Poland is indeed a land of contrasts. If you only visited the tourist parts of the cities, you would likely be impressed by how cosmopolitan they are. So much fine dining, hipster coffee (see our Kraków neighborhood spot below) microbrews. But moving outside these areas, particularly in the rural parts of the country, you see another world, seemingly trapped in a much earlier time. Through Habitat we learned that close to 15% of the population lives in poverty housing (no roof, no toilets or heating) and 44.8% of Poles live in overcrowded spaces. Having the opportunity to see these housing challenges, and these marked contrasts, would have never been possible as a typical tourist. It lended much greater insight and understanding into this fascinating country. Thank you Habitat for Humanity!
Sunday, July 22, 2018
I survived ukranian airlines
While I almost didn’t make it on my correct flights, I did ultimately make it back home. At the Kiev airport, I was instructed to wait in the slow-moving and massive airport transfers line, which I did for 45 minutes, until getting close enough to the 8-1/2 x 11 in sign that said you didn’t need to wait in that line if you had a boarding pass to your connecting flight. So then I waited in another long and slow-moving airport transfers line to get to my gate. After running through the Kiev airport, I made it onto the ancient plane and was ultimately able to get to Stockholm, then home on Norweigan.
Thursday, July 19, 2018
Vegging out
With Jonathan gone, I’m taking the opportunity to indulge in some vegetarian fare. First Glonojad for lunch, then a cart that makes a veg version of schwarma.
Ghetto Heroe’s Square
This solemn monument features only 68 empty chairs, representing the 68,000 people forced to deport from this area.
Ode to Lody
Lody is ice cream, and the Polish can’t get enough of it. While some lody spots close down in the winter, a few stay open year-round. We have two of the best, Good Lood and Lody Tradycynjna (one old-school, one hipster), within a short walk of our Airbnb. The flavors are diverse, contemporary, and seasonal. We’ve had caramel with pink Himalayan sea salt, peanut biscuit, banana toffee, rich dark chocolate, a nut/dried fruit mixture and a blueberry so intensely concentrated, it stained our teeth. The texture is close to gelato—thickly rich and dense.
More museums
Checked out both the Galicia Jewish Museum—which had a fascinating exhibition focused on blood—and the Ethnographic Museum.
Good art
The Bunkier Sztuki Gallery of Contemporary Art had a great print triennial that featured artists from throughout Poland and the world.
Oscypek
I hit a street fair and was finally able to try the Polish smoked cheese! It is typically pan-fried and served with cranberry sauce. The texture is identical to a Greek haloumi, but much saltier and smokier.
More beer
Our last night in Poland together offered a chance to indulge in more microbrew (non corporate) recommendations from our Eatpolska guide. Twoje zdrowie!
Kienzle twins deactivate
Jonathan is off to explore the Tatra Mountains! The forecast calls for more rain, so we are hopeful that he’s able to get some hiking in without washing away. Karen, meanwhile, has a final day of exploration in Kraków!
Hevre
A beautiful bar/restaurant in a transformed Synagogue. Apparently synagogues throughout Poland have been repurposed—some without any documentation of their former spiritual life.
Wednesday, July 18, 2018
Where the hipsters go
The Dolne Mlyny complex is a suite of old buildings filled with cafes and bars, performance spots and galleries. Hard to get a true sense of it because of the rain deluge and the fact that we were visiting during the day, but you could easily envision this spot hopping on a sunny evening.
Market Day
We hit two major markets today to see a wealth of produce, meats, cheeses, and random housewares.
Vodka and Pickled Herring
Personally, I have never been a fan of either. Doesn’t even look that great, right? So imagine my surprise when I found myself strolling around Kraków actually searching for them! Introduced to us on our food tour, the vodka shot with pickled herring chaser was indeed a revelation. Each thing is made more delicious by the other. Take one away and the other fades into mediocrity.
Finally being in on the secret, it was no surprise to come upon a tiny little bar advertising their "Famous Herring". So instead of standing there wondering what the heck that was about, (how does a herring get famous?) it all made perfect sense. We went right in.
Polish Craft Beer!
The craft beer revolution is in its fledgling stages in Kraków. Following tips from our Eat Polska tour guide (she turned out to be a huge beer nerd) we ended up at a couple of local craft brewhouses. No corporate beer here!
Trends seem to be similar to ones in the US, with most craft beer leaning towards the hoppy side, but fruity sours and gozes also make an appearance.
So there’s many IPA’s of course and DIPA’s(Double IPA) and "East Coast Style" Hazy DIPA’s but also something called an APA(American Pale Ale) which is not to be confused with AIPA(American IPA). Yes it does get confusing, but the hip young beer nerd bartenders are happy to explain it to you and give you a few samples to point you in the right direction.
Personally, my tastes run towards the less hoppy pilsners and lagers which are more traditional over here, and there’s plenty of smaller (still non corporate) breweries that have been doing these for ever. German and Czech beers have long overshadowed Polish ones in this category, but the Polish options are numerous and definitely worth checking out.
It is raining...
Not just some periodic sprinkles, but unrelenting buckets pouring consistently from the sky, only stopping in brief 15 minute respites. Even sideways rain. It’s cramping our style a little, but with this stuff in the forecast for the next three days, we will have to acclimate.
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Schlindler Factory Museum
This museum really surprised us, providing valuable context into the Jewish and entire Kraków experience during Nazi rule. Really less about Schindler. A few powerful art installations as well, that really enhanced the experience.
