Crackin' in Krakow

August 21-25, 2023

Hi friends and family,

I wasn’t sure where I’d go after Budapest. I wanted to spend some more time in Europe and had a friend that would be in Vienna in late August, so I decided to go to Krakow, Poland and explore there. I took a bus from Budapest to Krakow on the evening of August 21 and arrived at the Krakow bus station at 12:30am the next day. I walked to my hostel, dropped my bags off, and went to the Jewish quarter to get food. I tried a popular Polish street food called zapiekanka, which was a toasted open-face sandwich on a baguette with cheese, mushrooms, and other toppings of my choosing. It was massive and I couldn't even finish it, despite having a large appetite.

The next day I slept in, made breakfast, and booked some activities for my time in Krakow. One of the activities I booked was a walking tour in the Old Town. On my way there, I got a mediocre kebab that made me miss the ones in Budapest. The walking tour was a choice activity of mine for seeing a city, learning its history and culture, and meeting people. The tour guide was entertaining and did a good job showing art and historical buildings while giving the unique history of the city. I met this guy named Zach from Boston who I became friends with. He grew up in Westfield and Suffield, CT and got his hair cut at my barber John Lumani’s in Avon, which is probably one of the most surreal small world moments I’ve had while traveling.

After the tour, I walked along the river and through the Jewish Ghetto, Podgórze. I chilled at the hostel for a bit but there really wasn’t much going on in the kitchen, common area, or garden, so I eventually met up with Zach and a guy Ahmed from his hostel for dinner at a Polish restaurant. I got pierogis and tried some of Zach’s potato pancake with goulash, too. The food was hearty and tasty, and even with a beer dinner was only $10 for me. Today’s prices in Poland reminded me of the old prices I was used to in Budapest from 2018.

The next day I set out to rent a bike and go along the river. As I was struggling to locate the place I’d seen on Google Maps, a guy on the path started saying something to me in Polish before saying “bike” and catching my attention. He then led me into a parking garage where he gave me a bike and told me to come back and pay 50 Zlotys in cash since I didn’t have any at the moment. It was such a trusting exchange that wouldn’t have happened in America.

I biked down to the path along the river and went west for 12 kilometers until the path ended at a small town. I biked in through the town, following a mother and son since I didn’t know the roads. It wasn’t as pleasant because there were cars sharing the road and it was windy and uphill, so I eventually turned around and biked back.

I biked to the Jewish Ghetto section of town and got some dumplings for a late lunch. Afterwards, I did Schindler’s Museum, which had a lot of information on Krakow in World War II and Oskar Schindler’s role in saving Jews from concentration camps. It was a pretty good museum with lots of information and visuals. Then I biked along the riverside and sat down at a nice spot in the grass and people-watched and read for an hour.

Once it got dark, I returned the bike and walked back to the hostel. I had a couple beers at the bar and met this American from Idaho named Wyatt and a local student named Amelia. We talked for a while and then walked to a bar in the Old Town, which is the center of the night life in Krakow, called BaniaLuka. The drinks were surprisingly cheap; it was 8 Zlotys (~$2) for a beer and 7 Zlotys for a shot. We did a round of fun shots that had mostly alcohol but a splash of other better-flavored liquids to make them more palatable. After a couple rounds, we met up with Zach, and Amelia took us to another bar that was underground (literally we walked down stairs) and had karaoke. It was pretty quiet, though, and there were only a handful of people so we went to another karaoke bar after.

This one had some intense scream-o music going on when we arrived so we were wary, but we stayed anyway and the music got better. The guy that helped run the club was extremely passionate when he sang and he did about five Linkin Park and Red Hot Chili Peppers songs, which were really fun to sing along to. I also befriended this Polish girl named Ola and we talked for much of the night. On the way home, Zach, Wyatt, and I grabbed some kebabs that were much better than the one I’d had the day before.

The next morning, I slept in a little after the late night and made breakfast at the hostel before walking to Old Town to start a tour of Auschwitz. I thought the tour was pretty good. We saw two different concentration camps, Auschwitz I (commonly referred to just as Auschwitz) and Auschwitz II (often called Auschwitz-Birkenau). The Auschwitz I part had lots of buildings that were still up from the WWII days because they were made of brick. It was bleak seeing the horrific conditions the prisoners had been made to live in and heart-wrenching seeing their personal artifacts left behind. Seeing the walls and guard towers around the camp was really distressing, too, and gave a feeling of total imprisonment. The second part, Birkenau, was much larger but didn’t have as much to show since most of the buildings were constructed with wood, and the Germans burned them down when the Soviets were approaching. Obviously, it was saddening to see all of the terrible history of Auschwitz, but I’m glad I went to see it.

I got back to the hostel around 7 and showered before going to Kazimierz (the Jewish quarter) and getting another zapiekanka. This time I was hungry enough that I ate the whole thing. After eating, Ola, from karaoke the night before, met me and we went on a little walk around the city. We walked along the river and sat on a wall overlooking the water talking until it got late. It was interesting hearing her perspective and thoughts on America, Poland, work, college, and many other things. It was fun meeting a local and getting a better sense of the place and what life was truly like there. Additionally, I’ll have a friend to visit if I ever find myself in Poland again.

The next morning, August 25, was my last day in Krakow. I made breakfast at the hostel and then hurried to the train station. The queue for tickets was long so I missed the fast 9:56am train and had to buy a ticket for the slower 11:13am train. There were only first class tickets remaining so I had to splurge an extra $5 which was kind of annoying since I hadn’t been able to buy tickets online because the website was faulty.

I had no expectations coming to Krakow and I had a good time. It’s the most on my own I’ve felt since I wasn't traveling with anyone and I’d never been there, but it was an enjoyable experience. Zach, Wyatt, and a couple guys in my room were cool to meet and hanging out with Ola was fun. Hopefully I’ll have some similarly fun and memorable times in Wroclaw, which is my next stop. Thanks for reading!