pls god i cannot do this he was in the episode for two and a half minutes i CANNOT have his onion ring taking over my brain like this i need him to get broken in half (sexually) (with religious symbolism)

Lets Get Krak(ow)-ing (Part 1)

Lo and behold, it looks like I’ll actually be writing an update according to schedule. Amazing.

After spending 7 hours in a bus (and stopping at a gas-station with a ridiculously nice bathroom), we arrived in Krakow in the later evening, and arrived at the hostel, Hostel Mundo. All the rooms had themes of different countries, my room is China themed, so there is fairly tasteful China themed decorations, except possibly the lanterns that depict scantily clad Asian women. I am in a room with Emily, its weird to only be with one other person. After we arrived and settled in, Vera took us to the Jewish Quarter to experience the night life, we went to a bar called Alchemy and I got to show the fine people of Krakow my sweet sweet dance moves. 

Saturday morning, we had an amazing breakfast at the Hostel, the staff was making it as we ate it, there was bread, fresh coffee, fruits and vegetables, and crepes (that were really good). Afterwards, we met with Vera and she walked us around the city, pointing out some of the main tourist attractions (The Main Square,  St. Mary’s Church) and giving us some background. Then we went to the Rynek Underground Museum, which is actually under the main sqaure. When the city decided to renovate main square, they excavated the ground beneath and found the different layers that marked that the different levels the main square had been for the last thousand years as well as old buildings. The museum was really cool, with a lot of interactive technology and artifacts such as clothing, shoes,  toys and various tools. Unfortunately it was also dark and claustrophobic in certain places, which took away from the general experience. We had a free lunch, and I got some beet couscous at an over priced (but pretty good restaurant facing the main square. 

In the afternoon, we met up in front of a bike shop off one of the main streets, and met John, our tour guide for the afternoon. Mike has served as a tour guide for the program in Krakow for the last 20 years, he is a rather heavy set American ex-pat, with a shaved head and aggressive eyebrows. He was a good tour guide and had a lot of knowledge about the city he had lived in for the last twenty years, but had a somewhat condensing aura when he talked, that was a smidgen off-putting. It had been raining all morning, and was easily in the low to mid forties, and we were about to embark on a 4 hour bike ride, needless to say I was fairly apprehensive. Luckily, it stopped raining during the lunch break and, we escaped the rain for the whole afternoon, though the temperature fluctuated a lot and it alternated between dark clouds, and bright, bright sun. We rode through several places in the city, including the public housing that was served as the Jewish Ghetto during the war, and a huge hill on a park outside the city that had an amazing view of the city. We also biked by the New Jewish cemetery, and it is outgrown with lots of weeds and vines everywhere. The reason it is so over-grown is because the 98% of the Jewish population of Krakow was killed during the War, so there isn’t any families left to upkeep the individual graves. We had to bike up some hills, and it was a stunning reminder that I am a bit out of shape. It was exhausting, but really informative and really amazing. That night we had a group dinner at Galycijska Resturant, that was largely meat based which was a bit awkward, but I had a lot of salad and rice, so I made it work. Afterwards, the entire group went on a pub crawl.

 Sunday, we had a free morning, so I took the opportunity to sleep in and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. Around noon, me, Rosie, and Emily headed to a bagel shop, called Bagelmama, which had really good bagels. When we left it was high 50s and sunny, by the time we left, the clouds had moved in and temperature dropped twenty degrees and it was snowing. Snowing rather hard in late April. Never say I came to Central Europe for the weather. After a quick walk back through the snow, we met up with Vera and headed to the ‘Oscar Schindler Factory, which was less just about Oscar Schindler, and more about Krakow before and during the war, though it was housed in the Schindler’s old factory building. So, I have never actually seen Schindler’s List, and didn’t know the plot of the movie until we were headed to the museum. The museum was packed full of information, artifacts and interactive exhibits. I learned about the building of the Jewish Ghetto, how life was like inside the Ghetto, and the Jewish expulsion into a nearby work camp. We also learned about how Germans, attempted to Germanize Krakow, through erasing its Polish heritage, and how some Poles resisted, but many just kept their head down and just endured. Unfortunately, its a rather large museum and I like to read every single plaque, so I had to rush through the last third of it, as not to be late, which was disappointing. Afterwards we went to the Wawel Cathedral and Tombs, the Cathedral is a hodge-podge of different styles, with over a dozen different chapels, their construction dates ranges from the 13th to the 19th century, and they have all styles from Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and Neo-Classical. There is a bell tower that has a spectacular view, but involved walking up vary narrow, very uneven staircase, I felt like an adventurer. Underneath the Cathedral is a number of crypts, with everyone from medieval kings and queens, to the recently deceased President, Lech Kaczyński, and his wife, who were killed in an airplane crash in 2010. Its interesting because despite being a democracy, Poland really emphasizes its past of Kings, and the role of Catholicism in the past and present government. It was honestly a little uncomfortable how much Catholicism is emphasized throughout the country, I guess despite the influence of the Evangelical Right, the separation of Church and State in the United States should not be taken for granted.  

That night we went to a very fancy place called Miod Molina, where I had beet-root soup and stuffed cabbage. The dinner was long and relaxed, it was super nice to talk to people. I had an early night due to the mounting exhaustion. 

Today (Monday), we met up at 9:30am and walked through the city, to the main administrative office of Jagiellonian University, one of the oldest universities in Central Europe, it was founded in 1364. The building itself dates from the early 14th century and has been converted into an museum, though it also hosts special university events. The museum has many historical artifacts from Poland’s history, including many astrological items that Copernicus, one of the universities most famous students, used back in the 15th century. It also holds an Oscar and Nobel Peace prize for literature, donated by Polish recipients. It was rather an eclectic collection, but still very enjoyable. After Jagiellonian University, we went to a very hipster-ish coffee house to receive a talk from a local activist on the Catholic Church, abortion and LGBT rights. Since the fall of  Communism, the Catholic Church has wielded a tremendous amount of influence, so the country has limited LGBT protections and abortion access. However with the election of the Law and Justice Party, an extremely far right party, in late 2015 hate crimes against LGBT individuals have increased and the pressure for an complete and total ban on abortion has increased. It was a highly sobering, but insightful talk. 

After a lunch of surprisingly good vegan burgers, we loaded on a bus and went to Nowa Huta, a rougher district on the outskirts of Krakow, and the former Communist hub. At its height, the district housed a quarter of a million, many of whom worked for the nearby steel mill. The steel mill is in operation, but only a few thousand are employed. A lot of the neighborhood is worn down, but you can still see the intense planning that went into the neighborhood, and how its very uniform and it’s barrack-like Soviet Realism. After returning to the city center and being released at 4pm, me, Kristina, Kieran and Miguel wandered around the city, just exploring for several hours, and ended up at a combination Polish and Georgian restaurant, where I finally had Pierogis (well Georgian inspired pierogis), they were filling and delicious. Honestly I was scared I wouldn’t be able to fit eating them into my packed schedule.

I will be in Krakow until Tuesday morning, then spending the day in Auschwitz, before returning late on Tuesday night. So I will update sometime after I return next week.