Enroute to Auschwitz

Wednesday was the only real "planned" day of our stay. I'd found an all-day outing that included Auschwitz-Birkenau and the Wieliczka Salt Mines (pronounced "vi LLIJ kah" — for heaven’s sake don’t call them the Krakow Salt Mines!!!). We were scheduled to be picked up at 8:45, and would be gone approx 11 hours. It was a grey, rainy, miserable day, as would befit a trip to Auschwitz.

Our driver Filip arrived early, and since Barb and I were the first pickup we took the best seats. Two blocks away was the next pickup, a Brexiter my age, and his college student daughter Charlie. Then we headed to the Old Town to pick up a Polish-heritage mother-father-daughter from Chicago. And we hit the road.

1.25 hours by car, Filip had plenty of time to give us his thoughts on the atrocities we were going to visit, anecdotes from previous guests ("Did these things really happen?"), and ask us lots of questions about the US.

An interesting and serious guy, 24-years-old, he teaches guitar, plays guitar in two blues bands, raced cars for a while, spent some time as a competitive ballroom dancer (tango is his least favorite), and is studying to guide tours at Auschwitz beginning next year.

He told us a story (which I'd heard before from another teacher) about how a German newspaper doing an historical piece used in the headline "Polish concentration camps". Polish concentration camps? Polish? It caused quite an uproar, almost an "international incident" between two counties which have uneasily chilly relations to begin with... And as a result legislation has been enacted in Poland to codify how these camps should be referred to.

Christmas night

There weren’t as many options for dinner on Christmas night as I had expected, as we were staying in the Jewish Quarter, but we ended up at "Secret Garden". While the staff speaks excellent English and this is probably a big tourist destination, on Christmas it was also filled with Poles. I always take it as a sign that the food is good and authentic if locals are eating there.

I had a very nice chicken caesar salad (plant-based fiber-filled food anyone?) and Barb had two kinds of pierogi -- including Ruskie which have become her current favorite.

There was a large group of friends seated behind us and one of the chicks had made a "Christmas present" hat for herself (could she have bought this someplace??)... At any rate, I coveted the hat and tried to surreptitiously take photos. They didn't turn out that great, but you get the gist. I might make one for myself on some future holiday.

On the way out the door we ran into some young folks speaking English -- a guy from New York, a guy from Pakistan and a girl from New Zealand. Solo travelers, they had met in a hostel and were having Christmas dinner together. Very cool thought.

Once back at the Kaz crib we crashed in preparation for the slog we know we faced on Wednesday.

Christmas Day

Christmas day was really a fabulous day. We slept late and strolled to a hotel restaurant nearby where we had warming scrambled eggs and fantastic Polish bread -- dense and flavorful. Then we took a slow stroll from Kazimierz to the Rynek Glowny, the main square in Old Town where they hold the Christmas Market. It's proported to be the largest central square in Europe.

It was snowing from the moment we stepped outside, tiny little drops that clung to our hats and coats, but melted on our faces.

After we crossed into Old Town, there were lots of touristy souvenir shops in the streets leading to the Rynek open, which was surprising to me as I know how fervently Catholic Poland is, but I assume the shop owners wanted to make as many sales during the main winter tourist season as possible.

As we strolled along, by the Wawel Castle and toward the Rynek Glowny, Barb kept saying "It's a Christmas village!" and indeed with the architecture and the falling snow it really does look like some scene in an advertisement for Department 56. But it's real!

Then we came upon the Christmas market. Check here for my photos.

There were shops selling almost everything imaginable -- cured meats, warm woolens, jewelry (including amber), beautiful traditional Polish pottery, traditional Polish clothing, Christmas decorations including wreaths and ornaments, touristy souvenir items, hot chocolate, hot wine, and food, food, food!

OMG, the smells of the hot ready-to-eat foods were mouth-watering! You could get ham hocks, kielbasa, black pudding, sauerkraut, potatoes, too many things to name and god only knows what they were called in Polish. There was a big booth selling nothing but soups. We opted for kielbasas, eaten standing at a table while the snow fell around us.

A quick cuppa in one of the two Costas on the perimeter to warm the toes, and we headed back into the now swirling snow. In the market Barb gifted herself with a handmade "poncho" of amber-colored felted wool made to wear over your coat and I gave myself a delicate amber bracelet from the same vendor. She had groovy items to sell which she made herself, and wore groovy glasses, so she had my vote from the git.

Mid-afternoon we strolled through the blizzard back home to the Jewish quarter, where we watched the Netflix show to prepare us for the trip to Auschwitz on Dec 26.

Christmas Eve Dinner

In Polish tradition, Christmas Eve in the main celebration, with Christmas Day and Dec 26 (the Second Day of Christmas) being "carbo coma" days.

The process is that most places of business close around 2pm. Women rush home to complete the dinner preparations, which have been underway for days.

And what a meal it is! Ten to 12 courses are eaten - fish, soups, pierogi, plus sweets. During the feast, some adult slips out of the room to let Santa Claus (Święty Mikołaj) into the living room.

After dinner everyone retires to the living room to see what Mikołaj left. Most families do this meal twice on Christmas Eve night!! (Gotta please the out-laws!)

Then there's midnight mass. At midnight.

We sprung for a "traditional Polish Christmas Eve dinner" of six courses, and even in my gluttony I remembered to take photos of most of them. It was fabulous!

Salmon served with dill and wholemeal toast in hay aroma

Herring served with trout caviar with Polish crayfish cream

Ruby beetroot soup with mushrooms and cabbage pierogi

Entree: Breaded carp served with cabbage and split peas (Barb chose Sirloin beefsteak with baked split peas in prune sauce)

Poppy seeds strudel served with caramelized walnut (and a little dollop of ice cream!)

Preparing

We’re going to Auschwitz tomorrow, so watching this on Netflix tonight: 

 https://www.netflix.com/title/70213112

Around Town

Sadly the copious falling snow isn’t showing up on the photos... 

At The Christmas Market

A Krakow Christmas Tradition

Old Town Horse Drawn Carriages

Christmas Decorations in Old Town Krakow

It’s better in states...?

In homes in the states we spare no expense to hide the evidence of the human condition. We build special cabinets or even entire rooms to store, away from prying eyes, tools for maintaining our homes or for making our homes more comfortable during certain times.

In Europe they don’t have this luxury of unlimited space. Or perhaps the day-to-day existence in small apartments and high density makes one all too aware of the everyday activities we all share.

In Italy we stored these things on our kitchen balconies. Not in a room or closet, just leaning against the wall for all the neighbors to see.

In my fab crib in Krakow the mop and bucket used to clean between each guest does not have a special cubby to hide away between uses, but leans against the wall in the bathroom. The electric fan used to make summers bearable sits in a corner in the living room, even while it snows nonstop outside.

While it’s definitely more attractive to hide the mop bucket when it’s not being used, is this another instance of American Puritanism denying the existence of human activities that are too “dirty” to be acknowledged?

Oh the things you can find!

Encircling the old town of Krakow is a park, where I found this Seuss-ian playground all in wood.

Pizza and beer

I'm in fabulous Krakow, but it's still Sunday in Poland, so I knew if I wanted food I should head out quickly before they roll up the sidewalks. From my window I saw a pizza joint called Cyklop - yes, you can't make this up - so I decided to pop over there for dinner.

Good thing I popped quickly, as. I was informed as I walked in that the kitchen would be closing in 30 minutes. So I ordered a pizza quickly. Waitress was excellent. Pizza was good. Ambiance was great!

And I ordered a damned good dark Czech beer!

And while I was inside, the skies opened and that heat wave precip started falling.

I'm never leaving

The apartment is probably 75 sq meters (huge for one bedroom in Europe!!), and is fabulously and artistically furnished in Euro mid-century retro / Scandinavian. You enter into the large central room (living / dining / kitchen), with a bathroom off to one side and the large bedroom containing a double and two twin beds on the other side. There are big windows onto the street in both the dining area and the bedroom.

Quirkily, the entrance, dining/kitchen and bathroom floor is about 2 inches higher than the living and bedroom, which is floored in original real wood parquet. There's groovin' Polish pop art posters on the walls -- I think from the 60's. And the dining room has seating for 6 and a sideboard made of some very interesting wood.

I would LIVE in this apartment in a heartbeat. I can see myself throwing parties in this apartment!!

And beyond the inherent fabulousness of the space and style with which it's been decorated, is the sheer number of electrical outlets and switches. No need to string extensions cords all over this apartment. A plug for every appliance!!

AND... a bathtub!

Oh god. I've died.

Home Away From Home

I jumped off the tram with my address already keyed into Google maps.

I love the convenience of smart app maps, but for some reason (though a genius map-reader usually) I cannot get the groove of those online maps... with the little icon showing which direction your phone is pointing... and I want to be able to turn the phone around, but the display just keeps spinning around as well... arrghhhh! I want to be like Joey and just get in the map! Krakow, baby!

Finally I made it the three blocks to my street, and walked up and down looking for the numbers on the buildings. It's always a challenge to know if the street has even on one side, odd on the other... or if there is some consecutive numbering scheme going on... and in the dark in a quaint side street... almost impossible to read.

But the instructions from my AirBNB host were primo and in no time I was through the two security doors and facing the stairwell.

(Dammit! I always forget to confirm one or the other -- wifi or elevator -- every time!)

The apartment is on 3 (that's Euro 3, US 4) and two of the stone flights were replaced with wooden steps sometime since WWII... and the rails are none too sturdy... but you can still see the original glory of the building in the tilework on the landings.

And the apartment itself is a slice of hipster heaven.

Getting Around

Cracow has been convenient with a capital C since I arrived.

The central train station (Krakow Glowny) has a lot of shops within the station (as we see in Italy), and it is then attached through a set of doors directly to a very nice mall (as we see in Warsaw). It's super important that nothing stop train passengers from getting their shop on! OMG, the bakeries alone almost stopped me from making it through the building.

Information centers have maps and English speakers galore, ready to assist.

Several tram stations serving multiple lines each are located below the station/mall and others directly outside the mall entrance, and each station has an electronic tram-ticket machine with multiple languages available for ease of purchase. (Coins only) No need to pop to the tobacconist before hitting the public trans.

Electronic displays at the station let you know how long before your tram arrives. Once inside the car, a display shows the next three stops, so you can be prepared to disembark.

Four stops to my crib in Kazimierz.

Forecasts

I've been monitoring the weather in prep for my trip and had become a little dismayed a heat wave was being predicted.

Obviously not an actual heat wave but temperatures above 32F/0C in conjunction with precip, meaning rain. RAIN when trying to enjoy a large Christmas market. RAIN when catching the nativity scenes and carolers advertised on Krakow events sites. RAIN when slogging through Auschwitz (OK, maybe a day in Auschwitz deserves to be as miserable as possible!).

Every few hours I check, and every time the weather report changes. Guess we'll just take what we get!

But all the forecasts seem to agree it will be snowing on Christmas.

What what!?

I'm really excited about heading out to Krakow.

It's considered one of the hippest cities in Europe.

And it is a hot vacation spot for Brits, so we might get to hear some native English being spoken in the wild... not in an academic setting.

Sadly, if the widely-held local reputation precedes, these Brits will be totally shitfaced and falling down, but they will be speaking English.

It's Better in the States

It's nice to ask for water in a restaurant and know that you can get tap water for free. In both Italy and here in Poland you only get bottled water in restaurants, and it's really pricey in comparison (15 for the lunch special, 5 for the water!). And no free refills.

On my way

I boarded the train in Hooterville .... and I will disembark in Pareee!