely had a different propaganda machine going than we did.

The guide from the museum points out other things around town like underground air vents, an interesting church, and different types of architecture.

I visit a second museum that is associated with the Nowa Huta museum but is optional. It is not as extensive but worth a quick visit if time allows. It talks more about bunkers in general and other examples around the world.

Exhausted I catch the bus back to my part of town. Even after all the food I have had today I still feel like I need dinner so I grab something quick and head back to the hotel. I should be out enjoying the evening on a weekend but I am exhausted and I have another tour booked tomorrow.

A Good night.

Krakow: Kazimierz

Next morning as I am getting ready I hear the bugle in the distance since I am not too far. It’s nice to have my windows open even though it’s wet air outside.

Today is expected to rain all day. I am not looking forward to it but I think I am prepared (Update – I am not!).

Usually my goal is to find a coffee shop when I wake up in the wee hours like I tend to do but like most European towns coffee shops open too late for my liking except for Starbucks which I try to avoid. Today I actually slept in a bit and believe it or not coffee wasn’t first on my mind. Today I am hungry and need to find breakfast somewhere near by. I decide to try the milk bar around the corner that I have on my radar to visit. A milk bar is a polish specific type of restaurant that offers affordable local dishes cafeteria style at times. I think the origin is from the communist era where they would provide government subsidized meals (many dairy items). The one around the corner from me is small but popular and often has a line outside. This morning I am able to walk in and get a table.

I order a traditional breakfast of egg, bacon and toast. I also order a latte since you can’t expect me to totally forgo the coffee – I am addicted. I especially liked that they had Depeche Mode playing the entire time I was there.

After breakfast I walk down to Kazimierz, about a 20 minute walk. I am early for my tour so I wander around the area. It has already been sprinkling which is annoying but it’s not too bad yet. I meet up with the local tour guide who starts us on a tour of the former Jewish area of Krakow. This is not the ghetto, which we will see later, but it was home to a Jewish community at different points in history. Apparently there is a history of expelling Jews from Krakow that did not start with WWII. The area is called Kazimierz because he is the king who originally made an agreement with Jewish people to let them live there and be provided protection. Once he was gone the agreement wasn’t always upheld and the community went varying degrees of persecution but the worst happened when the nazis invaded Poland. Over that period of time the population went from 65,000 to less than 5000. They were sent to concentration camps, or forced into labor to live in the Jewish ghetto. Eventually most in the ghetto came to and end during the liquidation of the ghetto, including many kids in the most horrific ways that I don’t even want to document here but you can google it if you want to know what had happened.

We stop by the Remuh Synagogue and cemetery. I will return later to visit this 16th century synagogue. My guide tells us this historic cemetery was used as a garbage dump by the nazis during WWII and it took a heck of an excavation to restore it. They aren’t even sure they placed the headstones correctly. It is very sad to hear a that place like this was disrespected so badly.

Schindlers Passage, not a real historical spot but was used in movie

We walk across the bridge to the Jewish Ghetto where the Jewish people that did remain in town lived during the war. They were not allowed to leave the walled area except for work. The food rations they were given were just enough to keep them from starving.

We end the tour at Plac Bohaterów Getta (Ghetto Hero’s Square), a place where they would select people to send to the camps. It is a solemn place, they have 65 chairs to represent the 65 thousand Jews that used to live in town. Most chairs point in the direction of the ghetto but there is one that faces Oscar Schindler’s factory.

After the tour I head back to Plac Nowy to have a quick lunch. I try the Zapiekanka which is basically a French bread pizza. It hits the spot.

I am soaked since my raincoat is useless and I am cold but St Marys tower is only open for the weekend and this might be the only day I can go so I rush back down to St Marys to buy tickets for the tower and church. The goal is to catch the bugle player while I am up there but unfortunately I am assigned a time that has me totally missing the bugle playing. Apparently you are only allowed to stay up there 30 minutes. It is very overcast so not the greatest picture taking but at least I warmed up and got one heck of a workout climbing the steps.

Before the tower I did visit the church where I got to see the Veit Stoss Altarpiece, a very ornate and distinct wooden altar piece. It is only opened for viewing limited hours a day.

After the church I walk over to Rynek underground museum that was way more impressive than I expected. I ended up spending about two hours there. In the early 2000’s there was a huge effort to excavate the town square because below existed a historic market place underneath the existing square. This museum showcases what was discovered during that excavation.

Finally bought an umbrella at the museum shop even though I was just going back to my room to rest. I’m tired of being cold and wet.

Back to room to rest and dry off a bit.

I go out for dinner in the mood for steak but the restaurant I wanted had no tables so I ended up a Turkish restaurant.

With a full belly and feeling bold I go try some of that cherry liquor, Wiśniówka. It’s very sweet and not as strong as I thought it would be.

I end up at a really bad wax museum.

I finish the night with one more fancy cocktail, where I almost lose my credit card. I guess it is time for bed.

Food tour is tomorrow.

First Day in Poland

I had three flights to get here in Krakow Poland.

It is a popular travel destination where I live but not necessarily a great gateway to most European countries, especially Eastern European countries. Due to flight scheduling and prices I picked an itinerary that had only about an hour layover on both my stops. I know you are thinking I am dumb and asking for trouble but trust me when I say these were the best of the choices so I took a risk. Flights out of my city are frequently delayed for weather in the afternoons and most recently another plane from the same airline caught on fire, as a result the passengers were forced to evacuate using the inflatable slide. But today my first flight goes out without an ounce of drama; as did my first layover. During my layover I don’t have time to explore but I have enough time to use the restroom and buy a snack with time to spare.

Arriving in the first international location is another matter. I had Amsterdam as a layover because I thought from past experience it was an easy airport to get around. I was wrong. And I have only an hour to get to my flight. First they do that thing that many European airports do and board the planes in the middle of a concrete lot, requiring buses to take passengers to and from the terminals. That is such a time waste – in fact the time to deplane and ride the bus was at least 20 minutes, if not more. Once in the terminal it isn’t immediately clear where to go from here. I got from google (the app never updated the gate) that I had to switch gates but I wasn’t aware of how long the immigration line could get (I eventually found a gate board after a few minutes). In immigration Sometimes the short connection line is offered but it is not today as I am told. Waiting in line it doesn’t seem like I am going to make it through in time since the immigration booths are understaffed. As the line slowly moves I learn I am not alone. Many in line are worried about missing our connections but they will still not push us to the front of the line. Probably tired of a group of us whining about missing our flights they move us to a short connection line. I have about 20 minutes or so when I get in this line before my flight leaves the gate so I am not too hopeful it even matters at this point. I get through with about ten minutes to spare and I sprint across the airport many, many gates over. I slow down in short spurts to catch my breath. I finally get to my terminal and my flight has been delayed by 15 minutes, not for us like I was hoping but because wheelchair passengers on the previous flight needed additional time to exit. Hey – I’ll take it. I’m stressed, sweaty and out of breath but I am making my flight and so does my bag. It appears my good travel karma is back (I thought it was lost when I traveled to Portugal last year and all my flights were a disaster).

I arrive in Krakow, Poland and the airport seems simple. I take a minute or two to arrange things before I go look for the train to the city. I download the transportation app (another app!) and buy my ticket. This is where I have one minor mishap. I didn’t fully pay attention to the google. The directions say take the train to a station and then it’s a 12 minute walk to my hotel. I get off at the main train station because somehow I got it in my head that was the correct stop. I am at a busy train station and I walk towards what I think is the exit to town through a mall. I look down at my phone for walking directions since I am close to the exit and it says I have over an hour to walk! Turns out I have gotten off too soon. I walk back to try to get back on the train which I took here but I am having a heck of a time finding the track its on since I only familiarized myself with the route to the hotel, not any of the other train station logistics yet. My original train has a while before it is coming back but I find another one scheduled to go to Zakopane that leaves right now and stops where I need. I hop on thinking I can just buy a ticket on the train. I never figure out how to purchase the ticket but it’s only one stop for me and no one asks me for proof so I guess I’m good. I finally do my 12 minute walk to the hotel where my room is ready so I am happy to unload.

Parallel parking is at whole different level here

Although I am sleep deprived, jet lagged and dirty I don’t take much time to freshen up since I see it is going to storm later and I won’t have much time to sightsee anyway, so I power through. (Note: The storm later is laughable with light rain and some thunder. I come from Florida so it is hard to impress me with a storm.)

My first plan is the visit the tower and altar at St Mary’s church in the Rynek Square but the tower is closed for the day so I decide to postpone both and sign up for a free walking tour that starts in 30 minutes. I am already exhausted so why not do another 2.5 hours of walking. I think it will be a good introduction to the city and I’ve been on the fence about paying to visit the Wawel castle anyway so hopefully this will convince me.

We actually start in front of the St. Mary’s Basilica. Our guide tells us stories of the construction of the towers and the famous hourly bugle that happens from one of the towers. The stories end up being completely made up. I am finding that Poland has lots of fun legends it tells but most of them are complete nonsense. We get to hear the bugle player a couple times and that is cool. The real story is it was used to open and close the gates of the city back in when it was a fortress.

Lil church around the corner from St Mary

We learn about some other dark times in Poland’s history (besides WWII) when Poland ceased to exist at all at one point in history. Our guide shows us a historic college that has connections to Copernicus and the former pope John Paul II.

Muzeum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego Collegium Maius

We hike up the hill to Wawel castle to enjoy the views and learn the history. As suspected it has been completed rebuilt from one of its past iterations because it has been destroyed many times. I have castle fatigue so I think I can skip a non original museum but I might return for the cathedral that has many famous poles buried there.

We finish the tour at Wawel and I walk down to see the famous dragon.

I finish off the evening with an Italian dinner (Don’t judge me I’ll be eating polish food non-stop soon) and a walk through cloth hall (MNK Sukiennice). At first glance the cloth hall seems like a tourist trap but after visiting again the next day I think I may be able to pick up an interesting souvenir or two.