Thursday in Krakow- May 6

Thursday was a relaxing day. We walked to the train station, which is so modern and so conveniently located in the heart of the city. This Krakow just has it together. We bought tickets for the overnight train to Lvov (22:28- 6:03, there is a one hour difference between Poland and western Ukraine). The lady spoke some English. It is so much easier to buy tickets here than in Ukraine.

Jeff noticed an antique store in the train station. Odd, I know. Imagine my surprise when I saw that this antique had really beautiful things, many from England, at great prices. I saw a painting I loved that reminded me nothing of Poland, but of the SC coast. If I had to put an image to Pat Conroy’s The Water is Wide, this painting would be that image.

We left to walk across the square to the Kraikova Galleria, the city’s main shopping mall. This place blows Haywood Mall away, which isn’t saying much, I know, but this place was huge, modern, and had great stores in it. The clothing stores in Poland have had great stuff. I found some of favorite European stores (Zara, Mexx, Aggi, etc.) and ended up buying a sweater at Mexx. What is crazy about this is that the pattern is almost exactly like a jacket I bought at Mexx in Munich in 2005. I love the jacket, though, and it has some wear on it.

Jeff walked around while I shopped and discovered the food court. He found a Mexican place at the food court, and a Burger King. We ended up having Mexican, and thus celebrated Cinco de Mayo one day late. Not too bad, given that this was only the second time we’ve had Mexican since being over here. It is not common in this part of the world.

Here is the Polish idea of chips and salsa. I saw that they also serve their quesadillas with beetroot salad.


These shoes are everywhere.

Afterwards we went back to the antique store to buy the painting I loved. Yay! We took it back to the hotel to store it.

We walked down one of the main streets and went inside the Sts. Peter and Paul Church.

Then we walked to Wawel Castle, which is situated high on a hill on the riverbanks. They weren’t letting people in anymore, so we walked around and visited the National Cathedral, built beginning in the 13th century. Wow. This is essentially the Westminster Abbey of Poland. This is where Polish monarchs were coronated. The future Pope John Paul II also gave his first mass as a priest here the year after WWII ended. Impressive, and I learned about some historically significant Polish people I am now interested in, including King Kasimir III the Great, Queen Jadwiga, Thadduess Koscuisko, and Vincent Kadlubek. That poet I keep seeing statues of, Adam Mickiewicz, was also buried here in 1890.Then we walked to Wawel Castle, which is situated high on a hill on the riverbanks. They weren’t letting people in anymore, so we walked around and visited the National Cathedral, built beginning in the 13th century. Wow. This is essentially the Westminster Abbey of Poland. This is where Polish monarchs were coronated. The future Pope John Paul II also gave his first mass as a priest here the year after WWII ended. Impressive, and I learned about some historically significant Polish people I am now interested in, including King Kasimir III the Great, Queen Jadwiga, Thaddeus Koscuisko, and Vincent Kadlubek. That poet I keep seeing statues of, Adam Mickiewicz, was also buried here in 1890.Here is where King Kasimir III the Great is buried:

Here is the tomb of the historian, Kadlubek. Blessed Vincent Kadlubek was Bishop of Krakow in the 13th century and he was also a historian, who published 4 volumes on the Polish history. He became a Saint in the Catholic Church in the 18th century. It is a fine monument for a historian. I’ll take one just like it. HA! Here is Queen Jadwiga's most recent tomb. There is a dog lying at her feet, a sign of fidelity. Queen Jadwiga’s actual title was King, not Queen, because she was the sovereign ruler, and Poland had not had a Queen who was sovereign before, only Kings. She was sainted by the Catholic Church and is now Patron Saint of Queens. She was fond of taking food from the castle and giving it to the poor. She also sold all her jewels in order to renovate what was then the Krakow Academy, now Jagellorian University. Because her jewels were sold, she was buried with a wooden scepter and orb. They are on display, taken from her casket during one of the exhumations. She was sainted by the Catholic Church in the late 1990s.There are great views of the Vistula River from Wawel Hill.  There is a mound in the distance, across the river here in Krakow, that is named for Thaddeus Koscuisko. Koscuisko (Kos-choos-ko) is Polish, and he is considered an American hero.There are also many cities and other monuments to him in the US. He fought in the American Revolution. He was enamored with our Declaration of Independence. He designed the defences at West Point, and, most importantly for us, fought with Nathaniel Greene (for whom Gvegas is named) in the Southern Campaign in South and North Carolina. He rose through the ranks in the Continental Army and came back decades after the war as well. He frequently corresponded with Thomas Jefferson and Dr. Benjamin Rush. Thanks for your help, Koscuisko. Can you see the mound?

University buildings:Walking through the very green park was nice, even though it was rainy.

Then we walked around some more, and returned to the shopping stalls on Rynok. We enjoyed being outside because the rain had stopped and occasionally I felt the sun trying to peep out from behind the clouds. We have not had a single moment of sunshine in Krakow but that has not stopped me from loving it here. We walked around, checking out the amber and crystal. Like other central and eastern European cities (Prague, Budapest, etc.) this place has lots of crystal and amber.

We sat outside at a café and tried the local Polish beer. It felt great to be outside.

We decided to eat at a Georgian restaurant, Gruzinskie Chaczapuri. Georgia is the birthplace of wine. Georgian food specializes in grilled meats, grilled vegetables, and cheese. They served shoti rolls, and a yogurt dip. Jeff ordered pork shaslyik (kebab) and I had grilled chicken, vegetables, and rice.

Afterwards we walked back to get our stuff. I checked my email and Jeff looked into the status of the UK elections.

We walked to Krakow Glowny and waited there for the train. We spent all but our last 4 zoloti ( a little over a dollar) on things we can’t get in Chernivtsi (live Nestea iced tea and Diet Pepsi). When we got the platform, I heard some people speaking English, so I asked if they knew that this platform was indeed for the train going to Lviv. They answered affirmatively and I detected a slight southern accent, so I asked if the group was from the US. Yes, they were, and so then they aske me where I was from. I told them, and it turned out one of the three guys was from Columbia! They are helping organize a group of musicians, a group named The Outlanders, for their musical tour in Poland and Ukraine. I plan to google this group. All aboard!