Week 7
8/18 - 8/19 | Warsaw
I’ve realized that, up to this point, every single one of my stays in a city has ended on a Thursday (such that no post begins with the continuation of a previous post). Guess there’s a first time for everything.
As I mentioned, I extended my stay in Warsaw, and for two reasons: one I was growing tired of all the whiplash from changing countries so frequently, and two I felt the city was really livable and found it really easy to “chill out” there. In my latter 2.5 days in Warsaw, I was a bit more freeform in my schedule. The following will be an asynchronous summary of the rest of my time in the city.
I took part in various tours to see different sides of Warsaw: from a history of communism tour (which shed light on everyday life during the communist regime, both for locals and for foreign visitors, and also toured some of the famous communist buildings like the Palace of Science and Culture) to a walk through the “alternative” (hipster) Praga district, to a visit to the waterfront at night (which is full of young people dancing, drinking, partying, exercising on playground equipment…really everything).
One of the highlights of the remainder of my stay was a visit to the Warsaw University Library. Located along the river in a gorgeous bronze-and-glass building, it has massive windows, green, sloping architecture, and a relaxed, intellectual vibe. I went up to the ivy-covered roof at sunset and the experience was magical—watching the orange-stained skies contrast with the green garden on the roof and the city skyline was a grounding and awe-inspiring experience. It’s also next door to a science museum like San Francisco’s Exploratorium (which I didn’t get the chance to visit because tickets were sold out for the day—buy in advance!), which has a rooftop garden of its own (though in my opinion, not as beautiful). Afterwards, it’s the perfect place to start an evening stroll along the water, either bar hopping, listening to live musicians, or exploring the nearby food hall and mall.
8/20 - 8/24 | Krakow
I took a morning train to Krakow and arrived in the historic town on Sunday afternoon. Immediately, you can feel that this town is more picturesque (and more touristed) than its northern counterpart. Historically, Krakow has been the capital of the modern-day region of Poland, and it shows. The market square is 6 times larger than Warsaw. The castle is more ornate and the city’s fortifications lend to the sense of grandeur. The buildings look and feel more historic, more regal, more important.
At the same time, Krakow immediately felt less “livable” to me, as I saw swarms of tourists as I explored old town (I later learned that other areas of town, like the hipster Kazimierz, are a little bit more local—if gentrified). My initial reaction, in fact, was “hm, this is nice, but I like Warsaw better”.
As is customary, I signed up for a walking tour of the town in the afternoon to get a better context for what it is that I would be seeing in the coming days. My favorite story from this tour was about the naming of the town. It is fabled that Krakow was once the home of a mighty dragon (of whom there is a fire-breathing statue, near the base of the castle). It is sometimes said that this beast was finally slain by a Polish king who cleverly fed it a cow-shaped Trojan horse filled with poison and that its body fell near the base of the hill of modern-day Wawel castle. Not knowing what to do with a dead dragon, the king left the body to the elements, and the city got its name from the sound of the many crows that helped dispose of the corpse (in Polish, as in English, crows make a “cra” sound…“cra-kow”). Also on the tour, I got to see such famous places as the university where Nicholas Copernicus studied, the strongholds that were co-opted by the Nazis during their occupation of the city during WW2, and more. I then spent a quiet evening wandering around the touristy old town, admiring street performers and indulging in some local food from an outdoor market in the main market square (pierogis and bigos).
My first full day in Krakow was lazy. I spent the morning attending to personal chores before taking a history tour of the war period in the city in the afternoon. Later on that evening, I explored the hipster district of Kazimierz, which has a ton of grunge-y, cool bars (one of my favorites has old-school sewing machines at each table), neat graffiti, and a really palpable energy. Plus, the sunset was beautiful (I spent this part of the evening around the castle, which was a bit more picturesque).
On Tuesday, I spent the morning at Oskar Schindler’s enamel factory, which is now a museum of life in Krakow during WW2. I spent the rest of my day at Auschwitz. I don’t have much to say about these experiences, as I don’t think they’re something that can or should be related in words. Rather, I’ll paraphrase my guide for the day: “this isn’t something we do because it’s fun, it’s something we do because we have to”. Simply, one has to visit for oneself, and experience these places firsthand to really understand them. I recommend a mostly-solo experience at the concentration camps, even if you’re traveling in a group. You need time and space to process these kinds of places for yourself.
The following day I immersed myself in more of Krakow’s depressing history with a tour of the Jewish quarter (Kazimierz). In addition to the harrowing tales of oppression and malice, I also got to peruse local flea markets, listen in on local religious services, and admire the everyday life that happens in the district today. It’s a very interesting contrast to hear such dark history alongside such quotidian sights and sounds. I also availed myself of $0.25 admission to the city museum, where I got to admire one of the few remaining works of Da Vinci (Lady with an Ermine). It’s a weird quirk of history that this painting has ended up in Krakow, but it’s certainly worth a visit.
My final (half) day in the city, I did not spend in Krakow, but rather, on a trip to the Wieliczka Salt Mine. This was a bit of a disappointing experience. For one, my guide was a bit terse and scripted, while the group behind me had a charismatic and informative leader who I only overheard for brief periods. I wanted to ditch my group and join theirs, but due to safety regulations, my guide kept counting the people in the group, and I knew my absence would be noted. For another, the salt mines were muted and sad compared with the Postojna caves in Slovenia. There were some amazing sculptures created by the miners—there’s literally a church carved out of the stone 135m underground. These kinds of spectacles made the trip worthwhile, but on the whole, the mines weren’t the most interesting part of my stay in Krakow. I then took an afternoon train to Warsaw, before heading north.
