Tag: Krakow

I needed to be sure how to pronounce the name of the city I was staying in. I was saying Krakov, but I had heard alternative pronunciations. Our guide Maciej said that the locals say Krakuf, Germans say Krak-ow, and the French say Krakova. So take your pick, but I’m sticking with Krakov!

Maciej picked us up at 10.30 in his 40-year-old black Trabant. Inside it’s about the same size as an old mini but is noisier and smellier. The petrol tank is under the bonnet, not a good substitute for an airbag. It went surprisingly fast for a 2-stroke 600cc air cooled engine, but since it was mostly made of East German glass fibre, it’s quite light. Our guide came from an outfit called Crazy Guys, and they give conducted tours around Nowa Huta, the new town built next to Krakow to house workers for the enormous steelworks that was a gift from Stalin. It was built from scratch for 100,000 people, providing much-needed homes in post-war Poland. Many people moved from thatched wood and mud cottages into centrally heated flats with inside toilets and electricity, I’m sure they were very grateful. The flats were built to a high standard and faced with sandstone, which is a bit grimy today but the town is still impressive.

Nowa Huta (which means New Mill) is laid out with wide avenues and green areas and is connected to the rest of Krakow by tram lines. The main square is named after Ronald Reagan, who is fondly remembered in Poland for funding the Solidarity trade union which was very strong in Nowa Huta. These days the steel mill is owned by Arcelor Mittal, and has 3,000 workers, down from 40.000 in its hay day.

Maciej took us into one of the flats which the Crazy Guys rent out to show to tourists. The flat has polished wooden floors, central heating and is reasonably spacious; but often there would be three generations squeezed into each flat. An unusual domestic accessory was the still in the bathroom for making vodka. Maciej put on an old black-and-white propaganda video about the construction of the city and gave us a vodka and pickle to put us in the mood. He was a very knowledgeable guide who gave us a great insight into life under Communism.

 

 

We went for lunch in a Milk Bar, which is a low-priced cafe for local people. I had some beetroot soup to start which was surprisingly sweet and tasty, and I followed that with some pork dumplings. After that hearty meal I was ready to go and make some steel! I loved the menu board with the little plastic letters in it. Four of us ate well for about 10 quid!

I loved the menu board with the little plastic letters in it, the Milk Bar look likem it hadn’t changed for 50 years! Four of us ate very well for about £10, what a bargain.

 

 

At the end of the tour we were dropped at the Barbican close by the Old Town and had a walk around some parts of it that we hadn’t seen so far. The Dorling Kindersley guidebook is brilliant for finding interesting streets that you wouldn’t come across if you were walking around randomly.

Julie (bless her) found a great bar called Banyaluka where all the drinks are 4 Zlotys (about 90 pence), so we had a shot, then a mulled wine, then a beer. It was a very relaxing bar.

 

 

Poland isn’t an obvious places to go for a short holiday, but it should be. I have been here about eight hours and I’m already very impressed by the sights, sounds and tastes of Krakow.

We flew by EasyJet from Gatport Airwick, which is 850 miles and took about two hours. Krakow is in the south of Poland near Slovakia, and is in the middle of the invasion route for armies over the last thousand years. The Poles did see off the Mongols in the 13th century, but to be fair they had arrived by pony from Mongolia, which is a very long way.

To enjoy some local colour, we took the bus into the Krakow Glowny where there is an enormous shopping centre. We ate at almost the first cafe we came to, and had a spicy soup in a Mexican place. It was like a runny chilli con carne, very tasty and sweat-inducing. Thus replenished, we hoofed it down Pawia street to the apartment we had rented on Sukiennisca close to the Vistula river. The flat is modern, comfortable and devoid of any decorative touches, but it did have loads of hot water and a very good telly!

 

 

Its only five minutes walk to the Okol district which is at the foot of the hill where the castle sits. The main road is Grodzka, which is very popular with tourists, for good reason. It is full of beautiful old houses and churches, but also restaurants and shops. The Church of Saints Peter and Paul is a gorgeous Baroque edifice, like our own Saint Paul’s on a smaller scale.

 

 

By 6pm it was getting dark so we returned to the flat. The TV gave us a good selection of Polish TV, but Polish Masterchef didn’t keep my attention for long. I had brought and iPad and Chromecast, and by wrestling with the iPad and wifi managed to connect to Netflix. We watched “We’re the Millers”, which contrived to be both very funny and very filthy, a winning combination!

Julie had found a local restaurant called Pod Walwelem, which is close to the castle. It was big and noisy and busy. The waitresses looked like they were wearing Austrian dresses and carried the food and drink on large circular trays on their shoulder. I had pork pierogi (like ravioli) to start, which were very tasty, washed down with Tyskie beer. For my main meal I had the Soldiers Platter, which was a large plank covered with rice, fried potatoes, sauerkraut, and grilled chicken, liver, pork, bacon and sausage. It was a mixed grill on a massive scale! It took a while but I ate most of it apart from the very soft and squidgy blood sausage. As a digestif, we had lemon vodka, more lemon vodka then cherry vodka.

 

 

I like Krakow, but I may eat myself to death by the end of the holiday!