28.07.2011 – 28.07.2011  24 °C

Off to Krakow today (Krakow is actually pronounced Kraakov- which sounds better in my opinion!). Train was pretty uneventful (except that I couldn’t quite work out where I was supposed to sit.. a nice Polish guy helped me out). Arriving in Krakow was an awesome experience. For starters, the central station lets you out into this huge shopping mall.. so there was me pulling my case behind me through this huge mall! Just a crack up! Directly out of this mall is the Old Town.

It puts Warsaw’s Old Town to shame (and Warsaw’s is pretty nice!) I know I’ve said it a few times, but Krakow is probably now my favourite city in Europe.. The Old Town is just incredible.. If you haven’t been here, and you like old architecturally interesting buildings, you need to put it on your list. I am lucky enough to be staying right in the Old Town so I can really soak up the vibe. Finally, the sun had decided to come out so after stowing my stuff (I’m staying in a hotel by the way—I need my own space for a few days—I’m sick of people waking me up at all hours) I went for a wander through the city in a t-shirt and shorts (yup they’ve made a re-appearance).

Like I said it just blows me away.. the city is incredible (and didn’t suffer as much damage during the war as did Warsaw). Walked down the main street “Florianska” to the main square of Krakow. Wow what a square. It’s at least 200m wide and deep and it is just one big square ringed by outdoor cafes! In the middle of the square is a huge building that used to be the cloth merchants house but now houses heaps of souvenir shops. The square is the main hub of the city and is packed with tourists and pigeons! Krakow is a very old city (circa 1000 AD was when it was founded) and so has many legends. One of the legends says that there was a Prince of Krakow who started a quest to save the city. He left his trusty “men” behind to guard the city whilst he went looking for troops (or something.. I tuned out during the middle of the story).. Anyway to go on his quest he needed money so he approached a witch who lived outside of the city to get some money.. She gave him the money on the proviso that he left his men as collateral. If he didn’t return to save the city then his men would turn into pigeons.. Well clearly the prince didn’t return to the city because there are more pigeons in Krakow than anywhere else I’ve seen yet! They are so bad that when they take off you have to protect your face in case they run into you! (and yes I did get hit by one—on the leg—when a kid decided to make them scatter).

During my wander around the main square I discovered a free walking tour that was about to leave for the Jewish Quarter of the city. Considering I was already there (and the tour was free) I decided to tag along and see the Jewish part of Krakow. The main Jewish part of the city is called Kazimierz. This is not the part of the city that housed the ghetto! But it was the part where the Jewish people lived. It is also where Schindler’s List was filmed. Oscar Schindler did live and did save Krakow Jewish lives (about 1100 in total).

The Jewish quarter still feels like an old part of the town. It has tiny little streets and many Jewish synagogues. At the time of the war Krakow had almost 70,000 Jewish inhabitants. By the end of the war only 2500 remained (1100 of which were saved by Schindler). During 1940 most of the Jewish population were moved from Krakow to areas outside of the city to work on farms. The remaining inhabitants were forcibly removed in 1941 to another part of Krakow (across the river) and the inhabitants of this area of Krakow were also moved, into the Jewish houses! This area had a wall built around it with only 4 guarded exits. The wall chillingly was built in the shape of grey tombstones. Some buildings made up the side of the walls and these had any windows bricked in so that there was no escape from the ghetto. There was only one polish man who was left in the ghetto. HE was the owner of the pharmacy and he bribed the guards to let him stay there. He was awarded a medal from the Jewish people after the war for the heroic acts he took to save lives and smuggle Jews out of the ghetto.

The most famous of the ghetto heroes is probably Schindler. He was of course a member of the Nazi party and was also a member of the secret police. His views changed during the war and he ended up saving many people from Auschwitz under the guise of needing “workers” for his factory. Apparently it was the only business venture that he had that did not go bankrupt.. mainly because his labour was free!

Another hard yakka day ended up with me having a polish dinner with some other members of our walking party. A good way to end my birthday!

A final note to those reading.. Just want to send a big shout-out to everyone who sent me birthday wishes and in particular the gang at Arnott’s who sent me my very own birthday greeting.. Thanks team! (Anyone would think I still work for you guys  )