Impressions of Krakow

This is day 5 in Krakow and I feel adjusted to the time. I took a walk on my own in the city and felt totally comfortable. We are staying not far from Old Town. Old Town is surrounded by and narrow park and walkway. I walked around Old Town and then walked through it. It was gray and the mist turned to light rain. Aside from not being able to understand the spoken language, it is like walking around city in the US except that everything I much older. The population is primarily Caucasian with a smattering of black people and Asians. I have not picked up any sense of fear amongst the Polish people. Poland borders western Ukraine and all of the fighting is in eastern Ukraine.

From discussions with the Refugee Center director yesterday, I think the social safety net here is pretty good. I have seen only one homeless person in 5 days. He was sleeping on a bench as I walked around Old Town. There are trams, scooters bicycles and pedestrians all sharing the streets and sidewalks pretty seamlessly. Cyclists with helmets are rare. Pedestrians have the absolute right of way in Krakow except if there is traffic light with a pedestrian signal – which pedestrians obey.

Krakow is a clean city and this is spite of having these small public waste containers that have almost nothing in them. Can you imagine what this would look like in the US – overflowing to be sure. How can this be? I did not see one person walking while eating and few people were drinking so there is much less trash that needs disposed of.

These pictures at one end of Old Town made me imagine what it would have been like in medival times.

The keyholes in the walls above would protect the guards head while providing room for him to aim/fire a weapon.

This tower sits at the opposite side of Old Town on one edge of the Plaza

I found a coffee and dessert bar while walking and asked for 2 traditional Polish desserts to take “home”. We had a big Polish lunch so dinner will be dessert. There is not a lot of flavor associated with Polish food especially since I do not eat meat. I know I will enjoy the chocolate of this dessert.

I am done buying souvenirs for myself. I saw this ring today made by a local artist. It reminded me of large pearl I once had. I really loved the setting so I decided to get it. The prices here are reasonable compared to the US.

I am definitely going to have to start getting my nails done to help this ring look fabulous on my hand.

Tomorrow is a guided tour of Karkow and Saturday we will be going to Auschwitz. The weather for the remainder of our stay is cloudy with rain predicted on most days. After my walk, I can imagine how beautiful this city would be in the spring with new flowers and sunshine.