Wow, what can I say about krakow? I had entirely too much fun in this city. Krakow totally surprised me and now I understand why so many people I met while traveling told me I HAD to visit this city.
Krakow is a small town. But old and gorgeous and it has a castle complete with fire breathing dragon (no joke, the dragon breathes fire).
On my bus from Budapest to krakow, I sat next to a Russian woman named Victoria who quickly became my friend. 1. Because she was so chatty and sweet 2. Because there was no wifi and 3. Because the mountain roads we took to get to krakow made it impossible to sleep on the bus. But turns out it was my (very) good fortune to meet her! We exchanged contact info and agreed to sightsee together.
Then I got to my hostel, which was a cute little thing basically directly on the main square (totally lucked out!). Here I met my next two besties, Yura and Andrew. They’re from the Ukraine and I can’t actually say either of their names correctly. Trust me, we tried and all gave up. Mad respect to people who learn languages so different from their own.
My first night, the boys took it upon themselves to show me around the city. We got a couple beers and walked around. I saw the castle by night, the dragon (who must have been sleeping because no fire breathing this time) and some of the main streets. It was really nice and they were so sweet and welcoming. It was a great way to start of my time in krakow. I woke early the next morning, cooked some breakfast and was ready to see what I could see and make some New Year’s Eve plans, woooo 2018!!!!
The guys woke up and we walked some more of the city, got to see the castle by day, the main square, etc. They were my personal tour guides. Then we met up with Victoria and went to a bar where we met up with a bunch of people from couch surfing. Another Ukrainian man, a Spaniard, a Pole, a Brit..we had a nice little group. We all hung out and chatted while it rained and then we got some traditional polish food for dinner and split up to meet closer to midnight.
When we met up again, we added a Brazilian and another pole to the mix. We went to a bar (again) and Russians and Ukrainians talk about vodka exactly as much as everyone stereotypes them for talking about vodka. That is still one of my favorite lessons from this trip.
After drinking a whole bunch, because that’s what Europeans do, as far as I can tell, we went to the main square. There was a massive concert in the main square and all the performers were women because the future is femme, hells yeah, Poland! Then midnight came and there was confetti and fireworks and bright lights. Andrew and Yura lifted Victoria and I onto their shoulders. What a way to ring in the new year—dancing to awesome polish music in krakow with a new international community. Surreal. After that we stopped by a bar (I swear we went to every cheap bar in this city) and then found a club to go to. And we danced the night away! I didn’t go to sleep until 7am..happy new year!!
Yura and Andrew had to leave that morning to get back in time for work, so we woke up early (when you go to sleep at 7, 10am is definitely early) and I walked them to the train station. I was sad to see them go, they made my time in krakow such a pleasure.
Then I just walked around the city, and went home to rest. Victoria and I met for dessert and a walk to the Jewish quarter and across the river, closer to where she was staying.
The next morning, her and I went to Auschwitz-Birkenau.
Perhaps this needs a trigger warning, This section could be upsetting so skip it if you feel so inclined.
I don’t have much to say other than everyone should go if they get the chance. I though Birkenau was more impactful but probably because it was more free roaming, less busy, and less overwhelming. I’d recommend doing Auschwitz with a guide. The scale of the concentration camps were truly shocking. I really don’t think I grasped how large they were. I wish I had done them alone and think I’d like to return for a more personal visit one day. Auschwitz had a building devoted to each country people were taken from, and they varied widely in information and design from country to country, it was interesting to see how information was presented. We also got to walk through the “jail” area and one of the gas chambers. The vibes were real and awful in there, and you could see the markings on the walls from the victims that were murdered inside. At Birkenau you could walk through the building victims were taken through as they were processed for the camp—stripped of their clothes, reinspected, group sanitized, distributed concentration camp attire, etc. and you could see ruins of various gas chambers the Nazi’s blew up when their defeat was eminent, in an effort to hide the atrocities they performed. To be honest, I think I’ve avoided thinking about this visit too much as it’s overwhelming. The day of my visit I was disappointed because it was hard to get silence and alone space to feel and understand what you were learning. But definitely bet the days, it has gotten more impactful as I think about what I saw. (As always, mom was right about that).
After that, I took it easy. It was a lot to process and so I just rested at my hostel and went to bed early.
The next day I got up early and walked the city some more. Saw Schindler’s list alley, saw an amazing church, saw the Jewish quarter by day, went to the castle again (never enough time at the castle, I suppose), and just wander around getting as lost as I could manage. Then I went to the salt mines about 30 minutes outside of krakow.
The salt mines were in operation from the 13th century through 1996, and boy were they something! Everything around you was salt rock—walls, ceiling, floor—and you could lick it if you wanted to! (I didn’t, I was close enough to getting sick as it is.) the whole place was full of carvings done in the salt rock by generations of miners. One of Nicholas Copernicus, one of the king who created safety laws about salt mining, one for a polish pope, a whole scene about the queen who started the rock salt mine. It was a cool tour. And one amazing ting is there they carved out a cathedral in the mine! In fact, on Sundays there is still service held there! There were perspective carvings of the last supper, the patron saint, etc. truly amazing. And chandeliers decorated with purified salt crystals. Pretty unreal.
That night, Victoria and I met up to say goodbye as she was heading home to Munich that night and I was heading here, to Zakopane I’m he morning! I went on one last solo walk and got some FANCY hot chocolate and called my time in Kraków done for.
Such a lovely city, and somewhere I know I’ll return to someday!
First night + NYE + bar toilet wisdom
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