Heading to Krakow- May 2 and 3

This is the Lviv train station, where I hung out for 2 hours on Sunday night. The architecture inside the waiting room seemed to me a reflection of the cultural and politivcal influences on western Ukraine. The squared off, 90 degree angles of these columns look so Soviet, as did much of the floor, but at the top of the columns, and on the ceiling are touches of the Austro-Hungarian. Western Ukraine is such an intriguing mix of the two.

Welcome to Poland, the land where v’s are pronounced as w’s and lots of words end in “ski”…including Felix Mendelssohn, or around here, Feliski Mendelssohna.

I’ve never before been to Poland. Mom and I thought about going in 2005 on our Central European trip, but decided to visit some other places. How did I end up here now? Well, it was listed on the poll that many of you took on the right, but I can’t say it was my first choice of a place to visit during this week off from classes. I looked up flights to Athens, and they were ridiculous both in terms of schedule and pricing. So that was out, and Krakow was in. And btw, I am now REALLY glad that Athens got the boot bc they had massive riots there during the exact days I would have been there.

I embarked on a 6 hour train ride to Lviv on Sunday afternoon. We had about a 2 hour wait in the Lviv train station before getting on the 11:59 train from Lviv to Krakow. Crossing the border was time consuming, as the border guards of both countries come into your cabin, and because Ukraine and Russia have train tracks that are different from the rest of Europe’s, so the train has to be fitted to new tracks. You don’t have to get off the train, but you can feel that something is happening.

We arrived into Krakow, Poland at 5AM this morning. I was cold and hungry, having been on a train since 3PM the afternoon before. It was raining outside.

As a historian, it is difficult to enter Poland under these conditions and not think of all those people who were taken to Auschwitz and Birkenau and many other camps during WWII. I can’t even imagine what they must have been thinking as they arrived in this area.

The train pulled into Krakow Glowny at 5:14 AM. I put on the raincoat Mom left with me. I walked into the Old Town and thankfully was able to rest for a few hours.

Krakow is a really great town…very tourist friendly but it has managed to remain authentic. I am really enjoying being here. My friend and Furman colleague (and fellow Ukraine Fulbrighter!) Dan Koppelman had suggested to me in our conversations this past fall that if I needed a western city, Krakow would probably be closest. The Old Town is so pretty…the cobblestones streets and old, beautiful buildings are in great shape. Krakow was miraculously spared during WWII, and that is evident. This city has done a great job taking care of their buildings. The two main tourist areas are the Old Town and Kazimierz, the Old Jewish quarter.

I am somewhat fascinated by Polish history. This poor country was partitioned so many times and took a serious beating during WWII. Hitler’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Two days later, Britain and France declared war. Recently, as the world knows, the Polish president and a rather large delegation were killed en route to Russia to attend ceremonies honoring the ten year anniversary of the opening of war cemeteries in Russia and the 70th anniversary of Katyn. I saw an outdoor exhibit dedicated to Katyn today.

What else do I find interesting about Polish history? Copernicus, Marie Curie, Lech Walesa, Chopin, Pope John Paul II, Roman Polanski...that is all that comes to mind right now.

Part of the reason I wanted to come to Poland today was because May 3rd, today, is Polish Constitution Day. Their constitution of May 3, 1791 is considered the world’s second constitution (after the US’s) and Europe’s first. It didn’t mean much for long, as yet another partition was coming their way, but the Polish people are very, very proud of it.

My guidebook said I should look out for these things on the street called obwarzanki. Turns out it was one of the first things I saw as I walked into the city. All throughout the city, it turned out, street vendors sell these bread, pretzel-tasting things with either sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or salt.

WIwalked around the Old Town. Rynok Glowny is the largest medieval public square in Europe. Rynok Glowny was buzzing with activity. There is that poet again, Adam Mickiewicz. I saw his statue in Lviv last week. I must look him up.

I walked through the stalls and also went into the 14th century St. Mary’s Church.

The main attraction here is an altarpiece from Nuremberg and is considered to be the finest piece of Gothic sculpture in Poland. The triptych altar was really beautiful and the ceiling was a really vibrant blue. The altarpiece is opened ceremoniously a few minutes before noon each day and we were there to see it. A nun walked up to the altar and slowly opened the altar as Pachelbel’s Cannon in D played. Every hour a bugler plays a bugle call from the church tower, and it was nice to hear that throughout the day.

Here is the opened triptych:

Then I followed the parade for Constitution Day.

I love witnessing these important, commemorative moments in different countries...feels like I gain some insight into what their values are and what they find important about their history.

I passed through the 14th century Florian Gate and stood next to the Barbicon, part of the city’s defense system built in 1498.

Here is the theatre.

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I peeped inside the St. Thomas the Apostle Church. It was closed, but I enjoyed watching this nun working in there by herself. I have seen lots of nuns and clergy today.

I enjoyed just strolling through the town. I enjoyed having no plan and no list (rare for me when traveling).  

Wodka! See...no w's! Ha!

I passed by the German, American, and French consulates, which are all neighbors.

I visited the 13th century Basilica of the Holy Trinity, Dominican Order.

I passed by Sts. Peter and Paul Church…

Those statutes in front must be the 12 apostles.

At the end of the street that starts with St. Florian's gate is Wawel Castle, on the river banks.

This exhibit on the anniversary of the Katyn massacre was eye opening. In 1940, nearly 22,000 people considered part of the Polish intelligentsia were rounded up by Soviet officials and executed in different parts of  Poland, western Ukraine (not far from where I am living), and Russia. In recent years there have been excavations of mass graves and the opening of proper cemeteries. When the President of Poland, Lech Kaczynski  and his wife died a few weeks ago, they were en route to one of these cemeteries in Russia for the 10 year anniversary of the opening of the cemetery and the 70th anniversary of the Katyn Massacre.

Investigators are sill in the midst of excavating graves, some in western Ukraine Just five days ago, on May 8th, Russia handed over 150 lbs worth of documents to Poland regarding this event. It was clear that this was something upsetting and ongoing for these people.

Walking through the park around the university...

I went into the courtyard of the Collegium Maius, the oldest university building in Poland. Graduates of this university include Nicolas Copernicus and Karol Wotka, the future Pope John Paul II.

I had lunch at a kebab/lo mein place. Odd, I know, in Poland, but Krakow is slammed full of kebab places.

I also visited the Franciscan Church, noteworthy bc of it’s age (also 13th century) and early 20th century stained glass windows. I was told they keep it very dark in there so you can see the windows better.

It was nice to walk around and see the festive signs for Constitution Day.

They had a concert of traditional Polish songs andress.

Here is the Town Hall Tower:

Inside the Cloth Hall:

This was evidently the location of the first bookshop in Europe:

Evidently there is a Subway here. It's been over 4 months since I've had a sub. Think I'll do that when I get home.

Krakow is such a lively city:

It is always shocking to see such things:

They like to do decorative things with bread here, just like in Ukraine.

I also found a spa and had a massage this afternoon. Very relaxing. It was a real treat, as these things just don't happen in Ukraine.

Tonight, I went to Marmoloda, a restaurant featuring Polish-Italian fusion, for dinner. I had a salad, and split some vegetables and pirozhgi stuffed with cabbage and mushroom and onions.

Polish cuisine has some similarities to Ukrainian cuisine, and their language shares some commonalities as well. Both feature pirozghi (Ukrainians call it varenyky), gorubsi (holubsi in Ukrainian), and an obsession with pancakes…the thin kind that you can fill with everything from pork, spinach and onions to cheese to fruit and chocolate. In fact, there is a place called Pancake World here, where one has many, many choices for pancakes. In terms of language, both use dobre (good) a lot. The common greeting, good day, is used often, so you can hear a lot of "dobre" here and in Ukraine.

After dinner I walked around, heard the bugler play the bugle call and enjoyed seeing St. Mary’s and the town hall tower lit at night. So pretty.