[At the Wawel Castle]
So I’ve been a little lax in my posting, sorry! It has been crazy around here lately and my trips seem to have been going back to back. I’m going to start with my most recent one and work my way back to catch up. I just returned from Krakow, Poland aka the most wonderful place on earth. We had insanely beautiful weather and heavenly food!
Cailin, Amanda, and I caught an early flight from Weeze, Germany to Krakow on Thursday morning. Once we arrived in the airport we took out some Polish money called “Zloty”-we called them “sheckles” throughout the weekend because we couldn’t figure out how to pronounce it. The exchange rate was in our favor so we were really excited to not have to worry too much about money and budgeting for once. We took a train into the city center and decided to grab lunch before heading to our hostel. Cailin had looked up the name of a traditional restaurant known for its perogies. The restaurant ended up being full which turned out to be the best thing because we ended up at another one that was straight out of a dream. I have never eaten in a place like it before! We walked into “Cyrano de Buregeac” expecting a regular restaurant but we were led down stairs, through caverns, up a tiny staircase to a loft inside of an underground cavern. It was one of the most beautiful restaurants I have ever seen! We had meat perogies with crispy pieces of bacon, onion soup, and flan for lunch. I also had my first taste of Polish beer-Zywiec. So good!
[First taste of Perogies!]
[Cailin in the cavern restaurant-the picture doesn't do it justice]
A note about polish food: SO INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL!! I think it is now at the top of my list of favorite kinds of food. Everything is just so hearty and wonderful.
After lunch we walked around for a little and moseyed our way to our hostel. Our hostel was, um, interesting. It was called “Goodbye Lenin” and was situated in an ally in the Old Jewish Quarter. The entire hostel was communist theme with pictures of Lenin, propaganda sayings, and memorabilia plastered everywhere. We were a little worried but it ended up being actually pretty nice. We stayed in a ten person room that had cool wooden bunkbeds. The one bad thing about the room was that the other seven people were obnoxious Spaniards who talked about us in Spanish at 4am after they came in yelling and laughing. Note to self: never share a room with people from Spain again!
We took a nap for an hour before heading out to dinner that night. The Spaniards told us about this traditional polish place by our hostel so we thought we would give it a try (this was before we hated them). At the moment, we loved them because the place ended up being so good! It was a tiny little store front restaurant decorated with fresh vegetables. All of the workers wore funny hats and they served real polish food. Amanda and I had Zurek- Polish sour soup. It is creamy with pieces of bacon and hard boiled eggs, so good! Cailin had borsct (beet soup) which was really good too. We then got some more perogies; I had meat ones, Cailin and Amanda had ricotta and potato filled ones. The perogies were coverd in fried pieces of lard. Literally just fried pieces of lard. The scary thing is-they were delicious! Everything was washed down with the polish beer Lech.
[Polish Sour Soup-also filled with lard, also delicious]
[The remnants of our friday night dinner]
After dinner we went back to our hostel to cash in our free drink voucher at the pub in the hostel basement. We had a beer and listened while the bartender explained the different types of polish vodkas to us. There were caramel, mint, and bison ones (more on those later!). We tried to get to sleep early but were woken up by our obnoxious roommates.
Friday morning we woke up early to go on a walking tour of the Jewish Quarter. We had a wonderful old Polish man named Andje who kept telling us stories and made the tour really interesting. The section of Krakow called Kasimerz was a huge ghetto after the Nazi invasion of Poland. Before the war there were over 30,000 Jews in Krakow. Right now, there are only around 200. The difference between Krakow and the other places I have been in central/eastern Europe is that the people don’t focus on the bad parts of history like how many people died in the ghetto. Instead, they focus on the accomplishments and achievements and lives of the people who lived there. They celebrate life instead of mourn death. Our tour took about 2 hours and we saw all of the important historical sights in Kasimerz. We went into two synagogues, one that survived the war and the only active one left in the city. We also saw the Jewish cemetery that the Nazis didn’t destroy. After our tour we went to an antique store in the basement of the Jewish Community Center where we dug around and found some really cool things. We grabbed lunch at a small place and had delicious kelbasa! From there we walked around an antique flea market outside in a small square and picked up a few cool finds.
[A moorish synagogue in Kasizmer]
After having our fill of all the Jewishness we could find, we wandered over to the Wawel Castle on top of a hill that overlooks the river and the city. The views were so gorgeous! We got to go into the cathedral which was incredible. Afterwards we walked down to the main market square and headed over to a museum where there are a few Da Vinci pieces. The museum is apparently closed until further notice for renovation so we decided to wander around and window shop. I ended up getting a pair of earrings with Vermeer’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring” on them and a Thai good luck decoration for my room next year.
[Main Market Square in Old Town- "Stare Miasto"]
[View from the Castle]
We wandered our way back to our hostel and asked for a recommendation for a nice restaurant in Kasimerz. After getting free drink coupons (gotta love being a student), we headed out to try and find the restaurant the hostel told us about. It was on our way that we discovered how wonderful Polish people are! Cailin and I were holding out a map tyring to figure out where we were while Amanda was trying to findn street signs. As this was going on, two old Polish women come up to us and try to help us find our way without speaking any English. We kept trying to tell them that we would figure it out but they insisted on helping us. When they couldn’t figure it out completely, they called over a family that was walking by to help us out too. Everyone was so nice, it was wonderful. We eventually ended up at the restaurant at sat down for what was one of the most enjoyable meals I have ever had. It took forever to get through the menu because everything sounded so amazing that no one could decide. I ended up getting a chicken cutlet with mushrooms and baked potatoes that were out of this world. The breading on the chicken was indescribably delicious. Cailin got cabbage stuffed with rice and meat in a thick orange sauce that was good. Amanda got a beefsteak in a “diane” sauce which was made with cream, brandy, and mushrooms-so good! The chef sent us a free appetizer of light, creamy feta cheese mixed with diced tomatoes and scallions to spread over homemade, Polish bread. The appetizer we ordered was a fried pork rind, onion, and lard spread over bread with pickles. It sounds gross but let me tell you, it was so good! I have never eaten so many lard products in my life but I am quite happy with it. For dessert Amanda and I split a fried banana with icecream and a lemon, orange, and chocolate sauce over it. I died a little….
[Pork rinds, lard, and pickles]
[Chicken and mushrooms=DELICIOUS!]
During dinner we all realized that we never wanted to leave Poland, that it was truly the magic country. Everything about Krakow was wonderful and the food was to die for. I never thought I would say this but I would love to go back to Poland. Krakow is now tied for favorite city with Florence which is surprising. The pictures really don’t do it justice because there was an intangible atmosphere and vibe to the city that was unlike any other one.
We went back to the hostel pub to do some Polish vodka tasting. We each ended up having a total of six different kinds to try. The caramel, mint, and honey ones were so delicious. There was no burn, it tasted as if you were drinking a liqueur. The bison vodka was a little rough to get down as just a shot. It is a special Polish vodka that is made with grass from the mountains that bison supposedly pee on. Disgusting sounding but actually pretty good! Amanda, Cailin, and I ended up sitting in the pub for a long time just talking a lot and bonding which was really, really nice. We all traveled really well together and I don’t think the trip would have been the same if I wasn’t with them.
[Me, Cailin, and Amanda with our plethora of vodka]
Saturday morning we woke up early to catch our plane back to Weeze and head back to the castle. I really think I am having Poland withdrawals and am seriously considering buying a Polish flag and learning to cook polish food. It’s been one of the few places that I’ve been sad to leave. I definitely would love to come back and explore the city and country side some more.
In other news: I am officially an apartment renter! Amy, Cailin, Katie, and I are officially leasing an apartment in Cambridge this summer/next year. It is adorable! We’re about 3 minutes from Central Square. The apartment had four bedrooms (all with connecting doors) and one bathroom. From the pictures Cailin and I have seen, it looks great! Now we have to start worrying about how to furnish it!
