Got up earlier than usual to get to the airport. We showered, ate breakfast, and did a final clean-up before walking to the train station. Bought tickets and got on the train to the airport, no issues. Getting through security went smoothly, although the shower gel was to big to pass through. We sat in the waiting area until our gate was identified, then got in the queue at the gate. Old-time stairs onto the plane, I had a middle seat. This was a no-frills airline, Brussels Air, but the flight was short and unremarkable. It was nice getting off the plane and walking directly into the main concourse. We found the train into the city, and I bought tickets. It was crowded, but we both found seats. We stayed on one stop past city center, then got off the train and walked 5-7 minutes to where our Airbnb was. The neighborhood right by the train station was rough, but it got better as we got closer to the Airbnb location. We were waiting to hear back from our host, so we had lunch for about $10 at a Ukrainian restaurant close by. I had potato pirogies and Ann had a stuffed pepper. Both were decent, a little greasy. Then we got the message that we could check into the flat. It is really nice, the best layout so far on this trip. Filip is a superhost, and you can tell by how he has arranged the place. We dropped our stuff off, and I signed us up for a free walking tour in the early afternoon. We had to hustle to get over to the Old City region to meet the tour guide, but we made it with time to spare. The meet-up spot was between the Barbican and the Florian gate. Here are my notes for the tour, led by a very animated and theatrical guy named Maczek.
He is a licensed tour guide local. Walkative Tours . Mitchell or Maczek. Official title of the city is the Royal Capital City of Krakow.
12-13th century was region of fighting factions. Original prince of the region started walking from Krakow to western city of Posniy. Grunwald helped defeat Germans back in??. Poland was partitioned by neighbors just before Napoleon came to power. After his defeat, in 1815, surrounding countries fought for control. Congress of Vienna formed the city-state of Krakow, the only independent area in the region. The Barbican was a keep with two gates to form a killing field in between them. Gothic military architecture. The location of the original moat around the city now forms a green belt surrounding the Old Town now.
From St Florian's gate, you can see the main church. Florian was a firefighter. Three towers, one gate still exists from the old city walls. Florian statue looks kinda like Freddie Mercury. Lots of expensive shops on Florian St.
The 1815 republic lasted 30 years until the Austrians came. Polish language was allowed in this region unlike in other countries. Galicia was the name of this region, which is now split between Poland and Ukraine.
Museum by Florian gate has a Da Vinci painting.
Market square by St Mary's church is quite large. Eastern Europeans didn't usually have cities, they were much more dispersed into rural villages. This city was based on Magdeburg law, which also defined the grid layout of the square. An early example of urban planning. Used to have 40 trade buildings, now there is one, Cloth Hall,which has lasted 700 years. City hall tower remains, but the rest of the building was destroyed in 19th century. Germans didn't do much destruction during WW II, as they thought they were recovering original Germanic lands and wanted to preserve them.
Amber is popular item in Kraków. Knife hanging on arch was a common symbol to warn of the consequences of stealing.
Matejko is a very famous Polish artist.
Trumpet player plays at top of tower, commemorates long history of watching for fires and possible invaders. Highest tower belongs to the city. Firemen watched for fires and played a trumpet in each compass direction each hour in part to serve to announce the hour to the city's inhabitants.
Sachsenhausen was original concentration camp.
130k students in Krakow, making up 18 pct of population.
Oldest corner of university building in Europe outside of Prague. In 1364, first university was established but classes in theology started 40 years later. Its architecture is like that of a medieval monastery. Actually became a monastery when the rest of classes were kicked out in 18th century. Copernicus started his university career here but never graduated.
University is known as Uyot, coat of arms has two scepters.
Famous Poles: Pope JP II and Lewandowski (famous football player). Former born in a small village outside Krakow.
Krakow pretzel is EU protected. Poppy seed or salt are preferred flavors.
Poland and Catholicism, Germany and Soviet Union both invaded Poland in 1939. Stalin was unsuccessful in invading Poland 3 years after WW I. During Communist rule, Catholics were enemies of state. JP II was first non-Italian pope in 500 years. After he was made pope, Polish Communists invited him back to Poland, then tried to sabotage attendance of his papal mass. Instead, millions joined, forming the seeds of the Solidarity movement and union membership, which eventually brought down the Polish Communist government. Polish Catholic Church was in opposition to government throughout Communist rule. So Catholics remain strong in country, and they retain some sense of rebellion against traditional Catholicism: LGBT rights, abortion etc. Papal mass was in 1979. There is a yellow building with a papal photo, indicating where JP II lived while both bishop and cardinal.
Joseph Conrad started high school here but didn't finish, went off to sea instead.
Marie Curie was Polish.
Stephan Banach was famous mathematician. He lived in Lviv but regularly visited Krakow.
Vistula river runs through Krakow. Romans loved amber and formed original settlement that eventually became Krakow.
Poland joined EU in 2004. 1M Polish people live in Ireland. Chicago also has a lot of Poles.
Polish guy on horse, Koskiuszko, who fought in the American Revolutionary War.
-ski at end of name is like von in German, "of" as a symbol of landed nobility. Church at top of hill has a lot of famous people buried in it. 37M people in Poland.
Cathedral has many different architecture styles, very interesting. Sigmund the First. Royal Palace has Italian architecture, imported from Florence influence.
Dachshund breed is very popular in Krakow.
Sigmund III waged war on Sweden, unsuccessful. Caused move of capital to Warsaw.
Square tower on top of hill is from 14th century.
Krakow means city of Krak, prince who founded settlement on top of hill.
After the tour, and it was a long one, about 2:45, Ann was feeling hungry, so we walked to exchange some money, the headed back to the flat. I couldn't find a big nearby supermarket, so we got some chips at a convenience store to tide us over. Back at the flat, I saw that there was a market close by, so we walked over and got groceries, a fair amount for about $20. I made dinner, eggs, with mushrooms, peppers, and onions, served with sausages. It was decent, filling. Then it was a quiet evening at the flat. I had a headache from missing out of coffee and its caffeine buzz in the morning. Will have to be more selective in when I drink coffee, not every morning.
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