You may be wondering how did we manage all the different currencies used in the different countries we visited on this trip. We originally thought most countries on this trip would accept Euro but this was not the case. Germany, Slovakia, Austria all use Euro. Czechia uses Koruna (1 CAD = 17 CZK) but fortunately Prague is the city that most readily accepts Euro. They even convert it for you on the bills using standard exchange rate. However, you would only get change back in their local currency and not euro. Hungary, on the other hand, does not accept Euro in their transactions. Their currency is called forint (1 CAD = 230 HUF). Poland is slightly better than Hungary but most shops still accept Polish zloty only (1 CAD = 2.9 PLN). Russia obviously would only take rubles (1 CAD = 47 RUB). For this trip, we tried to prepay most major expenses like hotel, car rental, and admissions using credit cards. For big local expenses like meals or admission tickets, we would use credit card or find shops that accept credit card. Then, we would exchange a small amount of local currencies as needed using currency exchange dealers since ATM requires big denominations and big amounts to justify their fees. For the odd times that we had to use ATM, the results were not pretty.
We have now entered into the final stretch of our trip. After walking all over town to withdraw money from ATM to pay our parking lot in CASH, we headed for Krakow. The drive took over 6h and we had to drive through Slovakia again. This part of Slovakia is very scenic with mountains over 1000m high. We fell into a speed trap on the descent portion but was only fined 20 euros (lucky!) Poland, unlike Slovakia, sits on a huge plain without any natural defense. This is part of the reason why Poland’s history is quite sad. Its strategic location means any invading army must pass through Poland to go east or west, making Polish land very attractive to possess. Poland, in union with Lithuania, formed one of the biggest and most prosperous countries in Europe from 14th – 18th centuries. Its huge area in this golden age included today’s Ukraine, Belarus, Latvia, Estonia, & Lithuania. After its decline, the country was gradually partitioned by its three powerful neighbors, Russia, Austria, and Prussia in 1772 and ceased to exist in 1795. Sadly, there would be no Poland for another 123 years until 1918 at the end of WWI. This brief independence was stopped by the Nazi German invasion, followed by the Soviet invasion in 1939 at the start of WWII. It would not regain real independence until its communist ruler was overthrown in 1989.
From our hotel, we could see the Wawel Castle and the Kazimierz District (Jewish Quarter) across the Vistula River, making it very convenient to explore the Old Town. We were happy to learn that street parking next to the hotel was free. We then used the remaining daylight to explore the castle a bit before finding a local restaurant to dine in the Kazimierz District.
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| Wawel Castle and Cathedral |
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| Close up of Wawel Cathedral |
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| You can find four distinct architectural styles at the cathedral: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, and Baroque |
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| Sigismund Tower of the cathedral |
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| Entrance way to the Wawel Castle |
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| Beautiful Church of St. Bernardino of Siena just across the river from our hotel |
Next morning, we took a bus to the farmers' market, Stary Kleparz, located at the other end of the Old Town outside the gate. This is where local people would bring their fresh grown fruits and produce, homemade cheese and bread, honey and baked goods for sale. There were also other stalls selling all kinds of household stuffs, clothes, shoes, and other hard goods. We really enjoyed this place since most of the shoppers were locals and we did not see many tourists around. The quality of the groceries was fresh and top-notched. We exchanged some zloty money and started to splurge on the irresistible baked goods and other yummy stuff.
Krakow was the capital of Poland before it was moved to Warsaw in 1596. Thus, it had been an academic, cultural, and economic center for the nation. It hosts the second oldest universities in Europe, Jagiellonian University, which counts the famous astronomer Copernicus and Pope John Paul II as its alumni. The Old Town used to be surrounded by a fortified wall with a moat. Now, the only remaining part of the wall is the Barbican Gate and the moat has been converted into a linear park surrounding the Old Town. We walked from the farmers' market into the Old Town through the Barbican Gate. Shops lined the main pedestrian street leading to the beautiful yet busy medieval Main Square. The huge Cloth Hall (which is the equivalent of modern-day convention and trade center) sits in the middle of the square. This was the place of trade and barter in the old days. Now, it is also filled with gift shops and restaurants. The St. Mary’s Basilica stands on one corner of the square while the Town Hall Tower, which is the only remaining part of the old Town Hall, stands on the opposite corner of the square. Under the Town Hall Tower is Eros Bendato, a giant head bronze sculpture by Polish artist Igor Mitoraj in exhibition since 1999. Outside the square and two blocks past the Jagiellonian University is the Bishop’s Palace. This is the best known religious destination in Poland since this was the residence of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla for twenty years before he was elected to become Pope John Paul II, the first Slavic Pope in history in 1978. He continued to stay here whenever he came back to visit and he would speak to the crowd from the window above the entrance. On the eve of his death in 2005, some 40000 Poles came here to say goodbye. Krakow has some of the highest church density in the world and is known as the City of Churches. It has over 120 churches and more are still added today. We only had time to explore some of the famous ones which fit our itinerary.
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| Produce and flowers offered for sale outside the market. So fresh that they were most likely just picked in the morning! |
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| Stalls inside the market |
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| Fresh baked goods and all kinds of homemade cheese |
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| All things lavender |
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| We don't know their names but they all looked yummy |
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| We felt for the performance and bought the gadget knifes. Now they are gathering dust in our kitchen somewhere |
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| Words of wisdom. Cheers! |
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| Grunwald Monument to commemorate the defeat of Teutonic Knights in 1410 |
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| Statue of Jan Matejko, a famous Polish painter |
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| Barbican Gate |
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| Street leading to Main Square from Barbican Gate |
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| The huge Cloth Hall stands in the middle of Main Square |
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| Panoramic view of Main Square |
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| St. Mary's Basilica lines one side of the square |
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| Similar to the old times, the Cloth Hall is now filled with merchants today |
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| Town Hall Tower is the only structure left of the old Town Hall Building |
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| This huge bronze head sculpture sits at the foot of Town Hall Tower |
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| Feeling pretty smart already just by standing next to the second oldest university in Europe |
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| Beautiful courtyard inside Jagiellonian University |
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| Chapel dedicated to Pope John Paul II in Basilica of Francis of Assisi |
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| We did not have time to explore this magnificent looking church - Holy Trinity Church |
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| Outside very pretty St. Peter and Paul Church |
We tried to eat at the traditional Polish eateries called “Milk Bars” but were not successful. Most milk bars in Krakow closed too early for dinner. They are essentially cheap eat cafeterias serving no-frill Polish dishes. Milk bars originated as places where people could eat relatively cheap but nourishing food in 1900 but really took on significance during the hard economic times of the communist rule. Instead, we tried local Polish food again in the Jewish Quarter. After dinner, we bumped into a Sicilian ice-cream shop and started chatting with the owner. He told us he moved here from Sicily 10 years ago and loved it. He also owned another pizza restaurant in town and had 9 kids!
Krakow has another distinction to its many accolades. It is one of the few privileged cities (11 in total) in the world that exhibit paintings by the famous Leonardo da Vinci. Can you name all 11 cities? (Hint: All in Europe except one.) We started our third day here by walking to the National Museum in Krakow to admire one of his best works, Lady with an Ermine. The experience was a joy compared to Hermitage since we did not have to fight with anyone. This painting is a portrait of Cecilia Gallerani when she was a mistress of Duke of Milan. It is one of only four portraits of women painted by Leonardo. Gallerani was only 16 years old at that time and she was known for her beauty, scholarship, and poetry (a woman before her time?) Later, we walked back to the Wawel Castle and visited the Wawel Cathedral. This cathedral is unique in that it combined four different architectural styles in its construction iterations: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, & Baroque. Inside was the main burial site for all the important Polish monarchs.
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| We had to make reservation to come dine in this restaurant |
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| National Museum in Krakow |
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| We had this famous painting, Lady with an Ermine, all to ourselves |
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| Modern interpretation of Mary and Infant using stained glass |
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| Hey! Who's this knight? |
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| Answer: Fearless Yiling! |
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| View of Wawel Castle |
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| Climbing up to the castle |
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| Statue of Pope John Paul II |
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| Inside courtyard of Wawel Castle |
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| We came across this beautiful impressive St. Joseph Church in our random walk |
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| Peaceful walk along Vistula River after dinner |
We went to do the Jewish Quarter walk in the afternoon after the rain. Before Nazi’s occupation in 1939, Jews made up one quarter of Krakow’s population. They were first encouraged to flee the city after the invasion. Those who remained were then forced to move to ghetto to die of illness or starvation. Forced labor was added later to eliminate the Jewish population. Eventually, by 1943, the entire population was either murdered or sent to concentration camps to be killed there. About 1200 Jews were protected by the German industrialist and Nazi party member, Oskar Schindler, by employing them in his enamelware and ammunition factories in Krakow. He would continue to bribe the SS officials to save his Jewish workers from certain deaths until the end of WWII in 1945. Schindler’s story became an epic movie in 1993 directed by Steven Spielberg. The original Schindler factory still stands in Krakow today. Unfortunately, all the admission tickets were sold out by the time we arrived.
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| Jewish Quarter in Kazimierz District |
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| Old Jewish Cemetery |
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| Statue of Jan Karski, a resistance fighter who first alerted the world to the atrocity done to Jews in WWII Poland |
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| Old Synagogue in Jewish Quarter |
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| Ghetto Hero's Square, the place where Jews were gathered and shipped out to be liquidated. Each chair represents 1000 Jews |
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| Oskar Schindler who shielded 1200 Jewish workers from certain death |
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| Schlinder's Factory Museum |
