Polska! Part 1: Krakow.

Note: I will post articles about my trip as I finish writing them. Thankfully  a three hour train ride helped write most of my trip to Krakow.

Krakow

The first leg of my three part Samana Santa journey: Poland.

From my many experiences traveling from Madrid, I believe my routine is firmly established. As a model of efficiency, I was waiting at the airport gate over an hour before the departure. Part of the reason was the necessity to splurge on a taxi ride to the airport. With the metro not open, I was forced into the 25 euro fare from right outside my apartment (one of the benefits living near the city center, taxis run all night driving inebriated party goers from the clubs).

One would not associate Krakow, my first stop, as a preferred spring break destination. Then again, you could ask that to the nearly 200 passengers on my Ryanair (yay ... Ryanair) flight. Interesting to note that most passengers did not look Polish (and, trust me, it is easy to differentiate between Spanirds and Polish) and were speaking Spanish.
Speaking of Ryanair, my experience was a 'normal' routine of waiting in a long line, waiting for the airplane to open after checking my boarding pass, and waiting as the others tried to find their seats. Taxiing late, we went by the international terminal and were de-iced along the way. To my credit, I was able to sleep a little (never mind the four hours I got that evening). Waking up and looking out the window, we were flying rather low to the ground. Perhaps this was exaggerated by the large mountains that appeared below.

Making the most gradual descent possible into Krakow, we landed at an airport only so much bigger than the one at my home university. With no walkways to the terminal, we exited the plane onto the tarmac. Suddenly, all of the Spaniards seemingly disappeared and I was surrounded by Polish people. Taking a bus to the only terminal, the small building was filled with people. Walking around, a few people asked me stuff in Polish while I was getting bumped into. Welcome to Poland.

As per normal, my first objective was to find a map and my next transportation. Finding an information booth, I asked the lady is she spoke English. Her response was 'no' followed by a rye smile and 'of course I do.' My response: 'Don't mess with me right now...' Getting my map, I could either take a bus or train to the city center. First, I exchanged my money. Poland uses the Zloty. Having withdrawn enough Euros for my whole trip, I only exchanged around 200 to get more than 800 Zl.

Exiting the airport, I walked 100m to the train platform. Oh, by the way, did I mention it was cold and snowing? Yep. Typical Polish weather I imagine. I immediately drew comparisons to my trip to Segovia when I saw the snow from the airplane; just as everything seemed going to plan, it turns out to be cold and snowing. Much like that same trip, I was really glad I decided to bring my second jacket.
Arriving at the train 'station,' the bus stop esque station had all information in Polish and not even a machine for tickets. The airport is a distance from the city in a very small neighborhood you could describe as quintessential Polish. Confused about how to proceed, a man started asking me some things in Polish. Given he concluded with pointing his arms down both directions of the track, it was probably which way to the city. At that particular moment, my 45 minutes of intense Polish studying from YouTube videos eluded me. Saying I don't speak Polish, in English and walking away, I started back to the airport to find a bus.

I somehow avoided the long line for the bus ticket machine, though it was formed mainly because the other foreign tourists were trying to figure out how it worked, much like I would. Two English speaking girls asked if I knew how it worked. After using my money to find it worked, I followed one of the girls aboard the waiting bus. Introducing myself, we were both Americans who had traveled from Madrid. She was actually a young professional teaching Spanish at a school in Spain originally from Boston. Taking about things in Spain, America, and what the hell we had gotten ourselves into by visiting Poland helped pass the 45 minute ride to the Krakow train station in the city center. Getting turned around a few times trying to follow my city map (something she did not have), we figured out where we were going and parted ways once we had to. Overall, at least talking with another person helped ease me into my arrival in a new country.

Snowy Krakow

All things aside, I walked to my hostel. I can safely say, rather beyond the fact, that I stayed at the main party hostel in Krakow  The front desk doubled as a bar, with party music already playing even just after 1:00. Finding no one at the desk, I walked a little to find one of the attendants (not much older than myself, if that) lounging on the hallway floor and greeted me with 'Welcome. Sorry, I got really drunk last night." Super. Checking in, I got to my eight bed room to find a girl still recovering from the exploits of the evening before. We managed to talk a little before I figured out what to do.

Equipped with my map, my first priority was food. I had one thing on my mind: perogies! One of the most typical of Polish foods, I found the most recommended place in town which only serves the famous Polish dish. Getting there took me through the city center.

Streets of Krakow

Good ol Polish transportation

Market Square of Krakow

I would invite you to look at a map of Krakow. The old town is right in the center of the city. Somewhat oval shaped, the real old town is surrounded by a narrow park providing a green boarder on the map. With my hostel only a block outside of the park border, I started walking through the snow, arriving at the main market square. All streets mainly radiate from the square. They are somewhat narrow and mainly meant for pedestrians. I did a brief tour of the square. In the center is the market, a large building with a long covered arcade with small shops. Surrounding the market were food and flower carts. The most distinct building is St. Mary's cathedral.

St. Mary's Cathedral

Arriving at the peroig place, my short trip had already worn me down given the cold weather and snow. With a menu in English, I ordered the traditional mix of perogies and a cup of hot fruit tea. I total, around 15 Zl. A brief note on currency: the Polish Zl is not that strong. By comparison, it is 4 to a euro and 3 to a dollar. With a low relative income of the Polish population, my dish of nine perogies and tea is probably worth around 15 dollars to locals. For me, it only costs 5 dollars. Basically, Poland is inexpensive and you can go a long way with not a lot of money.

Perogies!

Wawel

Enjoying my lunch and a little warmed up, I continued my walk around the market square, admiring the bell tower and a small stand alone chapel. My destination was the Wawel castle. On a small hill touching the river, the castle is, like, a real castle. I was disappointed to learn the last tour had left and everything was closing. Too bad. I walked around the courtyard, admired the Wawel basilica next to the Pope John Paul II museum (former bishop of Krakow btw), and looked for the famous (fire breathing) dragon statue. I was unable to find the dragon statue and the cold was really hindering my desire to pursue it further.

Wawel Cathedral

Karol Józef Wojtyła, main man of Krakow

I kept walking, seeking occasional refuge in the many open churches to visit. Even from my experiences at home, the Polish are really catholic. Many people were praying in one church I visited. Inside, there was a line of people waiting to enter some small chapel. I never saw the end of the line with at least 30 people. Asking someone with a backpack (if you have a large backpack, you are probably not a local and probably speak English) about the line, which he said was for praying.

Winner of the pointiest church award

My tour concluded in the Jewish quarter of the city. I wanted to find the Schindlers factory, which I still do not know what it is but it is famous. At that point, walking around the Jewish market and the synagogue, the cold got to me again, forcing me to make my way back toward the hostel to warm up.

You are setting up a light stand in below freezing weather... only in Poland

My three hour tour (haha) of the city left me hungry again. Only one thing was on my mind: paczki! These Polish doughnuts, which I have found in Chicago, are big, delicious, and filled with fruit filling. After finding my two new Brazilian roommates, I asked a girl at the desk where to find paczki  Giving me her favorite place around a 20 minute walk, no distance was too long to stop me from finding the best paczkis  in Krakow. After getting sidetracked a few times, I passed many closed stores including the bakery. Still determined, I found another bakery and ordered four. Even with my head cold from earlier in the day, the doughnut was still good.

After some lounging and meeting my roommates (now adding an Australian), I got some free hot tea at the kitchen and lounge in the basement of the hostel and talked with some of the other guests. Actually, there was a pair of Chicagoans visiting on travel from their exchange in Belgium. The largest group was of Dutch students who were very talkative and already drinking. I was sure keeping pace with my hot tea.

Forgoing the free diner provided by the hostel (courtesy of Hard Rock Cafe, authentic Polish...), I had my plans set for the evening. First, dinner at the highly recommended Milkbar Tomasza. Milkbar isn't an added translation or even related to milk; these cafeteria style restaurants were founded by the communists as the workers eatery. The meals are really simple and priced really cheaply. For me, minestrone soup, grapefruit juice, and some traditional potato pancakes in a mushroom sauce was really filling for only 16 Zl. The other patrons were locals, also using the free wifi offered by the restaurant. Not that fancy, but you get your food just as your comrades would intend.

Good ol Polish food

Next, I had learned that Poland was playing a critical World Cup qualifying match against Ukraine that day, being held in Warsaw. I sought out a bar to watch. After several minutes to get my beer (need to work on my bar skills), the score was 0-2 Ukraine with only 15 minutes played. I don't have to tell you that is a bad start. Later, Poland scored and the bar went crazy. Just before halftime, Ukraine scored for 1-3. Not expecting much from the Polish team I watched, I left at halftime. Turns out, the match finished with the same score.

Next day, I got an early start with the free breakfast and prepared myself for the day's attraction: a tour of the infamous Auschwitz concentration camp. I had debated visiting the place the day before, because the 6 hour tour would take a lot from the day. Still, for 90 Zl, the all inclusive tour was too significant to pass up. I was accompanied by three English students and a German girl from the hostel. The hour bus ride there featured a sobering documentary in the liberation of the camp and unearthing the evidence. Arriving there, the English students were still buzzing about the evening before and one even threw up when we got there. Receiving a headset, we were lead to the camp by our English speaking tour guide.

Auschwitz

Our first stop was the main gate with the shadowy inscription "Work will set you free." Auschwitz is small, composed of 30 brick barracks where the prisoners were held. Each 'Block' is a mini museum, so we walked inside five or so.

Work Will Set you Free

A note on history. Auschwitz is actually a camp complex, with Auschwitz I being the smaller but well built. Auschwitz II, or better known as Birkenau, is the larger camp where most were contained. We would visit this next.

Auschwitz 

Not to go into too much detail about the things I learned, but Auschwitz is a scary place to visit. I seldom talked with anyone, though the English students still made some jokes among themselves. Even when taking pictures, I never thought to include myself. It was almost frustrating to watch some visitors pose for pictures smiling in front of the door to Block 11, the 'Block of death.'

Going through the blocks provided me with one of the scariest moments of my life. In one section were displays of the collected items from the prisoners. Piles of eyeglasses, shoes, and even human hair were displayed. Along one long walk were the suitcases of the prisoners (I use prisoners to accommodate the many who were non Jewish). Each was painted with the name of the owner, done so by the owner to collect the suitcase during their stay. Of course, most perished shortly after being separated from their bags. I started reading the names as I walked. One suitcase, one of the most visible of the pile, caught my eye.

I froze.
Went cold and numb.
On this suitcase was the name.

"M.Frank"

My name.

I read over the spelling of Frank several times. I almost did not want to believe, almost forgetting how to spell my last name. I grabbed my drivers license to check.
I wanted to tell someone. Confide with them over this. I became a little nauseous, though I continued walking.
The next block featured pictures of the prisoners, the few that were taken. I nervously scanned the faces, particularly looking at the names, expecting to find one with my own again. At that moment I was the most certain in my whole life about one thing: if I found a picture with any M Frank, I was going to throw up. Thankfully, I did not find such a thing.

The Block of Death

The tour finished with a tour of the Block of Death, the firing wall, and the gas chamber / crematory. All very powerful.

Gas Chamber

Firing Wall

The second part of the tour involved a short bus ride to Birkenau, the larger of the camps and largest of the war. The main railway gate is famous, one of the residual symbols of its terror. With most of the wooden barracks having been burned down by the Germans, the only real ruminants were some 300 chimney stacks that decorated the landscape. Seemingly to go on forever, we walked along the rail tracks, the dividing point where the Nazis would select who would live and who would die upon arrival. Walking along the path of the condemned, the "road to heaven," we walked to the memorial monument and the ruins of the gas chambers.

Birkenau gate

It seemed fitting to visit the camp at this time of year. The winter views must have been omnipresent for the prisoners for most of the years. The slight thaw from the sun turned the sand paths into muddy walkways. My feet were freezing, even with strong boots on. Absolutely freezing at the conclusion, I could not imagine surviving with any less clothing than I had.

A late lunch of pizza with the hostel students followed the return to the city. After some relaxing, I wanted to explore the city one more time. Buying some souvenirs (a Robert Lewandowski jersey from a nice woman street vendor), my first stop was inside the St. Mary cathedral. Even for all the churches I have visited, I was actually impressed with the interior. The dark interior was efficiently decorated to use almost every bit of space. Compared to most churches, the interior had a flair of shadowy color. A few people were praying, some out loud.

Getting dark and cold, I went around the market and found a hot spiced wine booth. I was unable to finish the strong bitter drink; probably the first drink I was compelled to throw down a drain. My destination was the plaza of John Paul II, where I would hopefully find something about him. Getting lost along the way, I underestimated the distance. Following a main street, some large stadium lights in the distance caught my attention. Walking to the Krakow stadium, the loud chants of supporters accompanied the ongoing match. Walking around the stadium, I asked about entrance to the match and was informed no more entry was allowed. Still, the loud organized chants were impressive to hear, even if they were being signaled by someone over the stadium PA system.

I was unimpressed by the plaza, though I did do enough to find a plaque dedicated to the birthplace of the favorite priest of Krakow  A swift walk back allowed me time of catch dinner at the hostel: fries, tuna with pasta, Greek ish salad, fish sticks, and a beef patty were deemed Polish food by the hostel organizers. The evening was spent drinking and talking with the hostel guests, including a Spaniard from Madrid (and proud Athletico fan).

The next morning signaled my departure. With the train station a short walk away, I purchased my ticket (using my iPad to explain exactly which type of ticket I wanted) and had an hour to kill. Walking back to the old town one last time, I enjoyed taking pictures on the sunny day. Buying a circular pretzel from one of the many stands in the market, I was present to hear the trumpet anthem from the church to signal the hour. Apparently, when the city was invaded several hundred years ago, a trumpeter signaled the attack and was shot with an arrow mid note. The anthem, played every hour by a real person (I saw) commemorates the event.

How about some nicer weather...

The market building

I boarded my train to Warsaw and set off on the three hour ride through the snowy Poland countryside.

Overall, Krakow impressed me more than I expected. When everyone says it is a beautiful city, I will not deny. It now ranks as one of those cities I need to visit again, with much of the history and significant sights still undiscovered.

Pro tip on speaking Polish: replace 'c' with 'k' and add a 'y' after everything