Hi Mary Fran,

Just want to offer a supportive point of view on not going to Auschwitz. I have chosen not to visit on my three trips to Krakow. I do understand that people want to be sure that the horrors are witnessed and remembered.

My relatives (not Jewish, but ethnic minorities) were displaced by both the Germans and the Russians, one son shot in the back, human bones are still found in the fields surrounding their homes. For me, like you, a visit to Auschwitz is a heartbreaking thought. I respect those that do visit, but it's not for everyone, nor necessary for all to experience.

On a different note, wanted to smile at Tomboy's story about the tasty lard. My sister loved it...not for me! But we also were offered this delicacy in Vienna. Must be an acquired taste.

How wonderful, Mary_Fran! You got so many great suggestions from so many friendly people. I do have a couple more things to add though.
- First, try the night-time carriage ride around Krakow, it is much more romantic than doing so in many other cities. Actually, this experience inspired a couple of Krakow poets to write verses known by every Pole: "Night-time Krakow. Magic carriage, magic driver, magic horse". -- Second, as someone said before, Eyewitness Guides are not the best. They may be pretty with cross sections of attractions and illustrations but they do not have much information or passion and that quality paper they use is very heavy to carry around. My personal favorite is Lonely Planet. I also love "Culture Smart – Poland – A Quick Guide to Customs & Etiquette" by Greg Allen – It is short, funny, and gives so much insight into Polish way of life, history, culture, customs, food and people. If you get only one book, get this one, you will understand so many more nuances during your trip.
- Unless you really cannot walk, I would not waste time on the "golf cart" tours, they are boring, done in a monotone and do not express the energy of the city. Try a good private guide instead. For two people the price is almost the same.
- The astronomical clock show at the Collegium Maius courtyard takes place at 9am, 11am, and 1pm. On weekdays during the academic year (0ctober through mid May)the 9am show is proceeded by formally dressed students singing Alma Mater in Latin. It is one of a kind experience.
- Czartoryski Museum has much more to offer than only Lady with the Ermine. It is a perfect small museum with quality art, from Middle Ages, Italian Renaissance, Dutch Renaissance, all the way to the 19th century. And seeing Lady with the Ermine is a very different experience than seeing Mona Lisa - you probably will not have to share the experience with hundreds of strangers. This is one of only three female portraits by Leonardo - do not miss it!
- Keep in mind that the Klezmer music musicians in Kazimierz are not Jewish but Russian. Less authentic maybe but these are highly skilled, conservatory trained immigrants from Russia trying to earn living in Poland. This is a quality experience.
- Starting in late April you can enjoy Boaroque music concerts on Saturdays and Mozart music concerts on Sunday at various churches at 8 PM, tickets are about $12. Chopin's piano recitals on Sundays at 7 ($10) at Dom Polonii next to Wierzynek Restaurant.
- Hot chocolate in Poland is the best! Not cocoa powder with hot water but actually chocolate, served hot

Enjoy Krakow!

Re: lard
My 1/2 tsp was quite tasty, and had I been in a reckless mood, might have eaten it without bread. But we've come to be so fatgram-sensitive, I could only picture the stuff coating the internal circumference of my veins.
Re: Auschwitz
Now, bear in mind, I'm not a sensitive person (attested to by Myers-Briggs tests over the years), so I found Auschwitz remarkable and interesting. While I think that society today perceives the Holocaust as a one time event, one can see parallels to it in today's events (e.g., Sudan, Bosnia and Kosovo, Iran, etc). To the individual victim, Kosovo was no less terrifying or deadly than Auschwitz.

Only three days in Krakow? You won't have any problem finding interesting places. I think SusanEva has given a good intro to the Square...and someone added the trumpet atop the church. We were there last June and loved the town. We did tour Jagiellonian Univ. and the Czartoryski Museum which is nice but nothing exceptional as to art museums. And also we did eat at Pod Aniolami. Of course Wawel Castle, too, is a must.

I would second a visit to Kazamierz (old Jewish section) which is walking distance from central Krakow. Just browse around the old cemeteries and synagogues. And dine at the restaurant where Schindler met his mistress and where Spielberg spent free time while filming his movie...Artistic Cafe in hotel Alef on ul. Szeroka. BTW, the former Schindler's factory isn't far away and has I understand a new owner.

I must insist that everyone should consider a visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau camp for the sake of his/her soul if in Krakow. Let this place be forever remembered and speak to us (I say as a retired minister with humanitarian concerns). It is for me a moving spiritual journey. We skipped the Salt Mines striking as they are in favor of this trip which was it so happened on my birthday!

Not mentioned are several other possible side trips: Czestochowa with its famous shrine and also Zakopane which is a village at the base of the Tatra Mnts. Surprise: hosts of our Days Inn in Salida, Kansas, were from Zakopane! (see Back from Arizona: a trip report).

ozarksbill
[email protected]

I can hardly believe the quality of the information on this thread! This has to be a Krakow classic. Best of all, I can feel your affection for the city come through. You've made the place seem so warm and alive! I can hardly wait.

Funny about the lard spread. Growing up in modest circumstances, I certainly remember enjoying lard sandwiches, with a little sugar sprinkled on top. Then they came out with those plastic bags of oleomargarine with the orange bubble you broke and spread by squeezing throughout the bag. Funny to think the dairy lobby had managed to prevent the sale of colored margarine until later.

I recommend Da Pietra Italian restaurant for something not Polish to eat in the Old Town deep cellar restaurant, very atmospheric Stare Miasto, Demmers Teahouse for great tea and loose tea to buy take home, Cafe Europejska for cheap Polish food which we liked so much we ate at twice OLd Town Square classic, Pod Aniolami, Ariel, Kawiarnia Ratuszowa which is the former dungeon in the Old Square, great for drinks. Definitely go to the salt mine and don't forget to buy salt to take home. Gourmet chefs swear by it.

Just a couple more recommendations for good traditional Polish eating, which I was surprised not to see mentioned. These are popular among the locals, but perhaps less known to tourists. Excellent value and REALLY authentic.
1. U Pani Stasi on Mikolajska street (lunch only). Very cramped and always packed with Poles. Get there by 12.30 as it fills up fast. The food is ridiculously cheap and absolutely delicious - plain Polish home cooking at its best.
2. The Polish equivalent of a fast food chain is "Chlopskie Jadlo". I believe there are three in Krakow, including one just off the main square. However, the one I went to on a recent visit was on the road between Krakow and Zakopane. The name means "peasant's food" and the decor is old Polish farmhouse. Try the soup (zurek is my favourite) served in a partially scooped out loaf of bread. It's a meal in itself. SMACZNEGO!

This is the thread that just keeps on giving! So neat to check in and see your post, Ela.

I definitely am going to try Chlopskie Jadlo. According to their online menu (http://www.chlopskiejadlo.com.pl/sit...enu/index.html), they have Pierogi's, which I've never had but look forward to trying.

Thank you all again for adding so much to our knowledge about this fabulous city.

Mary_Fran,
I am delighted that you consider Krakow now a "fabulous city" and look forward to the visit. I think what got you all those responses is your comment that Eyewitness Guide presented Krakow as lacking soul, and nothing couold be further from the truth. Krakow is romantic, adventurous, full of history and energy, and as many important sites as it has, its biggest asset are its people. You just got a sample in couple of responses above. Enjoy and let us know how it went.

I forgot to mention the Krakow bagels. Make sure to try the bagel/pretzel-like “obwarzanki” sold by Krakow vendors.

The origin of bagels: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bagel:
“The bagel originated in Central Europe, probably in Poland. A 1610 document from Krakow mentions "beygls" given as a gift to women in childbirth. This is often cited as the earliest known reference to the bagel, but the document is not clear what a "beygl" is. It may be what is now known as a bagel, it may be something related to the word for stirrup (beugal), or it may refer to something else whose meaning is lost.
An often repeated story says that the bagel originated in 1683, when a Jewish baker Laura Zerangue created them as a gift for Queen Jan Sobieski of Poland to commemorate the King's victory over the Turks that year. The baked good was fashioned in the form of a stirrup (or horseshoe, tales vary) to commemorate the victorious cavalry charge. That the name bagel originated from beugal (stirrup) is considered plausible by many, both from the similarities of the word and due to the fact that traditional handmade bagels are not perfectly circular but rather slightly stirrup-shaped. (This fact, however, may be due to the way the boiled bagels are pressed together on the baking sheet before baking.) More prosaically, the name bagel may simply originate from the Yiddish and German word "bügel" , meaning bale or bow, sometimes used to refer to a round loaf of bread (see Gugelhupf for a German cake with a similar ring shape).
Ashkenazi immigrants in the 1880s brought the bagel to the Lower East Side New York City, where it continues to flourish as a local cuisine popular not only with one ethnic group but as an icon of the city. The same phenomenon has happened to the Montreal bagel. Until the 1920s, bagels were rare in other parts of the United States other than a few cities with large Eastern European Jewish populations. The bagel came into more general use throughout North America in the last quarter of the 20th century.”

Also, "according to Hindu thinkers, the Earth has seven centres of supernatural energy known as chakras. They are in Jerusalem, Rome, Velehrad, Delphi, Mecca, Delhi and... Cracow, at Wawel Hill. The chakras are said to produce negative ions which improve people's well-being and make them feel relaxed. The alleged chakra site has been fenced off to prevent visitors from nestling themselves against the centuries-old wall and damaging it. But you can still come here and stand immobile for a while to "load up on energy":

http://www.poland.gov.pl/Lesser,Pola...lska),298.html
http://www.inyourpocket.com/poland/k...id=POKRENX0189

I found some more reading for you regarding Polish cuisine:

http://www.poland.gov.pl/Polish,cuisine,411.html

Also, you can visit the same site to learn more about traveling to Poland:

http://www.poland.gov.pl/Guide,for,Tourists,401.html

Mary Fran...

I was thrilled to stumble upon this thread since I will be in Krakow in early September for 3 days. The recommendations on this thread are exactly the type of information that I love getting, from people that have expereinced it before.

Thanks for starting this thread and thanks to all the contributors for such great advice...I can't wait to see Krakow!

Any for a girl who grew up in the shadow of NYC and has now lived in the South Carolina Low Country for 13 years I can't wait to try to the bagels in Krakow, here in SC they try to pass off round bread with a hole in the middle as a "Bagel"...get real! ;)

Amazing info....we are tentatively planning to be in Krakow in June 2007 so this is great.

Thanks.

Caroline, you've cut my work out for me, haven't you? I'm looking forward to checking out those links to try to become more knowledgeable about Polish food.

In the meantime, what can you tell me about pork's knuckles? Anyone? I've seen this on several online menus I've looked at in preparing for our trip, as in this one for "Knuckle of pork with hot potato puree" from the menu for one of Caroline's recommendations, Pod Krzyzykiem
(http://www.podkrzyzykiem.com/en/menu.html)
My mom used to make pickled pig's feet when I was little, and I loved eating them with my Dad at the kitchen table while he read the newspaper and drank a beer, but to the best of my knowledge, I've never eated pork knuckle and wouldn't know how to attack it.

Is it good? Can you retain your dignity while eating it in a nice restaurant? Do you throw the bones over your shoulder when you're finished?

"never eated?" Good night! and I previewed that before I posted it.

I traveled to Krakow 2 years ago. I had no intention of seeing Auschwitz. Once I got to Krakow...I thought I might never come back...and maybe I should see such an important part of history. I did go to Auschwitz...very moving and remember the school children touring. Some countries have mandatory tours for certain age children...so people do not forget.

He, he, I know! I bombarded you with the links, food and non-food related...
Anyway, I've never had golonka, the pork knuckle that is, but people say it's very tasty. I would like to try it sometime. It just seems like so much meat to eat all at once!:-)
Well, I'm sure you'll be fine tackling the thing! I wouldn't worry too much about breaking any etiquette rules.

Excellent & very touching Galicianer (historical region split between Poland & Ukraine) Museum opened approx 2 yrs ago in Kazimierz area. Photographer Chris Schwartz displays photographic traces of memory of Jewish Galicia e.g. abandoned synagogues,cemetaries, doorways with indentations where mezuzas (prayer scrolls) once hung, etc.Chris's chart showing the numbers who perished in once vibrant towns is heartbreaking. This musuem is a must see.

Mary_Fran, thanks for your post. I'm saving the great responses for our December '06 or February '07 trip. Thanks to the other Fodorites for their terrific advice.

You asked about some sites with pictures of Krakow.

Here are a few:

Krakow at night:

http://www.wawel.net/nocne.htm

More Krakow pictures (this site is in Polish but it’s easy to navigate; you’ll find different sections with tons of pictures of the Old Town Market Square (Rynek Glowny), Streets and Parks (Ulice, parki), Houses of worship (Swiatynie). It’s a really good site. You just have to keep clicking away
http://www.wawel.net/galeria.htm



http://www.jubi.buum.pl/6_krakow2002_0.html



http://www.ga.com.pl/index.htm
(click on “miasta i miejscowosci,” “cities and towns” and then Krakow for pictures of Krakow)



http://www.digitalphoto.pl/fotografi...=kraków
You can click through pages (strony) and view many Krakow pictures



Krakow from bird’s eyeview:
http://www.zlotuptaka.org/krakow.htm

and:

http://www.gorpol.pl/?site=2&artykul=61#powieksz






http://www.planetware.com/pictures/poland-pl.htm



http://www.poczta-polska.pl/mw/index.html
(scroll down on the left side of the page and you’ll find Krakow; btw, I don’t know what these people do but it seems that they have all the time in the world to travel all around Poland)