A bissel Krakow

A stork with chicks
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The stork story

After the Belarus/Poland border adventure, we turned South towards Krakow. Since we did not expect to make it by evening, we were going to find a random place to stay along the road - we had seen many such hotels along the way. But, first, we had to find a stork.

The city is dragon crazy

Storks nest throughout central Europe in the Summer. Their stick nests can be found on roofs, in chimneys, and on platforms built especially for them. The black stork is Belarus' national bird, and these, as well as white storks, may be found all over, either tending nests, or stalking fields in the trail of a plow or harvester, hunting for frogs. We found one on a platform over a power pole, tending several chicks. Village folk came out to watch us take pictures (it must be exciting there), and a woman on the farm came out to talk (in Polish). She communicated the idea that one of the chicks had fallen or was pushed out, so only three remained.

Dragons everywhere
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Before light faded, we chose to stop at hotel Marta, in the midst of farms and fields. It was a lovely place, and had a good kitchen. We ate dinner there (beet soup, tomato soup, Liver in ragout, and piroge), and met an interesting group. Kai is Polish/American, and lives in Warsaw with his Polish wife, new daughter, and huge, friendly Akita dog. His American mother seems to live in Poland, and a friend was also visiting. Kai gave us several recommendations for Krakow, and also to visit Zakopane on the Slovakian border.

In an old synogogue
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Throughout Poland, one could see many, many churches. It was clear that they were flourishing. However, there was one religion which we never quite understood. We saw signs of it all over, but never found an actual church. It seems to be for some sort of lollipop cult or something.

Krakow

We found our way into Krakow, and to the Klezmer Houis, the hotel suggested by Kai. It is a hotel and restaurant in the middle of Krakow's old Jewish ghetto, built in the old Mikvah (Jewish ritual baths). After checking in, we ate elsewhere in the square, at restaurant Ariel. We had been seeing "Jewish Caviar" on several menus in Poland, and, as suspected,it turned out to be chopped chicken liver (and not as good as Mom's).

The lollipop cult?
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There are several old synagogues in the area, although most are unused. The youngest one is still active, and is also open for visits. Its style is not so different from churches built around the same time. On one plaque (for reconstruction donations), we found a reference to Aschkenasy. The woman tending the place was not impressed.

Krakow is dominated by Wawel castle, which sits above the city on a large hill. Like many such structures, it has seen many kings and owners, and each left his mark through construction. Romantic is built on gothic is built on Lithuanian, and so on. The castle even boasts a dragon cave,where one of the princes did battle with the local dragon and eventually killed it. The legend has now been transformed into tourist trap and detour - although the entrance is above, on the castle grounds, the exit is down at the river. We had just climbed up to the castle entrance, and suddenly found ourselves below,and had to climb again. The dragon legend has also made the city dragon crazy;one can find dragon sculptures (even a smoke-breathing one), dragon plaques,dragon shields, dragon waterspouts, dragon plush toys, and even a guy in a dragon costume.

Part of Wawel castle
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After being duped into descending the mountain, we worked our way back up. (Fortunately, it was not as hot as it would become later in the trip.)

Krakow's old town, like the others we had seen, was very cute. The central square was bustling with activity. As we had seen in other places, and would see again elsewhere in the trip, there were street performers dressed in some anachronistic or non-sequitur costume (such as a Caribbean pirate or a Viking), doing something meaningless when a passerby would drop acoin into a hat. Here, there was a guy in whiteface and flowing white gowns on a box; he was reacting to and mimicking the crowd, to much laughter. We also saw, for the first time on this trip, some people who looked like possible pickpockets working the crowd. As usual, we were attentive, and were not affected at all, but it was notable that this was the first time it seemed possible.

Stork platform
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One of the draws of the Klezmer Houis is that they have Klezmer music at dinner. We were entertained by a 3-piece band, but I would not exactly call them a Klezmer band. First of all, they did not have a clarinet,which is essential for the sound. Second, I would not call songs like"Sunrise, Sunset" or the Hora particularly klezmerish. Still, the band was good, and so was the meal.

And, how could we end a stay without breakfast, which was served al fresco, and outside.