Krakow, Polaska

Czesc from Poland. That is (cheshch) hello in Polski. There should be accents over the s and c but who is going to correcting my polish grammar. We got in to Poland after lunch. Lot Airlines took pretty good care of us. Enough turbulence to make me very sleepy.
We enjoyed dva piwo (two beers) at the hotel bar. The bartender was impressed with my smattering of Polish I had managed to pick up in a few days. One Minute Polish podcasts from Radio Lingua, check them out. I managed to get most of the niceties: hello, goodbye, thank you, please, I am sorry I don't understand and of course cheers or na zdrowie. Yet another language Chad can toast over. The Polish don't expect you to know their language. Just about everyone I came across was fluent in Polish and English, the uniting language of Europe. But a few words get you along way. And even some of the AL guys considered learning french as their second language. What don't you mean third? No, we learn Polish and English almost simultaneously.

We dined like kings with one of Chad's colleagues. Good thing he took us the more traditional restaurant. Afterwards we joined the rest of Uncle AL Krakow at a restaurant bar called of all things "Sioux." We had to do a bit of english lesson as they were all pronouncing the x. It was a steak house with a heavy kitsch of cowboys and indians. Who would have thought that the Lakota tribe would be immortalized at a Krakow restaurant? Felt like a Texas Roadhouse/LoneStar steakhouse with a heavy dose of poor New Mexican themes. Very odd to hear so much Polish when surrounded by animal skins and chief paintings and waiters with stetsons on.

Of course my phone updated its location. It brought up a picture of the Virgin Mary Basillica which is in the market square of Krakow. It is in photo number one. A beautiful church with 13 century construction, heavy paint on the ceilings and gorgeous altar by artist Veit Stoss. Of course heavy on the Pope here with their native son of Krakow John Paul II being the most popular Pole of them all.

This is the Wawel Hill and the Wawel Castle complex. It was stunning. Cathedral, castle and a nice cafe perched up there. Beautiful fall colors and the buildings just shined. There is even a fire breathing dragon waiting just outside his den on the river. I lucked out and had great weather. This day it was so sunny I just soaked it up along the river. Then I hightailed it to the market square for a lovely coffee and watch the tower at the turn of the hour.

After the clock does its clanging, a trumpeter pops out of the windows near the top and in each direction plays a lilt of a tune. He gets lots of applause and cheers from those down below. I have some video with the audio but it got drown out by the cheering. Next time...

I did tour the Kazimierz (not cashmeres but Ka-jeer-misc) old Jewish district. Right across the river lies the Podgorze, the true Jewish ghetto. This is where the Schindler factory was, the plaza with all the chairs to remember what happened here, and remnants of the wall that used to surround the ghetto. Very sad but true. We did go visit Auschwitz as well since we were so close.

Not to get all down on you, but Auschwitz is a horrible but beautiful place. We took the regular bus, an adventure on its own. The fall colors were in full force and against the brick buildings. So many tour buses where in the area. It was creepy to see large groups of tours walking around knowing that large groups were herded in the camp for sorting for either work and death. I preferred to wander at my leisure. I was taken in a few spots of the museum and setting. It ends at the crematorium and gallows where Rudolph Hess was hanged to death. No where close to fair but good for a touch of karma for such horrible acts. Anyone who believes that the Holocaust never happened just needs to see this. The Nazis took too much care in documenting the details (one invoice for the air circulation systems) and mugshots in 3 views. Astonishing. All should see this if you get the chance if for nothing else, to try to make sure nothing like it ever happens again.

On to happier things.

Here we are outside of a favorite pub, Cafe Tygiel. It was like a maze to get down into it. Very cool with lots of candles and even a hint of the old fireplaces and tunnels. Most of Krakow is deep, meaning not much is right out on the street. Lots of arcades and passages to reach your final destination. Very worth the journey. One pub had an intricate carved ceiling (original) and Polish symbol wallpaper. And cheap Zwiec beer, yummy.

Another qwirk, the zloty or Polish money is needed to get in to most of the bathrooms. That is right, you pay for les toilettes. The hardest part is not giving up the money (it is about 30 cents) but having the change. Seems all the polish zloty from the ATM or bankomat came in large denominations and nobody wanted to break it. Chad had a hard time getting the polish currency down. He often referred to it as the "schlotsky" not zloty. Silly boy. Na Zdrowie back at you.

Here is the money shot of the Basilica in the square. Dziekuje i do widzenia! (Thanks and goodbye) Now on to learning dutch for our upcoming trip to Amsterdam. And a halloween party for the Americans.