A dragon and a bloke called Krak
It is said that a dragon was causing a bit of fuss in the area that is now known as Krakow. The only way to placate the dragon was to feed him virgins. Quickly the virgins disappeared through sacrifice or self-preservation. The King decreed that if there was a man out there who could slay the dragon he would be given the princess as his reward. Suddenly all the men in the area were busy… except for Krak, a skinny little guy with a plan. He killed a sheep and stuffed it full of very hot spices. He laid the sheep in front of the Dragons den. In the morning, the dragon awoke to find his breakfast waiting for him. He ate the sheep and suffered so badly from the spices he bounded down to the river to drink and drink until he had drunk so much he exploded. Little Krak married the princess and lived happily ever after in the new city of Krakow.
Entering the old city is like walking back in time. The park that surrounds it was once a moat. There is a small bit of wall left that was the defence. The town is orderly in its design, and the roads all lead to the square. Unlike other cities, it is difficult to get lost in Krakow.
Krakow is comfortable tourism. The streets are busy but not manic. There is enough room for everyone and the centre square houses markets, restaurants, entertainment and street food. Ah the street food. Pierogi – dumplings, fried smoked cheese, sauerkraut. Tourism is on the increase though and it will be a shame if it gets to overflowing like Prague or Florence.
We are here for a wedding. An Australian young man, Will and a Polish girl, Iwona. The Marmalade restaurant in Krakow was the venue of the meeting of the guests. Potato pancakes with stew and fried cabbage. Delicious. The wine is expensive here but the beer is cheap. After dinner? Vodka shots. All kinds of flavours, ginger and cloves, berries, milk based. 1 Euro each! A$1.65. Funnily enough…no hangover.
The wedding was held in the Saints Peter and Paul Cathedral, famous for its acoustics and the 12 Apostles standly proudly out the front. Iwona, the beautiful bride looked like a princess and Will, her dragon slayer (because slaying the Polish language is a very brave and complicated feat). It is said that if you are not from a Slavic country it usually takes about 13 years to speak Polish fluently. From the church to a lovely venue on the outskirts of the city. The Australian guests could not believe the abundance of magnificent food and the Polish guests didn’t know what hit them with a quarter of the guests being Australian. Not to forget the token Aussie male guest who jumped into the pond and had a lovely visit to Krakow hospital. You know who you are.
Auschwitz – Birkenau
This was a sombre day. Auschwitz is 1 ½ hours from Krakow. There are two ways of looking at a visit to a concentration/death camp. Education is empowering and the realisation of what people went through is certainly a powerful message to future generations, if they choose to listen but it is also a sickening voyeuristic look at something so horrific that you feel ill with sadness and disgust in the cruelty of the human race.
The old town draws you in every day just to absorb the ambience.
There is so much tradition in this town. A bugler plays a tune in 4 directions from the highest point in the old town every hour – every day. The tune stops abruptly to respect the bugler who was struck in the neck by an arrow while trying to warn the town of a Mongul Invasion in the 13th century!
The drainage channels on the roof of the Cathedral have dragon’s heads on the ends so that the sacred water that collects on the roof can be channelled through a dragons mouth and made available to the public to drink.
A visit to the Schindler Enamel factory turned out to be a holocaust museum with very little about the man himself. Strange really.
Krakow is a georgeous city and so far the winner in the most beautiful city visited in the last 4 months. Sorry Lisbon.
Two travelling bags picked up another bag in Krakow and we are off to Budapest!!!
Two Travelling Bags 
Great blog bags – keep them coming.
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