With only 1 week to go before we head back to the states, D and I found ourselves in Krakow, Poland one of the most beautiful and impressive cities in eastern Europe. For those of you who haven't visited Eastern Europe make sure to put Krakow on your "must see" list. It's got everything you could want from a medieval city: the largest old square in Europe, a large castle dating from the middle ages and lots of history including the atrocities against the Jewish.
We spent 4 days taking in the sights and sounds of the city. Some of our highlights include: The Main Market Square: An amazing place to sit out and have a beer (Piwo) or coffee. The weather rained for 4 days on and off so we didn't actually sit outside, but I'll put that on our "next time" list. Wawel Castle: we don't often say this but it is worthwhile to buy the audio guide tour of the castle and royal tombs. As a sign of our times the audio guide is now an Ipod shuffel. The stories about KingWładysław the "Elbow-high" (true story) are really interesting. Kazimier: The old Jewish neighborhood and site of one of the oldest synagogues in Europe and the old Jewish cemetary is reflective. The milk bars: No visit to Poland would be complete without stopping at some of the local restaurants and eating some (or all) of the following: cabbage soup, red beet soup or sour wheat soup, cabbage salad (we found everything is made out of cabbage), beef goulash over dumplings, potato/cheese perogies, potato pancakes with mushroom sauce.....you get the idea. Where to Stay: We can't say enough about how much we enjoyed staying at Mundo Hostel. We finally found a hostel that catered to older travelers (ie...not 18 and right out of high school or right out of Uni) plus their breakfast buffet was absolutely amazing. Every morning they served meats, cheeses, cereal, tomatoes, cucumbers, multigrain breads and wonderful jams and jellies. By far the best breakfast we have eaten in over a month! The rooms were spotless, each decorated in a different style according to the country it was named (we stayed in both--USA (dorm room) and Russia (private room)) and the amenities were straight out of a boutique hotel.
Side note (by D): We went to one of the older cinemas in town on Monday night and caught one of the few movies in English with Polish subtitles: Youth without Youth, written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Apparently, he funded the movie himself as no one would take it on. To avoid spoilers and to avoid giving it too much hype, I will just say this....this is one complex and confusing plot! It would be great to hear if any one else has seen this movie...would be worthy of a separate blog discussion I think. For one, I would really like to have a discussion about the ending...??? If you have seen the movie and have any theories, please post your comments!!
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