Land of our Fathers (and Mothers...) (Vol. III)

Months have passed, seasons changed, global economies collapsed, but FINALLY, emerging from the tail-end of a holiday-induced food coma, we pause to reflect on more of our journeys from the past year. Fearful that our adventures from Summer 2008 slip into that dim fog of ale-induced forgetfulness we return to the land that brought us The Drozds and Kryznels - our "parentland":


We suppose this would be the place to start on with all your standard "Polish jokes" (see, it's OK to do that when you're part of the club). Instead let's let some of the Polish craziness speak for itself:

Not kidding - we had to refer back to the camera display at least 3 times as we desperately tried to figure out what speed limit we were supposed to be doing where... Although universal caution was to be applied at all intersections lest one mow down happy-candy-balloon-toting little girls:


It was a long drive through southern Poland as we traveled from Prague to Krakow. Making a quick "pit-stop" for supplies, we immediately knew Poland was a place we could call home:


We stayed in a fantastic (and inexpensive!) hostel in Krakow - a quiet place on a fairly secluded street at the edge of Kazimierz district and snuggled up against the banks of the Vistula River:


We felt right at home in our room in the "Fruit Wing":


We were greeted by the sounds of melodious nuns singing in the courtyard outside our window:


For Kim, the sight of nuns, EVERYWHERE, conjured up feelings of dread she hadn't experienced since practicing handwriting in her stiff wooden desk as a 2nd grader at Saint Lawrence under the watchful eye of Sister Mary Immaculate. She had to put those feelings aside as Krakow is, as was put in an anonymous guide from 1647, "the second Rome". There are 87 churches and 56 monasteries in the city with a fair share of priests, monks and nuns. Krakow was also home to that notable Catholic- Pope John Paul II (he was the former Archbishop - a.k.a. Karol Wojtyła):


The Mariacki Church (Saint Mary's Church) in the main square. Legend has it that the different heights of the two towers (81 meters vs. 69 meters) resulted from bad case of sibling rivalry between two architect brothers:

Although "over 90% of Poles declare themselves to be Roman Catholics", Krakow's complex history (indeed all of Poland) is deeply entwined in Judaism. Thanks to a long history of religious tolerance, Poland became home to "the largest and most significant Jewish community in Europe and served as the center for Jewish culture". Our hostel was located on a quiet street on the edge of the Jewish district of Kazimierz:
We had a fantastic walking tour of the district, lead by our guide Konrad (above), who explained the settlement of this district just outside Krakow's Old Town. Seen below in this aerial shot of the city, the Old Town is surrounded by a thick band of green, the former moat/river, which you cross over when walking to Kazimierz.


Today Kazimierz is home to Krakow's vibrant artistic community - leaving the district with a distinctively different, quieter and less "touristy" feeling than what you might experience in the Old City:


Through the quiet winding alleys we emerged upon the "wide street" - look familiar? Although this square was not home to the Jewish Ghetto created by the Nazis in 1941 (that was across the river in Podgorze), it is often mistaken for exactly that thanks to Schindler's List, filmed here in 1993:


During our tour we visited a number of synagogues including the Synagogo Tempel (Temple Synagogue), the only active Reformed synagogue in Krakow:

The Stara Boznica (Old Synagogue) - the most ancient Jewish structure in Poland and a very tall building, although it's foundation is below street level - giving it's appearance a similar height to the surrounding buildings.


The Remuh Cemetery - spared from destruction by the Nazis but now victim to a new threat - acid rain. Metal caps adorn the gravestones to protect them from the elements:

The results of acid rain are clearly visible on this uncapped gravestone:
The fairly recent development of "Bohemian life" in Kazimierz (much of the district remained in ruins until as recently as 2000) now provides a home to a growing artistic community - making it a fantastic place to find all sorts of funky stuff, including this unusual bar where the all the tables are fashioned out of old Singer sewing machines (they also had a impressive menu of Polish vodkas, including Zubrowka or "bison vodka" which we had to sample, given that it's banned for sale in the US...something about containing coumarin a blood thinner or rodenticide or something...):


Moving out of Kazimierz to Wawel Hill we explored the Wawel Cathedral - an interesting hodgepodge of architectural styles and shrine to the monarchs of Poland:
Examples of Krakow's unofficial mascot, the dragon, could be found everywhere on the Hill:
The story goes something like this - "Once upon a time, King Krak started to build a castle on top of Wawel Hill. This disturbed the slumber of a dragon snoozing in the caves beneath the hill. As dragons do, he emerged and wrecked havoc on the local community - eating sheep, cattle, virgins and whatnot. The wise King invited the brave knights to slay the dragon for the usual rewards, and they, of course, all failed. Then a clever cobbler filled a sheepskin with sulphur and salt, sewed it up to look like a sheep, and placed it outside the cave entrance. Upon seeing the sheep, the dragon gobbled it up - but then the desperate dragon drank too much water and died".

Now whether or not you believe in dragons could be open for debate, but it's a little hard to argue with the story when you see the three massive "dragon bones" hanging to the right of the Cathedral entrance (below). According to palaeontologists, "the bones seem to be from an extinct species of rhinoceros, mammoth and whale". Whatever the scientists say, we're sticking by the dragon:

(By the way, the legend also states that should the bones ever fall from their chains the world will come to an end. Fortunately the Crakovians regularly replace the chains - so we needn't worry too much about that!)

Of course, we also managed to get in a little shopping in the market squares. Kim was particularly distracted by lots of shiny amber objects (only a Polish biologist would want jewelry with dead bugs in it...):

Overall, Krakow was a fantastic city, and our time here was far too short. We definitely plan to go back - but now it's time to relax with a nice wodka (no mead - although Poland is supposed to be one of the few countries producing mead - ask Jesse about his failed attempt to get a glass of the stuff!) and plan the next stage of our journey: