Hello from the gorgeous city of Krakow! I would have to describe it as a very wow city. The weather however is not so wow. Reminds me of London. Rain one minute, windy and overcast the next. It was impossible to pack right, but so far so good with jeans jacket with a tee-shirt during the day and long sleeve shirt at night, it’s been cold, rainy and windy every night, but we don’t mind it. We are having a good time and can’t wait to share the experience with you.
Today’s adventure included eating the most authentic pierogi from a delightful little family owned restaurant for super cheap, and then, despite the directions given, taking the right number tram, but in the opposite direction :-). We got on and discovered the machines only took coins and we had big notes. We decided to just pay the fine if caught as the whole car seemed to be all local people who didn’t speak any English which should have been the first clue that we were headed in the wrong direction.
This lady then came up to us as she was getting off and handed Federico 2 tickets. She had noticed our distress and helped, which was awesome. We tried to give her money, but she smiled, waved it away and got off. How nice was that? You gotta love the kindness of strangers :-). I asked the old man behind us if Wawel Castle was still coming up and he kept smiling and nodding. Thank goodness, this other guy who had got on told us we needed to go the other way, otherwise who knows how far down the end of the line was? That’s been the only hiccup so far thank goodness. That, and the fact that we brought the right charger, but the wrong camera. We are hoping the charge will hold as we spent some fruitless hours searching for a battery charger yesterday, so get ready for a crap load of cell phone pictures from our ancient iPhone 4 being held together by tape :-). Hope you’ve enjoyed the postcards from Krakow.
How’s the weather been over your way? I know now why they drink a lot of vodka here 🙂
Enjoy Krakow! I have only heard great things about it and Poland in general and I can’t wait to read about your experiences there! The great weather is waiting for you in Spain, so don’t worry about that either 🙂
So far so good :-). It really is a nice place. Federico says he could live here. Me? not so sure, I prefer Budapest. Yeah, the heat is in Valencia already. Planning on picnics for us there because l don’t think we want to deal with summer crowds. We got to Warsaw today and will be here for just 2 days..nice from what we can see, and we have the most awesome views from the 17th floor studio.
I have not been to Poland, so I will be looking forward to learn more about it. Getting lost and going in the wrong direction is something I am used to, since I have very little sense of direction hahaha. It is heart warming when total strangers step in to help 🙂 Enjoy Krakow, I hope the weather improves for you 🙂
I realized l had the city map in pocket much later :-), not that it would have helped because l am pretty terrible with maps. It was really nice of the lady to help us out. The recipient of paying it forward was giving the next bum who asked for money quite a bit more. The sun was out for quite a bit today, then a little rain with soft flurry ice that melted immediately :-).
Oh, the photos of the horses and the market square are lovely and your quest for the most authentic pierogi sounds like a mouthwatering quest sure to take you to some interesting out-of-the-way destinations! And I have no doubt you’ll be ignoring the weather and having a great time even if it’s pouring. Have fun and I’ll look forward to reading about your impressions of Poland which is on our radar, hopefully in the near future. Anita
I have seen the prettiest gigantic horses dressed to the nines and the carriages are just begging for a bride to be in it on the way to church. The best l have seen all my travels :-). The pierogi was awesome and so freaking cheap for the food. The place is only open 10am-6pm and survived the war. No frills, just few items and great food. I am writing about it for sure. Yep..the great thing about having little hair is my no worries in the rain..haha! It rains for 5 mins, then sunny for 5 etc so we just duck into a door way and wait. You’ll really like it :-).
We’ll be headed there later in the summer! Glad you are impressed. The pierogi sounds good – if you ever come to the Balkans you’ll have to try burek. It’s the local food, the equivalent to what the pierogi is in Poland.
I’ve been in Montreal for almost a week taking care of some matters. Weather just as shitty.
Frank (bbqboy)
Oh nice, you will definitely like it. Burke sounds nice and l would for sure like to try it and see their twist of it. If it’s their version of this awesome dish, then ..yeah.count me in :-). So much for Spring, almost summer as far as the weather is concerned. Today has been the first day where it’s been sunny and gorgeous temperature. Let’s hope it stays like this till we leave. Have fun in Montreal, hope the weather clears up :-).
I must say those horses sure look majestic with the harnesses all decked out in feathers and pom poms. Do people on the street jeer at the horse carriage passengers the way they do to the ones hiring a carriage around Central Park in New York City? Or is it more politically correct to ride in a horse drawn buggy there? LOL! Have fun in Poland. That riding the subway in the wrong direction sounds like something I’d do!
Yeah, they were all so beautiful and looked really well taken care of. No, no heckling at all from the people on the street. Even Federico who hates people riding any sort of animal had nothing to say. The word majestic you used really describes them. Fat, robust and decked out. I think because they are the bread and butter of the owners, they really care for them which is great. In India, we saw so many skinny ones that just looked tired. Not so here, at least we didn’t see any. Yeah.. I almost did it again with the subway, thank goodness he didn’t listen to me :-).
Those horses look fabulous!
I’m not in the least surprised that you’re having a great time in Krakow. It’s a lovely pretty little place. However, I’ve been caught out by the weather too. I used to assume it was similar to Berlin. It isn’t!
I went in late October once, and it was snowing. In fact, I caught a terrible cold and couldn’t spend all my money as everything was so cheap!
p.s. Polish people are really, really nice and friendly which is why I like going there. I wanted to get a train from a little seaside village to Danzig, and nobody spoke English or German. A random stranger passing by & helped out. Then, I needed to buy the tickets with a card. Cash only! Another random person paid for them. I tried to refuse their kindness, but they weren’t having it. Polish people are awesome! 😀
Yeah.. I was kind of wondering if the people would be kind of cold, but no..they are really nice, even though they look stern. It thankfully brightened up and we had super sunny days after the first 3. It did rain on our last day so we took it as a sign that it was time to go :-). Very cool that the locals aided you twice during your adventures. We wouldn’t mind a return visit! You’re right about the horses. They all looked so well kept.
Krakow is simply stunning and amazing! This was a great post representing the best of Poland!
Thanks Agness. We were pretty impressed and would definitely like a return visit :-).