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Krakow - Heart of Poland
-Piprey on wheels
Krakow is the lovely, old, cultural capital of Poland. Having faced
armed invasions from the
Austrians, Germans and being partitioned into three, Poland is now
unified. The
different governances and cultural
diversity presented a unique challenge to this nation.
Though it joined the European union, it still maintains Polish Zylot (PLN) as currency and not Euro. It is the fast growing nation in the EU while Germany has hit recession in 2023. Not certain if it means that the common people are getting richer though.
Krakow is the
cultural capital and the
epicenter is the
Wawel castle. Set on a hill, defended by Vistula (Wisla) river, the
Polish people draw their sense of identity from this castle. I was on a business trip and decided a bit of sight- seeing to enhance my
understanding of my Polish clients.
Kazimierz was the old
Jewish center, specially allocated by the
King Kazimier. Being on the
trade route between the east and west, it prospered from the spice and silk trade.
St Florian was the patron saint of Poland. He is the
patron saint of firefighters. Since most houses in the old city of Krakow were built of wood, he was venerated. On 25
th May, Krakow was celebrating fire brigade day.
Shiny, smart fire brigades and firefighters paraded in the old city square to the delight of
the citizens and tourists.
Many street food
joints at
Plac Nowy (new square), Kazimierz were full of young and old. I tasted hot potatoes with Greek salad called
Kimpur. There were
open baguettes, baked with cheese and mushrooms which seems to be the national favourite.
The region had a strong cultural affiliation with Sweden and Lithuania, formed from royal marriage alliances.
Christianity arrived around 1000 AD from Hungary. Unfortunately, most of the churches and medieval architecture were destroyed by the Austrians when they conquered Poland. The
soldiers occupied the palaces and burnt down the wood ceilings for heat during winters.
Later, Nazis invaded Poland and set up the palace as their headquarters in 1939.
There are stories of brutality and violence by the Nazis on the local population to destroy their local identity.
When USSR was formed, Poland was under communism.
If you read history, it seems the Polish people tried to
polonisation their neighbouring regions especially driven by catholism which was both voluntary and forced. Even today, there is a near total ban on abortion in Poland.
In the guided walking tour, it was so heartening to hear that
John Paul, who became Pope in 1979,
visited his homeland. With his presence,
he empowered the people to believe in themselves. Slowly, people formed unions and tried to fight for their rights.
If faith moved mountains, it happened in Poland. Of course, this could be interpreted with a different geopolitical
Wawel castle
Restored area flavour.
The Polish royalty had invested in setting up a university.
Copernicus who re-discovered that the Earth revolved around the Sun studied here. 139 university professors were captured by the Nazis among which only 50 survived. Auschwitz-Birkenau, a Nazi concentration camp was hardly 70kms from Krakow.
A clean city with a modern, clean, state of art tram system, each journey cost 4 PLN ( Polish Zylot) which is about 19p. Such a contrast to UK where each train journey starts at 1.75 GBP in the same city! At a few tram stations away from the city, we could use only coins.
My purse was always jingling with coins 😊 I had a
daily feast of breakfast and one of the
best caesar salad at
Hampton Inn, Dabska. I choose this hotel as
it had housed Ukrainian refugees for free for a week when Russia invaded Ukraine on 24
th February 2022. Tucked away from the city, I had the
pleasure of walking by the Pradnik stream, a
daily forest bath accompanied by the sweet songs of the birds and swift surprise smells of wild, summer flowers. In the past, this area had many flour mills.
I tried
Royal musoleums in Wawel castle
Observe the different styles creating a unique mix Zurka (which is a rye fermented soup),
Pierogi ruskie (dumpling with cheese and potato) and a martini cocktail in a fancy restaurant. At my workplace, ate stuffed cabbage leaves with rice and meat called
Golabki, a variety of fresh salads and
kompot (fruits boiled in water made into a red drink). I tasted a unique croissant with green, creamy pistachio paste.
At the old Jewish center, y
oung women and men were playing violins and saxophone in posh restaurants which added to the charm of the evenings.
Polish language is a Slavic language written in latin script. To me, thats where all familiarity ended. I could not pronounce a single world correctly. I did not understand a single word. My Polish colleagues have been very patient and given up 😊
During the Nazi occupation, over 66,000 artistic treasures were stolen of which around 600 have been recovered till date. Many of the arts were saved by the local people in the rivers, caves and homes. It seems they taught the same to the Ukrainians when Russia invaded in 2022.
Many of the treasures are hidden. In Krakow, I found it in the generous hearts and minds of the Polish. Without a moment of hesitation, the Polish housed Ukrainians when they lost their homes, in their railway stations. Krakow beats every other city with the aspirations and beautiful nature of its people.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Poland is rich in history
Poland has risen closer to the top of our list. I hope we get there soon. Your blog has wet our appetite.