Krakow - A Fine Old Town

Breakfast at Andels is very nice - although I’m on the verge of giving away full cooked breakfasts for a bit! I think we all are. So much food ...

The bathrooms at Andels are also very nice - but they have this intriguing scenario where the toilet within the bathroom is fully enclosed in glass, complete with a glass door. I fail to see the point of it - it’s just a thing to have to open or bump into, and closing it offers no benefit whatsoever. Unusual and completely unnecessary. Glass around a shower is one thing, but around a loo ... !? They could have saved a fortune by doing away with all that glass! 

We set off for the old town with Fab Fil guiding the way. Rain is brewing and umbrellas are on hand, but not needed yet. 

We walk along Planty Park which surrounds the city centre - it used to be the old city wall and has now been turned into trees and grass and parkland. The city is contained within this strip that encircles it, and buses and heavy vehicles are kept outside it. People wander and cycle and jog and get easily and peacefully from A to B. It’s brilliant. 

Up we go, to the Wawel Royal Castle, which is really a Palace. (W is pronounced V in Polish, as it is in German). There’s Wawel Cathedral here too with a statue of Pope John Paul II outside. He’s everywhere around these parts; there’s a real sense of pride here about his Krakow connection.

As we enter the palace courtyard, the heavens open. We shelter while the rain buckets down and pours forth from spouts high on every corner of the roof. This is no mere shower; torrents of water spill into the open courtyard. It’s quite a sight to behold and, to my surprise, it quickly disappears through a big central drain in the middle of the courtyard. Good design whenever/whoever sorted that. Not sure where it all goes but a short time later the rain has stopped and, apart from the glistening paving stones, there is no sign whatsoever of the deluge. 

We meet our guide Grzegorz (call me Greg) who is marvellously sweet, speaks immaculate English, talks faster than most English speakers can speak English, and whips us round in record time with maximum info downloaded. Actually, I call him Mr Please-Please coz he says “please-please” after every sentence. He asks us to please-please watch the small step, to please-please follow me, to please-please come this way. Alas he also says please-please no photos. We’ve been able to take photos just about everywhere we’ve been all trip, except for a few rooms of special treasure here and there - but sadly all the wonderful rooms we see in this Italian-style palace are not allowed to be seen by the camera lens. Shame, as many of the walls are covered in the most fantastic leather wallpaper. I’ve seen a zillion castles and palaces in my life but I can’t recall seeing anything like this wallpaper before. I desperately want to capture its patterns and texture and colour ... The ceilings and tapestries are pretty amazing too. Oh well, we just have to commit the splendour and intricate patterns and design work to our memory. Easier said than done, given we’ve seen so many amazing walls, rooms, ceilings, furniture, frescoes, fabrics, carpets, tapestries, treasures ... 

At times you think you can’t absorb any more splendour - and then there it is, right there in front of you - more splendour - and you realise you can never see enough of splendid stuff like this.

And then, as fast as Mr Please-Please came into our world, he has bustled off and gone - a memory, like that incredible leather wallpaper.

We walk down into the old town and past the big square - it’s enormous and truly impressive. There are people everywhere and, despite a gloomy sky and rain falling, it has atmosphere galore. It’s so very easy to feel part of this big happy hub of the town, even though I’ll only be here for such a short time. Oh to have a Square in NZ with this sort of personality, vibrancy, history, charm, space, attraction, allure, connection ... maybe one day, but probably not in my lifetime ...

Thank goodness I’ve been able to enjoy wonderful squares in all corners of Europe throughout my life. Being there, in “the square”, is always very special indeed. 

Thankfully, on this wonderful trip, we have many more fabulous squares to see yet ... 

Fil takes us into St Mary’s Church - alas the magnificent altar is under maintenance and covered up - but the ceiling and stained glass windows are glorious. Outside, we join a growing crowd, look up, at just the right time, to see and hear the trumpeter pop out of a window and play way up high. It’s a real person and this happens on the hour every hour, 24/7. Very cool. 
After a nice cod fish lunch, we have free time this afternoon and I go for a wander. There is great people-watching, that superb square, and some nice shops. I bump into Sharon several times! 

The main streets are barricaded off due to the Tour of Poland cycle race that is about to begin. Throngs of people eagerly await the start, rain falls gently, umbrellas and tension fill the air. Then they are off, a pack of colourful Lycra rocketing through the streets. Sharon and I poke our heads out of a shop and watch the first lot stream past - but, to be honest, the lovely linen tops we’ve spotted are more appealing!

Later, as I make my way back to the hotel (it’s an easy walk from the old town), I’m entranced with the horses and carriages that line a particular street, taxi-rank style. There are black horses, grey horses, white horses, dappled horses; they are  all beautifully paired, harnessed and decorated - and perfectly behaved, waiting patiently for tourists to hop on board, while others, like me, take photos. The carriages - all white - are gorgeous and it’s an enchanting fairy-tale-like sight. Every so often a tourist-laden carriage sets off, the horses, in all their finery, trotting proudly along the cobbled streets. The tourists enjoy it and I hope the horses don't mind it too much.

Just secretly, I’d quite like to be exploring this lovely city from one of those carriages but I continue the short walk back to the hotel, calling into a convenience store en route to check out prices in this town.

I take a good look around and buy some blue cheese, hummus and bread which will suffice for a dinner. I throw in a bottle of Hungarian rose wine when someone in the shop highly recommends it - at NZ$4 for the bottle, even just one glass of it is a steal! I’ll be sure to have at least two! 

OBSERVATION OF THE DAY:  As I knew and expected, everything everywhere we’ve been, from food to goods to experiences, is cheap when compared to the ridiculous prices we pay in NZ.  

Once upon a time all public loos around Europe were “pay to use” but thankfully most are free these days. However there are still places where you have to fossick around and find coins. Bloody annoying. At least that’s not a thing in NZ.