love those cupcakes

Krakow, take two

I am developing a serious crush on this city, steeped as it is in history, academia, culture and unimaginable tragedy.  Without last year's snow and ice, it was much easier to explore the museums, churches, university and galleries in the Old Town and lose ourselves in the labyrinthine streets and atmosphere of Kazimierz, once home to a substantial Jewish population. 

Walking for miles, dodging the horse drawn cabs, trams and Krakow pigeons.  Browsing and buying from the stalls in the Christmas market.  Fuelled by apple cake, hot spiced wine, fruit pies, green chai and vodka served in candlelit cellar cafés.  Hearing the Heynal, the five-note tune played by a trumpeter four times consecutively each hour from the highest tower of St Mary's Church in the main square.   Eating dinner alongside students and residents.  Wondering what it would be like to live there. 

The Boo?   He stayed with pet carers in Darlington. 

And cried every night.

 

What they do in Poland

Aunty M's best friend is waiting for her son and his family to get here from their home in Vancouver.  Last she heard they were stuck at Amsterdam airport, awaiting a flight into the UK.

When we left Krakow last week it was snowing heavily.  Expecting long delays at the airport, we were pleasantly surprised and rather impressed at the efforts to keep runways clear (using a convoy of 10 or 11 snow ploughs) and plane wings de-iced (using a man, a ladder attached to a tanker of de-icing fluid and a large spray).  We left an hour late though the delay was entirely due to the late incoming flight from Liverpool. 

Just saying.

 

Catch up

Our little jaunt was a five day trip to Poland's second city, which was cut to four days after long delays (due to freezing fog) at the airport.  Krakow is a beautiful city with lots of places to explore and with so many stories to tell.  However, the weather whilst we were there (rain, fog and finally snow) wasn't great for photographs (and it probably didn't help that I'm still getting acquainted with the new camera) and only a few of those I did take are worthy of sharing.

Christmas market in the medieval square in the old town.

 

Wawel cathedral, the venue for the coronations of Polish monarchs and where, as a priest, Pope John Paul 11 delivered his first mass in 1946.

Part of the castle on Wawel hill.

A recently opened (just this year) museum is the one at the site of Oskar Schindler's factory.

Housed in the enamel factory's admin block, the museum's well put together exhibits, including one of Schindler's office, tell the story of Krakow, and everyday life for its inhabitants, from the early 1900's to the final weeks of the Nazi occupation and the arrival of the Red Army.

 

For all sorts of reasons, I wasn't convinced that our trip should include that most horrifying and tragic part of Krakow's history - the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.  Since 1947 the entire site has been designated a memorial to the estimated 1.2 million victims, a museum and historical document,  and, after much deliberation, we did visit. 

There are no photographs.  There are no words.