First Day in Krakow - Friday 1st December

We woke up keen to get on and see what the day had to offer. We didn't expect it to start with a knock on the door at 8am. John answered it to find a policeman standing there. He politely inquired if John spoke English, then wished him good morning, turned round and went on his way. We really don't know what it was all about - the cops must either know or suspect this place is being used for Airbnb accommodation. I don't know if our hosts have to declare it or what, but obviously we were being checked out.

Anyway we dressed, had a cup of tea and headed out to find some breakfast. It was cold! Google told us it was 1 degree but 'feels like' was -2 degrees. I agree. John soon had to follow my example and don his woolly hat, then found he'd left his gloves behind. I was considering putting my lightweight down jacket under my full down jacket. However it was fun. Snow was still around on the cars and streets but some had thawed. We found a little place for a hot breakfast and mulled over some tourist information we'd picked up. We are living right in the Jewish Quarter, so there is plenty to see in our immediate neighbourhood.

Bundled up in Rynek Glowny

First it was off to the main square, Rynek Glowny, one of the Must-See's in Krakow. It's said to be the largest mediaeval square in Europe - one of several perhaps!

One side of Rynek Glowny

It certainly is impressive, and the stalls full of all sorts of interesting food were a sight to behold. I'd expected to see far more ordinary stalls, but I guess it is winter so not as much happening, certainly on a weekday anyway. I hope there will be more in the weekend. One of the main draw-cards for coming here were the amazing Xmas markets and I've very much been looking forward to them. We checked out another info centre, wandered around a bit, getting colder and colder, and popped back to the local Jewish market square where we picked up a couple of zapiekanki for lunch - half bread rolls covered with toppings of your choice. Delicious and only the equivalent of 2 euros each. They are obviously a local favourite because we've seen plenty of people eating them.

Zapiekanki

We sat and did a bit of planning after lunch before heading back out into the cold. We had an initial look around the original Jewish area - Jews were once a quarter of Krakow's residents, but they were first crammed in a ghetto, then exterminated during WWII. There's not a lot left to see. A number of synagogues, some cemeteries and a few signs.

Acrobatic sculptures on the walkbridge over the Vistula River

We were amazed at how early dusk falls this far north. By 4pm it is fully dark. To us NZers, it feels weird walking around in the dark in what is mid-afternoon but feels like nighttime. Given the dark, we thought we'd head back to the main square to see the night markets. They certainly had come alive. It felt like there were more stalls, though that was probably the bright lighting, crowds and buzz. Many hundreds of people, often in quite big groups. A favourite is hot mulled wine, sold in vast quantities from enormous barrel-shaped stalls. We grabbed one and it was amazing - the spices are so strong that it was impossible to drink until the first flush of them had eased. Delicious!

Night Christmas Market, Rynek Glowny Square

We found a few small things from the Christmassy stalls to take back with us. The stalls are perhaps half and half food and gifts. The former is heavily meat- and bread-based, the latter a mix of all sorts of things but most are highly decorative.

By the we'd had enough of the cold, so headed back home, looking out for a restaurant for dinner. On the way back we passed an ice cream and cake cafe. the cakes in the window looked so nice we stopped to take a photo, by which time the cakes looked so nice that we felt we needed to make sure the flavour matched the looks. It did! The chocolate cake I chose had 7 layers - chocolate balls, cream, chocolate mousse, chocolate balls, chocolate nuts, crunchy cake, chewy cake. I'm sure it's the best chocolate torte I've ever eaten. Karen had an almond and coffee cake, and it too was superb. We didn't feel like a full dinner any more (funny that!) so bought another pair of zapiekanki instead, and turned in for an early night.

Gratuitous Food Photo

Chocolate torte does not come any better, ever, anywhere!

A good day, though I think we both felt that Krakow hadn't quite lived up to our expectations, not that we really knew what to expect, but I think we expected more than we have found so far. No doubt there is more to come though...