Poland Sept 08

So much needs to be said about Poland. Firstly, trekking near the border in Slovakia made us really look forward to our time there... More specifically, the Polish people we met were so friendly and hospitable, that it already felt like we had friends there . Moreover, if other Poles were similar, we would have a great time.

Getting There

From Stary Smocevic, we tried to catch the mystery 'direct bus' to Poland, that the Tourist Information knew nothing about, yet all the Polish people and the lady (cleaner of the Tourist Info office) we were staying with were aware of. The bus indeed turned up on time, however the rude bus driver would only accept Polish money, not the currency of the country we were currently in! Plan B was to catch a bus to the border of Poland, walk across it and catch another bus. So we landed at the border of Poland on a rainy Monday morning, with the idea of heading to Zacopone, the Polish side of the High Tatras. Border crossings are now quite eerie places. The EU Shengen zone has nullified their necessity so they have been virtually abandoned. These fortresses of bureaucratic inefficiency have been left to rot in the elements. It is amusing to see fellow travelers weave their way in and out of the old entrances searching for someone to say they can enter or leave Poland without being shot in no mans land. On this occasion it we found an English couple travelling in the opposite direction, who looked equally as lost as us, so we exchanged advice about the bus to town and swapped our departing country coinage with... Tag, your turn in Slovakia!

So we find the bus stop and jump on a mini bus that appears to go to Zacopane... (Well everyone else got on so why not?). Through the winding misty pine forest we speed... Very pleasant after the barren heights of the High Tatras and arrive at Zacopane in the pouring rain and head to the nearest eatery to think over our options. We try the first of the recommended national dishes, Pirogi Ruski – a potato dumpling that is shaped like ravioli and filled with a cottage cheese. Mmmm, tasty.

The rain had not stopped and the place was still milling with hundreds of trekkers, so we decided to continue our travel on to Krakow. (We had done a lot of walking over the last 2 days and felt ready for a change of scenery). Onto the 2 hour bus ride we go.

Krakow

Now Poland is a land of 40 million people, far more than Slovakia. It feels a lot busier and everyone appears to be in a rush. So arriving at Krakow was a bit of a shock. We did a good job of looking like lost tourists that were carrying their weight in backpacks and a friendly local began to offer us a room at a cheap rate... Hey, what made her think we were cheap? Anyway, the price wasn't cheap enough and we said "no thanks", but her next offer was cheaper than we expected and so we agreed to follow her home... After 15 minutes of quick walking, jumping on and off trams with a constant monologue of what to do and how, we arrive at our Krakow apartment... a one bedroom place on the 3rd floor of an old complex, separate bath & kitchen (sort of).... at 24 Euros a night.... "sure we will take it!"  And thus we become residents of Krakow (technically, I am not sure we have a permanent residence these days).

So what is Krakow like? Firstly, it is a very old beautiful city, largely undamaged during WWII. So the buildings and streets have a very classical European feel. But there is something more influential on the city of 800,000 people... Every year the city`s universities attract semesters of 170,000 students. Yes, almost a quarter of the population are students from Oct-Jul. So all the streets are scattered with a range of bars, clubs, shops and related mid 20`s temptations. At the risk of sounding old, most of these venues are very appealing to us as the student mob have not yet returned, so we can enjoy the city in a relaxed and leisurely pace... It feels a bit like you have found a cool place before everyone else knows about it and floods the place. So yes, we like it a lot.

We spent 4 nights in our apartment. The days have been spent walking the streets of the old city, the old jewish quarter and surrounding highlights. I will let the photos share much of this. Great place though.

We also made the journey to Auschwitz-Birkenau, to tour the largest and most famous German concentration camp and mass killing fields for jews and other minority groups. It was a fairly morbid experience to learn of the 1.5 million+ people, who, if they were lucky were gassed to death, otherwise they died of the conditions – starvation, cold, exhaustion, beatings, hangings, poor hygiene and malnutrition. The 15-minute movie portrayed the harsh reality of these heinous crimes, and the suffering of the people who were lucky (?) enough to survive. It was sad to learn how after the war, the wife of the komandant claimed not to have known of any such activities taking place, despite residing only metres from the gas chambers and crematoriums where these events took place, Our tour included a walk through the only remaining gas chamber that the Nazis never got around to destroying, providing the chilling evidence of these hate crimes!

On Thursday, we met up with our friend Marcin, from our trek in the High Tatras. He suggested a bike tour of Krakow and we happily accepted. Hiring bikes was a bit of a challenge. The first place wanted 2 passports and $150 deposit on retro bikes (very old) that cost only $160 to buy!!!... No thanks. Our only other option was on the other side of town....Artur, our friendly bike shop guy was an easy-going owner. So much so that he told us not to worry about leaving a deposit, documents or even our names... !! Ok so the bikes weren't great, but they weren't bad! He gave his mobile number, in case anything happened... and a very heavy chain to lock the bikes, warning us that bikes get stolen all the time in the city. So away we go on the tour with Marcin, who later informed us that he used to do these tours professionally!

All was going well until we got to the top for the first big hill, when suddenly CLUNK!... Mandy's pedal fell off onto the road. After a few puzzled looks we all asked "How did that happen?"  It appears a screw was missing that held the pedal on. So we call our bike shop mate and let Marcin explain the polish version of "the bike is stuffed and we are stranded on the edge of town..." "20 minutes" he says. As the others get something to eat, Mark searches for the fallen screw. He laughs at the idea of someone trying to steal a bike with one pedal, but think about the advice from the bike store and place the lock on anyway. 10 minutes later, he still hasn't found the screw on the road within 20 metres of the bike, when the others return and ask what he's done with the pedal... "What do you mean, wasn't it left next to the bike?"  Well, turns out someone has rushed over to the chained bike and, yes, stolen the separate pedal... Who does that? So we have to call back Artur and explain now someone has stolen the pedal from the ground... "Yeah, I will be there in 10 minutes. "   We start to dread the bill for a new set of pedals. He shows up as promised, gives Mands a new bike and shrugs of the loss, saying Its his risk. Happily gets back in his truck and takes off... Huh, no grief, no "You must pay!", nothing... and he still doesn't know our names... Nice attitude, best bike rental shop owner, award going his way. Mandy's new bike is a downhill performance number and she is stoked with the upgrade, although we are all a little surprised it was so easy.

We then ride to the top of town and all the way out along the river to a grand monastery... where we were greeted with a heavy thunderstorm that kept us there for about 25 minutes before we returned to the city. The rest of the day was nothing but smiles, especially when we met up again that evening with a small group of Germans and Poles, all on an intern program between Frankfurt and Krakow. We were taken to trendy student bars with funky music, arty interiors and interesting drinks. Our favourite – a cocktail called From Poland With Love, made with vodka, vodka, vodka, vodka and a dash of lemonade and lime!

It was on this night that we were invited to a Polish Grill – the equivalent of an Aussie BBQ – something we were keen to attend. As we had planned to get out of our apartment and move on however, we took a little convincing. Marcin was the one to convince us with the offer to stay at his parents house. Keen to see how the locals lived, we made arrangements to meet him that afternoon. So, after a bite to eat in the old Jewish Quarter, we were driven back to his parents place and given our own room.

Their house was beautiful and his parents were sooooo lovely, offering us the best hospitality we could have imagined! Upon arrival, they had arranged a feast of traditional polish delicacies, which we devoured, despite having just eaten. So after being drilled by Bogaslav (his Dad) on some Australian trivia (which we failed – who knows how many tonnes of milk and gold we mine, or how many sheep we had???), we got ready to head out. With the temperature now down to about 5 degrees, the grill was unfortunately cancelled, so we arranged to meet everyone in Rynek – the main square – instead.

The night began in a small club with loud music so that we could barely hear each other – yes, getting old, I know....! So we left there after a couple of drinks and walked to Kazimierz for a few quieter drinks and some conversation. We finished the evening sharing a couple of Zapikankies (pizza baguettes), famous in this part of town, before heading home in a taxi.

The next morning, after another breakfast feast with the family and the best tea we've ever had – a pot of tea, 3 bags black to 1 bag blackcurrant – the whole family got to work on getting us to our next destination - a place called Kazimierz, that was not in our Guide Book.  They found that the best option for us to get there involved staying another night.....and so it was decided that's what we would do. So the day was spent on another Marcin tour, this time in a car, in the suburbs around Krakow, visiting a number of beautiful castles in the area. We stopped for a late afternoon lunch to try more of the traditional Polish cuisine, this time a delicious sausage, deep fried Pirogi and an unusual snack of wood fired bread, spread with animal lard with small pieces of fatty bacon and topped with a whole ghurkin! Ok, so the last dish was not one of our favourites, but everything else was bloody good, stuffing us full for the rest of the evening.

Unfortunately for us, the temperatures had plummeted almost overnight, and everyone was talking about how winter had set in early.  It was unusually cold for this time of year and everyone was hoping that it wouldn't last.  Our 30 degree temperatures in the High Tatrus the week before, were replaced with just 2 degrees the following weekend.  How lucky were we?

The next morning, we were dropped at the bus station by Marcin, where we said our goodbyes....for now. Hopefully we will see him and Carolina in London one day...

Kazimierz

So 2 buses later, we arrived in the town of Kazimierz.....not the Jewish Quarter in Krakow, but sharing the same name! Freezing cold (still), and no longer having our Polish friends to hep us, and being in a place that the Lonely Planet hadnt mentioned, we were forced to take a quick tour of town with our packs on, looking for accommodation. With no luck at first, we decided to sit for a coffee and consider our options. It was then that we discovered the tiny little office hidden in the corner, supposedly offering tourist info....with VERY limited English. Nonetheless they found us a room just around the corner that was perfect for us and at about the right price.

We set about exploring the town, which took about 1 hour.... The cute little town, set upon the river has a main square, with some beautiful decorative houses belonging to wealthy families of the past. A couple of churches lined the square and old castle remains could be explored as well as a small hill that overlooked the entire town. The hill must have been worth the climb, as they charged a dollar for the privilege. As we jumped a barbed wire fence to get up the back of the hill, we only had to sneak past the 'Hill Monitor' on the way down. Once we had completed our tour, we chose one of the little bars tucked away in the main square, and enjoyed some beers and pizza while escaping the cold. After a little bar hopping and polish shot sipping, we crashed back in our pension.

Warsaw

Despite being advised not to bother with Warsaw, we were keen to visit the capital, even more so after meeting our new friends in Slovakia - Kasia and Marta – who resided in Warsaw.

Warsaw was restored to its former pre-WWII state after having 85% of the city reduced to piles of rubble and skeletons of buildings between 1939 and 1945. The spirit of the people was not lost however and brick by brick they meticulously re-built the city just the way it was. The old square is now a snapshot of the past, with cute little buildings, richly decorated to give them lots of character!

We visited two very interesting museums – Historical Warsaw and the Warsaw Uprising Museum, both providing detailed information about the war, including the Jewish persecutions, the destruction of the city and the strength of the people and about life under communism rule. This city was the site of two of the most courageous, dramatic and bloody revolts against the Nazi oppression and persecution. We highly recommend both Museums to anyone visiting Warsaw!

Our favourite part of Warsaw however was staying with Kasia and her husband Matthieu in Saska Kepa, one of the only parts of Warsaw to have survived WWII. Once again we experienced the warm and generous hospitality of the Polish, as they took us into their home, cooked us a 3 course meal and even gave up their bed for us while they slept on the couch (despite our objections). Further to that, they helped us plan the next part of our journey, provided us a delicious breakfast and even gave us transport tickets for the trams....legends!

Wroclaw

Apart from being almost impossible to pronounce (you say vross wahf), Wroclaw was a cute little old town at the centre of a modern, sprawling city. Luckily we are staying within the old town, just one street from Rynek – or the main square.

The second largest main square in Poland (behind Krakow) looked empty at night, as the freezing temperatures kept most people away from the alfresco drinking holes that line the square. Inside the pubs however, people were still enjoying a beer or two, in cozy interiors that we had previously not seen.

The next day granted us with snippets of blue skies, drawing people out into the open again. We strolled around the city, surrounded by a canal, with a few small islands scattered about. The churches, having the highest vantage points, open their doors to visitors for a small fee, so you can climb and climb and climb for panoramic views over this colourful city. The buildings are all brightly painted, fully restored to their former glory after their devastation in WWII. Anyone notice a pattern here?

After 2 nights here, we decided to rise early for a train to Poznan, so we could spend a couple of hours there before continuing to Berlin.

Poznan

Despite the train running around 40 mins late and after accidentally boarding the smoking carriage for the 2 ½ hour journey, we arrived in Poznan with 3 hours to kill before our next train. Picking up a tourist map, we followed the 'Royal Way' into the old town square where we were once again greeted with yet another picturesque square with ornate buildings, including a number churches and the Renaissance Town Hall.  The 3 hours was up fairly quickly, and we rushed back to the train station, for the modern train to Berlin.

Next stop Berlin >