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Published: November 5th 2007
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Kosciol Mariacki
Church of Our Lady November 2004
Krakow, listed by UNESCO as one of the 12 great historic cities of the world way back in 1978, is probably the top destination in Poland if it’s art, architecture, history or just plain drinking that you are after. If you’re on a stag do and don’t give a f*** about the country’s past, Poland’s ancient seat of royalty contains a vast wealth of treasures inside its heavily fortified walls that can’t fail to inspire. The ensemble that is Wawel, perched on top of the hill of the same name immediately south of the old town, is by far the most important collection of buildings in Poland. A symbol of national pride, hope, self-rule and not least of all fierce patriotism. The Wawel offers a Polish version of Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey all rolled in together and if you pick the right day ….which escapes me at the minute ….. it’s even free to have a wander around. The stand out features are the Castle and the Cathedral, which contain everything from the obligatory suits of armour to Poland’s very own version of the Crown Jewels. If you don’t fancy any of that, you can always have
A Bar with No Name
Miranda tests the local rocket fuel under the watchful eye of memories from the past. a wander round the grounds and check out the situation of the floodlights from the panoramic view for a sporting foray to Wisla or Cracovia, before you head back to the pub!
However, drinking venues on the surface are not as easy to find as in most cities in Europe. The initial thoughts are this is going to be a place for a quiet drink…a very quiet drink! The crowds seem to disappear into the hundreds of bars and pubs that seem determined to hide, rather than advertise, their location - no signs advertising fun here, in fact no sign at all. Your best bet is hover around and wait until you see a crowd mysteriously descend down a derelict alleyway or stairwell and then at least you know you won’t be drinking on your own. Whilst underground venues seem to be the mainstay of the Old Town in particular, if you prefer your nocturnal beverages above ground we can recommend the Tram Bar on Stolarska - settle into a booth and drink the night away. Please bear in mind Polish beer and vodka might be cheap, but probably have the same effects on your brain as drinking rocket
fuel!
The Old Town is the best place to begin your daytime exploration. The main square, Rynek Glowny, is dominated by its centrepiece covered market, the Sukiennice, which at the time of our visit was undergoing renovation and part of the square was fenced off. It is by all accounts the largest medieval market place in Europe, but with the scaffolding it was difficult to get a true perspective. The rest of the square was covered in a Christmas market - the local entrepreneurs doing brisk business in clearing their stock of scented candles and Christmas soaps to tourists and locals alike. The other stalls were busy catering to the more basic requirements - serving mulled wine with sausage and pretzels. The entrance to the Old Town is the 14th century Florianska gate, whilst in the square itself the Church of our Lady (Kosciol Mariacka) and the Town Hall Tower (Wieza Ratuszowa) compete for the attention.
After all that walking around, we were a bit peckish and settled on Polskie Jadło Compendium Culinarium on ul Jana. A typical example of Polish country cooking for the tourist, although to be fair there were more than just a few locals
participating as well. If you are after a hearty broth to keep out the cold or seriously large portions of dead animals, you probably won’t be disappointed. A word to the wise on the Polish restaurant tipping etiquette, which can be best described as confusing if your language skills don’t rise above the basics. The rule of thumb is not to say thanks when a waiter collects the money for your bill - they’ll take that as the sign that you won’t want any change back. The best bet is to keep your thank you’s (dziękuje) to yourself and stare hard at your beer, until your change arrives.
If you head south of the Old Town you come to Kazimierz, the old Jewish quarter. The area obviously has a different persona these days and some prefer the Kazimierz nightlife to that in the centre. There were no unmarked stairwells leading to trendy cellars or creaky iron gates revealing drinking courtyards, but somehow we never felt that comfortable doing our drinking in that part of town. We passed through en route to Schindler’s factory immortalized by Thomas Keneally’s book Schindler’s Ark, and then later in the Spielberg epic film Schindler’s
List, situated on ul Lipowa in an industrial no-man’s land just south of the Vistula River. When we visited there was just a plaque on the factory wall, but plans are apparently a foot for a mini museum (which might be there by now).
Alas the football had already closed down for the winter break, so neither Wisla or Cracovia were in action. As has been the custom on previous travels, it didn’t stop John heading west out of the Old Town in search of the grounds - conveniently a few hundred yards apart across an area of grass parkland, which presumably makes derby day a bit interesting! We had to settle for another alternative sporting diversion - Comarch Cracovia in the Polish Elite Ice Hockey League. Ice hockey is normally a family sport, but judging by the fences and surly youths at the Ice Stadium on ul Siedleckiego, this is obviously not the case in Poland. The riot police weren’t called into action on this occasion, as there didn’t seem to be any rival fans from the visiting KH Sanok - mind the team were only there in spirit as they caved in to a 7 - 1
defeat.
The ice stadium was just around the corner from the hotel, which was a converted shoe factory. The hotel also had the benefit of being a few hundred yards away from the train station of Krakow Glowny, where we set off for our next destination of Oswiecim.
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