Cracking on to Krakow

Carys Reid-Davies
Sep 18, 2019
10 min read

Updated: Aug 20, 2020

Krakow

8 - 11 September

DAY 10 (cont . . .)

All of a sudden, Wroclaw seemed like a distant memory as we pulled into Krakow station. We hopped off, eager to make the most of the late afternoon / evening, and immediately we came across an act of kindness that meant I instantly knew this was a place I would fall in love with. Ambulances were scattered in the park on the outskirts of the Old Town and at first we feared the worse. But, as we approached we realised that the mass of people were all homeless and the ambulance was providing soup and bread. It was so touching to see how grateful each person was, and, although I have heard of schemes like this, to actually see one being carried out was heartwarming.

A few minutes on and we were in our hostel, which proved to be the best accommodation so far. The people were lovely and we ended up making friends with another couple from France (but more on that later). We dumped our bags and headed for the Old Town Square as a darkness filled the sky and restaurants fired up heaters for those sitting outside. We had a mooch around before being enticed by a fabulous Jazz band which crowds flocked to listen to. Pizza and pasta was ordered, eaten, and enjoyed, before we headed to the most gorgeous markets which had food, drink and local crafts on offer. I was in my element. After feasting my eyes on every inch of this beautiful spot, we settled in a vodka bar which was to become the best drinking spot of the trip. Wodka Bar offers every flavour vodka you could possibly imagine and for about £8 you can get your choice of six shots. Yes please!

On this occasion, we tested out Raspberry, Mint, Apple, Apricot, Honey and Ginger. Whilst Apple and Mint were delicious, Apricot was not for us! As for the others, the flavours burst in our mouth and tantalised our taste-buds as we longed to try everything on the menu. It was getting late though, and having had a drink with dinner and more at the market, we thought it best to call it a night (when you don't have much time in a country you want to make the most of every day and our bar crawl in Prague had taught us that we would be wiped out if we really went out on the town!)

http://wodkabar.pl/

DAY 11

Having threatened rain, we woke up to sunshine and warmth which just highlighted Krakow's beauty all the more. I love cobbled streets and dainty roads which twist and turn, leading you to an unknown, or unique nook. Krakow was the place for that. With bars and restaurants draped in flowers and smiling faces, I felt so content here. We started the day with, yep, you guessed it, a tower! It was a bonus that it was free on a Monday, so up the winding stairs we went to the very top where we could view all of the Old Town square. Next on the agenda was a look at the beautiful St. Mary's Basilica which shoots out of the ground to form an immense looking building. Oh, and one minor activity I've left out - I decided to add to my tattoo so I know had a design, half of which was done in Wroclaw whilst the rest was painted onto my skin in Krakow (I was getting addicted to these Polish artists)!

I found a cool little shopping centre called Pasaz 13, but to say it's a shopping centre is a bit unjust. With only the best designer shops on offer, and surrounded by old brick as you delve further underground, this place was a sight in itself.

By now we were ready for a sit down, so we tucked ourselves into what transpired to the Polish equivalent of a Mishelin Star restaurant with a characterful waiter that made us laugh every time he came over (don't you just love people like that?) We had homemade bread and pâté, which melted in your mouth, then I opted for beetroot soup with cheese dumplings whilst Ellis went for a traditional goulash. Both were sensational so Zalipianki got a big thumbs up from us. We were so happy with this find that we stayed and soaked in the area a little longer before going back as the clouds drew in and thunder began to ricochet through the sky.

http://zalipianki.pl/

Pellets of rain attacked the ground and the violent drumming from this shower created a real atmosphere. As night drew in we had a decision to make. Stay inside and order food or, perhaps the more quirky option, brave the weather and eat out at the market like we had originally planned. It didn't take long for us to both agree that we could have a takeaway any time, so the latter choice was decided upon.

ree — It doesn't look very appetising, I know, but it was honestly delicious!

With my raincoat zipped up, we speedily made our way to the aromas of melted cheese and roast pork. The rain had actually eased off a little, and as we sat down (Ellis with a steak, cabbage and potatoes, and I with dumplings of various fillings which were a bit of a speciality in Poland) we were glad to have made the effort. Both meals were, once again, wonderful and despite the rain we indulged in a delicious ice cream before calling it a day; this gave us the energy we needed for the next day which was going to be entertaining, interesting, harrowing, heart breaking and life changing.

DAY 12

Today. 10th of September 2019. The day I had anticipated, looked forwards to and feared the most in regards to this trip. For the first time I was going to be visiting Auschwitz.

It was an early start and a short walk to the meeting point before we scooted off in a shuttle with a few others on the tour. Now, I found WW2 and the Holocaust especially interesting when I studied History. It had always been a period that fascinated and saddened me immensely and I knew it would be unbelievably difficult to walk on the same ground where over a million innocent people had been exterminated (just how exactly does a person process and come to terms with that)?

This was partly the reason we decided to do the Salt Mines as well, but I'd also been recommended to do this by a University friend studying History and what a wonderful recommendation it was. The day started with the Salt Mine and we had no idea what it entailed. We were hurried inside and began our descent deep below the surface, with our tour guide taking quite a shine to Ellis. He initially thought he was called Alice and proceeded to tell him he had a girls name. He ended up volunteering Ellis to lick 5 meters of the salt mine (something I found beyond hilarious) and continued to pick on him for other various tasks.

As for the mine itself, it was spectacular. We were walking around different chambers for three hours and in this time we covered only 1% of the whole mine. We were also fascinated to learn that salt was extremely lucrative and, therefore, in Poland if something was expensive it would be called 'salty'.

There was a colossal chapel with art carved out of the salt on each wall, and every Sunday it is open to the public whilst a service is held. Our guide pulled Ellis and I over to enthusiastically reveal that you can get married there for 1,000 euros (bargain . . . right?); he added that no one has ever divorced after a ceremony surrounded by the salt (he wasn't the most subtle)! We ended by going back up to the surface in a rickety old elevator that reminded me of going on the Tower of Terror, but the tour really was fantastic.

With the sun shining, we ate our lunch in a nearby park and indulged in a couple of iced latte's to cool us down in the scorching weather. Then it was back onto the mini bus and onto Auschwitz. Now, with this being a place of such horrific human acts and senseless slaughter, I felt it was respectful not to take any photos. After all, I didn't want to look back through my phone and see the nauseating amount of hair that had been cut from the dead bodies of those gassed. I found it disrespectful to see people taking selfies in the camp, especially as they were smiling as if this was fun. Going to Auschwitz is not fun, but everyone (in my opinion) should go.

I would go into detail about the facts and what we saw there but really, you should go for yourself because no words or pictures could ever do it justice. I was shocked at how walking through Auschwitz I, it felt like a village. Now with grassy patches and trees, it was hard to comprehend how this was a site for mass murder. Of course, the threatening barbed wire and less than basic living quarters were testament to how this was no village, but it was Birkenau that really chilled me to the bone. This camp, unlike Auschwitz, was built entirely from scratch. Therefore, many barracks did not have proper foundations or floors, just simply mud and grit.

Walking down the long, eerie track to the main gas chambers made me think just how frightening it must have been to be sent right, instead of left, and know that death awaited. It is important to know that when people arrived, usually after being locked up on a train for days without food, water or toilets, an officer would point either left or right, those going left would work and those going right were to be marched straight to the gas chamber. Can you imagine. As the sun set on Birkenau, I couldn't help but think we were walking out with such ease when millions lived and died here.

That was something that really put life in to perspective.

ree — The sole image I have to remember Birkenau; it was taken outside the museum as we drove back

It was about an hour back, and as we reflected on what we had just experienced, we tried to also be grateful that we had not witnessed or lived through such tragedy. We planned to have a quick turn around as the whole trip had been 12 hours (we'd got up at 8AM and got back at 8:30PM), but Ellis ended up chatting to a couple who were also staying in the same hostel. They happened to be French, to his delight, so he put into practice his GCSE linguistic skills which, with their limited English, meant they managed to just about communicate. We arranged to meet them tomorrow for a drink as they had only just arrived and we needed to go out for some grub.

We found a gorgeous restaurant, Boccanera Ristorante, and I happened to bump into a friend who was leaving just as we arrived (what are the odds)! After a lush last meal in Poland, we headed to our favourite vodka bar and over the course of a few hours we tried Strawberry, Coffee, Chocolate, Caramel, Pear, Cherry, Blackberry, Caramelised Sugar, Pineapple and Pine. Cherry was the only flavour that didn't take our fancy but the others were dangerously delicious (I especially liked Caramel, Coffee and Pineapple).

We popped in for what was meant to be one cocktail at a bar, called Lindo, tucked away on our route home. Orders were made and we sat down in the modern and very funky spot. Being so vibrant and full of friendly guys who eagerly chatted away to me as I waited for our drinks to be made, it suddenly dawned on Ellis that we were, in fact, in a gay bar (but hey, if not in Krakow, when)? This was my kind of place, so we ended up staying for a few before stumbling home at God knows what hour and having one hell of a good nights sleep.

Lindo Bar

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g274772-d12274276-Reviews-Lindo_Bar-Krakow_Lesser_Poland_Province_Southern_Poland.html

DAY 13

Oh how we regretted the multiple vodka's and countless cocktails the night before when we woke up with banging headaches. If that wasn't bad enough, our French pals knocked on our door at midday to see if we were still joining them for a drink (little did they know we'd been in a deep slumber just seconds before answering the door). Of course we weren't going to let a little alcohol stop us from socialising, though, so it was a quick turn around before we were walking down to the square and (would you believe it) ordering more drinks! After the initial sip we seemed to recover, and with the use of google translate we chatted and laughed with our new friends. They were so welcoming and we even got an invitation to stay with them next summer (at least I think we did, like I said, communication was not the easiest)!

Having had such a wonderful morning drinking in the sun, we decided to all stick together and walk to the Jewish Quarter. The markets were bustling with life as all sorts of treasures and trinkets swamped the tables. Unfortunately, we had limited time as we had a train to catch but before we left, our new pals gave us a present; something they'd bought on the market for us to remember them by.

We hadn't wanted to leave but we really had left it to the last minute. As we tried to navigate our way back quickly, we saw one of our favourite electric scooters; lime! There was only one, though, so with Ellis steering and me holding on for dear life, we whizzed through Old Town Krakow (I've never seen Ellis concentrate so hard)! We grabbed our bags, got some much needed food at the station, and boarded a train to Opole Glowny (wherever that was)! This leg of the journey was fairly short and pretty straight forwards. However, after a couple hours wait we got an overnight train that was departing from Opole and would arrive in Budapest at 8:40AM the following morning.

Ellis had been especially excited for this until he realised it wasn't exactly luxurious living. With a questionable stain on his top bunk, and limited room, he had me howling as he reviewed our cabin. But joking aside, it was great fun and a must do if you go inter-railing. We were woken in the morning by a knock on our door and a train conductor (or as I like to call them, invigilator) greeted us with coffee and croissants. We opened the blinds to glimmers of sunlight and watched trees blur into one another as the train sped towards Budapest Kelti Station. We'd fallen asleep in Poland, and woken up ravenous for Hungary!