Kazimierz

It is in the district of Kazimierz, known today as Krakow's Jewish neighborhood, that Jews lived from the 14th Century until the Second World War. Although Kazimierz was severely destroyed during the Nazi occupation, many buildings, a couple of synagogues and some cemeteries still remain to this day. I very much enjoyed walking through all the small streets that make up this neighborhood- you could really feel how old it was and how full of history it is.

Wawel Castle

The seat of kings for over 500 years, Wawel Castle is perched on the top of a 50 meter high hill, which gives you a more or less interesting view of the city. This 10th Century castle is a mixed of Medieval, Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque styles- a bit of everything really! I thought the grounds would be bigger than they were and I have to admit that I was a little disappointed when I got up on the top of the hill. But the cathedral was beautiful and the sun was shinning (a rarity during my time in Poland), so I sat down on a bench and wrote a few postcards, enjoying the views.

Kielbasa guys

These are the Kielbasa Guys (although when I saw them, one of the guys had been replaced by a gal!). Every night, from 9pm to 3am, the Kielbasa Guys set up shop on the sidewalk next to Hala Targowa and grill their homemade kielbasa, which they serve on paper plates, with a bun and some mustard. They grill the sausages, as can be seen in the second picture, over a wood-fed BBQ, which gives the already very flavorful sausages a nice woody taste. I got there a little after 9pm on a Thursday night and a queue had already formed. Instead of beer, which cannot be drank on streets, you can get sparkling lemonade. Definitely a must if you find yourself in Krakow!

Don't make me run, I am full of pirogies!

These were the best pirogies I had while in Poland.... and now that I think about it, maybe the best ones I have ever had. I ate them in a very small little cafe/restaurant. They were obviously freshly made, as they were tender and soft, and one had to wait quite a little while to be served. They were served with broth, and not with sour cream, which is how I have always ate pirogies before. And yes, that's apple mint juice- very tasty and very refreshing!

Warsaw

Warsaw street art

It turns out that Warsaw (and Krakow too, as you will later see) is rich in street art stencil tags. I was surprised to find such good stencils. Here is a selection of the ones I consider to be the best. If someone speaks Polish, maybe they could enlighten us as to the meaning of some of these tags.

Bar mleczny

Uniwersytecki aka The Cockroach

Bar mleczny- literally milk bar, is a typically Polish kind of cafeteria. They were invented by the Communist authorities of Poland in the mid-1960s as a means of offering cheap meals to people working in companies that had no official canteen. The name originates from the fact that until the late 1980s, the meals served there were mostly dairy-based and vegetarian. Most of these milk bars have now been closed down, but you can still find a couple in big cities like Warsaw and Krakow. Most people that eat at these milk bars are students, old people and homeless people, as meals are still very cheap, and on the most part, decent. I had a meal in the Uniwersytecki milk bar, that has, in the communist days, earned the nickname Cockroach bar! The menu is only in Polish and the ladies working there don't speak any English, so it was hard to pick something. I settled on some pirogies, as the word in Polish is the same as the one in English, but I had no idea what they would be stuffed with! They turned out to be filled with some kind of meat- they were ok, but definitely not the best I have had. The portion was smaller than I had expected, and I was left still hungry, so I ordered a soup (tomato soup with rice) and a desert (some kind of crepe filled with apples and served with some kind of sour milk). The meal was decent and very cheap, but I am not sure I would eat there regularly if I were to live in Poland.